Eyes closed, one hand striking their chest and the other surrendered up in the air. Around 17,000 youth gather at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and New Frontier Theater to attend the yearly Singles and Youth Faith on Fire (SYFOF) Conference with the theme “A Name like No Other.” The event is jam-packed with a lineup of worship songs that made the youth sing their hearts out as a mode of expressing their faith and serves as an avenue of a closer encounter with Christ. The concert has always been the most awaited part of the program but were also the powerful youth testimonies that stole the hearts of the youth in the SYFOF Conference.
The silent and dim lighted theater was filled with hopeful gasps and applause of astonishments as each youth share their stories respectively through short spoken word poetry with a word that symbolizes Christ in their life which are Christ as a provider, healer and restorer. One saw Christ as Provider when he was able to provide for himself and his family as a working student. The other saw Christ as a Healer when she was able to raise her child and have a positive outlook in life. And Christ was also seen as a Restorer when the last sharer was able to triumph over the struggles of a broken family and being a victim of rape. All of the stories was genuinely a message of hope of how Christ can be differently present in one’s life but it is just a matter of acknowledging Him with our own stories to tell.
Many might see the sharing as an inspiration, encouragement or a sign to renew one’s faith and be closer to Christ as well as seeing Him as a provider, healer and restorer. But since Christ is present in each person and for the conference to truly achieve its goal and purpose on bringing the youth back to the Church, the youth must understand that one should take a leap of faith and be the provider to their brothers in need and are lost, be the healer to those who are tortured and hurt and finally be the restorer of peace and love amongst one’s neighbors. The theme “A Name like No Other” is not only for Christ Himself but for those who are faithful enough to make their names be remembered and known through their charitable works and Christ-centered missions.
Mariele Aquino
Junior Writer, Website Team, Media Ministry
Mariele R. Aquino is a member and website writer of the NSDA’s Media and Public Information Ministry, an aspiring future medical specialist and currently a STEM senior high school student in the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas. Her principle in life is that genuine success is something achieved through a path and battlefield of dodging a thousand bullets without the course of self-centered desires and conducts for temporary existential accomplishment. As a form of simple youthful religious fervor, Mariele used her skills, talent and dedication in writing to serve her Lord but also to grow not only intellectually but more on spiritually.
