Did you ever experience being locked out of your house? I did one morning! I have two sets of keys at home—one set for my cabinets, another set for my front door, gate, and office. After locking my front door on my way to work, I realized I was holding the wrong set of keys! That morning was already stressful for me and I decided not to fret about being locked out. I was ready to leave without knowing how I was to get inside the house upon my return. Then, as I walked toward the gate, I espied the misplaced keys beside a flowerpot on my terrace! I then remembered I had put them there earlier in the morning after watering the plants.

I was so delighted. I praised God because even though I might sometimes forget where I place my keys, the key that I have to His Kingdom will never be lost, and that key is the Right Key. I remembered the phrase from one of my Youth EE memory cards, “Faith is the key that unlocks the door to eternal life.”

Youth EE is the youth department of Evangelism Explosion (EE) International. This ministry is designed to teach young people who are Christians to share the Gospel in a natural, spontaneous, and consistent manner. I’m currently taking their one-day-a-week 13-week training course (plus ten days on-the-job training).

The Youth EE purpose as stated in its Purpose Statement is, “To glorify God — equipping local church youth leaders to multiply in and through local churches worldwide.”

These are the three goals of Youth EE (taken from the Youth EE Trainee’s Notebook):

1. To equip you to effectively share the Gospel in a natural and non-threatening way with a non–Christian in the outreach ministry of your church.
2. To equip you to train other students to be Trainers (2 Timothy 2:2).
3. To equip you to “make disciples” of new converts.

In February of 2006, six attendees of the DCBC Sunset Service were blessed with the privilege of undergoing a Youth EE local church training course on DCBC premises. Their trainers were also from DCBC—a previous batch of Youth EE graduates! Future medical doctor Carlomer Camannong mentored Hannah Balingcongan and Eson Dalangin; our Youth Pastor Kuya Caloy Novisteros took Derf Sibal under his tutelage; and Kristine Tinio with present DCF Vice–Chair for Missions Lavinia de Velez undertook to train Bryan Antigua and Salve Escañela.

Upon becoming certified graduates of the Youth EE training, that fresh batch of six DCBC trainees have now become certified Youth EE trainers (according to the Youth EE way of doing things). After a long period of praying for a second male trainee, yet another batch of DCBC Youth EE trainees was assembled.

On July 16, we had our first meeting in one of the classrooms of the School of Statistics (where DCBC holds its Sunday worship services). Hannah and Kristine, graduates of the February course, are the ones facilitating our Youth EE training. Kristine is assigned to Paolo Gonzales and Sarah Balbuena, and Hannah to Tagalog service Pastor Cris Canuto and me.

We are now on our ninth week and we are not only learning another method to effectively share the gospel and be future trainers… Personally, this training has also been a process of character-building for me.

During our OJT prior to our sixth week, I wasn’t able to share the Gospel effectively, because there was sin in my heart. I had developed an intolerant dislike of someone. I knew that I had to confess it to the person concerned, but how do I do this when this person’s attitude and personality were the cause of my sinful feelings? The Lord Jesus was my only hope at that moment. I praise Him for being the Prince of Peace. I thought everything was fine after that closure, but to my dismay, the issue was not yet resolved in my heart. I thought I wouldn’t be able to memorize our Practice Outline as a result. My mind was blank and all efforts of the previous week vanished. Then the Lord humbled me. Before I started my memorization, I really asked for His help and the Lord blessed me with my first “good” rating.

To be a Youth EE trainee really entails character, hard work, and commitment. With my job and other involvements, it seems impossible to comply with the requirements, or finish the whole course. But the Master whom we serve is a God of Possibilities. He makes impossible things possible. It is amazing how the Lord sustained me and the rest of the team in the past nine weeks.

There are two beautiful things so far that have happened to me during my Youth EE training. First, my salvation experience returned afresh to me. One early morning, while studying the material, the indescribable feeling of deep joy and gratitude overwhelmed my being. I had hardly had any sleep. I just kept praising and thanking the Lord Jesus for the gift of eternal life He has given me. When I reported for work that morning, I had to conceal my swollen eyes. (Thanks to the inventor of cosmetics!)

Secondly, this training enables me to build a deeper relationship with long-time friends. (Only God knows where life will lead us before the year ends.) The more time I spend with them, the brighter the brilliance of the precious jewel in them appears to me.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank DCBC for the privilege of being a part of this Youth EE training, fully subsidized! Youth EE is another milestone in my spiritual journey and I look forward to the next milestone in my journey in the Lord with you all.