Daniella Raymundo
East 1 Chapter Youth Head
East 1 Chapter Youth Head
I joined the Youth For Christ (YFC) Camp in November 2014 called Camp Identified. I was 13 back then and now I am turning 19.
A few days before the camp, I remember telling my parents that I did not want to go. Maybe because I was lazy, or because I was afraid of meeting new people. But little did I know, there is more to this faith that I will encounter in this journey in YFC.
Throughout my years in YFC, I was given the opportunity to serve in many ways. In each service, there are times that it gets tough but, in the end, it is always fulfilling.
I always thought that by serving Him I can grow closer to Him but in one particular service, I questioned this. Instead of being uplifted during the service, it felt like I was being weighed down. But even with this feeling, I continued to stay positive and told myself “Don’t worry, after the event you’ll feel better”, but that was not the case. I was feeling very low, especially with my faith.
To solve this, I thought that by starting a plan in the bible app called ‘She Journeys’ will make me feel better. I thought that if I prayed and prayed, I would feel closer to Him. But it still didn’t feel right, there were still so many questions in my head that were bothering me.
So, that is when I asked for help from one of my leaders. This was something that I rarely do because I prefer to reflect on it and solve it on my own. Also, because I did not like troubling others with my issues. On the day that we met, she listened to me and shared with me her own experience. At the same time, she assured me saying that it is part of growing in your faith.
And that is when I realised that growing in my faith is not always about me going uphill. There will be times in this journey where you will slip and fall downhill. Maybe, that’s God’s way of telling us that we missed something important when we were climbing up. And for me the thing that I missed is that I failed to put God in everything that I did, even if it was just the smallest task. I failed to realise that what I’m doing is for Him. Not for myself or for the people around me.
I am almost in my 6th year in YFC and just when I think that I have grown a lot in my faith, I get surprised by how much more I am learning throughout the journey.
In YFC, as I go through the path laid out for me by God, I am reassured that no matter how scary it may seem, I am not journeying alone. I have my brothers and sisters in Christ, my Couples For Christ, Couple Coordinators and my family to cheer on me in every step of the way. Most importantly, I know that God is holding my hand from the beginning till the end.
