We Will Weather ANY Storm!

Please don't forget to keep checking A Call To Arms, and letting ALL the CFC members you know about it to leave their name and show support for the IC in their efforts to protect our name. See the latest update on 6-20-08: Frank's open letter to CFC-FFL.

All 27th Anniversary entries are HERE, and don't forget to visit the official Couples for Christ website for more anniversary pictures.

Here are some youtube vids to keep you busy while I compile the pictures:

"You Will Never Walk Alone"


Tito Joe Tale leading the singing of You Will Never Walk Alone, with everybody joining in.


A video uploaded to youtube showing part of the celebrations.



Our anniversary celebrations have been on-going and pictures are being sent to me already. I'll be posting them in our Flickr album as soon as I can process them.

Also, great news for those who won't be able to make the anniversary celebrations at Luneta!

Here's the message from the UMC:

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are happy to announce that our anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 21, 2008, at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta will be telecast globally via the internet. So, just like our January leaders' conference, you will again be able to see the proceedings live and share in the joy of the Grand Homecoming.

Here's how:

1. Download TVUPLAYER at www.tvunetworks.com

2. Go to Channel 61713.

3. Please use Microsoft Internet Explorer or simply go to www.GK1WORLD.NET using Internet Explorer.

This promises to be an exciting anniversary, especially since we expect about 35,000 members to be there, making this our largest-ever celebration. Watch for the Harvest Parade, street dancing and a major fireworks display. We have something to celebrate -- 27 years of God's goodness and providence and His Hand in everything that we experience.

The anniversary celebrations officially start at 4 PM. See you all at this time on Saturday, even if for some of you, it will only be on cyberspace. Spread the word, please, so that more people can share in our unity and rejoicing.

God bless you all!!

And another message that I was not able to post because I wanted to give the previous entry time to sink in:

Dear brothers,

Just a few announcements/reminders re our fast approaching anniversary:

1. Tickets

Our entrance tickets (sim cards) which is priced at P50.00 will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday afternoon. Because our venue is so wide open, we would like to avoid any difficulties with non-collection of the fees. The method recommended at the latest meeting of the sector heads/area heads last night, June 16, was therefore pre-collection of the fees. Please have the stickets that you signified you needed for your respective areas picked up and distributed to your members before the anniversary. We would like to limit walk-ins to a manageable number.

Pleae remind your members to put the tickets in their ID holders so that it will be easy for our marshals to see them.

2. Sponsorship

We would like our GK brethren to also enjoy the activities and the fun events at our anniversary. They are part of our family. The Sector Heads and Area Heads are requested to ask their GK Project Directors to ensure that they have secured sponsors for the tickets of the GK beneficiaries they will be bringing to the anniversary.

3. Mobilization

Mobilize, mobilize, mobilize. This is our call. We would like to make this anniversary the biggest ever, the most fun-filled. We would like to shout to the world that we are indeed one, global, united community.

Mobilization is also key to our making this event self-liquidating. We have already succeeded in managing the debts we have inherited such that it is now just a very small fraction of the total indebtedness. Let us help one another make this anniversary a success, not just in the preparations but financially. Let us continue being good stewards of our resources.

Thank you very much and God bless.

FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL AND THE ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE:


CFC UGNAYAN MULTIMEDIA CENTER
COUPLES FOR CHRIST

You can download the Anniversary schedule of activities HERE.

For some more good news, if any of you attended the GLOBAL LEADERS' ASSEMBLY at the Valle Verde Country Club, you already know that Tito Joe Tale announced that as of June 19, CFC is officially debt-free!

There is still the P1.187M bridge-fund that is still outstanding, but there has been enough contributed to the OTBT (P300,000.00) to pay off the last remaining balance of the RCBC loan!

Of course, with the highs, we must contend with a few lows. I'm sure you have all seen in the commentary of the previous entry the upcoming tropical storm that can potentially make things a bit wet for us at Luneta, ironically dubbed Tropical Storm FRANK. Pagasa gives us this radar tracking image:


Is it just me or has the Lord got a sense of humor or what? Not only has this unseasonal storm been dubbed Frank, its track also resembles a trumpet.

All I can say is: Pray. Pray for the best weather, pray for the best event ever, and pray that this will just be the storm before the calm. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless our anniversary and help it usher in lasting peace, not only in our community, but across the globe.

CFC Leaders Conference

This much anticipated event is even more exciting because it is going global via the internet! The new CFC website has all the information you need, but I'm giving it here too for all of you:

Here are some reminders:

1. Area heads, council members, country heads and coordinators who will be in Manila for the activity are part of the parade and are expected to be at the Araneta Center at 9 AM on Saturday for the rehearsal. Please submit your names to Gina Nagrampa at the Home Office (7270681/7270707) not later than 12 noon of Wednesday, January 9. You will have reserved seating at the courtside. Please enter through the South Gate. The gate will be closed at 10:30 AM and latecomers will not be allowed to enter after this time. They will have to join the rest of the assembly when the gates open at 12 noon. Please remember that only those in the list of submitted names will be allowed to enter at this time.

2. Please bring your provincial/country CFC flag and a flagpole

3. Those who cannot come to Manila will still have the opportunity to be part of the activity. The event will be beamed via Internet Protocol TV worldwide. There are two ways by which the event can be viewed:

1. By downloading your TVU player:

a. Go to tvunetworks.com

b. Download TVU player

c. Go to Channel 63256 (the Philippine Events Channel)

2. Via the CFC webpage

a. Go to cfclc.couplesforchristglobal.org

b. This is the CFC official web page.

c. This is an interactive site and you can simply follow instructions that will allow you to see the live feed of the event as well as to email comments/messages that will be projected on the giant screen on stage.

You would need to log in between 1 PM to 6 PM, Manila time.

I'll be trying to send a message online as well. =) Hope to see you all there!

The Music of Hope - A Mini-Review

In a previous entry, I had invited you all to support the 29AD band in their benefit concert for the HO. Those attended the Music of Hope event were treated to a wonderful show. I personally came away from it quite impressed with the assembled talents of all the performers. All in all, it was a very well put together show, from the front acts to the extremely funny hosts. It was well worth the money, especially considering it was something meant to benefit the HO and not the performers who gave it their all.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting something so well put together, having been jaded by some big name commercial events I've been to that was sadly lacking in coordination and sometimes...talent. This was not the case here. In fact, for such an assembly of acts and talents, I would have gladly paid double for my ticket. It was THAT GOOD.

However, there are a few things I feel I have to relate to you all. I am not the type to sugar coat anything, and I hope no one takes what I have to say personally. I have no wish to offend or discourage anybody involved in its production, least of all the awesome talents who took the stage and I was privileged to witness. First off, it was COLD. The Arena was a great venue for this event, no doubt, but somebody from the North Pole had control of the A/C! I was looking around half expecting to see the big guy in his red suit and bag of gifts. People around me were shivering in their seats. I personally am used to cold weather but this was a bit much. More than a few people left intermittently to warm themselves outside. I actually forgot I was in the Philippines for a couple of hours, half expecting to see snow piled up on the parking lot outside. I jest, but you get the picture. It seemed to me that the temperature in the Arena contributed to an early exit by some of those in attendance. When you attend an event to watch people perform, you really don't want to have your attention diverted by outside influences, in this case, the temperature. Next, in retrospect, maybe this event should not have been held on a Friday. The traffic was unbearably bad, especially in that area. It might have turned off some people, and I noticed that in the turnout. Considering the caliber of the acts and assembled talents, I really expected more people to attend. I am glad for those who did, but I had personally wanted to see more people there. I know it's the season and all, I know all about the traffic, and I do know that we have been giving a lot for the community, but this was a show well worth the drive, the money, and the time. I can't express that enough. I had a great time! I hope you don't miss the next concert, I am quite sure it will be just as good.

To those who made it, thank you! To those who missed it...here's a little video of the highlights sent in by one of our blogger friends. Forgive the bad editing, this is my first time using Microsoft's Movie Maker, hehe. There were a couple of pictures sent in too, I hope those of you who took pictures can send me some so that I can add it here and to our Flickr site.







Some pics:



The 5 Bars (previously 4, hehe)



Kenosis Band

Oh Happy Day!

SEND ME YOUR PICTURES!

More photos here, I'll be adding to them as I receive more.

Direct link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20917674@N04

It is with great excitement that I invite you all to a grand CFC gathering to be held at the Ultra Stadium on December 2, 2007:

"A Time To Dance"

I believe that this is just the medicine that CFC needs; fancy footwork, colored lights, and UNITY. It is very, very exciting news and I hope that every one of the readers of this blog makes it a point to be a part of it. Please forward this to all you know and get your dancing shoes ready. =)

Who knows, maybe we'll see each other there?

ps

I made this entry the first ever resident of the new "Events and Announcements" section on the right side over there -->

It Just Keeps Getting Better

UPDATE: Date and Venue Changed.

Friends, lets us support Kenosis in their own benefit concert for the Home Office, appropriately titled "For All You've Done", to be held at 8PM on Dec. 19, 2007 at Pearl Hall, SEAMEO-Innotech, Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City. It is sure to be a fun filled evening full of God, music, praise, and best of all brotherhood (and sisterhood of course!).




This is also a reminder that A Time To Dance is only a couple of days away! I personally can't wait until we can all dance together in an awe inspiring show of Love and Unity.

See you ALL there!

A United Front

If you ask me, I'd have to say that the CFC International Council has weathered this storm like the true captains of this great ship of ours. They have displayed great restraint, dignity, and resolve in steering us through this crisis to ensure that the CFC community emerges from its trials and lamentations intact and full of renewed faith. It was no small task, in fact I saw it as something almost too daunting to take on.

It is in this spirit that I'd like all of you to help me HELP THEM. I know you all have done your part to contribute to the community, in helping spread the truth, and keeping the faith that we'll get through this crisis, but for the Home Office, the troubles are not over. For those who attended this past MC Teaching Night and was able to see the presentation on the current financials, it is no secret that our tithes have not equaled their overhead costs. The HO has done its part in massively cutting down its expenses, but with the decline in tithes brought on by the exodus of some of our members to the FFL, it has not been quite enough. So, I'm asking you all to show join me in showing our appreciation for a job well done to the IC and the whole HO staff, from the ftw's to the volunteers. Every little bit counts, and each will represent a small but important part of a solid and UNITED FRONT.

Some have already started on their own, our friends, the musicionaries from the 29AD band are putting together a benefit concert for the HO and the ftw's. Here's their invite:

Music of Hope

When: December 14, 2007, Friday, 6:30 in the evening

Where: The Arena, San Juan City

Help our CFC home office and full-time workers. Experience a night of music, dance and praise with the 29AD, Kenosis, Central-C Band, Rene Henson and the 4Bars.

Ask your household heads. Bring your whole family, neighbors, officemates, classmates, and friends!

Help us find sponsors too!

As the song goes --- why don't you give love on Christmas day!

Tickets available at the CFC Center and at the gates.

Ticket prices

Court Seat @ P200

Ring Side @P150

Lower Box @P100

Upper Box @P50

Contact Phil de Guzman thru mobile number 0922-8149446 / 0919-5536753 or landline number 727-9607 or Gina Nagrampa at landline number 727-0682 to 87 loc. 37.

God loves you! God bless you!

and the flyer:



UPDATE: A video trailer!




It will no doubt be a very entertaining evening, and I enjoin you all to invite not just fellow CFC'ers, but ALL your friends and family. Hindi naman kayo ipapahiya ng 29AD, hehe. I'll be posting this invite and the link to the invitation in their very own blog (please comment on their blog too to show our wholehearted support) in our E&A section, as well as reminding you all a few days before the event. Matagal pa kasi eh, baka makalimutan nyo. =)


As for the rest of us? Well, if there was ever a time that CFC needed each and every one of us, it is now. I'll see you all on Dec. 2, and you can bet I'll be paying double for my ticket. It's the least I can do.

Brighter Days II - 21st anniversary of CFC in Quezon Province

Another great day for CFC!

Date- Oct 21, 2007

Venue- Alcala Sports Complex, Lucena City

Event- 21^st Anniversary of CFC in Quezon Province

Amidst cloudy skies, thunderstorms and a short downpour, about 6,000 strong CFC members and their families attended the 21st year Anniversary celebration of CFC in Quezon Province. To kick off this year’s event, a motorcade went around the city of Lucena. The Alcala Sports Complex was the venue for this year’s grand anniversary. The celebration at the venue was heralded by cheers and chants from each of the 6 sectors.

CFC Quezon is composed of more or less 12,000 active members. The members of the Governance Team are;

Jun Oabel- Area Director
Benjie De Ocampo- Mission and Evangelization
Eric Oliveros- Family Ministries
Paul Pinera- Pro Life and Tekton Guild
Raul Tolentino- Gawad Kalinga
Andy Alquiros- Social Ministries and Special Ministries
Rene Martinez- sits as an Ex Officio member and handles Pastoral Formation.

The Spiritual Director of CFC-Quezon, Monsignor Dennis Imperial officiated in this year’s anniversary mass. In his homily, he spoke about the importance of prayer. He exhorted everyone to be consistent in their prayer time. His reminder to all is to always be; “manatiling mananalig”.

During the agape lunch, different Family Ministries entertained the crowd with their colorful presentations. The weather lifted shortly after lunch, giving way to a beautiful afternoon of thanksgiving and fellowship. The program proper started with an Anniversary Message from our Brother Joe Tale . The highlight of the event was the Field Demonstration competition of the different sectors. Everyone eagerly looked forward to the grand raffle. Various prices were given out. The major prize was a motorcycle unit. The afternoon ended with a spirit filled Praise fest. Indeed GOD has blessed our brothers and sisters in the province of Quezon with 21 colorful years. Hallelujah!

The pics:

Willie and Teresing Alquiros, the original couple who started CfC Lucena. STILL with CfC!

Thanks goes out to Mrs. Marivie Dalman who supplied the pictures and great write-up!

Brighter Days

I am sharing tidbits I've received in my email today.

First is the official statement of CFC Southern Leyte.



The PDF file can be downloaded HERE.

Direct link:
http://www.zshare.net/download/45471848089c97/

Please share with all our concerned brothers and sisters.

Up next is East B's Evangelization and Pastoral Congress Assembly.

They have their own write-up =)

Truly as a fitting title in the last Ugnayan issue, "the Sun Rises In The East”, It always does! East B Sector, in particular, magnificently rises above the difficulties and challenges that had gripped our beloved Community in recent times brought about by leadership crisis.

Many have thought, albeit erroneously, that because of residency and strong presence in East B territory of the two top CFC leaders who resigned from the Council (Bro Frank & Bro Lachie), the sector was heading for a serious rift among its closely-knit members to spell doom for its existence.

But God has shown once again His benevolence and gracious love to His special children in the East! On October 14th, Sunday, East B Sector successfully held its Evangelization and Pastoral Congress Assembly at Marist School in Marikina . No less than the youngest International Council member, Bro. Melo Villaroman Jr., and his indefatigable wife, Nini, graced the occasion and were completely awed and blessed by the throngs of joyful leaders and members who filled the Marist School Gym to the rafters. They came in droves all the way from Montalban/San Mateo in the North and from Antipolo in the South to join their Lower Antipolo/Marikina brethren chanting a common cry: “Solid, Solid, Solid!”

It was indeed a feastful day of merriment and renewed camaraderie never before experienced by God’s East B Army! God has allowed all things for a purpose. For East B, it is a prodding to move on holding hands, surge forward together with joy and gladness in serving our only Lord!

“Solid, Solid, Solid!”

Sounds like a fitting battlecry, right?

Here are the pics:







Lastly, I'd like to direct your attention to the CFC North B blog for pictures from the 2007 GK1World event at Mall of Asia. I hope many of you attended, and if you did, please share your experiences in our forums.

GK1World at the Mall of Asia (MOA)

Please join us in making the "Salo-Salo" with GK partners and kapitbahayan/beneficiaries a truly enjoyable evening on Friday, Oct. 26, at the start of the GK1World at the Mall of Asia (MOA)

After the salo-salo from 5:30 -8:00 pm, HOLD and our brothers comprising The Second Vision Band (they played at the Shindig) will jointly transform the place into an evening of Saya and Sayaw with GK partners, friends and our brothers and sisters. In short, dancing into... retro, ballroom, line dancing, maski-pops, macarena, boogie, reggae... be in your flat or comfortable shoes /sandals (pavers kasi ang floor)

(Thanks to Mina for the text =)

See you guys tonight, the talk on the forums is, wear orange, red, or blue. =)

Happy Birthday Frank!

May God bless you on this and the rest of your days.

In honor of the day of your birth, I'd like to post a couple of pictures of you in happier times.




Just to remind you, these pictures were taken at the national launching of Gawad Kalusugan as the health program of GK, last sept 30, 2005 at Valle Verde Country Club, Pasig. If you remember, it was sponsored by three pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Wyeth and Unilab.

This was covered in the Jan-Feb 2006 issue of Ugnayan.

The One Nation For God Prayer Rally

As a change of pace, I'd like to draw your attention to this event that happened at the Ultra yesterday. Here is the flyer:

Here is an article about it by Boy Montelibano that was posted in the comments section by Broadkaster43 of the CfC North B Sector blog. Thank you for this, Broadkaster43.

In a rare display of solidarity, four renewal and covenanted Christian communities joined hands in a beautiful and spirit-filled prayer rally with the united purpose of working together to do battle with the evil of poverty and the curse of hunger afflicting millions of Filipinos. Spurred by the urgings of Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales citing Pope Benedict XVI who declared that communities cannot be truly Christian when they are unable to resolve the poverty in their midst, Bukas Loob sa Dios, Focolare, Light of Jesus, and CFC/Gawad Kalinga committed themselves to address hunger in our midst, especially Metro Manila which is experiencing shocking levels of hunger incidences.

From the homily of the mass to the emotional sharing of painter Joey Velasco and Bo Sanchez to the exhortation of Tony Meloto and an hour of praise and worship led by GK Executive Director Luis Oquiñena, the whole event raised the spirit and resolve of more than 5,000 Christians who committed themselves to serve Jesus by serving the least among us.

To put flesh to the fired-up spirit of the occasion, Ric Pascua of BLD led the elders and members of the four communities to a Covenant of Solidarity. The covenant is self explanatory and will be introduced to many other groups from the Church, from Business, from the academe, from civil society and also from national agencies and local government units.

Gawad Kalinga was instrumental in bringing the four communities together as all four have their respective engagements with Gawad Kalinga already - directly or indirectly. Three have GK villages while the fourth has been donating homes to the GK village that Joey Velasco is building for the street children in his painting and their families.

Each community will be contributing to an comprehensive and integrated campaign aptly called Feed My Sheep. Specifically intended to address hunger in Metro Manila which is suffering from an unusually high incidence of involuntary hunger, the Feed My Sheep campaign will solicit multi-sectoral support and resources and design a feeding/food distribution system asking all to be part of the infrastructure.

The message was clear. In prayer, the communities of believers heard a single reminder - that Jesus is fed, clothed and sheltered when the least among us are fed, clothed and sheltered. It is a time for Christian love to be manifested, and manifested powerfully in the face of massive poverty and growing hunger in our midst.

May the Lord bless us with courage and generosity.


COVENANT OF SOLIDARITY

WE, MEMBERS OF VARIOUS LAY MOVEMENTS, CHARISMATIC GROUPS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND SCHOOLS MAKE THIS COVENANT TO HELP ERADICATE HUNGER AND BUILD A CULTURE OF LOVE AS WE WORK TOGETHER TO RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGES, SOCIAL NEEDS, AND SUFFERINGS OF OUR TIMES AS OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. WE UNITE IN SHARING OUR TIME, TALENTS & TREASURE SHOWING OUR LOVE AND SOLIDARITY FOR JESUS WHO IS PRESENT IN THE WEAK, THE POOR, AND THE HUNGRY.

WE COMMIT TO ACT CONCRETELY AND MOBILIZE OURSELVES TO SUPPORT THE FEED MY SHEEP CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED HERE TODAY AND GIVE DIGNITY TO THE HUNGRY IN OUR COUNTRY. WE WILL HELP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARISM OF OUR MOVEMENT, ORGANIZATION, GROUP OR SCHOOL IN THIS ENDEAVOR.

SO HELP US GOD.

Here is a video of all the representatives reciting the covenant.

Some pictures from this historic event:


The choir composed of singers from the different charismatic communities, singing as one.

A view from the bottom to the top.

Joey Velasco (Light of Jesus Community) telling his moving story about the children of Hapag.

Bear in mind that this was the first time these charismatic groups have come together under one roof to pledge support to one goal, a very worthy cause!