Insight on the Young Professionals Retreat

The retreat is a way of refreshing a Young Professional’s mind, heart, and soul. Making everyone sensitive in the world’s real battle. Our retreat was held last April 8-9,2018 at CCT Tagaytay Retreat And Training Center. This is the first ever Young Professionals Retreat of CCSGM with 40 participants.

As a Young Professional, the hardest deal we face is the fact that we tend to neglect issues and began to be insensitive in certain areas of our lives. Herein, our three speakers discussed aspects on which most of our Young Professionals can relate to such as Maturity, Career Path, Financial literacy, Relationship and Marriage, and Future Plans and Goals.

The first speaker was Bro. Emmanuel Illuzada. He talked about the importance of the Fear of God, Boldness and Identity, and How we should respond in every temptation. During noontime, it was Sis. Apple Illuzada’s turn to discuss “Maturity in Life and in love” and “Seven Principles to Mature as a Young Professional”.

One of the most important part of our Retreat is when all couples were challenged to discuss life with their partner. Discussing the most awkward part of a relationship which is planning the future and possibility of marriage. For single buddies, a discussion on how to pursue their relationship with God and equipping themselves before entering into a new relationship was discussed. Another important part of our camp is creating a 3 years plan for our future. We were challenged to plot and pray and look towards a vision.

The next day, we had a guest Speaker, Bro. Max Gilla, who elaborated on the concept of “Career path”, “Pursuing Dreams” and “How to be effective and proactive in our workplace”. The career talk was followed by a Q&A portion wherein we have been given a chance to ask questions about career and success. We are happy and inspired to see how God blessed Brother Max’s life as he followed Christ and how rough the road he went through just to be where he is today.

During camp, we shared our own testimonies to our fellow Young Pro. We had a lot of free time to talk about our life’s experiences and eat a lot. Though the Retreat is only overnight, the bonding was like never before. Before heading home, we went to Starbucks Coffee in Tagaytay to have a post-retreat fellowship and of course, picture taking!

*Reflection*

• It is an eye-opening topic for all of us as we are walking in our path as a young professional because most of the time we act irresponsibly to our decisions, finances, relationships, goals, and careers. We are living in a world where financial stability became our standard for pattern and measurement of success. Day by day we strive so much to earn money, power and fame but little did we know that we are heading in a wrong direction. Wasting our time to wrong motive which will soon lead us to drift away from what God has called us to be
• Discussing about marriage is too awkward and we are afraid of the reality of marriage that it is also part of our maturity in God (Gen. 2: 24 and Eph. 5: 31)
• As we become a Young Professional we must outgrow our immaturity in terms of decision making, pursuing our dream, choosing our career, saving up for the future and entering into a deeper relationship. As Paul says, we must give up our childish ways. Our path has already changed. We have a greater responsibility and better opportunity to worship and serve the Lord. As Young Professionals, it opens an opportunity to reach out to people and encourage others. Let’s use our power as a young adult to please and honor God in every way we can
• Maturity isn’t measured by age or years but by learning & continuously learning about God, our life and our walk with God. It is an endless journey
• Whatever you do, do it out of your love for God