By Mitzi Ramos

May Fernandez dropped by our editorial office in Bacolod City, where she’s from, before returning to Taiwan for her second three-year term as a Columban lay missionary. Among other things, she shared with Mitzi Ramos how reading Misyon led her to where she is now.

The author with some of her Taiwanese students

Is it possible to celebrate the New Year in February, the month after January, the accepted beginning of the year?  If you are following the lunar calendar, it is possible. More importantly though is the question, how does one cope with celebrating the holidays away from one’s family and Filipino practices of welcoming the New Year? A Columban lay missionary to Taiwan, May Fernandez, shares her New Year moments in the mission field.

Beginnings of a journey

The seed of her missionary vocation was planted at a young age.  She was exposed to mission work through the articles in Misyon, a publication her high school regularly subscribed to.  Even after high school, May kept her copies of Misyon and would leaf through them once in a while, finding inspiration in the lives of the missionaries featured. 

She entertained thoughts of entering a religious congregation but after passing the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and teaching in her alma mater for a year, she discerned that the Lord might be calling her in a different direction.  Looking through her past issues of Misyon, May decided to write to Father Pat O’Donovan, the Columban Vocation Director at that time.  She was referred to the Columban Lay Mission Program.  After completing the requirements, May was accepted and began the intensive nine-month training to prepare for mission work.  She felt both excited and challenged.  What could God have in store for her?

Marching orders

May’s dream mission field was Africa but there were no Columban missions there. She was to be sent to Pakistan until the war in Afghanistan broke out. Circumstances directed her steps towards Taiwan instead.

Her journey though was far from smooth.  First, she had to leave a month after her three other companions had already left because of difficulties with her visa.  She had to deal with distrust as a result of some Filipinos using mission work as a means of leaving the country and eventually working abroad.  Second, it was her first time to travel alone and this was at the peak of the SARS scare.  Through it all, May persevered, believing that God wanted her in Taiwan.

Working in the Vineyard

Caring for the environment

Arriving in Taiwan, May began her mission.  She taught the children of the indigenous tribes in Taiwan about the Catholic Faith.  She and her companions also visited old people, mostly women, bringing them Holy Communion every week.  May remembers vividly one old lady, Yaki (meaning ‘grandmother’ in Atayal, the language of the indigenous people of Taiwan) whom she would visit.  Yaki was blind, living alone in a house that leaked and was the only Catholic in her entire village, since the others had already converted to other Christian denominations or were Buddhist. Despite being a minority, Yaki continued to practice her faith even though all she knew was the basic prayers in her own language.

During one visit by May and her companions, Yaki prayed for them, for their safety in traveling the slippery roads that brought them to the village.  This incident touched May deeply. Instead of her offering comfort, she instead was the recipient of it.  Yaki’s prayers for them reminded her that though she may be far from home, through this sister in Christ, she was not alone.

Celebrating far from home

May with fellow Columban lay missionaries for some needed recreation

Loneliness is a constant feeling May and other missionaries had to deal with being far from home.  Holidays tend to increase this emotion.  Celebrating Christmas is one example.  May had been looking forward to Christmas but was disappointed to discover that Christmas in Taiwan tended to be commercialized, in contrast to the way it’s celebrated in the Philippines.  Being able to call home to family and friends once or twice a month only compounded the feeling.  So they tended to celebrate the Lunar New Year by exploring the city instead of staying home, thinking of their loved ones. 

Experience of God

Despite these challenges, May and her companions learned to find comfort in their experiences of God’s presence in their lives through the people they ministered to and in the circumstances that surrounded them.  She learned to appreciate the deep reverence of the Taiwanese for their ancestors, as they pray to them and thus preserve close family ties both with the living and those who have gone ahead.

Lessons for the New Year

After having experienced three New Years in Taiwan, May has three lessons she wishes to share.  First, she has learned to be open to everything, to all kinds of experiences, seeing in each one an opportunity to grow in her love of God and neighbor.  By being open, the second lesson she learned was the truth that there is always a grain of goodness in each person.  Thus, we have no right to pass judgment on others no matter how difficult that may be because circumstances change, and people have the capacity to change as well.  Lastly, gleaning from her encounter with Yaki, May has learned that mission is not one-way, the missionary alone being the giver. It is a two-way path, the missionary giving and at the same time needing to learn how to receive. God has already been there even before any missionary. Therefore, those who may mostly receive are also quite capable of giving us a measure of God’s love.

You may reach May Fernandez through mayfer530@yahoo.com or send your letters to San Columbano, PO Box 328, HSINCHU 3009, TAIWAN