God sent 5 active young students for this Youth Mission Outreach

The Aims of this Mission Outreach:

•    To let the participants from North America experience what God is doing through the ministry of IVCF Philippines.
•    To let the participants listen to the Word of God using the IVCF Quiet Time Guides, reflect on the meaning and message of God after each day’s activities, study the Bible through the IVCF inductive method, and have spiritual retreats during the mission outreach.
•    To let the participants share the gospel to high school and college students in the Philippines, particularly in Metro Manila.
•    To let the participants be IVCF staff partners in reaching out students with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through holistic ministries.

Participants: God sent 5 active young students for this Youth Mission Outreach:

•    Andrew Malincon, member of Balikatan Youth & International Christian Fellowship, New York.
•    Victor Perez, Balikatan Youth from Vancouver, Canada.
•    Joshua Ninonuevo, member of International Christian Fellowship, New York.
•    Gabrielle Ninonuevo, member of International Christian Fellowship, New York.
•    Mikaela Louise Marasigan, member of International Christian Fellowship, New York.

IVCF staff members who participated in this Mission Outreach:

•    National Office staff: Erickson Velardo (National Director), Di Fernandez (ISCF National Coordinator), Dot Velardo (Communications).
•    Metro Manila Regional Staff: Mutya Febre, Shebel Solmia, Rhoda Estrada, Johanna Hurtada Dolotallas, Reinstary Arlegui and Rafael Magdalon.

School & universities that the participants visited:

•    University of the Philippines, Manila,
•    Quezon City Science High School,
•    Philippine Christian University,
•    University of the Philippines, Diliman,
•    Ateneo de Manila.

There were other schools that the participants were scheduled to visit but various reasons hindered them from doing so:

•    Philippine Science High School – no classes because of Influenza A(H1N1) scare.
•    Polytechnic University of the Philippines – participants were not allowed to enter the university gate because they did not have Identification Cards (ID).
•    Imus Institute and Delpha High School in Cavite - because of the typhoon.

Housing: The Balikatan Youth participants were divided into 3, and were assigned to live with different staff members. The young men lived with staff with family at the IVCF Building, while the young ladies lived in the IVCF Ladies Staffhouse.

Transportation: The participants experienced different modes of transportation in Metro Manila. They rode the tricycles, jeepneys, buses, trains and taxicabs.

Food: The participants had breakfast with hosts.  They ate at local restaurants and fast food places, like Jollibee and Chow King. And part of living in Metro Manila, we went to different shopping malls, like SM.

Fellowship with IVCF staff: They had many opportunities to have fellowship with IVCF staff members both field staff and National Office staff. We all enjoyed meals together, celebrating God’s blessings at the IVCF Building.

Meeting with IVCF ND: The National Director presented to the 5 young Christians the vision, mission, programs and ministry report of last school year.  After the presentation, they were led to study the Bible focusing the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ from the gospel of Matthew.
Reflection Questions: At the end of each day the participants were encourage to answer these questions to reflect on their experiences and what God is teaching them.
•    What was the most significant part of this day and why?
•    What was my most fulfilling experience today?
•    What was my most difficult or frustrating experience today?
•    Is there any story I want to remember?
•    What is God teaching me from the day?
•    Have I shown a loving spirit towards those I spent time with today?

Finances & Missions: The participants also experience paying for every expense during the mission outreach.  This setup let them understand that doing cross-cultural missions had its financial cost. They were able to practice generosity by sharing their financial resource to staff members as they pay for all the transportation and food expenses.