austraLasia #2246

Homegrown Filipino youth ministry model (the Virac model)
(this article was provided by a Salesian)

CATANDUANES: 5th September 2008 -- People often wonder what good can come from the little island of Catanduanes. During the rainy season, all that Virac offers to the Philippines are reports of typhoons about to enter our country’s area of responsibility. But here comes the Youth Encounter, tagged with the distinctive mark: Virac Model.
    The shepherd’s loving concern
    It all begins with Jesus. After all, he is the youth minister par excellence. As model, he presents himself as the good shepherd, going in search for the sheep and leading them to good pasture. With this perspective, we can say that the Youth Encounter is the fruit of the shepherd’s loving concern for the young people of the Philippines.As early as 1971, Bishop Jose Sorra, then bishop of Virac (Catanduanes), passed on his shepherd’s concern to a young, energetic priest, Fr. Jose Molina. Together, they paired to develop, conduct, and evaluate a basic Christian formation module for young people. Thus was born the Youth Encounter, Virac model.
    Made in the Philippines!
    The Youth Encounter is a formation program “Made in the Philippines,” unlike many other formation programs for adults and youth that are traced to movements in Europe, the USA, or Australia. It brings together materials from the Scriptures and from many other sources. But it selects, combines, and arranges them in a compact module that “only Filipinos can create for their fellow Filipinas and Filipinos.”
    Fr. Ping Molina (later, Monsignor) once attested: “We created this formation module, aware that the young people were living in the era of the martial law.” Those were difficult times, but the response of the Church then and still now has always been the building of basic ecclesial communities. This explains why the Youth Encounter carries a strong slant towards community building. In fact, within the main session of the Youth Encounter, the young come in contact with the overall Encounter dream, today shared by so many other people: “Remove crowd! Build community.” Through this basic formation program, hopefully the young people would be empowered from within to do their share in the building of genuine communities both in Philippine society as well as in the Church.
    Ever relevant and effective!
    Since 1986, the Youth Encounter has been conducted in countless parishes, centers, and schools throughout the Philippines (and also Asia). It has reached the youth in the rural areas. Often, the facilitators had to manage with an ordinary classroom in the public school, serving as session hall and dormitory, or a large hall in the parish compound with the adults of the parish preparing the meals. It has reached the youth in the urban and progressive areas, with first class facilities and equipment in retreat houses or in the beach resorts or summer residences of privileged families. It has been conducted for the young inmates in the Bilibid Penitentiary, for government workers in Makati City, for seminarians, postulants, and novices in formation. It has been proclaimed loud and clear through signs and gestures for the deaf in Manila. It has gone as far north as Ilocandia and Cagayan Valley and has reached the shores of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi.

In all these experiences, one refrain rings out. “The Youth Encounter is ever relevant and effective!”

What accounts for such a high success rate?
(1) In the Youth Encounter, Jesus himself is at work. As he did with the disciples of Emmaus, he continues to journey with the young participants, and gradually leads them to the discovery of themselves, of others, and of God himself. Because of Jesus, indeed so many young people also say: “Were not our hearts burning?”
(2) In the Youth Encounter, the young people are at their best. The young participants come as they are, with their positive and negative points. But the facilitators, most of whom are young, meet them with youthful energy and enthusiasm. There are adult facilitators, priests, sisters, teachers, but often they stay in the background. Those in the front line during the sessions are young people, themselves renewed by the Youth Encounter. Moreover, behind the sessions are the young people who spend time in the chapel, often in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and storm heaven with their prayers.
(3) In the Youth Encounter, the Filipino culture shines out. There is an atmosphere of welcome that only the legendary Filipino hospitality can create, often in the most simple and frugal settings. There are group activities, gradually leading to gut-level sharing and fellowship. Participants, far and wide, will always remember their “Circles of Love.” There is youthful openness and spontaneity, sharing and teamwork, concern and love. The “Free Expression” corner provides a venue for expressing themselves, but participants can always approach facilitators and fellow participants. There is prayer, and the deep encounter with a loving and affirming God. Are not the Filipinos known as the most religious in the world?
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Title: australasia 2246
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces FIN
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2246