The Philippine Blessed Family Department (BFD) held the 1-Day BFD Leaders and Matching Supporters Workshop with the theme: “Empowering BFD leaders and MS towards Vision 2027” on December 4, 2022, at the Philippine National Headquarters.
The main objective of the workshop is to raise and educate more matching supporters who can take care of blessing candidates. A total of 42 participants attended composed of the Regional Leaders, BFD Regional Coordinators, Matching Supporters, and potential matching supporters. This is the first face-to-face BFD workshop after the pandemic.
The master of ceremony was Ms. Manilyn Bartolo from Western Visayas BFD Regional Coordinator. The workshop opening program began with welcoming remarks given by Mr. Richel Jalipa, FFWPU Philippines Secretary-General, and Rev. Ronnie Sodusta, FFWPU Asia Pacific 2, Vice Regional Director. It was followed by a special message and guidance delivered by Dr. Julius Malicdem, FFWPU Asia Pacific 2, Vice Regional Director.
Rev. Leo Angelo Halog, the National Leader of FFWPU Philippines, delivered the first lecture which is the National Blessing Goal. Rev. Halog discussed the goal for the blessing candidates from 2021-2027 and he also shared the plans and strategies on how we can achieve the goal. He also encouraged all the BFD leaders and Matching Supporters to continuously reach out and educate our single members about blessing and help them understand deeply the meaning of restoration.
The second lecture was given by Mrs. Catherine Gregorio, Director of the Blessed Family Department – Philippines. She shared the BFD 2022 Guidelines and Policies. Mrs. Gregorio shared the requirements and internal & external preparation and condition that each blessing candidate should do. She also discussed the guidelines and matching process from the introduction to the engagement ceremony up to the Blessing Ceremony. After the lecture, a brief Questions-and-Answers(Q&A) session was held with regard to the Blessing Policies and Guidelines.
The third lecture was delivered by Mrs. Dulce Buyayo, the Director of the Blessed Family Department Asia Pacific 2, entitled Blessed Family Tradition. Mrs. Buyayo shared the tradition and education given by our True Parents from starting a family, pregnancy, birthing, and up until raising a blessed child in order to build an ideal and harmonious family centering on Heavenly Parents and True Parents. She also discussed the significance of the symbols in our Holy Community such as the Cheon Il Guk logo, the crane, etc. The last part of her lecture is the memo from the International Headquarters on 2023 Hyojeong Cosmic Blessing Festival Hosted by the True Parents that will take place on May 7, 2023. She discussed in detail the contents of the memo about the Cosmic Blessing, Registration Blessing, and Cheonbo Couples. After the lecture, another Questions-and-Answers(Q&A) session was conducted.
Mrs. Jahyeon Manabat-Suguira, the Asia-Pacific 2 Blessing Department Head, shared about the Blessing Guidelines for Blessed Children. She explained step-by-step the process of matching, blessing, and starting a family of the 2nd Generation members which is very different from the 1st Generation members. She also discussed the proper preparations and conditions needed by the parents and blessed children in order to have a successful matching and blessing. Mrs. Suguira also demonstrated how to navigate the Blessing4U website in finding a prospect match. She further emphasized that the role of the parents and the whole community is very important to the blessed children who are preparing for the matching and blessing.
The last lecture was given by Dr. Randy Ame, the Blessed Family Department – Philippines, Education Head. He lectured on Practical Coaching and Counselling for Blessed Families and Members. Dr. Amy discussed the common struggles of the blessing candidates and blessed couples and how the matching supporters and BFD leaders can help. He then emphasized that coaching and counseling are effective ways to help our members resolve their issues and overcome their problems. In order to become an effective coach, he presented a list of skills needed such as active listening, asking probing questions, and building rapport and strong relationship with members.
Subsequently, a breakout session was conducted in order to create solutions on the top 3 challenges that the regional BFD leaders and matching supporters are facing which are:
1. Financial challenge that many of the blessing candidates are experiencing.
2. Lack of communication among BFD leaders, matching supporters, and blessing candidates due to being busy at work (no time), or any other reasons.
3. Lack of education on the restoration and blessing despite many online and face-to-face Divine Principles Seminars we are conducting. Many candidates were not able to attend the seminars.
Every group presented and submitted possible solutions to the given problems. It will be compiled and will be discussed further on how to can implement the solutions.
During the closing program, the awarding of certificates and recognition of Matching Supporters in every region was conducted. A total of 14 current matching supporters, 10 new matching supporters and 14 potential matching supporters were recognized.
The workshop concluded with a special message and guidance from Mrs. Dulce Buyayo. She encouraged all of the workshop participants to continuously work in their respective regions bringing more blessing participants this coming May 7, 2023.