Pinoy Youth

At age 23, Mark Zuckerberg successfully established Facebook.com, an online social networking website, and eased his way to become one of the world’s youngest millionaires. Just a decade or so before this young man broke into the scene, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs showed that sheer talent even without the confirmation of a college diploma is not absolutely necessary to make it big! Gates founded Microsoft and Steve Jobs, Apple Computers. They were both in their early twenties.

Hundreds of years before these guys, young people also tried to shake the world they were in. Josiah was barely in his twenties when he initiated a nationwide revival that took a nation by storm. With his youthful exuberance and a desire to follow God and rectify the mistakes of his predecessors, he went against the popular practices and led his kingdom back to God. Jeremiah was petulant and complained to God a lot. But he was called to be a prophet at a young age. His job description included being hit by false prophets in the face or elsewhere, imprisonment and proclaiming the bad news after nobody paid attention to the good news.

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If you have any doubt that companies and even governments are targeting young people in their information and communication campaign, you can set those doubts aside now. Even during the Economic recession in the United States, companies are still themselves how to target the youth and young adults so they could continue making these youngsters spend their money. This is a real lesson for teenagers and for young adults in the United States and in the Philippines. Be wary of advertisements telling you to spend your money. These people want you to enjoy the best they have to offer yet at the expense of you and your parents’ financial stability in these difficult times. So be really critical and careful in spending those hard earned bucks.

Twitter and Young People

Nielsen released a report lately claiming that Teens are not very fond of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking Web platform. This has important implications for those who are reaching out to young people. If young people are in Twitter, then it makes sense for these marketers to expand their presence there. Before the emergence of Twitter, Facebook is a very big thing among young people. Now that Twitter is becoming a big marketing and promotional tool, people just want to know if it’s worth establishing presence via Twitter.

According to the Nielsen report:

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The National Heroes’ Day came and went on August 31. Is the sense of heroism still alive among the Filipino youth?

The Manila Times Editorial didn’t think so. But perhaps, the lament is not only directed to the youth but to the overall Filipino society:

“It is not just the youth, though.The majority of Filipinos in every generation—young and old—do not have the proper sense of history, no thirst for knowledge about our heroes and the conditions they labored in, no wish to learn what the Filipinos of earlier generations did to survive and develop, what amused them, what made them weep, what gave them joy.”

Let’s break down these accusations and try to address them one by one.

No Proper Sense of History. Filipinos, in general, do not have a strong sense of history. This can be seen in the way that the voters keep on electing people accused of wrongdoing against the Filipino society in the past. In this time and age of globalization and increasing online connectivity, most young people become interested in computers, fashion and gadgets.

Bantayog ng mga Bayani

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A week ago, I posted some thoughts on the Christmas Institute of the UMYFP. There is a need for rethinking the concept and execution of the Christmas Institute. It needs to be integrated into the overall ministries of the local churches in the district and annual conferences so that the passion of the youth who get involved there would have a channel for such passion.

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.

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After church service yesterday, I met with about ten youth leaders from the Northwest Quezon City District of the QCPACE of the United Methodist Church (don’t we just love abbreviations?). We talked about the upcoming Christmas Institute. This is the annual Christmas camp for United Methodist youth ages 12-24. It’s a big event for most districts and what’s remarkable about it is that it is a program of youth, by youth and for youth.

Amazingly, as early as now, the youth leaders of NWQCD are thinking about what they will be doing in the Christmas Institute. Let me just present a number of observations about the Christmas Institute over the years that I’ve attended it and looked at it from a distance.

Christmas Institute is life-changing! A lot of youth who attend the Christmas Institute get to meet Christ more deeply and decide to embark on a lifetime adventure with him. Some of these youth become Christians. Some of those who are already Christians decide to take their faith to the next level of commitment. If you talk to a lot of Methodist Pastors and deaconesses, they will point out to the Christmas Institute as the turning point for their decision to enter the ministry.

Christmas Institute brings together youth from all walks of life. This variety of youth coming together can create an awareness of diversity among youth. They suddenly begin to open their eyes to a wider reality of the world as they come in contact with youth who are not from their background. As they learn about social issues and the application of the Methodist faith, they also widen their perspective about the world they live in.

I myself have experienced the power of the Christmas Institute. I have come to know our faith better and such knowledge enabled me to commit and serve with the young people of the church. My continuous presence in the church and in youth ministry is a testimony to how powerful the C.I. is.

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