Ask a young Filipino if he knows someone with a mom or dad abroad and he will tell you a handful of his friends who do. Or his parents might be the ones abroad.
Around 11 million Filipinos are working abroad. This represents around 11%, of the total population of the Philippines, which is now at 89 million.
That’s a lot of people!
Tomorrow is the last day of July. Whew! Another month’s over and a new one is coming along.
Man! Time flies!
I would just like to make some announcements and plugs.
1. The Passion Conference will be in Friday. You shouldn’t miss this event! I will be there as a volunteer. So if you’re coming along and you know me. Just say hello. 
2. If you are looking for the Top Ten Jobs in the Philippines so you can start pursuing your career, head over to www.bemightynow.com and read on.
3. If you want to know about the latest movie opening at Manila theaters, visit the Penstalker site for the movie openings on this last week of July.
That’s all for now. I’m going to blog about the Passion Event and about music and other stuff beginning next week. That’s a promise.
Do you find yourself being online the whole day and the whole night? You may start by researching something at Wikipedia. Afterwards, you’re chatting with your friends, checking out the Friendster and Multiply accounts of your friends and the friends of your friends.
Do you just love video games? After classes, you may troop to the nearest Internet Cafe with your friends and play DOTA, RAN, Cabal or the latest online game craze.
Let’s hit on a rather unorthodox and uncomfortable topic. Do you think the church is still relevant to the lives of young people in this generation? I admit there are times that I would rather connect to the internet than go to church.
I would rather read a novel or an inspirational nonfiction than listen to a looong sermon that does not speak to me. Yeah, I know I’m guilty of sometimes wanting to establish a Bedside church. You know, you just worship on the side of your bed. Read the rest of this entry »
After a full throttle leadership position with the Methodist Youth for the past two years, I figured that I probably need a vacation. Finally, I can be free of worries and anxieties in running a national organization.
By the end of June, I packed my bags. Bought a bus ticket. And off I went to Baguio City.
UPDATE: As of 11 JULY 2008, the tickets for the Passion World Tour Manila featuring Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin are SOLD OUT! I repeat, they have been SOLD OUT! I currently have 45 tickets in my possession and they will be sold out till Sunday. If you want to have a ticket, let me know and we’ll find some ways for you.
If you have not purchased your tickets for the upcoming Passion World Tour Manila at the Ultra Stadium on August 1, you better hurry up! Tickets are moving fast and you might just end up with nothing… That would be too bad, you’ll miss Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin and a chance to fellowship with thousands of students from Metro Manila.
You can visit any House of Praise outlet and ask for your tickets! You can also check out Becca Music.
Or the ultimate alternative would be to contact MIGHTY! at 09266889902 for your tickets! Just don’t spam my number, okay? Hahah.
Teen pregnancies seem to be becoming prevalent in our society. I’ve been to a number of youth camps and youth training institutes. I usually get invited to speak about the situation of young people in the Philippines and how we should deal with youth.
Teenage pregnancy comes up almost always. It’s a pressing issue, don’t you think?
Let’s forget for a minute about the right attitude towards sexuality and deal with the experiences of our friends, relatives, the friends of our friends, and our schoolmates.
Do you know a teenager who got pregnant out of wedlock?
When I ask this question in youth camps, almost all hands come up. Without having to use statistics and numerical values, we recognize that teen pregnancy is indeed a problem in our society. Our population is now running at 90 million. With teenagers becoming sexually active, we cannot hope to reduce our country’s rate of population growth.
Last Saturday, I encountered an interesting article entitled “Teen pregnancies in the Philippines” from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This article was written by Dr. Rebecca B. Singson, a strong advocate of female reproductive and women’s health issues.
Good music with a positive message! That’s what The EDGE Radio is all about!
Back in College, I enjoyed listening to NU 107.5’s Against the Flow. They featured my favorite Contemporary Christian songs from dcTalk, jarsofclay, sixpencenonethericher and Third Day among others. I was hoping for a radio station that could play my kind of music round the clock.
When 91.5 Energy FM first aired in Manila, they featured The EDGE Radio every night. Imagine, I could listen to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) all through the night? They ran from 6pm to 6am.
Some organizations claim that they are youth-driven, but led by adults. There are some organizations though that are “for youth, by youth, and with youth”. When young people are given leadership positions and they are empowered and supported, they can bring out their creativity and youthful idealism in fulfilling the role of the leader. Young people in leadership can offer several benefits to the organization.
For one, youth leaders know how to deal with other young people who belong to their generation. Since they belong to their generation, they know the language of young people, the likes, dislikes, and interests of other young people. This is very important in the context of youth ministry. Youth leaders can engage other young people more easily. If the organization’s thrust is mobilizing young people and enabling them to reach out to others, having a youth leader will definitely help achieve such thrust.
Youth leaders have the energy, the humor, and the spirit to achieve goals. As long as these young people believe in what they are doing, they can give 100% of their attention and their time. They are passionate, dedicated, and willing to sacrifice their time just to achieve their avowed goals. Since youth also have fewer responsibilities in life like buying tons of baby milk and diapers, they can devote more time for the organization or ministry they have chosen.
Uhm… well, there are teenagers and young people who are on the hurry to add up their responsibilities in life in exchange of a one night stand. But that’s an altogether different topic that deserves a separate post.
Photo above courtesy of 3Rock Youth.
Last night, I had a meeting with an old friend (yeah, he’s older than I. hahah) last night. We talked about ministry with students and with young people, and a bit about the old times over coffee. It’s really amazing when you get in touch with your friends. Butch is a kind of mentor and older brother to me. So talking with him after a looong time was a very welcome prospect.
Guess what, we also talked about the PinoyYouth Site and he’s coming onboard. I would like to formally announce that Mr. Ernesto “Butch” Pang Jr. is joining Pinoy Youth. He will be my partner in managing and looking after Pinoy Youth.org.
