PASSION FOR LIFE

On May 2-4, 2008, the CFC Kids for Christ conducted the 11th International Kids Village (IKV) in the Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. Over 5,500 delegates came from all over the Philippines and countries like Beijing and the Middle East. We were honored to have priests from Beijing, Fr. Zhen Tian Liu or called by his English name as Fr. Justin and Fr. Wen Zheng Han or Fr. Paul. Celebrating the mass with us was Msgr. Jeffrey Malanog, Vicar General of the Diocese of Tagbilaran for the Friday opening mass, and Most Reverend Bishop Leonardo Medroso, DD, the Bishop of the Diocese of Tagbilaran for the Sunday closing Mass.

The kids were lead by the “Kids Ambassadors” represented by various countries, Metro Manila sectors, and provinces. These kids will be KFC’s spokespersons for the year, until they turn it over to the next Kids Ambassadors of their area.

“Kids’ Power” was the theme of this year’s IKV inspired by the verse “Love one another as I have loved you” from John 13:34. Three power stations were put up for the kids to charge up their powers to pray, share and build.

The Power to Pray
All KFC’s wore a “Power Belt” that contained a rosary. The Kids Ambassadors formed a “Living Rosary” and led their fellow KFC’s to pray. It was so inspiring to witness all these kids concentrating in prayer and adoring our Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the “Pray Power Station” the KFC’s learned about the angels, saints, and the different sacraments. They posted different prayers on the walls of the booth and it was so inspiring to read the kids prayers that were so simple and pure.

We also had the “Power Play” where kids from Cebu played different characters that showed importance of prayer and being Christ-like in their actions. The play portrayed that the source of real power is God’s love.

Another highlight of the International Kids Village was the “Kids Praise.” Everyone was just full of energy and enthusiasm as they danced through the action songs. But the best part of it was when the kids raised their hands in worship. It’s the first time that the KFC’s were led to raise their hands as they sang praises to God. It was so moving to see how sincere they were in praying and singing. Indeed they had Prayer Power!

The Power to Share
In the “Share Power Station,” the kids helped raise funds to support the Gawad Kalinga SIBOL pre-school program.

KFC’s also showcased and shared their God given talents in the different creative, sports and special competitions. One particular contest was the “Kids Preach” where kids from different provinces gave a “talk”. It was truly amazing that at their young age, they can already become evangelizers. There was also the “Bible Quiz” where they shared to other kids what they knew about the characters, events, and other important facts about the Bible.

The Beijing delegation also shared their talents through a very inspiring song and dance presentation. The rest of the kids were so excited of the fact that there were kids who came all the way from China to join them in glorifying God in the International Kids Village.

One of the highlight also was the “Bounty Parade.” KFC’s of the different regions shared their own food delicacies to other kids. The kids experienced the joy of a fiesta celebration, specially that May is Fiesta month for the province of Bohol. They also enjoyed the different “Pinoy games” after the bounty parade. Love was overflowing the place as the kids experienced the power to share!

The Power Build
Makisig Morales, a KFC member, and one of the top child actors in the Philippines joined the “Build Power Activity”. Together with the other KFC’s and SAGIP members, they painted houses in the Baclayon Gawad Kalinga site. Through this activity they learned to love God by loving their country and loving the poor. They did not only build houses, but also built friendships. For the kids, it didn’t matter if they were rich or poor as long as they love God and are having fun in building a better future for the country and for the rest of the world. These kids have the power to build!”

God’s love Gives Me Power
The kids also learned a chant that communicated the message of the event. The chant was, “God’s love gives me power…Kids Power!” The kids were so excited in shouting out the chant and doing the actions that go with it. Through the different activities the IKV, the KFC’s realized that they can do a lot of simple things to help change the world and these can all be achieved by remembering that God’s love is the source of all power.

The whole weekend was a manifestation of God’s great love. During the Kids Praise on Sunday, the Lord allowed us to feel His love when He showed us two rainbows high up in the clouds as we were singing songs of love for Him. Many were drawn to tears as if the Lord was saying, “My children I will always love you.”

Our challenge is to emulate the kids in their purity in loving the Lord. Indeed, there is a lot to learn from the children. This year, God has inspired CFC to “Love one another as I have loved you- Jn. 13:34” The kids have shown us that they too can love like Jesus. We are raising a new generation of loving disciples that have the power to pray, share, and build!

Kids dancing and jumping with endless energy to the song, “Jesus You’re My
Superhero.”
Young minds concentrating and giving all the artistry that they’ve got on a coloring book
with an outline of Jesus’ picture on it.
Eager kids awaiting for the next game that will teach them more about the Lord.
Little hands in motion helping to paint a Gawad Kalinga House.
The sincerity of a kid praying on his knees at the bedside thanking the Lord of the day’s
blessings.
A child hugging his parents and saying, “I love you mom and dad.”

These are scenes that you would see in the life of a KFC member. What may only seem fun and casual to the kids are actually seeds that will bloom into the future we all hope for. What is the future that we hope to see? Let me share to you the vision of CFC Kids for Christ:

“A global ministry of faithful, loving, and enthusiastic children of God,
guided by the Holy Spirit in preparing Christ-like leaders
and instruments of hope and healing to families that bless the world.”

We gathered KFC coordinators from Metro Manila for a visioning workshop. Most of these coordinators have been faithfully serving in KFC for over a decade, and they all poured out their hopes and dreams of what KFC may become. As we processed the results of the workshop, the KFC council worked hard to express into a statement what the KFCs vision is, fully aligned to the CFC vision of “Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face of the Earth.”

It has become clear, we are to be in all countries of the world, a global ministry. What kind of kids are we molding? A KFC is a faithful kid, having a close relationship with Jesus through daily prayers. A KFC is a loving kid. They are children who love God, family, country, and neighbor. Lastly, they are enthusiastic kids who find that being Christian is cool, fun, and exciting! KFCs are prepared to be Christ-like leaders. We are molding the leaders of the future who follow Christ as their model. They will put an end to corruption and all the structures of evil that we see in our society today. The best and only way to effectively change the world is to evangelize the basic unit of society, the family. If kids will start their journey with the Lord at a very young age, they will be instruments of hope and healing to families, stopping the vicious cycle of sin that are passed on from generation to generation. KFC does not only evangelize the kid, but we also fully involve the parents in the journey of their children in knowing the Lord. We are envisioning the whole family to be evangelizers, making them a blessing to the world, renewing the face of the earth.

We want to make this vision a reality. We should see that every KFC activity is a step closer to what the Lord has called us to become. Responding to the KFC vision are our “KFC Mission Goals.” These are:

Kids Evangelization,
Family Enrichment,
Renewal of Society, and
Mission Support.

Kids Evangelization includes our Kids Camps, Kids Praise, and our monthly KFC sessions. Family Enrichment activities are the Father and Son Bond Camp, Mother and Daughter Camp, Family Ties Camp, and the Parents Assembly. For the Renewal of Society, we have the Gawad Kalinga Batang Bayani movement and the KFC advocacies namely, Batang Kalikasan (renewing the environment), Batang Business (promoting stewardship), Batang Media (responsible use of media and technology), Batang Malakas (health advocacy for strong mind and body). The goal of Mission Support is achieved through the Couple Coordinators trainings, Beyond Borders missions, Facilitators Training (ate/kuya *R.O.C.K. program), Kids with Special needs training, and the all the events that we have.

We foresee that our mission goals will be brought into the different sectors of society. We hope to bring KFC into all the schools (school based), baranggays and parishes (community based), and Gawad Kalinga sites (GK sagip). We also bring our goals to the children of the Mission Core, the KFC Mission Core Kids program. We also deliver our mission goals to those who are differently-abled and mentally challenged kids. We train our coordinators and facilitators to handle “special children” through the “Kids with Special Needs Training program” and hope to blend them effectively with the other regular kids during the KFC activities.

Let us not only dream of the future, let’s build it. We complain much about the world we live in today, but we do not realize that we have not acted early enough to change it. Today, we are alarmed of global warming, breakdown of morality, materialism, and rampant corruption to mention just a few. It will be disastrous if later we realize that we are one generation too late. I believe that CFC Kids for Christ will play a vital role in the coming decades. We will produce Christ-like leaders and instruments of hope and healing to families. KFC will bring forth a future full of hope. I challenge everyone to invest time and service for our kids. We are exhorted in the gospel reading:

“Then He took a child and had him stand if front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but the also the one who sent me.” Mark 9:36-37

The Lord gives us the power of vision. We are granted the power to see what this ministry can become. The direction is set, the future is clear. Let us adjust our sails towards our vision and let the wind of Holy Spirit bring us there!

We often ask kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

We have hopes for them. We are excited of the decision they will make. We want them to succeed in life.

The above question also reflects on our yearnings of how the kids of today can change the world of tomorrow. Will they become doctors that are pro-life? Will they be honest businessmen and politicians? Will many of them answer the call to religious vocation?

We often hear them answer, “I want to be a doctor.” Other popular answers are, “scientist, astronaut, fireman, and president.” Kids have dreams. And they mold their dreams based on what they see from their parents, their community, on TV, the internet, and at school.

Whatever their ambitions may be, the challenge is that we have to prepare them to be Christ-like. To be Christ-like engineers, nurses, lawyers, or artists. We hope to hear them answer, “I want to be like Christ” above anything else. A portion of KFC’s vision statement is “…guided by the Holy Spirit in preparing Christ-like leaders…” We have to be one in with our vision and start molding today’s kids to be like Jesus.

We hear much about Generation X or Generation Y, defining what kids are today and how technology, media, and culture are affecting the way they make decisions. In CFC Kids for Christ, we are raising “GENERATION CHRIST.” A new generation that loves the Lord and follows His ways. A generation where corruption will be a thing of the past and loving one’s fellowman is practiced by treating the poor as brothers and sisters. It is a generation where Christ is the center of their lives.

What is power? According to Dictionary.com it is the "ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something."

In the Philippine setting, it is usually connoted with politics or position. Is power really about position? I do not think so. Power is about making things happen according to your capacity or capability.

As I am now handling the Kids for Christ ministry, I see a lot of power in the kids. Some may say," What can kids do? Aren't they too small and too young to do anything significant?" Yes, they may be small and they may be young, but indeed they can impact the world like none other.

Kids can pray with the purest of intentions. Now, that's power. When they pray to God, surely God honors their petitions and thanksgiving. The Lord said, "Let the children come to me..."

Kids can share without pre judgement. When we give, we often judge the receiver, questioning their intentions. When kids give, they give with their whole heart. It is not easy for them to share for they act by instinct. But when they do, they emit a love so great, its life-changing.

Kids can build the nation. To date, we have 12 Gawad Kalinga Villages. They were built by the sacrifices of the kids by dropping coins in a cannister and helping build the village themselves. Small acts, great impact.

Kids have the power of prayer, the power of sharing, and the power to build. They do all these because of one main reason: love. Love is the greatest power anybody can possess. Kids may be small, but power is not about size, its about heart.