Cebu’s Exemplary Pantawid Kid is on a mission to bring the youth to God

Jhon Rhod Amodia (fifth from left) receives his award in a ceremony held at a hotel in downtown Cebu City on Thursday, August 8, 2018. | Rosalie Abatayo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — While most children of his age care about playing, 12-year-old Jhon Rhod Amodia is up for something bigger.

He is up for a mission.

Jhon Rhod spends most of his time in church, either playing worship songs on his instruments or sharing verses from the Bible during discipleship.

His mission, he says, is to draw the youth to the Word of God and teach them the value of living a life that is right and just.

“Nangandoy ko nga matabangan nako ang mga kabataan nga magpuyo sa kinabuhing matarong. Tudloan nako sila kung unsa ang angayan buhaton ug nga dapat tagaan og bili ang kinabuhi nga gihatag sa Dios kanato,” Jhon Rhod tells CDN Digital.

(I dream to help  the other youths to help live a righteous life. I want to teach them to value the life that God has given us.)

“Kausa ra kabeses kita mahimong bata, so di nato usikan ang panahon, tagaan nato og bili kay basin kita ang magmahay sa uwahi,” he says.

(We only become children once, let us not waste our youth because we might just end up regretful of it in the end.)

Jhon Rhod is the eldest of two siblings. His father, Teodolfo, 41, is an on-call construction worker while his mother, Jonalyn, tends their sari-sari store.

Jhon Rhod is on his seventh grade in Marigondon National High School while his eight-year-old brother, Jose Rudolfo, is in third grade.

Christian church members

The Amodias, who hail from Barangay Gabi, Cordova town, are members of the Four Square Christian Church in the town’s Barangay Day-as.

Jonalyn said their family’s membership in the church had drawn them closer to each other and had honed her children to be instruments in spreading God’s word.

Jhon Rhod and his father, Teodolfo, practice playing the guitar in their home in Barangay Garbi, Cordova.| Contributed photo

Jhon Rhod, for one, has been playing the piano, the drums, and the guitar since he was five years old. He plays the instruments every Sunday’s during church service.

“Kung mo-play ko og instruments, ang akong tukaron kanang pang-Christian ra gyud. Panagsa ra kaayo nang pangworldly kay sa Ginoo man na nga gihatag nga talent so siya pod akong gamitan ani,” Jhon Rhod tells CDN Digital.

(Whenever I play musical instruments, I only play Christian worship songs and less likely those worldly songs. My talent in playing instruments is from Him, so I also want to use it to honor Him.)

Since he was 8, Jhon Rhod is also a member of the youth group in the church where they conduct discipleship and sharing about the Gospel to individuals outside their church.

“Ang gihatag nga talent sa ginoo nako, ako pod gamiton para niya. Gusto pod nako nga tudloan ang mga kabataan kung unsaon ang pagkinabuhing matarong ug nga unahon ang Ginoo sa ilang kinabuhi kay wala tay mabuhat kung wala ang Ginoo,” Jhon Rhod says.

(I want to use the talent that God has given me to honor him. I want to teach other children to live a righteous life and put God first because without Him, there is nothing that we can do or become.)

In school, Jhon Rhod is also a consistent honor student since his kindergarten years despite coming from a family where finances have always been a struggle.

4Ps beneficiary

The Amodias are one of the nearly 160,000 families that are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Read more: Grade 7 student from Cordova tops provincial search for Exemplary Pantawid Pamilya Child 2019

Last August 8, Jhon Rhod was acknowledged as the top exemplary pantawid child for Cebu.

Community involvement and advocacies were the top factors that DSWD-7 judges looked into during their desk validation last July 24, said Brigieda Goron, provincial link for 4Ps in Cebu.

Three winners for each province were recognized during the validation. The other winners for Cebu are Kriszia Gullen of Bogo City and Ken Renzo Garciano of Poro town, who placed second and third, respectively.

The first place winners will compete for the regional search for Exemplary Pantawid Pamilya Children and will attend the National Children’s Congress at the National Capital Region (NCR) in November./dbs