Shok Ariola: The Making of a Full Time Worker

I had the opportunity of meeting a full time worker of the Couples for Christ when my husband and I were the Youth for Christ (YFC) Couple Coordinators of our chapter.  His name escapes my mind and he was assigned to the YFC of the West C Sector.  He was full of passion and dedication and from the information about him that I gathered, I found out that he graduated with honors from college.  I asked myself what is it in mission work or becoming a full time worker that made him give up a higher paying job working in a prestigious company to settle for a minimum amount of pay?  I said to myself that this is not normal nor logical.

Last March at our sector's Echo Conference at Baguio City, we had Bro. Shok Ariola as one of the speakers.  Bro.  Shok Ariola is a full time worker and at present the Program Head of Singles for Christ and the Migrant Workers Program.  I asked myself what message will Bro. Shok impart to the participants as I have already a preconceived picture playing in my mind of how a full time worker delivers his talk or sharing.  It was not a good picture, the result of listening to the sharings in the past of other full time workers who used the stage to fish for praises or empathy for the sacrifices that they have to endure because of their low pay.  When Bro. Shok delivered his talk, it erased my prejudice on full time workers by just being himself.  It was a refreshing departure from the typical talk by a full time worker.  But who is Shok Ariola?

Shok, aside from his day job at the CFC Center, occasionally travels to Africa and Mekong countries to do mission work.  He is as ordinary as anyone of us, no holier than thou posturings that endear him to the people he associates with.  He is the loving husband of Carel and father to their two lovely children.  He is also father to a nineteen year old whom he had when he was in his teens.  

He is a product of a broken family and one weekend he left home after a big fight with his mother. He ended up in the house of this friend who cannot accommodate him as his friend was on his way to attend a Youth Camp.  Since he needed a place to stay for the weekend, the Youth Camp was the perfect place with free meals no less.  Shok claimed that no earth shaking moments happened at the camp.  His transformation to a new life didn't happen overnight but noticed that  he doesn't curse the way he used to.

Six years after attending the Youth Camp in 1996, Shok left in 2002 and spent a year in Africa as a full time mission worker.  He decided to become a full time worker for the Couples for Christ because he wants all people to experience what he had experienced.  He wants people to experience the good changes in his life, the love of God and for His people, and the joy in serving Him.  

In 2004, he went back to Africa and this time with his wife and daughter in tow to spend five years spreading the Word of God by conducting Christian Life Programs.  Those five years in Africa were memorable times for the family as he became closer to his wife and vice versa.  While away, his parents became part of the community as members of the Servants of the Lord and Handmaids of the Lord.  His siblings also joined Couples for Christ.  Shok is quick to say that he didn't talk them into joining but his unceasing prayers did the trick.

Just like other missionary couples, Shok and Carel worry and struggle to provide for the needs of their growing family but they find comfort in the knowledge that the God who provided for today is still the same God tomorrow.

Couples for Christ is fortunate to have full time workers like Shok who help spreading the love of God less difficult for us.  Let us continue to support them with our prayers and be more generous with the amount that we tithe.  

Education: Best Weapon Against Poverty

Yesterday, my husband and I attended Teaching Night.  Every third Tuesday of the month, leaders of Couples for Christ flock to Meralco Theater (the previous venue was the gymnasium of Xavier School in San Juan) for the Mission Core Group (MCG) Teaching Night.  The MCG is composed of senior leaders of Couples for Christ.  My husband and I have been attending it for the past four years.

For the numerous times that we have attended Teaching Night, yesterday's topic is one of those which tugged at my heartstrings.  The guest speaker for the night was Sec. Armin Luistro, FSC of the Department of Education.  He rattled off with statistics which underscored the sad state of the Philippine's public education system.  The Philippine public educational system just like the ones in other countries is free and available to all citizens.  Despite it being accessible to everyone, Sec. Luistro lamented that not all pupils who enrolled in grade 1 is sure to graduate.  A big percentage or 33% of the total grade 1 population will join the ranks of dropouts. There are many factors why these children drop out of school and foremost of all is economic, they are just too poor to afford school supplies, jeepney fare and what more personal things like a toothbrush.  

The good secretary mentioned that quite a number of dropouts stopped going to school altogether because of a simple toothache, a toothache that could mean a two-week absence from school.  By the time the toothache is gone,  should the child elect to go back to school, he will have difficulty in catching up with his classmates.  Most of the time, the child leaves the school for good and is unlikely to return. A study by the National Education Testing Center shows that the earlier the child drops out, the greater the likelihood of his reverting to illiteracy.  

I am a strong advocate for education being the most potent weapon against poverty and I have written articles in the past about the importance of education: Ancop's Child Sponsorship Program, Bravo Khan Academy!, and My Bucket List Part 2.  I am fortunate and happy that I am a member of Couples for Christ and has been a volunteer for Gawad Kalinga and Ancop for quite a time thus giving me a firsthand account of life in the slums.  Building them houses in different colors of the rainbow, no matter how noble the intentions are, sadly does not alleviate them from their present predicament.  The root of the problem of poverty like inadequate/poor quality of education and/or no education at all, should be the one addressed instead of palliative measures (I need not elaborate on this so as not to offend others who have a different point of view as that of mine).

Before ending his talk, Sec. Luistro pleaded for prayers for him who is at the helm of the Department of Education and for his staff who collectively have the gargantuan task of preparing the young for a bright future through education.  Aside from prayers, he also hinted that there are several ways of helping.  To know the kind of help that a public school needs, one just have to go to a nearby public school and talk to the principal.  Different schools have different needs.

Before the schoolyear 2011-2012 opens next month, let us think of ways to make learning more effective.  Let us open our eyes, ears and most specially, our hearts.

Related Reading:

• Learning to Stay in School

Keeping Your Household Members Beside You

Making members remain in a group or organization without monetary consideration is a big challenge.  This is true with Couples for Christ though am not singling it out.  A lot of organizations go through this phase.  

There are a lot of reasons why members lie low but foremost of all is that they have lost interest in the organization because it has failed to address the reason why they joined in the first place.  I will be listing down tips on how to hold on to your members.  Let me warn you though that these tips are purely my own culled from more than ten years of being a CFC and don't represent anyone's or CFC's stand.

1.  Have a trusting and sincere relationship with your member.  Trust is the core of any lasting relationship.  This is true for all kinds of relationship whether with one's spouse, friend, child or client.  If a person trusts you enough, you will know what makes him tick.  Selling something to a prospect will be a breeze as you know what to offer him.

More so in the case of the household member, he expects nothing less.  You, as household leader, will have his loyalty, love, support and this started with trust.  Isn't it that he started to divulge something of himself during the one on one session after Talk 4 of the Christian Life Program?  Though different members react differently during the one on one session, it nevertheless is a good start.  Some have a difficult time opening up.  Once the member has opened up, it is the duty of the household leader to keep everything confidential.

2.  Have a caring and nurturing attitude towards your member.  A household member attends the weekly household prayer meetings because he feels cared for by his colleagues in the household.  He feels like he is at home in the household.  Everyone accepts him for what he is and nobody judges him.  It is a place where he can be himself.  When he needs support, the household members led by the household head are there to give support and understanding.

3.  Have  fun once in a while.  I won't deny that I look forward to these gatherings.  The activity will depend on how much budget there is.  Going out of town for a day or two is the preferred activity of the majority.  Though going out of town costs more money and consumes more time, that picnic-style element of this sortie never ceases to appeal to everyone.  Still wondering why there is a higher percentage of attendees to the weekend conferences when done in Baguio than the one held at Manila?

If time and budget do not warrant an out of town getaway, there are numerous fastfoods, eateries and karaoke bars in Metro Manila you can choose from.  My personal preference is going to karaoke bars.  You just have to scour the different promos being offered by these karaoke bars to minimize on expenses.

4.  Be yourself.  Members can see through you if you are wearing a mask.