Hold on and Move on

DCNM CYF 71st Closing Service Reflection

By: EUNICE JUMALON

BIBLICAL REFERENCES:

What does it profit my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith
save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them,
“Depart in peace, be warmed and filled”, but you did not give them the things which are needed
for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. -
James 2: 14-17

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor, he
has sent me to make all those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go and
the blind will see and to make the wounded free from their chains. Luke 4:18

Let no one despise you because you are young, but be an example to the church in word, in
behavior, in love, in faith, in holy living. 1 Timothy 4:12

OUTLINE
I. Old Age
II. Gap/Challenge
A. How does it manifest
B. How people react
III. How to fill in the gap
A. Hold on to the Fundamentals (Luke 4:18-19)
IV. How to move forward
A. Let Go of the Bad Practices
B. Move on to something greater
V. Conclusion

It is such a joy for me to be here with you today, honestly speaking this is the only speaking
engagement I responded positively. I have decided to skipped the conference visitation this year,
to give way for the preparations of the upcoming NYA, which also includes participation to the
biennial assemblies of the seven jurisdictions of our church. As early as now, I would like to invite
you to come and be part of the 10th National Youth Assembly on May 19-23, 2018 at Initao,
Misamis Oriental. Let us gain the experience of being part of the highest decision making body of
our dear organization, be part of those who will be making the program of the CYF for the next 4
years, and elect the next set of officers. Furthermore, we shall altogether learn from the different
leadership styles from the CYF all over the Philippines and learn how to organize the young people
effectively. Each conference is entitled to send 3 delegates, and we are also welcoming observers.
For more details, please follow us on facebook.com/cyfkobai.

Our reflection for this morning is entitled, “Hold on and Move on”. I specifically chose this title
for all of us to relate to. Perhaps majority if not all have experienced heartaches, how we managed
to hold on ‘till we could no longer do and eventually decided to let go and finally move on. It is in
that scenario where I would want all of us to start with, the pain of loving, the pain of letting go,
the pain of moving on and the pain of moving forward.

Imagine yourself trapped in a church, the piano seemed to play a different song than what was
sung, the microphone may have probably taken a suicide due to age, the voices of the people
singing the hymns sounded so sad and old, the Sunday school teacher never had a new lesson, the
pastor kept on talking about her busy schedule and complaining how come nobody is going with
her, the elders were just silent and did not even discuss their problems during the council meeting,
there were no young people and young adults, the church was becoming literally old, and was just
a church only during Sunday Services. This became the norm, people go to that church for the sake
of going to church.

Imagine further, that you attended the CONFAB, you have heard of so many good things about it,
thus it gave you a good dose of excitement to be able to experience it for the first time. You were
amazed by how the program was drafted, however upon the execution there were so many changes.
You expected so much from it yet got barely a thing from such expectation. The speakers you
expected to expound on the topics assigned were not able to deliver their tasks, perhaps the
EXECOM were already very tired and cannot function well, and all you do was to repeat what has
been done in its entirety. It is like singing the same song again and again, or hurting yourself with
the same person again and again. That may be the reason why people say, na dili nalang ta mag
expect para dili ta ma hurt. So we will both end living with what we have, living with mediocrity
and living each day the same way as you would always have.

That is a picture of an aging church, perhaps a dying church. Are we that church?

Today marks the closing of the 71st DCNM CYF Annual Fellowship and Assembly. I have been
pondering on what to share to you as we close this CONFAB today. Being a part of the DCNM
CYF family, I know very well how we have gone through, I personally experienced some of the
major struggles of our organizations and how we made it through. Good thing, when I checked the
program which was sent to me thru messenger, the 71 which was supposedly a typo, caught my
attention for a deeper reflection. The organization, the DCNM CYF is getting older and older, but
the members are getting younger and younger. Although we claim that sa CYF may forever, being
an active and regular member of the CYF is just a phase of our lives that we all need to pass
through. Sooner or later we shall become CYAF, UCM and CWA, maybe UCWO for some. The
thing is that, kitang tanang lumalabay lang, and no one stays here forever. 71 is a number which is
way beyond the senior years, an age of twilight. In such old age, I would want us all to ponder into
how can we age beautifully, how can we age effectively.

We often heard or will probably hear, “Kami sauna”, “Mas maayo pa tong sauna”, “Lahi man mi
sauna”. These are words from the people who have journeyed with the CYF and have gone to
another journey, ang atong mga alumni, mga CYF forever and perhaps atong mga ate and kuya sa
CYF. We often heard the good things about the CYF during their time, and it is often compared to
what we are today.

Now, what is the dilemma in that situation? It is how we transition from generation to generation.
It is how we pass on the principles, the learnings, the mechanisms, the victories, the challenges,
how we pass on the CYF as a whole.
If we remember the history of Christianity in a nutshell, it went through different processes of
passing on their teachings, values and principles, the power of mouth, the writings in the tablets or
on rocks. These were perhaps inconvenient as to what we have now, we have computers, mobile
phones, tablets and the internet where social media is leading the way.

VI. How to fill in the gap

A. Hold on to the Fundamentals (Luke 4:18-19)

Someone once said to me, na he can see me to be part of the national officers of the CYF
wayback in the early 2000, and what I always remember is that permi xa ingon na bisan asa paman
ka, ayaw jud byae ang imong local church.

Every time our hearts are broken, we should to hold to all the learnings that we gained through the
experience. And every time that we learn something, we ought to document it, we ought to pass it
on. That is just the very basic on how we can hold on.

Naay mga butang nga bisan pa mag move on nata, na bisan pa mamiya nata kinahanglan na atong
pagadad-on.

What are the Fundamentals?

CYF we must keep ourselves abreast with the basics.

Kinsa ang atong simbahan, unsa ang iyang ginatoohan. Kinsa si CYF ug para kang kinsa ang CYF.

I would like to highlight this part of the UCCP SOF.

WE BELIEVE
In the Church, the one Body of Christ, the community of those reconciled to God through
Jesus Christ and entrusted with Jesus' own ministry.
The Statement of Faith unequivocably affirms the reality and significance of the Church, and
asserts this to be an integral part of its article of faith in terms of four basic principles, namely,
the Church as the Body of Christ, the Church as Community, the Church as the Community of
the Reconciled, and the Church as the "Trustee" of Jesus' own ministry.

The Church as the Body of Christ is not so much an organization as it is an organism. An

organism has life: it grows; it pulsates and makes its presence felt in its environment. As an
organism, the Church is God's instrument of social transformation, Being God's own people,
the Church radiates the life of its Founder, apart from which the fullness of God's glory
becomes blurred.

The Church as community underscores the fact that whatever else the Church is, it is in fact a
community of persons. Moreover, to affirm that the Church is a community of persons is to
affirm also the importance of the human response of faith.
WE BELIEVE
God is working to make each person a new being in Christ and the whole world His
Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God is present where faith in Jesus Christ is shared, where healing is
given to the sick, where food is given to the hungry, where light is given to the blind, where
liberty is given to the captive and oppressed, where love, justice and peace prevail.

The fifth article is missiological and directional. It points the life of the Christian community
and of the believer to things that are happening outside of the Christian community and to what
the Church and the Christian might do in relation to the world in which they live.

Thus this clearly points out that our relationship with our Savior is vital to our existence. In
very simple example, dili tungod kai we consider ourselves as leaders, we no longer cater and
develop our personal relationship with the Lord. There will come a point in our lives na feeling
nato exempted nata sa mga pagtoon, na tungod kai officer na daw ta sa CYF dili nata mag-apil
sa atong mga activities. We were wrong.

If some of the past execom are still here, basun they can remember how we all strive to finish
legworking and organizing for activities para ang EXECOM mismo can experience and take
part of our activities. Being officers, we are given a higher regard, higher expectation and thus
more responsibilities. It is the same thing as being a CYF, since it in innate in ourselves to be
all leaders in our own different ways.

Maong it is important that we continue to enrich such relationship by learning and re-learning
the Bible, having bible studies with your core group, praying and reflecting. It is a fundamental
part of our Christian faith.

However, being a Christian is not only limited to our personal relationship with the Lord, it
includes other phases. Allow me to show a simple illustration of how I view on such things.

Baseball

Base 1: Personal Relationship with the Lord

Base 2: Relationship with the co believers

Base 3: Relationship with the Community

Base 4: FAITH in Action

The second base follows the first, before you can create a good relationship with your co
believers, you have to ready yourself. It is in occasions like this when we explicitly develop
our relationship with our co-believers/ igsoon sa pagtoo. When we go to church, it is not mere
going so that we shall be blessed, it is also enriching or empowering other believers. The church
being a fellowship of sinners, is anchored on such relationship that is essential as the church
 shall involve itself in the ministry. Dira sa atong mga kasimbahanan atong gimatuto dili lamang
ang atong isig kaugalingon apan ang atong mga kauban sa pagtoo, sa atong
pagtinambayayongay sa simbahan nagahimo kita ug usa ka avenue wherein we can grow as a
faith community. Sama sa CYF, the fellowship we make is aimed towards empowering each
and everyone and not just our individual selves.

Third Base: Christianity is never exclusive, for the Love of God is ever as inclusive and
encompassing. Thus the societal concern of a church is a sign of its existence. Our version of
community ministry is not just feeding them once in a while, it is building a relationship with
them, empowering them and later on making them stand on their own. That is how holistic we
view our ministry.

Fourth Base: The IMPACT

Sometimes we have to appreciate that the best thing we can do is to create that smallest ripple
that shall ignite people to move.

Mao ni rason nganong atong activities, naay immersion. Nganong ang mga CYF atong ipa
experience sa kinabuhi sa mga tawo from different walks of life for us to appreciate their
struggles. It is only when we know and perhaps experience a bit of their lives shall we
understand where they are coming from. Our faith is one which is rooted in reality, thus we
need to keep ourselves updated with what is happening around us, and reconcile it with our
faith. Seeing news is way way to different from experiencing them first hand.

The fifth article, in other words, seeks to provide orientation and purpose for those actions and
forms of behavior that the Church and the Christian might undertake as an expression of their
life and work in the world. In the process, it also provides some clues for those aspirations that
the Church might seek to embody in its interaction with the social order in which it is set, and
in its life and work within the larger human community in which it is to do its witness.

- is not only the conversion and transformation of each person in the very depth of his or her
being, but also the remaking of society and of the whole world in all of their structures and
patterns of relationships, for example, in their structures and patterns of relationships among
persons and peoples, in their structures and patterns of relationships of power, in their
structures and patterns of relationship with nature, and in their "economy" of time, abilities,
knowledge, and of goods, resources and benefits.

VII. How to move forward

 A. Let Go of the Bad Practices
First Identify
Make a document
B. Move on to something greater
Dream
Plan
Make your dreams a reality.

VIII. Conclusion

Moving forward does not mean taking everything a new, it means taking with you the best part of
your past so that you can move on to the best of what you can be.