The Blackest Day of the Year: YFC Black and White Christmas Party!

          I’d like to emphasize one great thing about my life again… I am Youth for Christ! And once again, with God’s greatest glory, His army proclaimed yet another victory through YFC Black and White Christmas Party 2012!

            Last December 30, 2012, a miracle happened. This may not be that a-dead-man-stood-once-again-and-drew-breath kind of miracle or that orange-tree-bears-apples kind or iPhone-5-for-sale-for-only-two-hundred-thirty-five-pesos kind, but for those who in one way or another became a part of this epic celebration, it was indeed God’s miracle working in us. 50 or so Youths for Christ gathered once again to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ through a fun-filled yet full of learning activity at Danao, Capul, Northern Samar.

         I said miracle and here’s how. One, that whole week, from December 24 to December 31, the weather played savage. Constant rain filled our little island. But not on two of that week, December 29 and December 30. December 29 was the day we prepared the venue. At nine in the morning, the service team who was composed of God’s mightiest soldiers went to Danao to prepare the place for tomorrow’s event. We were gifted by a nice sunny weather just perfect to set all the things that needed to be set: the improvised stage, the black and white doors, the spider web, the battles, and a whole lot more. At lunchtime, even with uncomfortable growls from our stomachs, we practiced the songs to be used, and our little production. We only went home after that. We went home with great hope that tomorrow’s big daddy of them all would be the best Christmas Party of the season. 

             December 30 was the day the party took place and engraved an everlasting memory in the hearts of those who attended. But before I go the details of that great day, wouldn’t it be nice if I relate to you, guys, how this Black and White Christmas Party even became possible? Oh, I think that’s a great idea. Okay… here it goes.

             To save time, I’ll quote something from my daily journal (yeah, I have a journal… and I call it “diary of a hard rock kid”, step aside Greg Heffley) about the history behind the realization of Black and White Christmas Party. Here’s what happened at our Household Gathering con planning…

             “December 22, 2012

…The next day was also memorable, man. Our supposed meeting with the YFC's for our Christmas party turned to a Household gathering at Mikee's residence. It was so nostalgic, man! We had this kind of gathering for, like, a million years ago. You could just imagine how euphoric I was. As usual, our supposed 1 o'clock meeting time wasn't followed. In fact, we started at few minutes before 3! Quite late, eh. That's us, man. Anyway, even with that, the Household still went smoothly. The worship gave me a huge overwhelming feeling, man! For me, it was the best part of that day. It made me go back to the zone, dude. It felt like so heavenly. Sigh. I wish we could do it more often. There's nothing really wrong with that, right? After the worship, we had a small sharing focusing on two of my formulated questions. First, 'how much do you miss YFC?' and second, 'how far will you go to revive YFC?'. It was also fun, man. It's one of the things that's great about YFC. Youths are given the chance to talk about their opinions on some things. Plus, it helps improve their confidence. After that fun sharing, we came to the most critical part of the meeting, the planning for the Black and White Christmas Party! Before that, however, I explained first why's the theme 'Black and White'? Christmas is supposedly the most colorful season of the year, and yet we're gonna make our celebration so colorless. Of course, I had my explanations. An idea that actually had its roots on my daughter's text message containing her conversation with his little sister about colors. According to that text, white is the absence of all color. Just like it, we, the YFC's, who had gone on different paths, became white. And black is the result of combining all colors. So, with that, when YFC's get together again, we became Black once again. Can you see the magic? Well, the planning went smoothly too. We agreed on all things. In fact, I feel the eagerness of my fellow service team members to really make this oh-so-special event a reality and a success. The things we only need now are fine weather and huge attendance. So help us, God.”

            That was a part of my journal on that day. It mentioned something about Household, meeting, Black, White, Menchie, Mikee, magic, and, things, event, attendance, of, the, in, etc. But I’d like to go back a few days before that. The day how the idea of having a Christmas Party started.

         One day, I woke up with five messages in my inbox. One of them came from a fellow YFC, who apparently, misses YFC just as I do. She asked me if there would be a YFC Christmas Party that year. I said it would not be impossible if people would work. I can sense that time that she was eager to help. I played along. In fact, I miss YFC activities too. It has been, like, three hundred thousand two hundred forty eight days since we had a huge event on YFC. And so, after a few exchange of SMS, we agreed on teaming up once again to make this dream a reality. Her part was to gather as many YFC’s present in Capul as she can to be a part of the service team. My part was to make an invitation, spread the good news in Facebook specifically in YFC Capul Facebook page, and further spread the news wherever I go.

          I would also like to elaborate my explanation further on that entry about the true meaning of Black and White and how it affected the entire event. By the way, that event’s speaker was unfortunately, eherm, me. And since it was me who devised the theme and found a suitable Bible anchor verse for the event, that by the way, was taken from the 1^st letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 1, verse 10 that goes this way, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree on one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought”, it felt just right that I should be the speaker. Please bear with me. 

          Before my talk, an all-out performance was given by the members of the service team. The production was simple. It showed the bad and good acts of the youths. The twist was, the youths doing the good things, exited through the black door while the bad ones went out through the white door. Quite ironic, eh? Well, that’s the whole point. That’s where the theme enters. I told them that us, the YFC’s, are the colors of the community. When we got on separate ways doing things in our own little worlds, YFC became white. White, according to Menchie’s group message, is the absence of all colors. When all the colors of YFC went on with their own lives, YFC became white. Black, on the other hand, is the result of combining all colors. So, when all YFC’s, the colors of the community, gather again in His name, YFC became black. Thus the birth of YFC Black and White Christmas Party. Yahoo!

        Another thing. The Bible anchor verse mentioned something about unity and division. Well, that’s the whole point of the talk I made a day before the event. It was pretty easy actually. I already had in mind all the things I wanted to say in my talk. Putting it in a step-by-step manner wasn’t really hard. Here’s the outline of my talk I made on the ‘Note’ app of my phone.

                Black and White Christmas Party Event Talk

Unity and Division

  Production

  Explain the irony of the production

  Explain the theme and the bible anchor (the history behind the theme)

       -mention how the theme contradicts with the season

      -mention how black and white are coined as evil and good respectively and not in this event

  Narrate how things changed when YFC became white

       - the youths going on the white side

       - the youths committing several mortal sins

       - how was the youth before and the youth of today

Enumerate the things we need to do to make YFC black

        - do the things we used to do

       - unite in every way

       - recognize Christ in the center of the unity

Mention how other Christmas Parties are not Christmas Parties at all

        - Christ should be the reason why we celebrate the Christmas

Conclusion: quote the song 'if we hold on together, i know our dreams will never die... Dreams see us through to forever.. Where clouds roll by... For you and I'

       - encourage everyone to hold on forever and fight for the youth

  play dr. Kwak kwak

  - explain why all the games after will all be about unity.

          I also mentioned the words and, the, in and of. Well, they don’t really matter at all.

          And here’s another miracle, dude. One worry that we always have in events like this is the attendance. The never ending question of, “Hey, will people really go?” is always asked. Black and White Christmas Party was not an exemption. Despite our distributed invitations that reached even Landusan, numerous invites on text, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, MySpace, Multiply, Blogger, Google+, and Friendster… Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go? Hey, will people really go?... okay, you got the point. 

          But, man. God proved once again that our worries are no match to His greatness. We didn’t celebrate the party just by ourselves, but with fifty or more youths! See the magic. God is good!

       Nice weather and huge attendance. These two are exactly what I asked God in my journal (and I quote… “…The things we only need now are fine weather and huge attendance. So help us, God…”) And these were not only the things God gave us. He showered us with His abundant blessings, allowed us to have fun and made that day oh-so special for everyone. Thank You so much!

          And here’s another entry of mine in my daily journal. This would make you see how great God is and how He made that day the best day of the year! I apologize for some retelling of things and stuff.

       “…December 29. Another day of fun! In the morning, the members of the Black and White Christmas Party went to our venue to prepare the place. When we got there, we had a short briefing on the things we would be doing. Then the work followed. We prepared our improvised stage. We set the two doors for our production. We made the spider web (one of the games) out of straw. We filled the bottles with water for Water Conservation. We made a lot of water bombs. We practiced the songs we'll be using. We practiced the production for the talk. All while having fun! That was one of the things I miss about YFC. The busyness, the preparations, the practices... and yet still having fun. Awesome to the nth level!

        So, at past 12 noon, we went home. Everyone was pretty hungry. When we reached home, I immediately ate. Then I slept. Of course, we were still exhausted 'coz of the previous party (My ‘lil sister’s debut). I slept at three in the morning, man. And I had to wake up early too, because of that preparation. So you can just imagine how tired I was. But I still had to wake at three because I was again a godfather for a christening ceremony. This time, it's Elean Mae's daughter named Mandrell. It was an honor on my part, of course. Even though I have a bunch of godchildren already. And that ultimately means more hands to fill in. Before that, however, I could confess that I was disappointed. Elean Mae was one of those youths who was with us during a lot of activities. How about that last Youth Camp we had? Or that Jump for Unity event? She was with the service team all the time. And this thing happened. Oh, man. Her partner wasn't even a graduate in high school then. See what has become of the youth today? Things like getting pregnant are not a big surprise anymore. It happens all the time. Anyway, it already happened. There's nothing we can do about it. We just have to accept everything. And I hope they'll be great parents someday. So, when the clock strokes three, I had to stand up and get myself fixed. Ate Rose, a fellow godparent, was already waiting for me. Thankfully, there was a ceremony for the dead before the baptism. So we bought ourselves a few moments of rest. Not for us, though. Me and Ate Rose used the time to take care of some things. We went to Ma'am Jinky's house to borrow a beat box from her brother.

         After the ceremony, where Father Tobe reminded us again of the seven Sacraments and stuff, we headed to the parents' parents' residence for the reception. I had to note that it was the first time I ever attended a christening ceremony where there was no other batch of christening pips. I mean, we were all alone. And that's saying something, man. At the Marzol's house, the buffet didn't start immediately. It gave me time to catch a few things with my buddy, Sonny Ray. Then, we ate. The table was full of sea food delicacies much to my joy, of course. These past days, my stomach was always filled with meat: pork, beef, and chicken. That sure was refreshing. Thank you, Mandrell. 

The day didn't end there though. When we finished eating, me, Ate Rose, my lil' sis and Fides went on to our works as service team members. And, yes, man, I had the three of them on our scooter. So you could just imagine how much we were squeezed. And I had to endure the pain in my arms just to drive us to our destination safely. Luckily, we left my lil' sis at Mafil's and the three of us went on to meet up with Mikee. We went to Mikee's uncle's house to check on the generator and the sound boxes. They seemed alright so we went on with the other things to prepare. We went on separately with Ate Rose with me. Mikee and Fides went to Jadil to check on the black cloth we borrowed. Me and Ate Rose went to Sir Guido's house to borrow an electric guitar. He told us that the thing we needed was with with someone else and that we needed to ask Ma'am Jinkee's permission first. So, we headed to CAIS and looked for Ma'am Jinkee. Okay, she obliged. After retrieving the electric guitar where Mikee and Fides met up with us, another problem arose. The guitar didn't have its chord with it. How will we ever use it without its chord? Good enough, we met Lloyd along the way. He guranteed that he'll lend us one. So, problem solved. But again, the night didn't end there. Back home, where Fides, my lil' sister and me were sharing unending jokes, still had to cut out the letters for our improvised stage. And we were all, like, in our most exhausted state. So, instead of working, we continued with our joking session. Fides even slept at our house that night. Which gave her a fairly big amount of not-so-good reminders from her uncle the following day. Oh, well. That's life. When you enjoy, something bad will come. To balance life, man. Lol. That's how December 29, 2012 ended!

1:19 pm

December 30. Oh, man. This is it! This is the biggest day of the month! Aside, of course, from December 25. This was the day the Black and White Christmas Party took place. Oh, yeah! That morning, despite the strong will to stay on bed all day, I woke up early to do some preliminary preparations for that day's event. Together with Mikee, Ate Rose, Fides, Justin, and Myka, we went to Danao before 8 in the morning. We brought with us the things we needed that included the generator, the sound boxes and a whole lot more. The event was supposed to start at 8 in the morning. But YFC's always see to it that schedules are not followed. Lol. So, the 8 am event started at past 12 noon. Go figures. Before that, there was tension in the air, man. We couldn't help worrying about the attendance, the food, and even the weather. At that time, when we were preparing the stage, the weather couldn't make up its mind whether to be nice or savage. At even 9 am, there was no one showing up yet. But God proved once again that He is above our worries. When I got back to our house to fix myself first, the weather was really showing bad signs. Of course, I was praying against it. And God answered me right away. When I went back to Danao, fully groomed and with our foods, the weather was nice already. The sun is proudly showing its shining rays. Not only that, there were a fair few number of people already. How awesome is that?

To make the story short, that day was super cool, awesome, overwhelming and satisfying. Seeing the youths having fun was something I always take pride in. Especially when you're one of the main reasons why they were having fun. From the time we ate, to the worship, to the talk, to the games, to the reflection, to the praisefest, everything was perfect! Everything was in accordance to what we planned. The games (bring me, water conservation, action message relay, water bomb, spider web and 'ibaba mo ako') imprinted smiles in the faces of the participants. Everyone was having fun in the most wholesome way. Very overwhelming. When it came to the last part of the day, where everyone had to go into a sort of reflection, the aura changed. The youths were intent and silent. I made them see themselves in a dark room all alone. Left by everyone they all thought loved them. I made them realize that in the darkest times of their lives, where everyone lost the willingness to be with them anymore, there is still one more person that they can go to. And that's Jesus Christ. I told them to talk to Jesus Christ. I asked them to divulge everything to Christ. And when they did, both of them will go out that room and see the light that will give them new hope! Whoa. It gives me goosebumps. I challenged them to stand up when they already got out of the room. When all of them did, I showed them 3 plates with paints in it. Two being black, and one white. I told them to cover their hands with the color of their choice. I told them to hold hands while telling them that this act will mark a new beginning of a unity for YFC's. I even made them raise their hands in welcome for the coming of Christ in that little group of youths before we worshipped. What followed was one of the most steadfast worship I ever had! It was darkening already, but our voices overcame the darkness and made that place holy for the time being! Oh, man. That Christmas Party was beyond awesome! It was something I could treasure in my heart forever! Hearing the voices of my fellow youths singing for God is something I would not trade with anything else. To God be the Glory all the time! And after that intense praisefest, we all packed up and went home. But that's not the end for that night. One more activity made that day the awesomest day of the year!”

           Here’s a surprise. Our fund for that event wasn’t drained to zero! There was still a few hundreds left.  What we did was some sort of thanksgiving jamming. At our house, we invited the members of the service team and some other participants, for some snack. With Ate Rose, Fides, and Yeyen, doing all the kitchen works, we were left with a pretty fun conversation. Reminiscing the things that happened during our Christmas party. We particularly enjoyed the part where we talked about how amplaya became vinegar, airplane became fireworks, fruit salad became coconut, and little girl became dwarf! We laughed, like, all the time. it was like, hahahahahahahahaha there, and hahahahahahaha here! Hahahahahahahaha! Hahahaha! Haha! Hahahaha! 

          When the foods came, we all dug in. thanking God first for the blessings. And while eating, we still had fun! After eating, we still had fun! Fun!

         And I know you’re waiting for these. To help you visualize how much fun we had during the entire day, here’s some of the pictures that will surely change the definition of fun to super fun! To God be the Glory!

                

         See? See how we were all dressed in Black or White? See how God blessed us? Well, you saw it. Let the pictures tell it all.

       And I hope, that despite our busy schedules, that all the colors of YFC will still be united after the event! We may be in different places now, with different people, doing different things, if all the YFC teachings we acquired for being YFC’s for all these years are kept and observed in our daily lives, we will always be BLACK!

       ‘Till next time, folks :D