Category: Church Events

Shouts of excitement and peals of laughter could be heard at Faith Family Church as the Faith Family Foundation in collaboration with the Children Ministry hosted the annual Children’s Christmas party on December 22, 2018. With the generous donations of various sponsors, 190 children were able to eat heartily, play games, and celebrate Christmas. As an annual project of Faith Family Foundation, the Children’s Christmas party serves as a way for underprivileged children of the community to truly feel the spirit of Christmas.

As early as 7:30 AM, the children enthusiastically started to arrive, greeted by the friendly volunteers of the Children Ministry. While waiting for the party, the children were asked about what they like most about Christmas. They could not help but exclaim, “gifts!” The prospect of receiving gifts greatly energized the children even more as they went around themselves and talked about what they gifts they might get from the party. Opening the party was a short message from FFC’s pastor, Nel Trinidad, telling the children how much God loves them as He had so graciously prepared this party with them in mind. This rings true as the party would not have happened without God touching the hearts of the numerous sponsors that donated to the party. Continuing the party, the children participated in different games.

Whether looking for chocolate coins in containers of flour or trying not to let balloons fall to the ground, the happiness of the children was impossible to miss. Holding up the prizes they received from the games, their smiles grew even bigger. Having been exhausted by the games, lunch was next on the program much to the elation of the children. Sponsored by Ms Gibb Alfafara and Ms Lalaine Ortega, a classic Filipino lunch was served: Jollibee chickenjoy and spaghetti. After digging into their lunches with gusto, the children finally received their gifts. Grouped by age, they were able to choose the gifts they wanted from a spread of gifts displayed at the bottom of the stage. Ranging from dolls to cars, there was something for every child. Watching the children open their gifts and play with them was the most magical moment of the party. These children, who have gone through many hardships, were bursting with joy at what they received whether it was a toy or school supplies.

“The purpose of the party is to make children happy especially those who are in the community around the Church who are less fortunate with the message of hope that is in Jesus,” states Jena Manabat, the head of the Children Ministry. Indeed, the Christmas party made the children overflow with happiness. The spirit of Christmas was also shared to them through this simple party, exposing them to the joy that Jesus can bring.

Every person has the right to be protected from violence and abuse, and since children are especially vulnerable from such abuses, it is important that extra care should be given to their cause. Bullying is a form of violence and abuse which happens mostly in schools. Children spend more time in schools than at home and cases of bullying have been reported occurring inside school premises. For this reason and in accordance with the Anti Bullying enacted by the Philippine Government, the Faith Family Foundation, Intl., Inc, has taken the initiative to undertake an event to raise awareness among students about bullying and help them cope with this social malaise.

Last August 30, 2018 the Foundation, on it’s 3rd year of implementing this program, went to Paliparan II Integrated National High School to conduct a seminar which was attended by almost 400 Grade 7 and 8 students.

The campaign not only aimed at raising awareness about bullying but focused more on how God loves all the students and that He values each of them and protects their well-being, their dignity and has provided a good future for them. The students were given a letter from their Creator (passages taken from the Bible) letting them know how they are loved and thought of. In this way, they learned how to value each other, especially themselves. The School officials applauded the way the Anti Bullying Campaign was presented to the students noting that the approach was holistic and was more appealing to the students because of the spiritual perspective from which the issue is tackled. The heart-rendering testimony of Elizabeth Trinidad, a member of the Faith Family Church, exposed the ugly reality of bullying and how one can overcome it with help of God and by approaching the right people.

After the talk, small groups were formed to process what the students heard and learned. They were also presented the Gospel and were prayed for. A simple but hearty ‘merienda’ was enjoyed by all.

Every family has their own tradition. For Faith Family Church doing acts of kindness without strings attached is a tradition and they have shared this love for serving the community through three dentists. On April 22, 2018 another dental mission took place in Silang, Cavite in the community of Magnagon. Dr. Eloi, Dr. Grace and Dr. Glenda didn’t mind the trip to Cavite to serve the community. The dentists from Jeremiah 3017 dental clinic have always been finding ways to give back to the community by conducting dental missions. This is something that they have been doing for a long time now. Faith Family Church always endeavours to be able to organize events like the Dental Mission. The Dental Mission usually takes place in Faith Family Church but this year the dentists were brought to the community. The Young Adult Ministry took on the challenge of organizing the dental mission.

Most spend their summers swimming away in beaches but everyone in the hall chose to hustle for the community. As the day got hotter, more people began arriving. All people of all sorts of ages and sizes came to avail the free tooth extraction. There were several funny moments with different patients like how there was a mother who didn’t want her son to go through with the tooth extraction because her son will play basketball the next day. There was also a child who cried not because he was in pain but more of because how he can’t eat ice cream because his mother is taking too long with the dentist. The community was warm and welcoming. It made serving them a joy. The heat only created a warm atmosphere for everyone all around. 64 patients were served in total. Some of them only came to have a check up and some didn’t need to have their tooth extracted immediately. It was another successful dental mission. By 4pm everyone started packing up so that they can huddle in for pictures. As another memory of serving the community is tucked in safely everyone said their prayers before going home. All in a day’s work.