F.I. YOUTH ENCOUNTER IN EL SALVADOR
- Details
- Category: Sample Data-Articles
- Published on Monday, 24 October 2022 12:03
- Written by Marianne Andrea Quitorio and Heart Maxine Quitorio
- Hits: 175
The F.I Youth Encounter was conducted in El Salvador last October 21-22, 2022. It was a two-day encounter with God and with 21 young people. In that encounter, we were guided by the Hijas de Jesus sisters together with Miss Krisna Gregorios of the Hijas de Jesus Youth Ministry Team
All throughout the program, there were activities to help us encounter, know and share God's grace and presence. We encountered God by seeing Him in each other's life stories. We shared our personal experiences which enabled us to comprehend the Lord’s unique, meaningful and significant ways of leading us to His loving friendship.
The first day of the program started with a creative introduction of ourselves using adjectives that best describe us. This was to take away awkwardness and fear as we meet and make new friends. Then we were taught the basic guidelines for reading the Bible and praying over biblical texts. We were given a biblical text to pray and reflect on, then followed by the group sharing of how the Word of God could be related to our real-life experiences.
Representatives of each group reported insights and learnings after listening to each one’s life experiences. After all the group reports, we had a common realization that we just need to trust God in all challenges and difficulties that we encounter in life and God will enlighten and guide us along the way.
After the big group sharing, we had the activity “Trust Walk ” which led us to know how different people face difficult situations. That activity guided us into really trusting in God and in others.
Sr. Fe Teodosio, F.I. shared her vocation story, especially her experience of deep trust in the Lord. We, then gathered ourselves in front of the grotto of Mother Mary to pray the Holy Rosary. To end the day, we shared our learnings, takeaways, or insights on the day’s experiences and what we want to change in ourselves.
On the second day, we did our morning prayer and thanksgiving for all that had happened on the first day. We were given the chance to express our gratitude in a single word or phrase about our FI Youth Encounter. After that, we attended the eight a.m. Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine, then we gathered again for the giving of the tokens. We expressed our gratitude to the Youth Ministry Team and the Hijas de Jesus sisters in El Salvador for the meaningful experience of the Youth Encounter.
This encounter brought us to the realization that we should trust in God because He has given us all the blessings. He will never give us obstacles, challenges, and problems that we can't overcome with His grace. Sometimes problems and challenges could be blessings in disguise, a way to learn from those experiences and would make us grow as persons of deep faith in the Lord.
God is the writer of our Life, therefore we should trust His plans and allow Him to mold us into the best version of ourselves. Moreover, we should not just rely upon our human desires and dreams in life, but we must align them with what God wants us to be. Through this FI Youth Encounter, we were able to strengthen our faith by trusting in God’s loving and merciful Heart.
IMPRESSIONS:
I am grateful that I joined this activity: the FI Youth Encounter. I gained new friends and obtained more knowledge about God. This encounter also helped me to be closer to God. Patrick Virtudazo
I am thankful and satisfied with what I learned. I gained new friends, and I also thank all those who joined in this event, those who prepared and organized it, and Jesus. June Earl Mayo-an
At first, I was a bit nervous, but I was also excited. I might not be able to feel close to those who will join the camp, but when the encounter started, I observed that the participants are friendly. I also liked the activities especially the sharing, praying, and having fun with the parlor games. Kyla Virtudazo
Our experience of this encounter speaks more of joy and satisfaction. We met a new circle of friends, and we thank God for this wonderful experience. We also thank Sr. Felie Acelo, F.I.for inviting us to this event.
Clyde Bacasmot and Ejay Balauro
MORE PICTURES
