My boyfriend and I were on our way home. It was a Sunday and it’s work day again tomorrow but our thoughts were on the recently held Kerygma Conference that we’d attended. What an amazing event!

The Kerygma Conference, which first started in 2007, is led by Bro. Bo Sanchez – a Catholic lay preacher, best-selling author and entrepreneur. It is an annual 4-day gathering of Catholics and Christians wherein worships, inspiring talks and teachings are held with the goal of strengthening people’s faith and for them to prosper not only in the spiritual aspect but in all aspects of their lives.

Filipinos (although I saw some foreigners too!) from different parts of the Philippines and even from different countries attend the conference. I’m always amazed on the event’s 4th day where people gather in SM Mall of Asia Arena. How huge the crowd is! You see, I’ve never been to a concert before (haven’t really been a huge fan of any singer or band) so this is the closest thing I get to the feeling of attending one.

Count Us In

Marco, my boyfriend, first invited me to attend the Kerygma Conference with him last year. It would both be our first time to attend it. Being Catholics, the idea of worship and learning about different topics in a single event appealed to us. We enjoyed our first KCon (short for Kerygma Conference) and from then on, we’ve decided to attend it every year.

Now what happens in those 4 days, really? Well, there are talks and classes that we get to pick days before the conference. The topics range from relationships, health and wellness to leadership and business.  I get excited when Marco and I choose classes because there are so many interesting topics!

Kerygma Conference 2017

Come the event, the attendees are each given a bag that contains a booklet about KCon, a pen, a notepad and other goodies.

A typical day in the conference looks like this:

9:00 AM – Morning Workshop

9:50 AM – Plenary Talk

11:10 AM – Class 1

12:10 PM – Lunch Break

1:25 PM – Class 2

2:45 PM – Class 3

3:45 PM – Afternoon Workshop

5:00 PM – Plenary Talk

6:00 PM – Closing Worship

That’s for the first 3 days. On the last day, all the attendees celebrate the mass and listen to talks.

1:00 PM – Open Gates

2:00 PM – Holy Mass

3:15 PM – Entertainment

4:15 PM – Plenary Talk by Bo Sanchez

5:50 PM – Closing Worship

Learnings

This year’s Kerygma Conference is once again full of learnings and inspiring stories from amazing speakers. I learned plenty! Some concepts and ideas were affirmed and some were totally new to me. Here are just 5 of the things I learned in the conference.

1. Every problem has a hidden opportunity.

Luigi Mapa, a professional organizational development consultant, introduced to us the concept Seeworthy. Seeworthy means being open to seeing from a different perspective. It’s recognizing the worthiness in situations.  When we are faced with hurdles, whether big or small, we can always look deeper and find its purpose.

If we have the mindset of looking for the hidden opportunity in every bad situation, we would have a more positive outlook on life and would have an easier time moving forward.

2. Laughter is the best medicine – even if it’s simulated!

Paolo Trinidad, creator of Pinoy Laughter Yoga, was one of the speakers in the classes that Marco and I attended. It’s the first time I’ve heard of a yoga that involves laughing so I was curious as to how it works.

Turns out, this type of yoga combines the movement of facial muscles as if by laughing and deep breathing exercises to relax the mind and body.  As a result, we get the health benefits that we usually get when laughing.

During the session, we, the attendees, did some of those deep breathing exercises and facial muscle movements. We also had to make laughing sounds to go along with the exercises. It was awkward at first but we eventually warmed up. We actually ended up genuinely laughing because of the sounds that we’re making and because of our hilarious facial expressions. Haha.

Now, I include a bit of laughter yoga in my morning routine.

3. Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of you and your business.

It’s a great thing that there are also business topics in KCon because many of us aspire to own a business, including me and Marco. That’s why we’ve taken interest in reading books about it and attending seminars. Not really having any business background, we take it one step at a time by learning from successful people through books and live talks.

Mr. Edward Lee is one of these successful people. He’s the chairman and founder of the leading online brokerage firm in the Philippines, COL Financial Group Inc., and was one of the plenary speakers in KCon. It was inspiring to hear his story and from that talk, I could tell that he’s a humble and good leader.

Mr. Lee emphasized the importance of having a good relationship with employees. They are, afterall, the lifeblood of any business. If the employer has a harmonious relationship with and supports his/her employees, there can be increased productivity, less conflict and loyalty to the company.

Cases in point: Mr. Lee’s employees decline invitations to labor unions as they don’t see the need to join one. Also, there was an instance when he was informed early of a misconduct in the company. Because of that, a problem was avoided before it got out of hand. Good thing his employees are loyal!

4. Don’t fall into traps when accomplishing goals.

This is yet again from one of the talks about business. Sometimes, we have an idea or we’ve been wanting to do something for the longest time. But what’s holding us back? What’s our excuse for not starting it? Dean Pax Lapid, a professional speaker and business consultant, discussed the traps that we may fall into:

Knowledge Trap – “I don’t know how.”

Timing Trap – “It’s not yet time.”

Mistake Trap – “I’m afraid it’s wrong.”

Inspiration Trap – “I need a sign.”

Comparison Trap – “Others are better.”

I’m guilty of some of these traps so it’s good to recognize them first and do something about it. We need to make sure that we stick to our plan and follow it.

Also, these successful people always advise others to have a mentor as they do – someone who’s been there and done that and who can guide you towards accomplishing your goals.

5. Be Committed.

Commitment. This year’s event revolves around this theme.

Being committed means dedicating oneself wholeheartedly. When we are committed to a person or a thing, we become devoted. We may experience hardships but we continue to do our task or what is expected of us because part of committing is accepting that there will be trials and hardships. Those difficulties, however, will eventually be small compared to the reward that lies ahead.

This is a reminder for me to be committed to my dreams, to be committed to a loving relationship with my boyfriend, to be committed to my family, to my work and ultimately, to God. For it is when we are committed to Him that we achieve success and find true happiness.

That’s it for some of my learnings in KCon.

I was grateful to have attended this year’s event and I’m definitely looking forward to next year’s Kerygma Conference entitled, Limitless. 🙂

Have you attended a Kerygma Conference in the past? Let me know through your comments!