Faith. Fervor. and Fellowship
STC '91 Draws Biggest Gathering of Youth Leaders Nineteen-year old Ferdinand Cheam of Brunei was visibly moved. At the close of the week-long Summer Training Conference, he shared, "We will not forget what we learned here ... In our country, Christians are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Thank you for your inspiration, hospitality, love and prayers." It was a fitting ending to last summer's Conference held at the Lay Formation Center, which brought together about 350 participants, ten of whom were from Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei.
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Rejoicing in the Fruit of Her Labor by Beth Melchor For more than 10 years now Elizabeth P. Melchorhas effectively overseen the careand support of all the women in CY A. This year she embarks on a new phase of a life dedicated to God's service -- evangelizing Chinese in the Mainland. Together with aFilipino missionary family, she hopes to spend a number of years in Beijing to evangelize and build a Christian community there. We've asked Beth to share with us some reflections:
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"I've had the blessed privilege of being part of CYA from the very beginning. I was a student then at the University of the Philippines. At that time we did not have the name of Christ's Youth in Action. We were just a small group of five students who wanted to support one another in our Christian lives. We did this by coming together for sharing over lunch once a week. I cannot thank God enough for what He has allowed me to wi tness as CYA grew over the years. One of the things I am most grateful for is being able to witness so many young people decide to live for God. Each one is a different story. Some were on the brink of despair. Some were deep into sin. Some completely rejected God in their lives. Many were searching. But God met each one, each in a unique
way, and none of their lives have been the same ever since. I remember a student who came to our evangelistic seminar (called the Christian Life Series) because a classmate challenged her. In our discussion group she defian tly expressed her atheistic stance. But during the course of the CLS, God changed her hard heart. Afterward she became one of our best evangelizers. Another young woman was a very devout Catholic and model student, She thought her life was fine, and she didn't "need" the Holy Spirit. After joining a CYA retreat, she who was once so hostile to expressivesness in prayer began to freely pray in the Spirit with her hands upraised. Continued on page 4
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