The annual Singles Youth Faith on Fire Conference or popularly known as SYFOF with this year’s theme “Rekindle” was held for two days, on July 15 and 16, 2023 (Saturday and Sunday) to accommodate more young people. The venue was at The Lord’s Flock (TLF) Catholic Charismatic Community Formation Center in Quezon City. The conference aimed to re-ignite the fire of the Holy Spirit among the youth through their own language and lifestyle, i.e. evangelization through songs, dances, life testimonies, and personal conversations with the Lord.
Registration and Program Opening
The heavy downpour that weekend did not dampen the enthusiasm of the young participants, as guests from the different chapters and parishes started coming in as early as 10am, an hour earlier than the opening of gates. There were new faces among the attendees, but there were also youth who were returnees from the previous conferences. While waiting for the program to start, the guests were ushered to the main lobby where they registered, picked a card with an inspirational message, watched a video presentation about the SYFOF and meet others.
Meanwhile at the Sanctuary, the program started promptly at 1pm as hosts, Jake Arizapa (Karville Chapter) and Aika Villarmino (Dubai Chapter) energetically welcomed the guests. Russel Viernes and Carla Bugnosen got the crowd going with ice-breaker games. Kent Galido introduced the “Rekindle” chant which really pumped-up the energy of the 1,000 plus youth who filled the main floor as well as the balconies. They all chanted “the church is on fi-ya (fire), we are on fi-ya, I am on fi-ya” for the Lord.
Welcome Remarks: REKINDLE
Sis Techie Rodriguez (Soar), Elder-Founder of TLF, welcomed the participants on the first day, while Bro. Froilan Hong, TLF Co-Founder gave the opening remarks on the second day. They shared the background of how Soar was inspired by the Lord while she was on a mission in Rome, and found the church almost empty. Thus, she started the annual youth gathering that aims to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit among the youth of today, similar to what happened during the first Pentecost (2 Tim1:6). This conference has been conducted in many countries, namely, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Uganda and USA. It had its peak attendance at the Araneta Coliseum from 2017 – 2019 when it drew 15,000+ youth (before it was interrupted by the pandemic).
Praise and Worship
The Psalm Ministry together with the Koros & Tulay ng Kabataan (TNK) dance groups started praise and worship with the SYFOF signature song “Relentless” (God’s love is relentless) which started the young people jumping. As part of a worship song, Kisshie Milan shared how she turned lukewarm because of many distractions, but is back serving the Lord again. The other songs followed, “Heart of Worship” and “First Love.”
Keynote: “What are faith extinguishers?”
Dra. Grace Pancho delivered the keynote and explained the “faith extinguishers” and how one’s faith can be rekindled. She was then followed by “nuggets,” brief sharings by the following LF members: Jolo Baclig, Elijah Velasco (Saturday), Inno Angeles (Sunday) who all experienced turning “cold” – their faith was extinguished due to their respective circumstances, but later on their faith was rekindled. On the other hand, Techie Palomar testified about her life before and after joining TNK where she started her faith journey. On a different note, Remy Sisteberio shared how she held on to her strong faith in Jesus which carried her through a prolonged life-threatening illness.
The Living Room Q & A
The Living Room segment gave the audience the opportunity to pose questions to the panel comprised of Soar, Dra. Grace and the youth sharers. Questions revolved about the different faith extinguishers that are being faced by the youth and singles today – social media, time management, agnosticism, anger, life’s choices, family situations, among others.
The Worship Concert
The much awaited part of the program was the worship concert. The audience all rose and stomped their feet, sang and danced enthusiastically to the songs “What I see,” “Alive Again,” and “Jireh” led by the Worship leaders, Carl Tolentino (Tarlac Chapter), Geoffrey Villaos (Karvile Chapter) and Jhoanne Fabon (Bagong Silang Chapter) and the Psalm and Koros Ministries.
Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament
Subsequently, solemnity reigned as Fr. Aldrich Gamboa, of Sto.Tomas (on Saturday) and Fr. Matthieu Dauchez, TNK Director (on Sunday) presented and brought to the stage the Blessed Sacrament while the songs “O Salutaris” and “O Sacrament Most Holy” were sang softly in the background. During this time the whole sanctuary knelt and went into a 10-minute silence in reverence to the presence of the Lord. Everyone was encouraged to speak intimately to the Lord, and to offer their prayers and commitment to Him.
Closing
The program ended on a high note, as the youthful audience participated wildly to the singing and dancing up to the very end. Moreover, they clamored for more, and the Psalm Ministry obliged with the popular song, “Not Ashamed.” They were all invited as well to the follow-up “Day Camp” on Sunday, 23rd of July. With adrenalin still high, many of the guests lingered in the lobby to fellowship with other youths; they cheerfully danced the Rekindle chant again and again and took their photos in front of the SYFOF standee.
Indeed, it was truly a remarkable experience as one young man articulated after the conference, “masaya po, super-enjoy kami, at yung faith namin na-rekindle.”
Finally, congratulations to all the Community workers and performers for an inspiring and spirit-filled SYFOF Conference.
To God be the glory!
Written by: Joy Tadeo
Edited by: Jo Zulueta Advincula
(TLF Scribes Ministry)
(Picture Credits: Comms)
