CCF Sunday Big Dgroup

 

Key Outcomes

The meeting focused on the biblical definition of love as an unconditional commitment to seek the highest good of others, specifically within the family and the church community 1. Participants discussed transitioning from a self-centered worldview to a servant-hearted approach, emphasizing that volunteering is an act of gratitude for salvation rather than a means to achieve it 23.

Core Values and Biblical Principles

• Love (L): Defined as an unconditional commitment toward imperfect people to seek their highest good, often requiring sacrifice 1.
• Obedience (O): Foundational to following Christ, involving obedience to God's Word and instituted authorities (parents, government) to receive blessings 45.
• Volunteer (V): The current focus, emphasizing serving others out of gratitude and worship 36.
• Humility: Modeled by Jesus Christ, who emptied himself and took the form of a bondservant, remaining obedient to the point of death 78.

Practical Application of Love in Action

• Living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2): Presenting one's body for God's glory through specific actions 9:

  • Hands that help rather than harm 9.
  • Mouths that encourage rather than tear down 9.
  • Ears that listen patiently 9.
  • Eyes that notice overlooked people 10.
  • Feet that go where love is needed 10.
  • Minds that think of blessing others 10.
  • Schedules and resources used for generosity 10.
• Family Focus: The family is the primary training ground for Christ-like character 11. Key practices include affirming family members, extending grace, and choosing patience over pride 121314.

Group Discussion Takeaways

• Personal Gifts: Participants identified unique gifts to be used for others, such as financial resources for the kingdom 15, empathy and language skills (Korean) to bridge communication gaps 16, and artistic abilities (drawing) to bless others 17.
• Overcoming Challenges: Members shared struggles with pride, work-related stress, and long-distance relationships, concluding that prayer and humility are essential to maintaining healthy family dynamics 181920.
• Service Mindset: Agreement that serving in the church (CCF) is often unpaid because it is driven by love for the Master, not for personal gain 621.

Announcements and Next Steps

• True Life Retreat (TLR): Scheduled for October 9–11 at Osanri Prayer Mountain 2223.
• Registration: The final deadline for registration is September 30 24.
• Upcoming Events: A "big group" meeting is scheduled for next Sunday 24.
• Holiday Safety: Reminder to stay safe during the Chuseok holiday, particularly regarding driving and home electrical safety 25.

Session 5 Lay Counseling Online Training

 

Key Outcomes

The session covered foundational counseling skills for healing damaged emotions, centered on Jesus Christ's model of accepting, understanding, and caring for counselees before introducing truth. Key practical skills taught included the use of open questions, empathy vs. sympathy, body language awareness, and sharpening observational attention. Participants shared reflections on why God allows problems, and a lively Q&A addressed the balance between pastoral confrontation and counseling-style comfort.

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Course & Program Information

• Program: Certificate in Community Services (includes LCT) and Certificate in Leadership Development, offered through ACAI 1
• LCT is a concentration subject under Community Services; completion of all four certificates leads to a Bachelor in Religious Arts 2
• Fees: One-time enrollment fee of ₱2,000 (permanent); ₱2,500 per subject 2
• Courses are accredited by a US-based organization in Texas; certificates also issued through Restoration Ministers / Lay Counseling Training (US) 3
• Duration: Community Services — 5 months + 6 months LCT; Leadership Development — 5 months core + 5 months concentration 4
• Facilitator personally recommended the program and noted it is affordable and manageable even for working individuals 3

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Participant Reflections: Why God Allows Problems

• Deepening intimacy with God was the most resonant reason cited by multiple participants — problems draw believers closer to Him 5
• Suffering reframed as a gift and opportunity to depend on God and restore the relationship originally intended with humanity 5
• Problems purify faith and humble those in ministry, cutting through theological knowledge to what matters most — relationship with God 6
• Facilitator shared personal testimony: a cancer diagnosis transformed her daily gratitude and awareness of life 7

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Core Teaching: Healing Damaged Emotions

Jesus' Counseling Model

• Accept → Understand → Care before introducing truth; do not "slap truth over pain" 8
• Example of the Samaritan Woman: Jesus bypassed her sin and failure, started with her immediate need (water), and only then moved to spiritual truth 9
• Contrast: Telling a grieving person "don't cry, he's in heaven" vs. "allow yourself to cry — God will bring comfort" — same truth, radically different impact 10

Positive-to-Negative Ratio

• Use a pie approach: ~5 positive statements to ~3 negative ones when engaging counselees 11
• Counselees already carry heavy negativity; adding more discourages them from continuing 12
• Begin sessions with genuine praise or affirmation — even small observations (haircut, punctuality) can shift a counselee's posture immediately 13

Resolving Inner Pain with Truth

• Truth must be delivered in love, not as rebuke or confrontation 14
• Preaching (confrontational) and counseling (comforting) are distinct roles — pastors must consciously switch between them 15
• When counseling, remove the pastoral robe; when preaching, retain the counselor's empathy 15

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Counseling Skills Taught

Use of Questions

• Use open questions — they allow exploration of meanings, thoughts, and feelings 16
• Avoid closed questions (yes/no), leading questions (embed expected answers), and "why/why not" (hard to answer emotionally, can sound accusatory) 1718
• Avoid multiple/frequent questions — counselors are not interrogators or news reporters; irrelevant details (e.g., "which hotel?") are not the focus 17
• Preferred openers: "Help me understand…", "How did that feel?", "In what way did that hurt you?" 19
• First topic a counselee raises = context of the entire conversation; pay close attention 20

Empathy vs. Sympathy

• Empathy: Temporarily entering the counselee's frame of reference — thoughts, meanings, feelings 21
• Sympathy (pity): Linked to victim-hood ("kawawa ka naman"); counselors aim to move counselees from victim to victor 22
• Empathy requires suspending bias and prejudice, even toward lifestyles the counselor personally opposes 23

Body Language & Awareness

• Open posture (feet flat, hands relaxed) signals readiness and interest; crossed arms or legs can signal disengagement 24
• Lean slightly forward when conversation intensifies to signal engagement 25
• Incongruence between words and body is critical data — e.g., a counselee saying "I'm not angry" while showing clenched fists and dilated eyes 26
• Smiling or laughing while narrating trauma = coping mechanism, not indifference; the body compensates when pain is too intense to express 27
• No phones, no note-taking, no recording during sessions — all divide attention and breach confidentiality 28

Sharpening Awareness (Practical Exercise)

• Participants were tested on observational recall (earring shape, clothing color) to demonstrate that details matter — especially for counselees with childhood emotional neglect 20

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Boundaries & Cross-Gender Counseling

• No touch policy as a default; limited exceptions (e.g., a brief hug with distance after established rapport, woman-to-woman) 29
• Strongly advocate same-gender counseling to avoid temptation and boundary violations 29
• Exception for gay counselees: they are often more comfortable with female counselors; transition to male counselor is introduced later to provide a corrective male role model 30

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Action Items & Next Steps

• Pastor Jonel: Review the program primer and decide whether to take LCT only or the full course; inform facilitator so the sponsor can be notified 31
• All participants: Review the ACAI primer sent by Ma'am Jinky/Chinky for course and fee details 32
• Next session (Tuesday): Continue with attending skills — deeper conversation flow, additional practical skills 33
• Breakout room practice (skills practice) deferred to a future session due to technical limitations 31

USeP Curriculum Enhancement Lecture Series 2026 : GAD and Curriculum Internationalization

 

Division X Butuan City Visit last September 17, 2026

 

Key Outcomes

The group confirmed September 30 (Wednesday) as the primary visit date to Butuan, anchored by a 4:00 PM meeting at the Mayor's (LGU) office, which is the only fully confirmed appointment. 12 The evening will proceed with an installation of officers (joint meeting dropped to avoid overrun). 34 Morning slots on September 30 are being pursued for Caraga State University (CSU) and Philippine Science High School, pending confirmation. 5 The group also discussed membership renewal deadlines, recruitment needs, and social media visibility as urgent club health priorities. 67

Confirmed Schedule — September 30

• LGU/Mayor's Office meeting: 4:00 PM — confirmed; scheduled by the Mayor's office 12
• Evening: Installation of officers only (no joint meeting); induction of new members if available 34
• Travel from Davao: Depart September 29 afternoon (~1:00 PM); estimated 6-hour drive; overnight stay in Butuan 89

Pending Morning Appointments (September 30)

• Caraga State University (CSU): Morning slot being requested; currently no confirmation 510
• Philippine Science High School: Available every Wednesday but only 3:30–5:00 PM, which conflicts with the Mayor's meeting; Jen to request an earlier morning slot 11
• Oreos/ORIO: Proposed at 1:00–2:30 PM as a bridge before the 4:00 PM LGU meeting 5
• If no morning school confirmations are received, the group will travel on September 29 afternoon and proceed directly to the 4:00 PM appointment 9

Decisions Made

• Installation only on the evening of September 30 — joint meeting removed to avoid an overly long program 34
• If CSU attendees express interest in joining Toastmasters, membership forms will be available on-site for immediate fill-up and induction that evening 4
• September 30 date is fixed; the group will work around it rather than reschedule 1213
• If the Mayor is unavailable, a chief of staff or representative is expected to receive the group automatically 1314
• The Mayor's office visit is a courtesy call (not a demo meeting); a formal demo presentation will happen at a later date 1516

Membership & Club Health

• Renewal deadline: September 30; fee increases from $10 to $12 after that date 6
• Downtown club: ~8–9 active members; needs additional renewals 717
• Butuan club: 7 renewals confirmed to date; at least one member unable to renew (out of country) 18
• Charter cost for a new club: approximately ₱125,000 — steep barrier for new institutions 19
• Recommendation: Recruit CSU individuals as members of existing clubs (Butuan or Downtown) first, then let them advocate internally for forming a CSU club later 19
• Three registered mentor members are required to support any new LGU or institutional club; Gilbert, CREVI, and Jojo identified as potential mentors 2021

Recruitment & Social Media

• Current attendance at meetings is low (as few as 7 per session); guest invitations are being used to pad numbers 22
• VPR (Jojo/Jocelyn) identified as the social media lead; CREVI's daughter may assist with managing the club page 2324
• Recommendation: Post club content at least every two days — quotes, themes, activity photos — to maintain visibility 24
• Meeting programs should be shared at least one week in advance; last-minute posting reduces attendance 25
• CDO club recently held a demo meeting and already has 21 members signed up for Land Bank — cited as a benchmark 26

Action Items

• Jen: Follow up with Philippine Science High School to request a morning slot on September 30 11
• Jen: Contact CSU to confirm a morning appointment 510
• Jen: Remind club president about September 30 renewal deadline; re-send reminder to members 17
• CREVI: Confirm Gilbert Villar's availability for September 30 27
• CREVI: Coordinate with Ma'am Ched (Downtown club president) on member remittances 17
• CREVI/Bobsey: Activate club Facebook page; assign millennial member to manage regular posting 24
• Bobsey: Check with Direk Jed about joining the September 30 Butuan visit 28
• Bobsey: Send sample Davao Noontime installation program to CREVI/Jen as reference 29

Next Meeting

• Date: September 24 (Thursday) — online
• Agenda: Finalize installation program flow, confirm Direk Jed's attendance, review who can join the demo team 29