The Ideal Chacoco

From an older article, Serving the Youth, I narrated my husband and I's experiences when we were the Youth for Christ (YFC) Couple Coordinators of our chapter or Chacoco, a term coined by the YFCs themselves.  It was different from the previous ministries that we served.  Different in the sense that the objects of evangelization are the teenagers.  If on the older article I talked about being a Chacoco from our point of view, for this article I am fortunate to sharing the floor to a former YFC leader, Bro. Ezra Paguntalan.  I couldn't bring myself to addressing him as Bro (he already crossed over to Singles for Christ) as I got used to dealing with the teenaged Ezra in the past.  Below is Ezra's account of his ideal chacoco (with minor revisions due to space considerations):

My ideal chacoco are those who answered the call to service and at the same time embraced the youth  as one of their own. They share not just their time and limited resources but more importantly, their love and desire for the youth to be better persons. They are able to make a difference in the lives of the youth and these youth changed for the better because of them.

My ideal chacoco believe in the innate and intrinsic goodness of the youth.  They are not judgmental.  They understand that the youth make mistakes but will never judge them because they believe in the youth's intrinsic goodness. For my ideal chacoco, nobody is a hopeless case: lots of doses of understanding, guidance and love are all that are needed.  They must be firm but loving. Being young themselves once upon a time, a lot of lessons can be imparted from their experiences.

One of the most memorable experiences that I have with my chacoco was the advice that they gave me about opening up to my parents and that I should take the first step.  That our parents also want to get to know us more and it’s possible that they just don’t know how or where to start. They told me that I have nothing to lose in trying.  I never regretted initiating it.  Now I am happy to say that I have a wonderful relationship not just with my parents but also with my brother and sisters as well. I am who I am now also because of our chacoco.  I am truly grateful and indebted to all the chacoco that I have met as a YFC.

What else can I say?   I just hope that Jun and I were able to make a mark in the life of even one YFC when we were their chacoco.

Serving The Youth

For four years, Jun & I served as household leaders for Couples for Christ members.  There were other couples who were put under our care because of the phenomenon called "reorg", the moniker for reorganization.    After those three fruitful years, we were given a new service.  Maybe our leaders discerned that we have to move on to other "territories".  

At the planning session of the newly-created chapter under Bro. Joe and Sis. Letty Francia, we were appointed as the Chapter Youth Coordinator.  We didn't know what we were getting into except that we won't be having couple-members under us.  Instead of couples, we were given the responsibility of nurturing the youth, ages 13 to 21 years old.  

The BOYS

and the GIRLS at the Chapter Planning.

The Youth for Christ (YFC) is an attached family ministry of the Couples for Christ which aims to render a Christian support environment for the teenagers.  YFC answers the need of the youth to belong, to be motivated, to be useful, and to become good examples to others.  It is not totally surprising for the youth to support a worthwhile cause like taking the plight of the poor and the less privileged in their own small way.

When we were Chapter Coordinators, the thing that I would love to do for the youth was to cook their food, be it merienda or meal.  I didn't agree with the idea that the reason why they cannot attend assemblies is they don't have enough money for reg fee.  The reg fee covered food and rental of the venue if any.  I volunteered to cook so the youth will be eating nutritious food without spending so much on food.

In our first year as Chapter Coordinators, we had the privilege of being the Supervising Leaders for a Youth Camp held at OMI in Quezon City.  We slept at OMI on the first night and was shocked that the youth were still up and about at the wee hours of the morning.  Jun and I couldn't also forget the time we had a YFC Cluster Planning and some got out from the swimming pool at 7 in the morning.  Where did they get that extra energy?  Though we didn't stay long as Coordinators, two years only, we realized the importance of putting the youth on the track of evangelization.  Who knows how many youths were saved from living wasteful lives?

Practicing for the presentation for the Youth Camp.

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