The Influencers

The influencers.

I have known them a little more than three years but it seems like I have known them forever.

We come from different backgrounds yet our similarity runs deep: our love for God.

Married or single, male or female, younger or older, either in experience or in age, in various fields of accounting, editing, healing, banking, computer technology, missions, administration, languages, etc. There is variety yet there is unity. We come together seeking excellence in many aspects of our humanity.

I will always be thankful to God for giving me the courage to attend my first activity. It opened a whole new domain to me. A world full of friends, sisters and brothers. A world of learning and experiences.

Learn from monthly seminars on topics such as financial freedom, investments and excellence. Enjoy songs of love during special events. Have fun during birthday and Christmas celebrations. Serve the poor and sick during annual medical and dental outreaches. Train others so they can better serve the people around them. Visit the elderly or the orphans. Converge with other professionals and be strengthened from their experiences. And always, hear messages of hope and love.

The weekly meetings with other professional women (also for men) are filled with discussions that challenge our minds, characters, standards, work ethic, dreams, plans, relationships, etc. As we share our own struggles and weaknesses, we get encouraged to change and to strive to be the best. There is no judgment in our mistakes. Instead, there is support in words and actions. We hang on together in the season that God has told us to wait for a change in career, status, etc. We enjoy each other's victories, from simple tests or hard-won battles.

Be the first to test the cooking lessons of Beng. Learn from the alternative medicine of Dr. Shawie. Laugh over the increasing jokes of Anna. Wonder at the perspective of Honey. Enjoy the humor and music of Gina. Grow from the lessons of Grace. Bask in the sweetness of Rachel.

We talk about nothing and everything. About challenges at work or career direction. Struggles in marriage, child-rearing, and time-management. The highs and lows of spiritual lives. About responsibilities and fears. Relationships or the lack of it. Lest we appear to be so serious, I beg to differ. We talk about the current fashion-craze, the latest news about Hollywood or local actors, recent telenovelas or reality shows, try out certain sports activity, gush over the hunky new guy at the office or the gym, discuss the advantages of hair straightening or rebonding, go to formal cocktail parties, choose the right style of jeans or make-up color, cry at movies, binge on Chinese food, swap travel adventures, exchange books and movie/music cds, etc.

There are other people whose lives are worth enjoying and emulating. Couples like the Laos, the Turralbes, Crisostomos, Castillos, Egenias, etc. My favorite couple, Jay and Arlene, whose marriage I have always admired. Malou and Juliet, amongst women who are like older sisters, always concerned, always caring. Men who have become friends and brothers like JC, Miler and Anjou.

I love the fact the there is a network of contacts all over the country, all over the world. Friends I met through friends. Filipinos I met here who are now in London, Greenhills, Dubai, Cambodia, Davao, San Diego, etc. Foreigners who are living in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Scotland, United States, etc.

The group's mission is to develop influencers toward moral and professional excellence in the business community. We are being influenced by Christ. We seek to influence one another. We seek to influence others. Professionally. To make ourselves better. To help them be better.

Truthfully though, our intertwined lives have gone beyond the professional and have become personal.

I have become a better person.

I am an influencer.