My Journey Begins....

BY SUNDAY SAMUEL

Formators and students of  Batch 7 with Bishop Baylon seated 4th left

God calls you by name. You are His beloved child, the apple of His eye, the delight of His heart. Today you are in the exact place He wants you to be, and tomorrow he will be with you as He has always been - in goodness, in kindness, in faithfullness. - Roy Lessin

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The 7th batch of the Institute of Formation, Fondacio Asia (IFFAsia) has been officially launched with a Mass presided over by Bishop Joel Baylon of the Diocese of Legazpi and Chairman of the of Board of Directors of the Institute on the 20th January 2013, the Feast of Sto. Nino. It has been three months since I stayed here in the Philippines and I am excited to share with you about my three months journey. There are 20 of us from 8 Asian countries.

Sunday, 1st from left

It was a new experience for me living in community and I experienced difficulty because of language barrier and different culture. In spite of the obstacles, I am able to live happily as a member of the one community in IFFAsia. Last December, we have just finished our English class at Assumption Language Center, located not far from our Formation House. We studied English for six weeks and it has helped me a great deal. It has improved my proficiency both oral and written.

Sunday Samuel (centre) with Bishop Antonio Tobias in white t-shirt

Christmas Party at Bishop Antonio Tobias house.

During our Christmas holiday, we stayed with foster families in order to familiarize us with the Filipino culture. I was blessed to have Bishop Antonio Tobias of the Diocese of Novaliches as my foster family. Even though it was  a mere ten-day stay, I experienced many  new things and we were able to share a lot of stories. I shared with him about our Bishop and I was surprised when he told me that Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom was one of his students. I received a lot of gifts and we were always busy because he has a tight schedule. He  need to visit many places and meet many people. Despite of his tight schedule, I was very happy during my short stay with him.

After the Christmas break, we had our orientation sessions conducted by our formator, Mr. Patrick Sta Maria, a Malaysian from Selangor. At the same time, he also taught us about presentation skills. Now, we have already started our human formation ~ Self Discovery and Multiple Intelligence.

"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not to harm you, to give you a future with hope." - Jeremiah 29 : 11