Bo Sanchez Kerygma Convention 2012: Singles Make Your Move on Kerygma Conference 2012

SINGLES: Make Your Move


Talk 1 -Plan of Attack
Discern For Your Career, Finances & State of Life
Speaker: Ardy Abello

ARDY ARBELLO 

“The rate by which change is changing has changed” – Ardy Abello

He has been involved with training and public speaking since his college days as a Student Leader at La Salle Greenhills and De La Salle University, where he majored in Marketing Management. Heading various school organizations as well as being involved with the Student Council opened up for him learnings in Leadership and Team concepts, this he applies in the seminars he conducts.

He joined Business Works in 1998 and achieved his Sr. Consultant status in 2000. Currently, he is a top-ranked motivational speaker and hi-impact trainer and the President of Business Works, Incorporated. As a Senior Consultant, he has successfully trained and influenced the top management teams of different companies belonging to the Top 100 Corporations in our country today. 

Source: http://www.inspireleaders.com.ph/speakers/ardy-abello/

Talk 2 - Know the King
Deepening Your Spirituality
Speaker: Mike Joseph

MIKE JOSEPH

President of Performex, Inc, is a well-known speaker/facilitator with an extensive background in Training and Organizational Development.  He worked for Dale Carnegie Training and Transformation Technologies in Hong Kong as a Training Consultant. He has over 30 years experience in Leadership, Organizational and Community Development, Pastoral Care and Counseling. He has designed and conducted mgmt development programs for leading organizations in the Philippines and Hong Kong.   

In the Philippines he has conducted Customer Service  programs for Jollibee Foods Corporation, Community Innovations, Inc. & Avida Land Corporation (subsidiaries of Ayala Land, Inc.), and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Other clients include Citibank, Globe Telecom, Aboitiz Transport System, Development Bank of the Philippines,  Wyeth, Team Energy (formerly Mirant Philippines), Cemex Phils., Pioneer Insurance and Surety Corporation, SAP Philippines, The Hershey Company, Ricoh Philippines, Acabar Marketing, The Heritage Hotel Manila, among others.

He graduated from De La Salle University (Manila) major in Economics and received the DLSU "Outstanding Alumnus Leadership Award" in 1993.  Has an MBA degree from Murdoch University (Australia). He is Professor (Leadership) at De LaSalle University Graduate School of Business MBA and Assistant Professor for International Management at the University of Western Australia MBA Program in the Philippines.

Source: http://www.performex-asia.com/index.php?page=Consultants 

Talk 3 - Check, Mate
Finding the Right Partner
Speaker: Rica Peralejo Bonifacio and Pastor Joseph Bonifacio

 Rica Peralejo and Pastor Joseph Bonifacio

We were on  the  first leg of our European trip or  a  series of  concerts  for  The Filipino Channel in 006 and  were about  to  move from Oslo, Norway to Berlin   many, when we discovered that we had excess baggage and would be charged a big amount. What our group did, which consisted of actor Piolo Pascual, his mom, me and a host of other artists,  was rearrange  our things  among  ourselves so we could avoid the  extra fees. Without much thought,  I  took whatever I could carry  from my check-in baggage. When we got to Berlin, all of them got their baggage except me. My bags got  lost in transit. On my first night  in the hotel, I was frazzled — I didn’t even have any personal toiletries and  undergarments. But what did I have? The Bible that Piolo gave me a few days before we left Manila. With nothing to get my mind on, I started reading the Bible. That was the first time that  the Word  of God started  to sink in. Little did I know that the incident was a prefiguring of what would happen to my life later on.

An Early Start I entered show business when I was 12 through the children’s show, Ang TV. I started doing sexy roles when I was 19 or 20. Despite what the critics were saying that it was wrong to do them, I didn’t feel any guilt. I could not understand  why they said it was sinful. In my heart, I wasn’t doing it to lure the men. It was just work and called for by the story, as the directors would explain to my mom and me. But somewhere inside, and I couldn’t tell if it was in my head or heart, I felt like, “Isn’t this  supposed to be wrong?” I had those questions but I never voiced them out. Not knowing where to get  the answer, I simply went with the flow. This lasted until I was 22 or 23.

Faithful Friends

 
There were people who never stopped sharing the Gospel with me, but the cynic in me would always  try to evade their invitations to Bible studies and fellowship. One was Dante Nico Garcia, a film  director, who was my friend from way back. And then there was Piolo. He and I were always thrown together in the same projects and God used them all to speak to me. Piolo never failed to share the Word of God with me. He perhaps saw me as a confused girl who needed enlightenment.

A Sinful Relationship

 
Bernard (Palanca, another actor) and I had a four-year relationship. We didn’t have limits as far as intimacy was concerned. I felt more guilt in that relationship than in doing sexy films. I was foolishly in love with him. Then after a while, I found myself thinking, “How come I’m no longer happy? Is this really love?”Looking back now, it was more of self-love that  kept me in that  relationship. I  didn’t know yet what real love was, which is rooted in God’s love. Eventually,  I got tired of my relationship with Bernard and perhaps of the sinning, too, so I quit.

My Turnaround Moment

Piolo and  I  were in  another  project  again  and,  as  before,  hekept inviting me to their Bible studies. Some new friends fromshow business were joining him already, like Sam Milby and his manager, Ericson Raymundo. Sometimes, I would be able to join them, but  what really helped me was that they just loved me and accepted me. One Sunday, I  went  shopping  in  Rockwell and  a  fan approached to take my photo. Then she said,  “You know what, Sam Milby was here a couple of hours ago.”“Oh, really?” I said, and then thought  to myself, what do I need that information for? On my way home, I  texted  Sam and  told him, “Hi, Sam. I’m on my way home. A fan of yours told me  that you were in Rockwell earlier.” It was a Sunday and I thought Sam might invite me to Bible study or service, so I emphasized that I  was going home already. In less than a minute, he called, “Ate, where are you?” “In Makati,” I said. Sam said, “Oh, that’s good, because you’re going to pass by Robinson’s Galleria. Come to our service.”Oh, my! I was caught. I couldn’t say no because Galleria was along the way. So I went there, but I  asked Sam, “Is it really OK? I don’t know anybody there.”He said, “You’re going to like the music.”When I  got  there,  I  was again  my cynical self, trying to find something wrong in the picture. Then the preacher started speaking, he shared about  the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. She touched  Jesus’ cloak and when Jesus felt it, He turned around and said, “Take heart, woman,  your faith has healed you.”I didn’t know what hit me, but I started crying. Was I just being emotional? Was it just pre-menstrual syndrome? Later on, I  realized I  was crying because I  had been in the business for12 years and all my hurts had stemmed from my work. I didn’t know that I had been “bleeding” all that time, and that I needed a Savior.After that incident, I started joining Piolo and his friends in Bible studies and services. Then one day, I was at a youth service where I raised my hand during the altar call. After that, Tita Coney Reyes, a respected actress and church member, started discipling me and talking to me about the Word of God. I  became a regular attendee  in the  Bible studies and services. My love and passion for God and His Word grew.

God’s Piercing Words

 
Reading God’s Word has made me realize a lot of things. I started changing my ways. I know that it was only through God’s grace that I was able to do it. For instance, I had an existing modeling contract for an underwear company. I wrote the boss and asked if I could get out of the contract, explaining to him why. I prayed to God, “If they are going to sue me, then I’m ready for it. I just can’t hurt You anymore.” A  couple of days after sending the letter, somebody from his office called and told me, “Choose what product you want to replace the underwear endorsement with.” Just like that.When I get invited to shows where I was asked to do sexy dance numbers, I would tell them, “I can’t do that anymore.”In the process of saying no to these things, I also lost a lotof projects and  it affected  my finances. But it’s amazing that  I was at peace and wasn’t in lack. I even started college then at the Ateneo. Then I  was asked to join Umagang Kay Ganda, a news and current    affairs   morning show in ABS-CBN. It was a dream job for me at the moment. I was already thinking that if nobody would get me, if I don’t even have  a  regular show,   where   would   I get my money? But as I continued to follow God, He intervened and things fell into place.

New Life with God
 

The first guy that I dated during  the  time  that   I was growing in my faith was Piolo. We were
in courtship   for   a   while, but   God’s  message  for us was not to pursue the relationship. I
went solo for a while and that was when I really grew and enjoyed just being with God.  I  
realized  that   I
didn’t even have to be in a relationship because my cup was so full and overflowing with God’s
love. I was ready to stay single and go on mission trips.
But then again, God had His own plans.

Pleasing God in Our Relationship

My fiancé, Joseph Bonifacio, and I have known each other for three years, but we started dating only in July 2008. Our relationship was not without any struggle. Like any normal couple, we hold hands and hug, but we have made a decision early on not to kiss on the lips. Not because kissing is bad, but because a single kiss could lead us to the next stage and we might fall. I should know because I’ve been there. By keeping ourselves busy with God and  with what He has intended for us to do at any given day, we are able to keep our relationship free from the damaging effects of uncontrolled passion. It helped that we both have the same conviction, same vision, same faith and same passion for God. We also surround ourselves with people most of the time and avoid going to dark places where temptations lurk. It also helps a lot that we have other friends who are mature in faith.Joseph proposed marriage in May 2009. When this article comes out, I would already be a pastor’s wife, dutifully and happily supporting my husband in the things he has to do for God.What a blissful life that would be!
 

 

Pastor Joseph Bonifacio is executive director of Lifebox, a nationwide campus organization preparing students for life by teaching, coaching, and empowering them in such areas as leadership, integrity, faith and excellence.