I used to take the farthest seat in the auditorium.

Unless I was tricked by my cousin from the church’s choir, chances for me to attend the youth ministry were slim to none. Youth Alive sounded like an organization you have in school. When I was invited to come, I imagined that it was a non-profit group that aims to protect the youth from drugs or from things of that sort that’ll do us harm. I read from a flyer that its “ALIVE” stood for “Attract young people, Lift up God, Inspire them to be Vessels of truth and Encourage one another.” The critic thought “Wow. You squeezed that in?” I concluded that it was good but I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

The day I fell hook, line and sinker to attend YA, I was in the “Let’s get this over with” mindset. So, I sat quietly, unsmilingly at the back, praying that they do not persuade newbies to introduce themselves in front. Observing everyone, I saw the place was filled with happy people. Too happy, I didn’t understand why. I groaned a bit when a quick ice-breaker was held. I reluctantly joined in, but it was so fun, I had trouble keeping my excitement to myself. They also have this “Love si Lord!” tagline which everyone exclaimed every time “Youth Alive” is mentioned. Which I dismissed as the effect of mass media, McDonald’s “Love ko ‘to” was a hit back then.

That day was the first-ever engaging worship I’ve experienced. I’ve been in the church for years, and it is good. But this was new for me. The intimacy was unmistakable. The excitement was thick in the atmosphere. The energy was on levels I didn’t know existed. It felt as if the ground was erupting to take you up to space. My heart was pounding. I felt like I could touch God’s face. The dancing, singing, jumping, shouts and cries assured you that behind it all was sincere worship. It was a huge wave slapping on the shores that were us. And it was contagious.

The message was delivered with much humor and in terms everyone would understand. There was a very funny skit presented, laughter burst from time to time, yet the Truth pierced you as it was intended to be. The call for salvation is always done at the conclusion of the service, and a second call to pray for the challenge to take effect in every individual’s life. I went home that night excited to tell everyone about it. I had no understanding what Youth Alive was and what it stands for. All I knew was that it was the coolest place to be.

For a year, I kept on sitting at the back, and didn’t bother to remember anybody’s name if someone would introduce themselves. I was happy with my “Ate.” I wasn’t friendly and I didn’t know there was something wrong with that. I didn’t attend regularly. I made excuses from time to time, and wouldn’t come without my Ate.

Graduating from High School, It felt like I should be involved in something. It was a stirring I couldn’t ignore. I was tired of routine at school, and I felt empty. I braved one Saturday to come on my own. I was surprised how Youth Alive had grown, and yet those who shook my hand before still knew me. I felt comfortable especially when two BFFs (I kept forgetting their names before) seemed glad I was back. I kept on coming, and shortly, I was invited to join a cell group.

From there, I abandoned what used to be my favorite seat. Joining the crowd in the middle, the view was better. It was all brighter, and the backs and shadows I saw from so far away are gone. I was thirsty for something worth involving myself into. I didn’t recognize it was the impending growth coming. The group required shakes and stirs for this private-schooled brat to fit in. A major character makeover and a “heart surgery” came into place, and then I learned that Youth Alive doesn’t stop at “Attract young people”. The foundations of a Christian were laid down. A series of lessons were instilled. From Salvation, Lordship, Faith, how to pray and what is Devotion, to Spiritual Warfare and everything else in between. The “Encourage one another” part looks like it was supposed to be written at the beginning of the ministry’s mission, because it is ever-present anytime and anywhere the group meets, physically or even online. For the Basic Christian lessons, I should mention it was “basic”, but I then understood that it is as crucial as a life survival kit, when it was my turn to teach. So, “Vessels of Truth.”

The seats looked too far away each time I look behind my area. Thank God for the better seat.

The vessels were broken and molded time and again, each a transformation from glory to glory. We were kids. And it takes time for us to figure things out. But God arranged for the path to lead us to Him. The Truth wells up inside these jars, and overflows, as it is meant to be poured out to all the other jars. The reminder is constant that we are willed by Him to enjoy Him, to live in line with His purpose, and whatever our hands and feet find to do, it is to “Lift up God.”

I haven’t decoded what Youth Alive’s ALIVE entirely is. All these revelations I was introduced to seem like just a peek of what is larger than life. For quite some time I led a group of youngsters myself, yet it took me long enough to realize that what we are doing is building up leaders, and from these leaders rise another group of leaders.

Taking the seats up front is a whole different thing. Many dislike it. I don’t know why, but maybe it is because the front seats are too exposed? I thought it was daunting, looking at it from the back. But sitting here, there isn’t a reserved sign we can crown ourselves with. The way I see it, it is a better view, with a larger scope of what is happening. From here, I think it makes you understand what you are seeing, and what to do with what you witness.

Just as circles have no beginnings and no ends, I think we go through the same things. But as we run through the paths we once walked on, perhaps each time, we gain more insight of what the view is, and how to go through it. Each time we ride along its heights and dig deep into its lows, our eyes open up wider, to take it all in, the better to see things with, and we breathe it in, each breath fresher than what we breathed before.

This post was written by Abigail Felix, recounting her experiences as part of Youth Alive, the youth ministry of Word of Hope in Quezon City, Philippines. She also tells about her Father’s joy over at her blog.

It’s got to be a Big Event for our youth group every last Sunday of the month. At this time, it is the only special event existing in our youth group. From the first to the third Sunday of every month, the youth leaders are active and busy after our Sunday service, preparing for the Big Event. All of us in the youth leadership team work hand in hand for the success of this affair—to enjoy the fellowship with other young people, to learn, and above all to give God the glory that belongs to Him alone.

Last July 30, we had our first Big Event. With the theme, “Statement Shirt Day: What’s on Your Mind?”. It was fantastic!  We were overwhelmed with the number of young people who were present. There were about 150 young people who attended the event. Most of us were wearing our statement shirts and we really had a great time reading different statements written on our shirts. Some were funny, some were inspiring and some just didn’t go well with the person wearing the shirt.

The event started at exactly 4 o’clock in the afternoon and ended just in time, 6 o’clock in the evening. The youth were being registered the moment they arrived. A craft which is a paper t-shirt with a statement written on it served as our waiting activity, so that they won’t get bored while waiting for others to arrive. An award was given to the best craft before the program ended. The program formally started with a welcome address. New sets of leaders of our youth group were introduced and the old ones were also called up. The youth leaders then gave a dance presentation to officially welcome all the guests and to show how glad we were to see them all. Each guest was assigned to a respective team for the games. There were four teams: Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.

After having much fun playing and energizing, we then listened to the Word of God—the most exciting part of the program. It was the highlight of the Big Event. Sharing God’s word is our main intention of having this kind of event in our youth group. We were so blessed with the message God has given us through His servant, our very own Kuya L.M. (Louis Mark Plaza). More meaningful information was being added to our learning. We’ve heard comments from some of our visitors that they liked the message which means they’ve been blessed!  And we really praise God for that. After the message, everybody intently listened to the response song “Walk on the Water” sang by Jonah Avelina.

The Lord our God is truly a great provider—He is Jehovah Jireh. If an activity glorifies Him, He provides. We’ve been amazed by how He worked with our finances. The budget for our food was really that small. It couldn’t feed 150 young people. But the God whom we serve is the owner of everything, He is sovereign… He is great! He was the God who fed the five thousand people. He was also the God who fed us that time. And like the story, there were plenty leftovers. The fellowship we had was really awesome!

We’re all excited for our next Big Event. We’re expecting more fun, more learning, more food, more surprises and more of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is our great pleasure to meet various young people from different places with diverse personalities and lives. All youth are invited and are welcome to join the Big Event as all are invited in our Lord’s Kingdom.

February 26, 2011 marked the end of a process that begun 7 months ago. This was a project that begun with the thought that we have long been giving youth leaders and church workers tools for their youth ministry. But a question came up—

“Are the leaders strong enough to use the tools they get?”

Because we could give people a ton of information to help them in the ministry but it would not help them if their hearts where not in the right place–it would just consume them. That question asked by Chris Davis, our director, birthed an experience named “Heart of the Leader” wherein the focus was not on the tools of ministry but on strengthening the heart of the minister. Not just giving people information but provide a way for transformation.

I went through the process as a participant along with other youth leaders, pastors and church workers who had been in ministry for more than 5 years. The start of the Heart of the Leader was a retreat held in July 2010 and the end was another retreat we held last month, more than half a year from the first one.

Why so long a seminar? Built into the design was the need to address deep issues and destructive patterns in the life of the individual. That needed a community of fellow believers who had learned to trust each other over time. So it took 7 months to build that kind of fellowship.

You can read how others found it here, here and here.

For me, personally, this video captures best what I bring home from the event:

In the community created by Christ, your deepest questions can be safely answered, your deepest hurts can be more than healed.

How did you become involved in the training?

Way back in 2008, I attended the Level 3 GYMN seminar, that training was intended for trainers… and since I have been involved in youth ministry, I had the desire to share what I had learned throughout my youth ministry in my church. Also I would like to share my experiences, what I learned from GYMN because GYMN has had a great impact in my life (It was through a GYMN training seminar where I started to have the conviction to serve in the youth ministry full-time and study in BTC).

It’s been my desire also and my passion to train someone. Also, I wanted to meet new people where me, myself will be encouraged also by their lives and ministry. These were the reasons that pushed me to join the training.

At first there was the GYMN training in Palawan but I was not able to raise a fund though I was willing to go there. I asked Kuya Alvan, if there are more trainings to come maybe I could come for them, so, then Kuya Alvan told me that GYMN will be handling a training in Mindanao. When I heard about a training there, I did not think twice. I took the opportunity to go to Malaybalay and train. So that’s how I got involved.

What was your role for the training?

My role was to first share some topics regarding the content of GYMN, there’s a level 1 training and there’s also a level 2 training. I was tasked to share topics in Level 1. The first one was about evangelism, the second one was about growth and the third one was on leadership team development

What were the highlights of the training?

One was for the GYMN students to create a fellowship program where it was kind of different because instead of the Level 1 students and trainers to act as participants we were just observing. What they did was they invited some youth in Malaybalay to join the activity. So I had the chance to see these guys and also have the chance to interview them and get to know more about their ministry.

The place was great and people there were so accommodating. The host welcomed us warmly and the food was great. Our venue was at a café so we had a pizza fellowship every day after training.
But the highlight was meeting new people, new friends, knowing their experiences, their ministry.

I was blessed by one of the pastors there whose ministry was ministering to the gangs of Malaybalay. He shared his story, his life, what compelled him to minister to these young people who were members of gangs considering that it’s risky for him.

Did you get personal insights from it?

I learned a lot of things from the training, especially from the life of the people who attended. I did not expect the participants to be older than me, yet I was blessed by their passion and that they want to know more about youth ministry regardless. Like, there’s one participant there who was already 40 yet he joined the youth ministry training.

I really saw they had this heart for the kids. I really saw that they were happy to get insights for the youth ministry.

What do you want to say to others who want to be involved as trainers?

We are taught to teach others just like what Paul told Timothy “what you have heard from me… entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” And Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to us said “teach everything that I have commanded you,” to teach his life, to teach his Word, and to make disciples. So this is one way that we can share our lives, share our passion and encourage young leaders and this is a good avenue to share not just the curriculum of GYMN but at the same time share our experiences in relation with how GYMN taught us as well.

Also, there is nothing greater than to share your life with someone else, to encourage them and to be encouraged by them as well. For me, it’s not just the travelling that will excite me but to be in a place to know how God is working in the youth ministry there. So for those who want to be trainers, and want to join a training: I encourage you to apply what you learned in GYMN together with what you experienced in your ministry right now and I think that would be the best teaching material you could share with other leaders.

During our marathon of trainings in Southeast Asia I met an amazingly talented young man who calls himself Wakka. I was delighted to discover that not only was he a natural musician but he also seemed to be a natural writer. He provided our prayer partners and supporters with a view of our trainings during our stint in Southeast Asia by posting to our Facebook site during or after seminars. If you checked our Facebook page from May 5 to 17 you’ve read of him already.

For those who haven’t, I’ve reposted his paragraphs below to get you a glimpse into our last training outside the Philippines.

A note: This training there was far from Internet access so Wakka did these nightly rather than in real time. Aside from keeping folk updated Wakka also taught some of the sessions (having gone through the GYMN material and having used it in his youth ministry too).

The following takes place between May 10 and May 17, 2010. Everything in square brackets [and italicized] are my edits, the rest our all Wakka’s. Here goes:

[May 10 at 10:46pm] Everyone…. It’s me again Wakka. I will be your host posting of what is going on here in our stationary. Stay tuned and stay posted because I will be the one to update you all. Peace from the East. I’m not even sure if we are in the East. Oh well. Day 2 Begins 2m!

[May 11 at 8:48pm] Hi people, Day 2 of the Seminar. It was Hot, like hot sitting in a oven or Sauna HOT! We were all taking a bath in our sweat, we just needed some shampoo and soap we are complete. haha. We had level 1 and 2 simultaneously but separately of course. I attended and taught Level 1 which went pretty good….

(continuation)…. Our Lecturer/Teacher for Session 2 went pretty long, no pretty… too pretty long if that makes any sense. I felt that the group was not to interactive but according to RCD [That’s our trainer Rey, who did a training here two years ago], they were more active and interacting than before, so i guess that’s a good thing? I think so.

[May 11 at 8:55pm] The crowd are not as “youthee” as i expected, they were more calm, quiet, and focused which kind a scared me, but still they did participate we just got to allow them or forced in a nice way to bring them out. They all have good answers, they just needed an extra push. One main minor/major issue (depending on you), the “program statement” (goal statement but RCD wanted to call it the program statement. I guess they are Program Oriented, I am not sure why. Just letting you know).

The program/goal statement took awhile to understand but hopefully they will get it down and understand before the end of the Seminar. I explained as sweet, easy, understandable, slow as possible and i dont think they catched. but again, it’s the first day to do it. S.1-S.4 [The first four lessons of the seminar] is completed, i believe S.5-S.8 will begin. I will keep you posted. God bless. (too much info huh? hehe.. just wnt keep you guys informed)

[compounding Wakka’s hardship, we needed translators to assist us in teaching since many of the participants did not speak or understand English]

Wakka: If you want to know about L.2, you got ask Alvan, the man who is in charge of all the Chipmonks or Chickmunks (i’m not sure how to spell it, honestly.. no jks sry but u got the idea).

[May 13 at 7:37pm] Yo yo yo people wazz up in the Hizzy?! Nah jokes.. hehe. the last 24 hrs i was not here. I apologize. I was kinda busy doing some clothe cleaning

So far, the seminar is getting better and better. Maybe it’s because the are now understanding the materials or the seminar is almost done. ??? Btw, 2m will be a few sessions then the GRADUATION! We are going to PARTY!!!!!!

[May 16 at 8:50pm] Hello everyone, I’m tuning in on the last finished words of the Seminar. HALLELLUJAH, It is done. The Seminar was awesome and totally awesome. If all of you have enjoyed of the posts, thank for reading. If there are anything that would be improved, let me know, so I will be able to make more enjoyable for you. Peace out and GBU!

But I did enjoy most of the time there.

It was the people. Their gentle manner and smiles of greeting concealed a fire for the Lord.

This time we had three trainings, our youth ministry strategy seminar (Level 1),

a follow-up training (Level 2) for those who already took the Level 1,

and a trainer’s training were we taught others to teach the material.

All these taking place in a span of six days: May 11-15, 2010.

This was the first time for me to work with translators in a training since many here were not fluent in English and the words I could speak in their language could be counted with my fingers. Often times the idea I wanted to give was not the one the students got and I would only realize this later in their responses.

Despite this, their love to learn and to grow was made evident in their diligence toward the entire seminar. With the level 2 group I handled, we had finished all the lessons and were going toward graduation. I left them for a while to check on the preparations for the graduation ceremony.  When I returned to call them, they were still writing down the goals and programs they were going to do for the year ahead.

In the heat of summer, it was their fire for serving the King that blessed me a lot.

A good friend told me this would be a totally different experience. But for me it almost looks like the Philippines (my native land). There are buses and taxis,

jeepneys songtheaw,

and even unfinished train stations.

The climate though is a few degrees higher. Which means air conditioning here is more a necessity than a luxury.

Okay, the food is indeed different. Spicy delicious stuff unique to this culture. And English speakers have a harder time here than they would in the Philippines.

That being said, it’s been a great few days, five days in and we are done with the Thailand leg of our GYMN training. One of our volunteers, Wakka, has done a great job live-blogging it over on Facebook (click the Facebook link on the right side of our website to see his posts and some pictures).

A couple more training to go and that would be in another land. Right now, we are taking a pause to meet up with old and new friends, observe the culture and sample the cuisine.

Time to look for some Thai food.