Do you remember your first Christmas Institute experience? What made it very memorable? Was it about new-found friends and the spiritual awakening you’ve had? Was it a heart-warming experience with God? A discovery of Christ and the wonderful adventure of following him?

A lot of young people attend the C.I. in the hopes of growing spiritually and at the very least meeting new friends. But leaders are concerned about the activities and the experiences that young people will, or should have during the C.I. How could you tell that the Christmas Institute is successful or not?

image credit: Cosmopolitan United Church

Attendance. A good attendance is surely great! It allows you to reach out to more youth and initiate them into a deeper relationship with Christ. It also means that you did your homework and promoted the C.I. well.

But remember that quantity attendance is good, but quality is even better!

Response to activities. No matter how many youth attended the C.I., you need to look at the response of the delegates to the planned activities. Are they participating? Do they ask questions and share their opinions? Do they talk about the activities when they are done? Such response would let you know if the activities are really suited to the delegates.

The best time to measure such responses is at night after all the activities. You should actively gather feedback from the delegates during or after the sessions. If you could prepare Evaluation forms for every activity, that would help you measure the success of each one. At night, gather the C.I. staff together and talk about the responses of the delegates. It doesn’t have to be a long discussion. It can simply be a run-through of observations.

Good feedback. More than the delegates, you should also gather feedback from pastors, deaconesses and parents. What are they saying about your activities? The delegates will certainly talk about their experiences. The parents will hear about it. And the pastors will also know about that. Such feedback, though, will have to be gathered after the Christmas Institute.

The above success indicators are during the C.I. What about after the Christmas Institute. How can we say that the C.I. achieved its goals of empowering the spiritual lives of the delegates?

Youth going to church regularly even 6 months after the CI. The tendency of a lot of C.I. delegates is to go to church regularly about two months after CI. After that, their fire dies down and then they will only go to church once in a blue moon. If the C.I. were successful, it means that young people will be encouraged to attend church worship services regularly.

You can measure this by getting a list of delegates and going to their churches six months after the CI. Sure this is hardwork and might take a bit of your time. But if you really want to understand the impact of CI, this would be a great exercise.

Delegates continue to grow spiritually even after the Christmas Institute. This is actually difficult to measure. But you can tell that a young person is growing spiritually if: 1) They have a personal quiet time, 2) they pray; 3) they participate in worship; 4) they help out in UMYF and church activities in the local church; 5) they exhibit personal change for the better.

Try interviewing the pastors and the members of local churches to get an idea about the spiritual lives of the young people who attended the C.I. This will give you a good idea about the impact of CI in their lives.

This might take a lot of work even after the CI but it is certainly necessary to make the necessary changes for succeeding CI’s.

At the very least, you should have a good CI evaluation form that every delegate has to accomplish at the end of the Christmas Institute.

What do you think makes the CI successful? How will your CI be memorable this year?

Here are further suggestions to the leaders and organizers of Christmas Institutes. If you don’t have a Christmas Institute, then these suggestions could also apply to your youth camps (Christmas, summer, or any other time of the year).

Bible Study Material. The leadership of the National United Methodist Youth Fellowship in the Philippines (NUMYFP) annually prepares a Bible Study material for use in the Christmas Institutes. This Bible Study Material is usually written by an experienced pastor or a bishop of the United Methodist Church. If you want to have an access to the Bible Study material for this week, contact your Annual Conference UMYFP leaderse and they can give you a copy. If your AC officers are not very active, then send me an email at penstalker(at)gmail.com and I will get a copy for you.

Involve the District Superintendent, the Pastors, Deaconesses and concerned Lay People in your District or Annual Conference. As Methodist youth, we are proud to proclaim that the Christmas Institute is a youth-led and youth-driven activity. But let us not forget that the C.I. is essentially a ministry of the church. So it would be better for all of us if we involved the district superintendents and the pastors in our districts and annual conferences. That way, we will get their support and they can also help us think about the effectiveness of our programs and the consistency of these events with our doctrines and traditions.

Give specific assignments to Church Workers. Church workers often do not attend UMYFP and UMYAFP activities because they do not have specific roles to do. They do not want to be simply spectators in the event. They also want to share with you their experiences and their knowledge. If you don’t do it, you might find opposition from them the next time you sponsor an event.

Give enough time for rest during the C.I. The most common temptation for C.I. planners and for the program committee is to use every possible hour for lectures, praise and worship, bible study, etc. While it may be true that idleness is the breeding ground of evil, the youth delegates also need some white space to process the lessons they are learning and interact with others. Without that “white space,” the delegates may just move from activity to activity without deeply understanding the lessons being taught.

Use Pinoy Christian Worship Music! A lot of youth groups are fascinated by the music of Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Matt Redman and United Live among others. It’s not wrong to use their music in worship. But I say, let us also use Pinoy Christian Worship Music to edify the name of God. After all, every knee, every tongue and every nation will give praise to God. So if we’re not using our own tongue in worshiping God, we may not be able to represent our nation in the banquet of God.

Think Long-Term. One of the most important questions you will have to answer is: “After Christmas Institute, what?” Think about the youth delegates when they go back to their homes and to their local churches? How can you ensure that they will live out meaningful lives for Christ? How can you ensure that they keep growing in the faith?

Not thinking for the long term is usually a fault of C.I. programs. A number of local churches are not just prepared to deal with the long term process of discipleship in the lives of young people. As you plan for the program of your Christmas Institute, think about how the CI can help the overall life of the youth delegates who will attend.

And lastly, never ever forget this: Pray Hard!!

Don’t you just wish sometimes that we Christians had a list of things that we can or cannot do; words that we can or cannot say; beverages that we can or cannot drink and foods that we can or cannot eat. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he tells them that “everything is permissible.” That is actually a good thing.

In Acts 10, we read about Peter being commanded by God to kill and eat the meat of animals considered by the Jewish religion as unclean. The Jewish religion was quite clear about what food were clean, which were unclean. If you eat unclean food, you also become unclean. But Jesus came to save us from the law of sin and death.

From a religion that has a long list of prohibited food and drinks, St. Paul said that “everything is permissible.” It means that you can eat and you can drink in the company of family and friends.

But is this a license for us to “eat, drink and be merry” to our hearts’ content?

Let’s read St. Paul’s further admonition: “everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial (NIV).” I am allowed to do anything but not everything is good for me. Paul also offers clear guidelines concerning the food we eat and the beverages we drink:

“But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.” (1 Cor 8:9-13)

We have considerable freedom in what we can eat and what we can drink. But that does not mean that we can do just about everything. A Christian’s consideration is not only about himself and what he enjoys. He or she also considers the situation of other believers and how they might be affected by anything he or she does.

There are a number of shades of grey in the Bible. If the Scriptures stipulated everything that we should or should not do, we might rebel against such strictness. But we can be rest assured that Christ has given us the Holy Spirit, who helps us discern the will of God for ourselves and for others.

If all we have are a list of rules, guidelines and a kind of “faith police” to implement such rules, then we will be following Christ out of a sheer sense of duty and fear of punishment and reprisal. But God promised to write the laws in our hearts. With the Holy Spirit, Jesus enables us to enjoy the light.

Even in the midst of the shades of grey of our faith and our lives, the light of Jesus’ shines through. Haven’t you noticed, the sunrise and the sunset can be breathtaking as they show the shades of grey and the interaction of light and darkness. Even in the sunrise, in the sunset and late at night, the sun shines on us. Shades of grey even make the presence of light brighter and sharper.

Meditate on the following questions.

What are areas of your life that you feel are in the shades of grey? Drinking? Eating? Sexuality?
How do you deal with shades of grey and unclear provisions in the Bible?

To our newly elected Bishop Rodolfo Juan and his wife, lay and clergy delegates, friends and visitors. May the grace and peace of God be with you all.

It is my joy to deliver once again the youth address of Pang-PAC-UMYFP to this august body, where you can hear the voices of the youth and share with you the ideas, plans, vision, mission, goals and hopes of the youth to their fellowship, to the church and to the community they belong. Thanks to our God for giving us this opportunity and avenue to speak the voices and advocacies of the youth through this address.

Our Fellowship

The United Methodist Youth Fellowship in the Philippines (UMYFP) or also known as the Kapatiran ng Nagkakaisang Kabataang Metodista sa Pilipinas (KNKMP) is the youth organization of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines. Its membership consists of young Methodists aging 12 to 23 who belong to the groups of high school and college students, out of school youth and young professionals with different needs and interests, however, they are active in participating in the affairs of the church and the society.

Our Vision, Mission and Goals

Vision

The UMYFP as a wholistic, dynamic and self-sustained community of faith nurtured in the life and teachings of Christ and Wesleyan tradition as advocates of social holiness, leaders of ecumenism and ministers of the Great Commission.

Mission

The UMYFP as an empowered community of faith committed in:

providing avenues for wholistic development of the youth;
living out the Wesleyan tradition;
intensifying evangelism and discipleship;
strengthening fellowship and ecumenical ties;
participating actively in transforming the nation;
upholding the Constitution and By-Laws of the organization and
developing sustainable income generating programs.

Goals

To provide avenues for wholistic development of the youth, the UMYFP aims to:

develop youth to be good stewards, prayer warriors, evangelists and ministers;
help the youth to be concerned with their health and to conduct recreational activities that also promote sportsmanship, camaraderie and fellowship;
advance God-given talents and skills and use them for God’s glory; and
to properly educate the youth on the relevant matters that directly affect their growth as individuals, partners, citizens and members of the society.

To live out the Wesleyan tradition, the UMYFP aims to:

promote the life of John Wesley to its members.

To intensify evangelism and discipleship, the UMYFP aims to:

form cell groups in discipling and mentoring the youth;
publish materials which will be circulated to all levels;
provide programs and creative evangelism and caravaning; and
open opportunities for mission exposure

To strengthen fellowship and ecumenical ties, the UMYFP aims to:

create programs that build healthy relatinoships within the organization;
encourage active participation to ecumenical, inter-denominational and inter-faith endeavors; and
promote awareness of the Biblical and Theological foundation of ecumenism through materials, studies, fora and trainings.

To participate actively in transforming the nation, the UMYFP aims to:

redefine leadership as a process of reshaping individual commitment and responsibility;
reach out, nurture and equip the youth to be socially-responsible persons of the society by organizing socially related programs and activities;
encourage the youth to practice the right to vote;
involve the youth in different socio-civic organization and community leadership; and
promote awareness and take a stand on issues that affect the country in general.

To uphold the Constitution and By-laws of the organization, the UMYFP aims to:

promote awareness of the Constitution among the youth in order to develop some understanding about UMYFP through organizing and spearheading seminars, trainings and discussions;
create a Module for teaching about the Constitution; and
seek assistance from the church to organize activities in the discussion of the constitution.

To develop sustainable income generating programs, the UMYFP aims to:

encourage its members to meet their financial obligations as provided for by the constitution;
formulate strategic plans to provide continuous financial assistance to all programs; and
allot sufficient and reasonable funds for every program to ensure implementation.

A Future with Hope in the Perspectives of the Youth

We are now living in a world full of strife, violence, corruption and all kinds of sin. It seems that we can never have a better future and hope. However, let us not be discouraged or dismayed because despite of all these things there is hope–God, our only hope and the hope for all men and women.

We are all clinging on this hope that gives life in death, light in darkness and joy in sorrow. We also firmly believe and we are confident enough that there is hope for the future if we just accept His gift–hope–as the Bible says in II Thessalonians 2:16, “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope.”

As we accepted this gift, let us share it to everyone because we, as an empowered community of faith, were called to be light in the world that lies in the darkness and shine like a beacon of love in the night and make the glory of God be known to all.

Concluding Remarks

Now you have heard our vision, our mission, our goals and our perspectives. It is our hope and prayer that the church will help and work with us to fulfill these things and put it into reality and to bear these burdens with us. Let us work hand-in-hand for His kingdom and glory.

Let me end this address with a prayer, “Our God, holy and infinite, our living hope, we trust into your hands our future and we pray for you to continue to guide us as we journey towards a future with hope. Amen.”