The author has since graduated from high school. She mentioned an article in the November-December 2002 issue. We are working to have all our back issues, from the first in September-October 1988, available online.

The main website of Couples for Christ is www.cfcglobal.org.ph/ . On the ‘Home Page’ under ‘CFC’s Seven Pillars’ click on ‘Family Ministries’ and you’ll find the link to the Youth for Christ page.

Dear Father Seán Coyle,

Greetings!  I’m Charisse Flerida Pasaje and this is my first time to write a letter to a missionary.  I’m a third year high school student at St Catherine’s College, Carcar, Cebu,  run by  Dominican Sisters (Congregación de Religiosas Misioneras de Sto Domingo).

Father, have you heard about Youth for Christ (YFC), one of the ministries of Couples for Christ (CFC)? I’m a member of the organization.  We bring the youth closer to God through Youth Camps, Leadership Training and Prayer Meetings.  We render our services for free.  I would like to share an experience with my YFC group that I can never forget. 

We were on a youth camp in Candabong, a mountainous area in the south of Cebu, and the team leader thought that it would lead to disaster due to many conflicts.  First, we knew nothing about the exact location of the three-day youth camp, since we were unfamiliar with the place, and no one could lead us to our destination.  Finally, after two hours of waiting and praying, help finally arrived.  One of the couple-coordinators secured a jeep for us to proceed to the place.  The road was very rocky, and when we reached the venue, one problem occurred followed by another.  The venue was an elementary school with only two classrooms having electricity. We had to divide this space up for the boys’ quarters, the girls’ quarters, lecture and dining rooms.  We had no clear knowledge where to get water.  Another problem was that the YFC’s in Candabong had been unable to invite young people for the Youth Camp. 

But then again, God is so good.  He provided us with solutions.  The two rooms were utilized for the boys’ and girls’ quarters and the latter was used as a lecture room during the day.  We chose a room next to one of the two with electricity as the dining room. Even in the darkness of the night, the couple-coordinators found a bathroom beside the school and filled its tanks with water.  At about 4:30pm young people began to arrive for the camp.  That’s how things began to turn out fine. 

I can say that it was the happiest camp I have ever served in, with the biggest number of participants and, despite the battalions of mosquitoes, the most beautiful bonding of us young people.  During the entire camp, God was really there, for even if we failed in our first attempt, it suddenly turned out to be a success.  There I learned the values of our theme for that year which was ‘Claiming the Promised Land’.   At first, I thought that the venue would be beautiful then it turned out to be the unexpected.  But later on, I said to myself, ‘What is there to claim if there is nothing to be claimed?  If the venue is already perfect, then what is there to be changed?’  I’ve learned that He purposely placed our team in that land of scraps for our mission.  In the end, together with the newly baptized Youths for Christ, we finally turned Candabong Elementary School into one of God’s Promised Lands.

We, in the CFC family, have our own magazine called ‘Laya’, but I also love reading Misyon.  All the features are interesting, but I was mostly interested in your November - December 2002 issue, ‘The Great Slave Scam’ by Declan Walsh. It made me realize how lucky I am that even though we are not rich, God has blessed me with all the things I need for a comfortable life compared to those slaves in Africa suffering from maltreatment and hunger.  I pray for them that God may take them out of their sufferings and bring them to His promised land.

Thanks a lot for your time, Father Coyle.  I really appreciate you reading my letter and I hope that you enjoyed reading this epistle as much as I enjoyed writing it.

God bless to you and more power to the Misyon magazine!

Sincerely yours,

Charisse Flerida Pasaje