[Philippines] IYF Agrees MOU with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines

Attendance of the ‘Investiture Ceremony of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines’, at the President’s Palace.

– IYF, Agrees MOU with the Boys Scouts of the Philippines

On the 3rd of April, there was an MOU Signing Ceremony between the IYF and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) at the BSP headquarters in Manila. The agreement was made to open the pathway for the two organizations to work with one another in various fields including youth education.

The BSP is the oldest youth organization in the Philippines and the head of this group is powerful enough to become the President or the Vice President. That is how precious this organization is to the government.

On this day, the founder of the International Youth Fellowship (IYF) met with the National President of the BSP, Wendel Avisado.

President Avisado attended the IYF World Camp 2016 in Korea and experienced the activities of the IYF in person. In addition to this, when he had a meeting with Pastor Ock Soo Park, last February, after the meeting between Pastor Ock Soo Park and President Duterte, he had listened the gospel and received salvation. He had heard about the activities of the IYF and he had hoped that the two organizations would have the opportunity to work together. Thus, he opened his heart wide and negotiated the terms of the MOU.

Before the MOU, the representatives of the BSP had also attended the World Camp in Korea last year, with National President Avisado. The representatives observed what programs the IYF were running for the youth and what they were doing to solve the international youth problems. While witnessing the Mind Education that was taking place in the Philippines, they realized that they quickly needed to agree the MOU with the IYF in order to work together.

Before the Signing Ceremony of the MOU, Pastor Ock Soo Park had a meeting with the National President of the BSP, Wendel Avisado.

Pastor Ock Soo Park said, “The reason why the activities of the IYF are welcomed by and is wanted by governments of countries all over the world is because we help the students to create and nurture a stronger mind that is able to defeat their own desires and escape from addictions in things such as drugs or gambling. Because we are running a program that has a slightly different dimension from traditional education, the hearts of the youth are changing and their lives are also changing. I am thankful that we can be together.”

National President Avisado replied, “I want to continue to work with the IYF in many activities and I am so happy that we are signing the MOU today.

Moreover, during the welcoming message for the MOU Signing Ceremony, President Avisado said, “Pastor Ock Soo Park is educating the youth through spiritual development and the Mind Education and he is guiding the way to return to God. Moreover, the IYF is an organization that leads the hearts of the youth away from bad hearts, drugs and crime, and shining a light on the future of those youths. The MOU between the IYF and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines is a historical event.”

Like this, he rated the MOU Signing very highly.

Pastor Ock Soo Park also gave a message of gratitude, “The IYF and the Boy Socuts have a lot of things in common such as the background of the founding of the organization and also the goal. The IYF is giving the youth the heart that can defeat the wrong hearts that are dragging their hearts away and teaching them how to escape from things such as the addiction to drugs or games. In the Philippines, we have been running the Mind Education for the past four years and have taught approximately 60, 000 educators. The IYF will help with the Asean Jamboree that will take place in the Philippines in 2017 and we want to invite the Boy Scouts to the IYF World Camp that we will be having in July. I hope that in the future, the blessings of God will be upon both organizations.”

Then, when the Gracias Choir members, Hye Mi Choi and Su Yeon Lee, began to sing, the representatives’ faces were filled with smiles and they also took their phones out to record the performance.

Through the signing of the MOU, there was mutual agreement for collaboration in the work of planting positive sociability in the youths to help them to be nurtured into workers who can be of help to the society.

Attendance of the ‘Investiture Ceremony of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines’ at the President’s Palace

After the MOU ceremony, in the afternoon, by the invitation of National President Wendel Avisado, they participated in the ‘Investiture Ceremony of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines’. This historical event included the participation of the elders and representatives of the Boy Scouts as well as 500 boy and girl scouts. The magnitude of this event was highlighted by the 10 main branches of media who were in attendance to broadcast this program.

The President Wendel Avisado made Pastor Ock Soo Park and the IYF stand out by inviting them to this event in front of the many representatives of the Boy Scouts.

After the event, President Duterte recognized Pastor Ock Soo Park and shared greetings with him.

Currently, since 2013, the IYF has worked with the Department of Education to provide the Mind Education to over 60, 000 educators. By agreeing this MOU with the biggest youth organization in the Philippines, the door has been opened for the IYF to officially work for the youths of the Philippines.

It was decided that 50 Boy Scout members and representatives would attend the IYF World Camp in Korea in July and there was also an agreement for the IYF to deliver the Mind Education to 25, 000 participants of the Asean Jamboree that will happen in the Philippines in November.