In behalf of the Board of Trustees, whose members are Lony Rhodora Bohol our Secretary, Pris Vicky Contreras our Treasurer, Neil Letty Gepilano our Vice-President, Boy Linda Gloria, Oggie Thelma Mercado, Boy Nonie Quiambao, Jun Adel Tambasacan, Bill Ding Zamora, and we, Sam Lulou Asia, are privileged to render this report on the activities of our Community from the time we assumed office as President Couple last March 01, 2006 up to and including January 31, 2007.

We start with the main program of our flagship apostolate—our members’ entry point—the Marriage Encounter Weekends. From March 2006 up to January 2007, our Community harvested 173 couples out of 7 MEWs. This means that we averaged around 25 couples per class and this is above the breakeven number of 22 couples. We owe this achievement to our Marriage Life Apostolate, the sponsoring classes, and our silent supporters. MLA was also instrumental in the sacramental union of some of our couples when we had a mass wedding last June 12. And, to foster camaraderie between and among our workers and future workers, they conducted several shepherds, coordinators, and co-coordinators fora.

Last May 12 – 14, our Family Life Apostolate supervised the conduct of a Family Encounter Weekend. Two week later, we had the Sons and Daughters Encounter Weekend. We also had a Family Advent Recollection during the latter part of the year.

Every first Friday of the month, our Community joins the celebration of the Holy Mass at Violago Chapel. During the second, third and fourth Fridays of the month, however, we have praise and worship, family sponsored gatherings, and teachings of Fr. Domie, respectively. If there is a fifth Friday during a particular month, we have a healing Mass. These Friday activities are taken cared of by our Worship Ministry. It is worthy to note that, through the efforts of our Worship Ministry, our members have become more generous in their love offerings. Our Music Ministry which provides our weekly dose of praise, worship, and actions songs took time out to joint the MEFP’s Festival of Songs at the Teatro Enrile, Camp Aguinaldo. And, at the request of the Worship Ministry, we invited Fr. Mario Bije to conduct an Intercessory Workshop. The workshop is on-going every third Monday of the month at Tuklong San Jose, Christ The King Seminary.

In consonance with the Spiritual Development Path provided by our Spiritual Adviser, Fr. Domie Guzman, our Spiritual Growth Apostolate conducted M.E. Catholic Life in the Spirit Seminars which were participated in by forty-six couples and M.E. Maturing in the Spirit Seminars which were participated in by thirty four couples. Our SGA is in charge of the Bible Studies conducted by Fr. Domie every third Thursday of the month and the Discipleship seminars scheduled every second Tuesday of the month. The SGA and MLA, during the middle of last year, teamed up to supervise a seminar dubbed as “Spirituality for Spouses”.

Ang ating Outreach Apostolate naman po ang nag-silbing daluyan ng ating pagmamahal at pagkalinga sa ating mga kapatid sa labas ng Mater Dei ME Community. Dinalaw po nila ang mga ulila na pinangangalagaan in Fr. Roger Cruz pati na po ang mga senior citizens sa “Tahanan Ni Maria”. Ipinamahagi po ng OrA sa mga ulila at mga senior citizens ang kanilang mga nalikom na tulong mula sa community. Malaki rin po ang naging bahagi ng OrA sa pag-tulong ng ating community sa mga ka-barangay ni Fr. Ambo Encinas na sinalanta ng bagyong Reming.

Naging matagumpay din po ang ating Family Fun Day, ang ating pagsali sa Marian Procession, at ang ating Christmas Encounter dahil sa pagsisikap ng ating Community Affairs Ministry.

Our Administrative Services Ministry saw to it that our monthly Updates were published and that the physical assets of the Community were accounted for. And, our Budget and Finance Ministry took charge of the fiscal matters of the Community.

The Philippine Haggai Institute, in coordination with our Research, Training and Development Ministry, conducted a seminar on “Leadership and Evangelization” last September 16 and 17. We were lucky to have this seminar because the speakers were very knowledgeable of their topics and they gave new insights on what evangelization, among other subjects, is all about. Just last week, we had a “Fullness of Life Seminar”. Graduates of the seminar were so enthusiastic that they, without being asked, volunteered to be auxiliaries of the next Fullness seminar. Our RTDM and MLA jointly supervised the conduct of a “Shepherding Seminar” which resulted in 11 prospective Shepherds.

We praise and thank the Lord for the gift of synergy between and among our apostolates and ministries. Without the leadership of the Head Couples, and the support of our workers, our 15th year anniversary celebration, which would culminate on March 25, would not have been a resounding success.

On its part, the Board initiated special projects and activities as follows:

1. We agreed that we should exercise prudent stewardship over our community’s financial resources. Our Treasurer has the details of this but to give you an idea —

• The P500,000 donation the community received from the “lot investors” was deposited with a high-yielding investment outlet.
• The community sponsored a successful golf tournament out of which we were able to raise more than One Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos, despite the limited time for its preparation.
• The community has an on-going sponsorship of the first Sunday TV Mass at ABS-CBN which we embarked on primarily to raise the level of awareness of couples as regards the Mater Dei Marriage Encounter Weekend Seminars. We were surprised to find out that the project was not only self-sustaining but was also a source of funds for the community. We hope that you would continue to support this project by inviting donors and sponsors.

2. We agreed that our members should be well informed of the goings-on in our community —

• By now, you must have noticed that our Updates has a regular article entitled “The Board Reports”. This article carry, among others, the latest resolutions and policies laid down by the Board. We believe that it is in keeping with good governance that the BOT be transparent as regards board matters.
• We now have a website which our members, both here and abroad, who have internet access may visit. You will find important and the latest information about our community in the website. Please inform your shepherd, classmates, or lambs who are abroad or who may not be going to Violago that often to log on to www.materdeime.com.
• We are in the final stages of preparation of a Community Handbook and a Worker’s Manual. The handbook will be given after the MEWeekend and this would include, among others, our Vision and Mission, Community Prayer, explanation of our logo, history, Spiritual Development Path, and the members of the Board of Trustees. On the otherhand, the manual will be distributed upon completion by a member of the ME Maturing in the Spirit Seminar and this would include the organizational structure of apostolates and ministries as well as the duties and responsibilities of every worker therein.

3. Finally, we agreed that our community should be kept abreast of the times —

• We will be having a 2nd Golf Tournament and part of the proceeds of the tournament has been earmarked for the purchase of a desktop computer and for the computerization of our records
• We agreed to revisit our Vision and Mission and we will be coming out shortly with an improved version. A vision statement is very important because all of us should be centered on a common goal. It should be powerful, yet simple, enough so that all of us would be touched by it and know it by heart. A mission statement should be clear and inspiring so that all of us would know and be motivated as to how we could be couples and families for others.

We thank the Lord for the gift of service to others and we pray for Mater Dei’s continued protection of and intercession for our Community.

Let us continue to spread the Good News through our words and deeds.

SAMIE LULOU ASIA
President Couple