Last February 2, 3 & 4, 2001 a group of couples led by Fred andBing Angeles spend a beautiful and enriching weekend in Pagbilao, Quezon, to share the Worldwide Marriage Encounter program to the youths of Lucena and nearby towns. The program is called CHOICE.

Friday nights and Saturday evenings could have been a time for gimmicks, texting, and merry happenings for the 54 young adults from the differentschools of the Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc., but on this particularweekend in February they chose to be at the scenic CFC Retreat House inPagbilao Quezon. 
For the next 44 hours these mixture of students of various disciplinesand courses had experienced a very meaningful and deepening awareness ofrelationship to whom they wish to belong.  Be it a person, a communityor their vocation, they found something that has changed their views andattitudes in life. They came in somewhat naive and others ambivalent ofwho they are. Others perhaps torn in what direction their vocation andlife is leading them. But soon afterwards through the couples who sharedunselfishly their experiences and through moments of meditation, self examinationand prayers they are now aware that they have a choice of finding who reallyis important in their lives.
Choice has given them an opportunity to hear through triads and talkshops the sharings of other's views and experiences, that may help themcope with peer pressures and the modern world temptations.  Now theyknow they have a CHOICE.
Along side the Choice program, the parents and guardians of these youngadults had a simultaneous "Parenting enrichment" the Sunday morning ofthis weekend.  This is the first time that both these programs havebeen given as complimentary to each other and therefore may have a bettereffect in helping the parent and the child seeing eye to eye.
Onie & Susee Calayan, were themselves in the weekend and were allpraises for the the couples and their students.  Onie & Susee are behind in bringing this enrichment to CEFI and they hope to one dayalso bring the WME weekend here in their province.
In a letter to the Wordlwide Marriage Encounter movement Onie &Susee state,  "To us, it meant more than words can ever say. In fact,we can state without batting an eyelash that it may just have changed ourlittle world here. The eagle has landed, indeed...it has also laid around54 choice eaglets and did 35 of their parents proud!"
Those who helped the Choice and Parenting program a success were thefollowing, - Fred & Bing, Jun & Flor, Mulong & Narda, Donnie& Josie, Noli & Josie, Tony & Mely, Raf & Glo, Ben &Cynch, Rene & Zeny, Mo & Mila, Max & Marlene, Cesar & Angie,Terry & Marnie and of course, Father Serge.
Lastly, I think, I may be doing a certain taint of unfairness if Ido not share here the portion of Onie & Susee's letter to us, whenhe wrote;
"Bing & Nina wrote us a very touching letter with a twist. We arebeing called to be part of the Weekend this coming first week of March.What I wrote about a few months ago now seems turning into reality. "Ifyou really love me, feed my sheep," said the Lord. We answer, "Yes, Lord.We will be doing your work this coming March at Manresa or wherever andwhenever you call us to do so." 
They will be having their rookie weekend. Are we going to disappoint them? 
Amen.

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North Zone Weekend last March 2,3 & 4, 2001
The next North Zone weekend will be on May 3-5, 2002

NORTH ZONE STEWARDSHIP:
Thank you, Jolan & Grace....
         ....Welcome, Bing & Nina

DITOY AND CORA LAUNCH SPECIAL DJ SERIES ON 
        THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE
By Rey & Mel Ortega

The evening had absolutely nothing to do with Erap and Gloria, nor BillClinton and George Bush, nor Kabila and whoever. But it was no less poignant,emotion-filled and brimming with memories - memories of love, of service,of oneness.

With the dramatic events of People Power II just a week old, the WMENorth Zone love community witnessed another heart-tugging event much closer to home this time:  the passing-on of the torch of leadership fromerstwhile Zone Coordinator Jolan and Grace to the new Zone CoordinatorBing and Nina. The passing-on ceremony, incorporated within a Holy Masscelebrated by Fr. Greg, was held at the Bahay-Pangarap on January 27th.

Jolan and Grace, leading a group of WME couples during the Offertory part of the Eucharist,  offered the symbolic flowers and candle which were accepted by Bing and Nina who in turn offered them to the Lord byplacing them before the altar. The candle light ceremony was orchestratedby Bebs and Agnes, assisted by Albert and Marie.

 Jolan and Grace later offered a beautiful scroll containing theScripture verse on 1 Corinthians 13, intoning the hope that the new leadership will lead with love.  Bing and Nina showed the community's appreciation for the outgoing coordinator's sterling record of service by offering abeautiful vase and explained its symbolism. 

The community joined the fun and  the floodgates of symbolisms by putting into the vase their love notes for Jolan and Grace, mementoesof their (J-G's) impact on the life of the love community.

DITOY AND CORA LAUNCH SPECIAL DJ SERIES ON 
        THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE

When it comes to brewing fresh ideas on revitalizing love couples andrekindling a flickering fire of love, give it to Ditoy and Cora.  The energetic and very creative Asian Zone Coordinator recently launcheda special series of sharings on the Languages of Love. 

On hand to harvest the fruits of their sharings were a big group ofactive DJ members coming from both the North and South zones of Metro Manila. Chosen to be the venue due to its spaciousness and strategically centrallocation was the residence of Henry and Lizzie in Mandaluyong.

The maiden offering of the series was held on January 10 and  itsexpected to last for the next three months, or until the entire series is completed.  The group in attendance was in itself a power-packedassembly, graced by the presence of our national coordinator Terry andMarnie (who never pass up any opportunity to drumbeat attendance to ourforthcoming WME Silver Anniversary celebration in Cebu City come Novemberof this year), past nationals Rey and Mel, former zone coordinators, andin general the present pillars of the WME community.

---


Ms. June Keithley Enrichment

Last Saturday afternoon, October 27, 2001 WME Philippines was fortunate to have Mrs. June Keithley-Castro as its resource speaker. She talked on the topic, "The Effects & Influences of Media On Family Life."
Not known to many, this engagement was almost cancelled because June was suppose to have an operation, as adviced by her endocrinologist because of a thyroid disfunction, but Terry & Marnie talked to June and her doctor if her operation can give way to our program, since the planning has been made a month ago. The good-heartedness of June Keithley gave us an opportunity to share with us, her missionary vocation.

June Keithley's lecture not only touched on media but also on the authentication of Mrs.Vasula and the Lady of All Nations and the Lady of Akita, and the predictions of great things to come before the second Advent. Her lecture gave the WME couples an insight of the tragedy of the terrorist attack on America. She said that the event has been foretold exactly in a revelation by Mama Mary in one of her appearances. The tragedy has suddenly found God in the US political structure. President Bush even declared a Day of Prayer and right now the US congress have given time for Bible studies in its halls. June says, "She could hardly imagine apolitical America could be all singing God Bless America a day after the attack. Even the media has toned to go back to the basic belief of God, and more people are now drawn to the churches."

Lastly she asked the help of WME couples and families to help and do something to protect our children from the violence, pornography, lewd and explicit language in the movies, TV shows and even ads and commercials that are a part of our day to day lives.  She, as a member of the MTRCB, (Movies Television Regulations and Classification Board) wants us to help her to be more effective in censuring the hazards that could make our kids prone to immorality, crime, drugs and violence.

She has asked us to gather signatures to show we are in support of having laws that will protect us and our children against these hazards in media. More specifically she was worried of the airing of PG rated programs at prime time viewing. Her desire is that such TV programs be aired after 9PM to refrain our kids from watching them.

Indeed the MTRCB are not merely to regulate & classify the movies and films we may watch but they should have the duties to help the parents in protecting our children from the negative effects of rated PG and X programs.