A Call to Serve through Columban Mission

By Delia Hynson-Jagonia

My life is about serving the people. I worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), with the Church through a social action center, with the Columbans in Columban Lay Missionaries - Philippines (CLM-P) and Subanen Crafts.  I was trained by the Columban Sisters in Immaculate Conception College (ICC), now La Salle University, Ozamiz City, where I studied. I had a good job, worked abroad and in Manila and visited different countries but later chose to go back to Ozamiz to be with my mother. The impact of the Columbans in my life started in the 1980s with Fr Peter Leonard who conducted a live-in five-week training program on lay leadership.

Fr Vinnie Busch invited me to be part of the staff of CLM-P in Ozamiz. He was the full-time coordinator there but worked part-time in Subanen Crafts as part of the Mission and Art Ministry. I did not see myself as being called to be a Columban Lay Missionary, as I had come home to care for my mother. But I opted to be a CLM-P staff member in 1999. I was to receive the teams assigned to Mindanao and to help prepare lay missionaries for assignment abroad. I accompanied them for exposure in areas in Mindanao. Being with CLM-P, I was to journey with the lay missionaries, to be there at times when they needed a friend, to be a staff memberready to accommodate their concerns.

When I started working with Father Vinnie I became interested in his creation spirituality, the blending of his artistic works in drawing and creating mandalas. I didn’t have an opportunity to express my artistic talents but was in awe when I met Father Vinnie. While I was happy working with CLM-P, half of my body and soul was with Subanen Crafts. So I was inspired to dedicate myself to art and in 2006 resigned from CLM-P to work full-time with Subanen Crafts.

This wasn’t that easy as I had to deal with the pain of adjustment and acceptance. My life had been different before, being surrounded with professionals. My training was in big systems dealing with production, influenced by German precision. But suddenly I had to deal with young Subanens who hadn’t able to finish their schooling. I had to understand their culture, their being young and to recognize our generation gap.

And the Subanens had to adjust to city life. So we made sure that the women in the center were well treated so that they could fulfill their dream. We offered them scholarships so that they wouldn’t be oppressed by others. Some opted not to continue their studies due to difficulties in adjusting.

The Subanen weavers are very artistic. Look at how they work! But they have a culture of their own, such as marrying at an early age of 18 to 20. We wanted to expose them to a wider view of the world. So every month we went out for a meal, brought them to different places and provided training to develop their skills.

Because it was business at the same time, we had to work in order to earn our salary. We had to market our products. Father Vinnie emphasized that what we were doing was already a vocation. So I believed I was called to that vocation.

I am thankful that I was also called to be part of the Columban mission, specifically with CLM-P and Subanen Crafts; to be part of their mission in life, to be a support in whatever way I could serve. I am thankful that God brought me to this. I could have been on a different path but God called me to be part of CLM-P and Subanen Crafts. When tough times come, ‘I know God you brought me here because I can make it.’

But God surprised me by leading me to another path. I found my love, Walter, a classmate from way back in high school, and we were married in July 2012. After serving Subanen Crafts, I had to retire in December 2012 to give time for my family. I am now a simple housewife and I’m enjoying the rest as I had been working straight for 37 years without a break.Neither of us has a salaried job as we opted to work on our farm. But it is not a big deal for at our age we do not need a lot in life.

May God who calls each of us in a special way accompany us until we find the fulfillment of the desire of our hearts.