Youth Convention 2013

Without really planning (much less, preparing) for it, I travelled all the way to Bataan to attend a weeklong youth convention with four of our teenage girls from church.

The youth convention, the fifth one organized by the Seventh-Day Adventists Present Truth Believers, was held May 14-19 at the Nuclear Power Village in Bagac, Bataan. It was also the first time the youth from our church were exposed to as many as 102 other young people receiving the light of the present truth in a gathering specially organized for the purpose.

We arrived in Manila May 13, 11 pm and were met by Pastor Dave Matudan and his son Jedd. They took us to dinner and, after vainly insisting on bringing us to a more comfortable place to stay, hesitantly agreed to bring us to their headquarters (called “mission house”) in Quezon City where we slept for about four hours.
In the morning, we had early morning worship before heading out for groceries, getting shocked at the poor quality of the veggies at PureGold and amazed at the low prices at a Korean store.

At around 1:30 in the afternoon, we (jamee and i) headed off to Bataan by bus with about 40 other delegates. Sadly, I slept through most of the trip so I didn’t get to see much.

The venue for this year’s convention was an old village originally designed for employees of the Nuclear Power Plant of the National Power Corporation. The organizers rented about eight houses that could accommodate around 20 persons each, distributing them across four airconditioned rooms in each house.

There’s a common kitchen, dining area and living room. Two rooms share a toilet and bath.
We were housed with the delegates from Bulacan and Palawan, with Pastor Michael Matudan as house pastor.

We woke up at 5:30 each morning for devotionals held at the driveway of our assigned house. After that, we went about preparing breakfast, taking turns using the shared toilet and bath, eating, and getting dressed for the morning session which began at 8:00. Some days the girls got to go out and tour the venue.

Morning sessions consisted of two topics discussed by different speakers. The group would then break up for lunch and come back at 2:00 pm for the afternoon session, which covered just one topic.

The convention’s theme was “God’s Special Force: Called to Stand Apart” and the topics dwelled on how SDA youth should be different from the world, not taking part in their dainties, working for the Master and making special preparation for the coming of Jesus. The topics discussed throughout the entire YC were:

• Called to Stand Apart - The call for young men to duty
• The History of the Church – How true religion calls you to be separate from the world
• God’s Special Force – A call for dedication of our Time, Talents, Treasures, Soul Temples
• Strength of Character – The power of will and the power of self-control and the danger of turning back against God
• The Everlasting Covenant – Yielding of the will and the heart in obedience to the will of God
• Love’s Twin Sister – The importance of coupling love with a sense of duty, diligence and thoroughness in small things, especially in home responsibilities
• Standards of Success – How our obedience unlocks God’s blessings
• Sanctuary and Atonement – The plan of salvation illustrated
• Creeping Compromise – The importance of being able to recognize the clever camouflage of the enemy
• Remember – The importance of the Sabbath and how it ought to be kept by God’s professed people

The rest of the afternoons were spent out in the field, playing team building games, which proved to be so much fun for everybody and provided for a much more comfortable environment for interaction and acquaintance among delegates.

The main event of these outdoor activities was apparently the kadang challenge held on Friday, the highlight being the all-star round with the pastors composing one team and the boys’ selection composing the other. The boys finally ended the pastors’ four-year reign as champions.

After the outdoor activities came the joint sundown worship, except for the Sabbath sundown worship which was conducted by house.

On Sabbath, the topics discussed throughout the week were summarized and condensed into three basic distinctions between the Seventh-day Adventist Youth and the world – distinction in DOCTRINE, PRACTICE, and CHARACTER. In the afternoon the group was broken into small groups, each group composed of members from different churches, to discuss the topics and how they can be applied in the day-to-day life of the average Seventh-day Adventist.

At the end of the Sabbath came the most-awaited topic of all – LCM or Love, Courtship, and Marriage. The discussion put forward the principles and safeguards that should be adopted by ever SDA youth if he/she is to have a happy, Christ-centered marriage and family life. The discussion ended at almost 12 midnight!

And thus ended the Youth Convention. The following morning, we slept in a little longer and had morning worship in the room. We then packed everything up and got ready to leave – which we did early afternoon. That gave us ample to time to take last-minute  photos and just bond with the other delegates.

The trip back to Quezon City took us about four hours and many stopovers, made easy by the presence of new friends.

Pastor Dave took us to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner, and then to Mount Clemens Church where we would spend the next two nights before our flight home to Davao.

Most of the pastors and workers were there to send us off at the airport. In all of our prayers throughout that memorable week, we always thanked God for the hospitality and kindness offered by our brethren in this part of the country. We were very well-taken care of and no week-long stay in a strange place could have been more comfortable.

It was a wonderful new experience for the five of us – new places, new friends, new learning, renewed faith and zeal for service. I keep praying that the things we have learned will help us to grow in our personal relationship with Christ, to relate ourselves more efficiently as Christians to a world coming to its end, to come to a clearer understanding of our responsibilities as a chosen people, to realize our opportunities and possibilities.

May this passage be instilled and realized in each of our lives, and may we live to fill the greatest, though often unseen, want of the world.

What a lifework was that of these noble Hebrews! As they bade farewell to their childhood home, how little did they dream of their high destiny! Faithful and steadfast, they yielded themselves to the divine guiding, so that through them God could fulfill His purpose. The same mighty truths that were revealed through these men, God desires to reveal through the youth and the children of today. The history of Joseph and Daniel is an illustration of what He will do for those who yield themselves to Him and with the whole heart seek to accomplish His purpose.The greatest want of the world is the want of men--men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall… Every youth, every child, has a work to do for the honor of God and the uplifting of humanity.  {Ed 57 - 58}

***If you are, in any way, impressed to attend next year's youth convention, feel free to contact me so I could get you in touch with the organizers. God bless you. :)