sendong... ondoy in disguise

it all started with a little rain about mid morning of friday and continued to mid afternoon, then the heavy rains came early evening and lasted the whole night up until dawn the following day.

i woke up to the sound of strong winds at around 1am of saturday... had to close 2 windows left open during the night and suddenly remembered our laundry still hanging in the terrace. went out and got the laundry and had a taste of sendong's fury right there. debris were everywhere, wind was howling and thrash was strewn about, dont know how it got there but our terrace sure was littered. i checked on my kids who was soundly sleeping at that time, woke them up to say a little prayer and sent them all back to sleep in my bed. it was pitch black as electricity was cut off the night before... i went downstairs to check if theres any flooding and thank God, there was none. went to sleep thereafter and woke up at around 4 in the morning and after cooking and a cup of coffee, decided to go around in my bike to check on the extent of damage. heard on the radio a local station's call for help and volunteers as there was countless evacuees all huddled up on a gym near our place. i went there and briefly helped out... i could see in all the faces of the victims the fear and the trauma of their experience... most were crying, some were staring into nothing... probably pondering on what to do next... to most of them, if not all; this experience will be life changing. i went home to get some used clothes as a lot were still in wet clothes from the night before, brought back about half a sack and handed them out to a man who took charge in its distribution. people were pouring onto the gym and a lot more are coming said a local rescue crew who took a brief respite for food. at a nearby holding area, the dead are everywhere... rescuers placed them on the sidewalk pending identification of the bodies. alot more are still missing and many of the dead were the ones who refused to leave their homes, trusting in its structure which was no match to the power of the rampaging floodwaters.

at mid morning, i then called on some brothers and sisters as food and drinking water was badly needed and the community responded generously and got off a help brigade that cooked a modest meal for about a 100 persons. we then took off for one of the hardest hit areas and rescued a sister and her family who spent the night on their roof with the youngest daughter having a fever. later in the day, we went back and gave food to their neighbors and to some in the surrounding area.

sendong came in slow and unleashed his fury slowly in the dead of night... and looking at all the destruction and the massive loss of lives, i cant help but wonder, was it really sendong who did all these or was it ondoy in disguise...

REFILL

The invitation came during our regular Household meeting (fraternal) and since I am looking at a long holiday, I decided to tag along (with the Core Group) to Maramag, Bukidnon for the Mindanao Servant Leader’s Conference. I was thinking I’d take the time off for a much needed “breather”, away from the grinds of daily life at least for one day… well being a single parent to 3 kids is not easy and leaving them (my kids) for one whole day is a struggle in itself. Anyway, the Lord beckons and I was just answering to His call about my presence in the said activity.

I wasn’t expecting much out of this trip except that it would be a great opportunity to meet up with fellow servant’s from all over Mindanao and share news and stories as regards to their progress in the evangelization efforts in their respective area’s, district’s or ministry’s. I reckon that there will be or should be a reporting of some kind for the us (the participants) to see where we are now in our work for God’s kingdom here in Mindanao.

The day started off with a praise and worship lead by our very own, Bro. Rollie dela Cruz as worship leader. Afterwards, was the recollection/ team building by Bro. Gary Faustino, our PFO. The initial activity was very relaxing… a series of reflection activities with the participants being asked to close eyes and reflect on certain Bible passages… now the majority of participants coming from long drives from different parts of Mindanao, the activity proved to be a welcome respite with many of the participants being lulled into sleep by a succession of breathing exercises prior to the reflections. The activity in itself is refreshing and reflective on one’s relationship with the Lord…

All in all, I came to this conference basically “empty”, not much expectations so to speak… actually the emptying” came much, much earlier. And the experience proved to be “infilling” … in following our Lord by taking up our own cross (es), we must empty ourselves of everything… our luxuries, comforts, our worries and even experiences, practically everything. Because at every stop of our spiritual journey with the Lord, we are to be filled. Such as my “stop” here at Maramag. I went home re-energized, refilled and inspired at the urgency of doing God’s work here at our area.

Thank you Maramag, thank you Bro Gary and above all, thank you Lord for the “REFILL”. Looking forward to another Jesus experience next year. See y’all in Tandag City.

through the eyes...

a strange thing happened to me last sunday at our community's mission area in Kinoguitan, Misamis Oriental. the CLS (christian life seminar / 2nd batch) was on its 8th talk and all but one more session is needed to complete the seminar given out to 6 couples (cfc-ffl), 16 handmaids (hfl), 2 single's (sfl), 2 servant's (svfl). quite a harvest and a confirmation of God's awesome strength and blessings to a young, dynamic and vibrant community in esperanza... and while all the participants and service team was busy having fellowship with one another, i started putting back things that we used to their former order as was the custom after use of the chapel after each session. and while i was up to it, i noticed a group of elderly sisters (hfl's) converging on the chapel rectory for some much needed snacks. after finishing up, i decided to join them and had this lively little discussion with one of the sisters... to us from cdo she was sister freda, to the esperanzans, she was nanay freda. a sprightly lady a few years above 70 probably and as i came to know was one of the more notorious citizens of this seaside barangay during her heydays. she was beaming that day and was so animated in her stories on how our God answered all her prayers since joining up with the community as a member of the very 1st batch of CLS graduates of this barangay. i cant help but be amazed at how she was so thankful and even boasted how she was branded as a "maldita" once by her very own husband and neighbors. it was like that for about 30 mins and could have gone on if it weren't time for us to go back home to cdo. her parting words was what stopped me on my tracks as i was about to step out of the chapel rectory... she was thanking me/us for all the time and effort we have spent in going there week in and week out, she was likewise so animated on how she would look up to sunday to see us all and hear God's messages that are being given to her by way of each session's speakers. she was so concerned about us being tired and all in our weekly sojourn that she always makes it a point to include our lot in her daily prayers... what struck me is the simple thank you, so sincere and heartfelt. i just told her that thank you's are not needed because we are just doing what God inspired us to do... on the way home, i cant help but reflect on her profuse thanks... in a way, i kinda remembered how this mission started. looking back, it has been almost a year when we first came to esperanza... now, the fruits are being harvested! God is so good!!!

this piece seeks to honor those who spent time, effort and resources to do mission work in esperanza... i wont thank you because servants need no thanks... and this likewise seeks to honor all the full timers who have spent time here helping us out. the work that we do here is but nothing as compared to your lot and in a very special way, y'all have been an inspiration to all of us, to me specially. but our work never stops here... theres more to do... workers are few... and fewer still are chosen. and as nanay freda would put it... "manghinaut mi nga dili mo masumhan sa paganhi dari sa esperanza, salamat kaayo! (sana hindi kayo magsawa ng kapupunta dito sa esperanza. maraming salamat!)

it is through the eyes of nanay freda that i came to see how big the work is for all of us... my prayer is that, may we never tire doing the work that God asked us all to do and may we always find happiness in doing God's work!

An open letter to my Son

hi anak... as you celebrate your birthday today, let me just put into writing some thoughts that came to mind of late. 14 years ago today, you came into this world and lit up my life with your presence. you were heaven sent to us then and still is today... God's loving answer to our prayers. you know back then, your mom was having difficulty conceiving due to an abnormality in her system... but the Lord was so good then that He granted us our hearts desire, that is to have children and gave us not only you but your two other siblings as well. Our Lord is always good and loving that despite of our different life now, you are still and will always be my little angel... well not so little na siguro. hehehe!

you are a teenager now anak... and i always marvel at the very fast rate of your growth... soon you will be taller than me. maybe a wee bit taller than your tito dennis when you reach your full growth. at this stage of your life, there will be many things that you might be curious about... just remember to ask yourself first this question before anything else: is it the right thing to do? if the answer falls on the affirmative, go! walang problema! if its the other way around, DON'T! kasi magkakaron ng problema. it is that simple. things might have been a whole lot different with me if i was able to ask myself that question back in the days... anyway, that will be another story in itself and hoping will not see print anywhere.

on the occassion of your birthday... let me just say these 2 things to you... people will forget what you have done, what you have said... but people will never forget how you made them feel. true wealth is not measured by the number of cars you have in the garage, or how big your house is nor how fat is your bank account... true wealth comes from the number of people who loves you and cares for you not because of something, but because you are you.

lastly, am so thankful that you are also into community life now, keep on serving our Lord in the best way you can... try to be a good example not just to your "adings" but to everybody you know. happy birthday anak... love you always!

daddi