Going on mission for Christ allows a person to surrender to God, to humble himself, rely upon God’s love, provisions, wisdom and empowerment and to experience God in the many facets of life that the missionary will undergo doing God’s works. We have been blessed to journey to a few missions as a couple and this time in India. I remember the first time I went on mission in India and the request of Bro Cesar (India Country Head) to us when we come back to Singapore 2 years ago – to share the beauty of India. Indeed with the recent mission trip with Aby we have seen and experienced Jesus in India, Chennai and its people, our Chennai brethren – their love and pure joy that they have shared with us.
Our overall experience for the first day of marathon teaching was indeed fulfilling, having only 3 hours of sleep coming from an overnight flight, tired but truly grateful to experience the joy and smiles of CFC Chennai thirsting for God’s values and wisdom through the CFC Talks such as Covenant Orientation and Financial Stewardship.
We know that the Holy Spirit was with us and with our participants, the talks are both Spirit filled and Spirit led. I am blessed to have Abigail with me to serve, even though we were leaving our 3 boys amidst the ongoing scare of COVID-19. It did cross our minds if we are still going to pursue the Chennai mission trip because days prior to the mission, the development of Singapore’s COVID-19 cases kept on increasing. Even on the night of our flight to Chennai, the Archbishop of Singapore declared ‘No Holy Mass’ in Singapore starting 15th February.
Trusting in the Lord, we pursued with the mission knowing that the Lord will never forsake us and we ask our Mother’s intercession too, specially for our children, and also for Singapore.
Support of the clergy – Rev Fr Joe – warmed the hearts of our CFC Chennai including Abigail and myself specially when Fr Joe celebrated mass for all of us after the CO and FS. During his homily Fr Joe expressed his appreciation to CFC Singapore, for the support and dedication of our mission. He encouraged CFC Chennai to continue with what CFC Singapore has started and he urged them to bring more families to Christ specially through the CFC formations.
The pray-over of Bro James during the 2nd day was also very spiritual. Bro James though advanced in age is indeed full of wisdom. We urge him to continue to help spread God’s Word whenever people come and visit him. He can help in the evangelization works of CFC and the Church.
The presence also of Bro Martin Anthony and Bro Raju Jose gave the Chennai brethren the assurance that CFC India and its servant leaders are actively supporting CFC Chennai community.
Our CFC Chennai are looking up to the guidance of CFC Singapore and we have shared our vision that Chennai will be a bountiful ground for the Lord.

On the 15th ‘til the 18th of February, 2020, Tere and I had the chance to serve together on our 2nd overseas mission trip. This time we had a blessed opportunity to be with our brothers and sisters in Chennai, India. We are grateful to the Lord for calling us to serve and proclaim His works!
Truly it is in giving that we receive. Our Chennai mission allowed us to: share our time and resources with our CFC Chennai brethren; share our experience as HH leaders; and give practical examples or tips to them. In return, the Lord has gifted us with new friends and an opportunity to learn new things about Tamil Nadu. More so, we had a deeper understanding how we can better support this mission area. We felt inspired as we witnessed the zeal and profound passion of our CFC brothers and sisters in Chennai in proclaiming their faith. Even more, the Lord blessed us to conclude our day after HLT sessions to attend the Holy Mass together with some our CFC Chennai brethren, and allowed us to receive Jesus sacramentally because back home in Singapore, the celebration of mass in churches had just been declared suspended from 14th of February. God is so generous!
When doing God’s mission, we triumph over oppressions. The mission trip’s schedule coincided with the period of increasing COVID-19 cases in Singapore and different parts of the world. There were doubts to push through and the mission team were discerning whether it was better to delay. Worse, on the night of our flight, just a couple of hours before we leave for the airport, our one-year-old son suddenly started vomiting. I silently offered a prayer. Praise God he managed to feel better. Though we were worried, Tere and I proceeded to the airport for our flight. We thank the Lord that our son continued to get better. In this mission trip the Lord once again reminded Tere & myself to be still and Trust the Lord. True enough, the Lord allowed us to conquer our doubts and worries. He empowered us to Testify and Be A light to our CFC Chennai brethren.

“Our Family Household is always full of joy, excitement, and laughter.”
The Velasquez couple, Daddy Tyrone and Mommy Girlie, shares the impact of the Family Household in their family.
“Our family vision of becoming ‘a faithful & fun family, fit to live life to the fullest through Christ who empowers us’ is fulfilled by the Family Household.”
Their 13-year-old daughter, Ysobel, said, “It is a fun way to bond and spend time together despite busyness in our studies and activities.”
“We were able to know each other’s thoughts about God,” says 8-year-old Lucas.
“Of course, Ysolde (4) and Matthias (2) are also active and participative especially during the Kids Praise and activities,” adds Mommy Girlie.
“With the family household, we can understand and relate to the Gospel when we attend the Holy Mass. It also became our weekly family bonding.”
Praise God for the gift of faith, family & fun!

One unforgettable Family Household activity for the Landayan family was when the kids generously shared what they had to their parents Daddy Allan and Mommy Chiqui.
“How they offered to sacrifice for us was beyond our imagination!” Mommy Chiqui added.
Daddy Allan shared “It’s important for us to have our kids involved in family prayer because this helps build their relationship with the Lord while they are young.”
Eldest Cyrille called the Household “better family time” while Althea realized that it is an opportunity to get closer to God and family.

“The Family Household helps us learn from our children and understand them better.”
“We always give a teaser of the upcoming activities for our Family Household. It excites them and makes them look forward to it.” The Monasterial family of CFC Singapore is now embracing the joy that the Family Household brings to their family.
Mommy Lhen shared, “As parents, we’ve also become more creative in preparing and conducting the household since we started last year.” Daddy James added that their kids, 10-year-old James, and 7-year-old Jelena, had the most fun doing the “Resurrection Easter Egg Hunt” activity.
Surely, more families are discovering the gift of the Family Household!

“The Family Household is a good tool to know each other while catechizing the kids.”
The Javier Family from Singapore shared that the Family Household helped their Gospel reflection to be more structured. Daddy Raymond said, “We find it challenging to do because the interest of our kids are different from one another. However, the activity and messages fit for both our younger kids and the teens.” Their son Adrian (17) shared that he enjoyed listening to his siblings. His sisters, Gianna (13) and Hannah (10), mentioned that every time they share and do the activity, it boosts their confidence.
Marian (8) adds, “I love that I always learn something from the activities.” Lastly, Mommy Shermin says, “As we do the household regularly, we eventually enjoy the experience of knowing more of each other.”
Get to know your family more through the Family Household!