YFC International Leader's Conference Photos:
snapshots are in the photos section of this blog.
pictures by: amanda (click the pic to access her blog)
Apparently I’ve come to realized that this summer is one of the busiest vacations I’ve ever experienced. I wasn’t able to update my blog as frequently as possible because there are a lot of factors which prevents me to do so. A lot of things happened to me lately. One of which is realizing that debate is something I enjoy. As Carlo has said it’s a lifestyle and slowly I’m learning why it is called so. It requires a lot from each debater. Everyday is exciting because I always learn something new. Last Friday I didn’t sleep because I was excited for the International Leader’s Conference (ILC) held at Subic. Our meeting place was Starbucks metro walk. Apparently, we found out that Starbucks was still closed at 4am. So we’ve waited for everyone else instead. Then, we started to go to St. Francis’ church to ride our bus. Fast forward…. In Subic we’ve seen how many YFC delegates there are. They were Metro Manila (the most number of Delegates), Luzon , Vizayas, Mindanao and YFC International delegates. Of course I’m part of the Metro Manila delegation from Central A-3 Greenhills. The ILC was a blast. It kicked off with an opening worship that was held on the first night of our stay. It started out with a big bang with fireworks lighting up the sky. It was a perfect sight to see. Different colors painted the oblivious sky. It was a kind of worship that I haven’t experienced before. Imagine 9.000 youths gathering and singing with all their might for the man up there! It was overwhelming. The following day, there was a mass for the late pope John Paul II. In the end of the mass we sang the World Youth day song. The moment I heard it, there is this feeling of sadness that is piercing my heart. I don’t know where it’s coming from but I tried hard not to cry. The ILC provided a lot of time for me to bond with my fellow YFCers. It provided an avenue to praise and worship our God and at the same time to have fun as well. I never thought that religion and fun could blend. But it happened! I’ve realized that the highlight of this event is actual everything. It was an experience worth experiencing. It taught me a lot and it goes beyond mental maturity. For example for the very first time in my life I slept in the sidewalk! I’ve learned how to humble myself. We had the entire city to ourselves. The event was staged in 5 key points in the city namely open field, gym, tent city , parking lot and I forgot the other one. A lot of activities were done to the point were you are going to find it hard to find time for you to sleep (literally). In fact I only slept for 2 hours in my first night and none at all in the second night. My favorite event was 100% pure party where in we all wore white and it was also our magazine launch. Another party was done on the night of our arrival. So there were 2 celebrations which made Subic the ultimate party place. Several contests were done simultaneously. Apparently, metro manila came home with most of the awards. We tried hard in basketball but that was it. Most of our awards were from performing arts category like acapella singing, praise parade etc. We, the boys, had foster parents during our stay in Subic. They really took care of us and we’ve experienced the hospitality the pinoy’s. In fact, the son of our foster parents even showed us around Subic. ILC is difficult to put into words. The bottom line is its so much fun. It’s the best thing I’ve experienced in YFC.
