ENCM trained us to be Japanese.

Part of the training that I would never forget in ENCM or Every Nation Campus Ministry is about punctuality. This has been ingrained in our mind since day one.

It was the first day of school and we were given 10 minutes for break time. We were asked to go back 10am, one classmate was a minute late. P. Joseph Bonifacio explained to him the value of punctuality and how just being a minute late he wasted p900+, if we were in the business world.

It’s unforgettable when you come in late in ENCM. You have to perform, sing or dance or both, for the class. Then after 3 tardiness, you have to write a page essay on the Bible’s view on tardiness. In 12 weeks, I never came in tardy and I was never absent, that in it is a fete.

When P. Steve Murrell taught in one of our classes he explained how Japanese comes in 10 minutes before the time set while Caucasians or Westerners like Americans come in on the dot and how Filipinos come in 10 minutes after. That elicit laughter in the class but that is so true. I remember approaching P. Steve after the class and told him how we are trained to be Japanese in ENCM.

Punctuality should not just be a virtue it should be a lifestyle. It says a lot about a person who commits to a time and stick to it. To change the world means also to change how the generation now thinks and functions. We are to be set apart, no longer conforming to this worlds tardiness pattern.