CFC Celebrates 24th Year Anniversary

          August 15, 2014, Saturday will mark the 24th anniversary of CFC (Couples for Christ) in Melbourne, Australia. Many grateful hearts are ready to share their gifts tomorrow during the celebration. The venue for this momentous event will be St. Brigid's Church and Parish Hall.

          To make this event a very meaningful one, the following activities are being prepared for everyone to share. The celebration of the Holy Eucharist will commence the festivities then this will be followed with the following events:

- praise and worship

- group photo

- dinner

- inspirational talk from Bro. Ed Canilao 

- unit presentations 1, 2 and 3

-  unit and family ministry presentations

          Everyone is so thankful to God for everything that has transpired all those 24 years that CFC existed here in Melbourne, Australia. It has passed through so many stages including the moment of purification most notably when it passed the division phase. Yet after all those trying moments, CFC continues to grow and move forward by the grace of God and by the abled leadership of people like Bros. Bong, Romy, Ed and others. Happy 24th anniversary dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Coming Together For Mutual Support

          We just came back from our gathering today in our CFC Northside household sharing. And we are thankful to our hosts- bro Alex and sis Precious for accommodating us in their home. What made this gathering a more memorable one was the event of welcoming the latest addition to our household- bro Jose and sis Daisy Aguinaldo. 

image: http://www.brainyquote.com/photos/w/williamjames108497.jpg

 

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

William James

          As shown in our borrowed image beforehand, our life is a continuing flow of events intertwined with each other's daily events and whether we like it or not, we come across the lives of other people whom we directly or indirectly interact with. Thus, in our gathering today, we all felt lucky and blessed to have heard the various stories we brought and carried in our lives. 

          We all said our prayers of gratitude to God for the past blessings both recent and past. Amidst the seemed complexity of life, we were still so grateful to God for His overflowing goodness and love to each one of us. What was common in our experiences was the presence of both good and bad events yet we were grateful for those happy moments and at the same time, blessed for those trial moments since they allowed us to be more steadfast in our faith.

          We ended our fellowship by wishing each one the best for the coming new week and days. Indeed gatherings like we had this day become a source of strength and motivation for us. And it allowed us to be more appreciative to the presence and support of each member of our community.  

Moments To Cherish

          Moments of togetherness are precious times to build up relationships among brothers and sisters. Through thick and thin, it is by the support that we share and receive in our community that enable us to go through all those events. Indeed, life is so wonderful that it is ought to be shared with others especially to people so dear to our hearts.

          That's exactly what we esteemed much in our group, the CFC NorthEast Household when we joined together to share the joy of Bro. Rodel and Sis Danah on their newly purchased home in Mernda, a northeast suburban community of Melbourne. All the members of our household were present except for Bro. Alvin and Sis Denden who were busy taking care of something very important. 

      Anyway, we all treasured the food, the ambience of the fresh place and the impressiveness of the environment as the new owners were so proud in sharing with us those recently welcomed blessings in their life. We are all thankful to God for showering us such opportunity to gather together in His name as we also welcomed in our household the new couple member, Bro. Jose and Sis Daisy. 

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance"

Precious Moments.....Memories to Cherish

          When people gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ, it is there in that gathering that one can feel and radiate the same positive vibes to others. Life is so wonderful that one could not miss to enjoy every bit of it. Regardless of the busy schedules that we have everyday, it is still a part of our life to exchange our life story with others.

          That's exactly what we cherish last November 09, 2014, Sunday when we held our household gathering  at the residence of our household leader, Bro. Rodel and his loving wife, Sis Danna. What made the gathering more meaningful was the presence of our charismatic unit head, Bro. Ed and his loving wife, Sis Pinky. Amidst the chit- chat we made before we formally started our sharing, the full of spirit children were also busy with their games and antics most common to their ages. 

photo credit: Denis Collette...!!! via photopin cc

          We had our singing practice right before we took off our celebration. What struck me among the three songs that Bro. Rodel had prepared for the celebration was that they all tell and remind us of the overflowing love GOD has for all His people including us gathered at that very moment.

          Finally, we started our celebration of faith and life and as each one shared his thanksgiving prayer for all the recent blessings that were received from God, I said to myself that God indeed is such a generous God. He never fails in sending His goodness to all of us in so many ways. Throughout all the chapters of life specifically for us who were bonded together at that very moment, we personally and concretely feel God's amazing kindness by the multitude of gifts that He has showered on us. 

          Thus, we all felt the strength of our being together and as we all went back to each of our families, we carried with us the new found flame of life and the bond of fraternal love that we shared with each other. After all, those precious moments that we shared indeed become memories to cherish.  

Gathering of Hearts

          For this year, one of the highlights of the Couples for Christ (CFC) Melbourne is the Christmas gathering of the particular units like the South, North, West, and East. On that account, last Dec. 22, 2013, Sunday, the North Unit under its head, Bro. Ed Canilao, held its Annual Christmas party.

           Participated by the 4 households that comprised North Unit, the get together was a huge success. It was further blessed by the presence of Bro. Ronnie Ordonez, CFC Melbourne Chapter Head, his lovely wife, Sis. Sheila and their children. Everyone was inspired by his short message telling the group about the various activities that CFC had successfully initiated during the course of 2013.

          After the sharing of the exquisite food, assorted events were facilitated. The kids had a great time with their parlor game. Give aways were showered to them and they had a great time gathering their gifts. While they were having a good time, the proud parents were also busy taking photos and sharing laughters.

          Thus, the gathering was culminated by the community singing of Christmas carols. As each one excitedly participated in the singing, the hall was filled with warmth and love as the spirit of Christmas overwhelemed everyone.