Thank you WCG- Iloilo!

My wife and I, along with our second son Jocer, just got back from a youth camp in Iloilo.  It was held last May 8 - 10 with the WCG Iloilo playing host to 40 young people from the Panay Island.

It was their first Summer Enrichment Program mini-camp and it was a great start for them.  The hardwork and planning done by Ptr Elmer Melendres along with wife Ate Nenet and son Alvin with the support of the rest of the pastoral teams of Illoilo and nearby provinces was really very inspiring.

I particularly noticed that it was the 3 ladies from Sibalom,Antique and Kalibo ( Ate Fe, Ate Emma  and Ate Lorna ) that accompanied their teens to the camp!

The theme was KNOWN AND CHOSEN with Jeremiah 1: 1 – 10 as their scriptural passage.

I just want to say thank you to the rest of the Pastoral team like Ptr. Dario and wife, Raul and Gel, Ate Blanche, Jeff Tinamisan and others who labored so that the young people would be in an environment where they could be lovingly nurtured.

Thank you Ed Gorham and wife Virgie and son Martin for the wonderful interaction with the young people through the knots you shared with them.

Jocer took note of one male camper who was really blessed by being at the camp. This young camper shared that the 2-day camp was such a respite from his farming chores. He lives by himself because his parents and siblings are in Manila and he is the one who takes care of the farm and the animals.

A young person who lives by himself and takes care of the farm…. what a wonderful blessing for him to have 2 days of rest surrounded by friends and people who genuinely cared for his well-being.

On our way back – our Cebu Pacific flight was terribly delayed.  We entertained ourselves by watching the video (Manny vs Hatton) Jocer saved on his laptop.  It was my first time to have seen it so I was watching it as if the fight was going on live.  My oooohs and aaahsss and arragggh were all very audible that Lovey had to tell me to tone it down a bit.  But there were 2 other men who were trying to watch the video with us.

Then we saw somebody walking around the airport and people approached this person for a picture. Jocer volunteered to help the ladies and at one time, he had 6 cameras on his hand as he took the pciture for them.

I decided to join in and I almost did not make it because the person was looking behind to make sure that his plane would not leave him behind.

I approached and shook his hand and said “Senator, don’t worry, they do not have the guts to leave a senator behind…” and CLICK … Jocer took this shot…

I will edit this later and add Iloilo camp pictures as soon as Jocer sends them to me.