For the 2024 Christmas season, UPLIFT Cares shared the gift of joy with the beneficiaries. In fulfilling this, we conducted lively activities that blessed them with a more meaningful Christmas together through our annual holiday initiative, “A Dozen Blessings for Christmas” (ADBC). That year, ADBC bore the theme, “Paskong Magkakasama.”

In the morning of December 14, 2024, Saturday, we held the UPLIFT Cares GoViral Leaders’ Christmas Fellowship at the UPLIFT Cares lobby at the CCF Center, which was attended by our Obedience-Based Bible Study (OBBS) leaders from Angono, Rizal and Payatas, Quezon City, together with their chosen potential leaders. This event served as a celebration of how God has worked in UPLIFT Cares’ GoViral initiative in the communities, through fostering the rapid reproduction of small groups and house fellowships.

UPLIFT Cares Assistant Scholarship Coordinator Lysie Omadle hosted the event.
“Today is more than just a celebration of Christmas, and it’s an opportunity to come together, reflect on the true meaning of this season,” Omadle said as the event began.

UPLIFT Cares Discipleship Lead Jun Lavetoria, along with two fellow CCF Exalt Worship members, led the attendees in lifting up their praises unto God through singing the Christmas single “Hark the Herald Angels Sing/King of Heaven,” followed by worship songs “Way Maker” and “Goodness of God.”

As the event continued, a handful of attendees shared their words of thanksgiving for how God showered His goodness upon their lives for the past year.
Gloria, one of our OBBS leaders from Angono, felt thankful for having developed a more intimate relationship with God. She also acknowledged that He is her source of strength, and prays for her family to achieve good health. She expressed her hopes that she would continue to develop potential leaders for discipleship in 2025.

Devotion On True Meaning Of Christmas
In his devotion themed “How Do You Greet a New King,” CCF Beyond Missions Director Pastor Jim Whelchel presented an inspiring message on the true meaning of Christmas.
As the devotion began, the attendees discussed with one another in small groups regarding their first memory of Christmas.
“I think it is a reality in the world nowadays that we are so focused on everything else, that the true meaning [of the celebration] may have been forgotten,” Pastor Jim said partially in Filipino.
Pastor Jim emphasized that Christmas is about the coming of Jesus Christ, the King of kings. He also asked the audience regarding how they would greet a new king. He cited the example of a certain king, who arrived in a carriage in a grand coronation for the coming of his reign in his country.
He recalled that the story of Christmas tells us of Jesus’ arrival that took place around 2,000 years ago. At the time of Jesus’ birth, Caesar Agustus, then-emperor of the Roman Empire, ordered a census to be conducted in all inhabited Earth, so that he could discover the number of his subjects. Joseph had to walk for around 150 kilometers from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the census, as the latter town is the birthplace of David and he was in the lineage of David. Mary gave birth to her firstborn Son, Jesus, and laid Him in a manger.
“[Jesus] came as a small child,” Pastor Jim said.

Pastor Jim said that God made sure that there would be an announcement of Jesus’ birth, and it would be better than the announcement of a famous king on Earth. Jesus’ birth was announced by the shepherds, with the angels, in the middle of a field and with nobody else around.
John 1 talks about the Word becoming flesh.
“Sometimes, we forget that this little baby is actually the One [who] created everything. Imagine, the Creator of everything becoming a helpless baby. It’s mind-blowing to think about what God had done to be able to show who He really is,” Pastor Jim said.
Pastor Jim emphasized that apart from Jesus, we would never be able to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Jesus came not only to live, but also to offer Himself as the Lamb of God.
“He saved us, He chose us, He revealed Himself to us… We are celebrating Christmas because we know the Savior [who] has saved us,” he said.
Pastor Jim said that we, just like the shepherds, have a privilege to tell everyone what God has done. He played the official music video of Pentatonix’ rendition of the Christmas song, “Mary, Did You Know?”
Pastor Jim uttered a prayer as he ended his devotion, and received a token of appreciation from UPLIFT Cares.
Celebrating GoViral Milestones
UPLIFT Cares Community Development Head Jeff Castillo shared about the milestones of UPLIFT Cares’ GoViral initiative in Angono, Rizal; Payatas, Quezon City; and cluster communities.

Our GoViral leaders in Angono were able to form discipleship groups, which began as OBBS groups but developed as their respective members are building relationships with one another. They conduct their OBBS sessions in houses.
Meanwhile, the GoViral trainees in Macda Community in Guadalupe, Makati City underwent their Phase 1 training, and held a community outreach near the road. The GoViral leaders at CCF Payatas fostered 112 new believers in their community and formed 19 OBBS groups, as of the time of this fellowship.
“The impact of GoViral is different this time, because if you remember, we did GoViral online, and this time, we [are doing] GoViral face-to-face,” Castillo said.

CCF Payatas Pastoral Care Lead Boyet Paña talked about the developments on UPLIFT Cares’ GoViral program in Payatas. He shared that UPLIFT Cares’ vision of transforming communities, one family at a time was already becoming a reality at CCF Payatas.
“We’re here, called by the Lord to go and make disciples. We revisited our purpose,” he said partially in Filipino, adding that GoViral became a buzzword for them.
Pastor Boyet acknowledged that God has raised up an army, and their desire to really go out to their communities was revived through GoViral.
Castillo earlier shared about the milestones of Wave 2 of International Care Ministries (ICM) - CCF's GoViral program, as well as those of the ongoing Wave 1 of ICM - CCF Foundation for Christian Leadership Training, in the underprivileged communities in Visayas and Mindanao. For the concluded Wave 1 of GoViral, there were over 7,000 house churches formed and are reaching out to around 100,000 believers. For the second phase of Wave 2, there have already been 1,724 house fellowships established as of then.
UPLIFT Cares staff members have been tasked to visit, monitor, and evaluate the GoViral trainings and house fellowships in Visayas and Mindanao.
Lively Games, Headdress Contest
The attendees had an opportunity to play two games, which produced more joyful moments and boosted camaraderie among them.

The first game, which was a Bible trivia game, involved participants, who were in a single line, jumping to their left if a certain word is a place mentioned in the Bible; and to their right, if it referred to a Book in the Bible.
The second game was dubbed “Hanging Balloon.” The participants, divided into two groups, were each tasked to keep the group’s balloon from touching the ground while he or she was wearing and removing a certain T-shirt, and to pass the balloon to the next participant. The second group won the game.
In the contest for the best Christmas headdress, each attendee wearing a headdress described his or her design in front of the judges and fellow attendees. The chosen design bore a message that related the most to the Christmas celebration and the reason for the season.
Words Of Encouragement
In his words of encouragement to the attendees, CCF Pastor Leo Mata stressed the importance of making and maintaining the family as a believer’s first ministry.
“All of us can be used by God wherever we are, so that we can be His instrument in spreading His Good News,” Pastor Leo said. He expressed that GoViral is a means to spread the Gospel.

Pastor Leo told about the story of a lady who met an accident as she was run over by a tricycle, and as a result, suffered serious brain damage. However, her husband still held to his hopes that God would perform a miracle on her.
Pastor Leo also emphasized that someone can give the gifts of care, appreciation, affection, and attention to his or her family members.
“Are they feeling love? Are they feeling that you care for them, you appreciate them? Appreciation is a very simple thing, but everyone desires for this,” he said.
Pastor Leo said that the best message that one can share with others is God’s gift of eternal life. He mentioned his “SIS,” which is to continue to: serve Him and start with your family, inspire other people, and share His love.
Referring to Galatians 6:9, Pastor Leo encouraged the attendees to not lose heart in doing good, and to continue what they are doing for Him. He also discussed 1 Corinthians 15:58, which calls us to be steadfast, always abounding in His work.
Pastor Leo was also handed a token of appreciation from UPLIFT Cares.
After Pastor Leo’s message, UPLIFT Cares ALS Program Director Denny Dinsay expressed (on behalf of the organization) thanksgiving and appreciation to the attendees for their service unto God, then delivered a prayer for the prayer requests posted on the “Prayer Tree” at the event. Each attendee then received a Christmas gift pack containing various food items, generously donated by a couple.
Real Life Transformation Stories
The attendees received an opportunity to write their prayer requests for the Christmas season and beyond on small pieces of paper and paste them on the “Prayer Tree.” They could also express their sincere thanksgiving unto God for their real life transformation at the “Testimony Wall.”
Jelai, one of the attendees, shared a spiritual journey at the Testimony Wall.
“Throughout my spiritual journey, one of the moments that I feel like the greatest breakthrough in my life and my family is when my mom and I got baptized and completely surrendered our lives to Jesus. We started to have a small group in our [neighborhood],” Jelai said.
Gloria, meanwhile, expressed that she has already started her own discipleship group in her community, which has provided her a way to discover deeply how God has been good to her family.
“My relationship with God became more intimate,” she wrote in Filipino.

Reymalyn, one of the disciples in Angono, has noticed various changes in her life through her active participation in her OBBS group.
Amy, meanwhile, opened up that being a member of a discipleship group has helped her deal with the battles that she was facing in life.
As our GoViral leaders cherish their experiences from this event, it is our prayer that they will continue to bear fruit and make more disciples in their respective communities!
To volunteer or partner with us for our community development activities, you may send us a message on our social media accounts or send us an email at sponsorship@upliftcares.com
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