By: Sr. Carmela Santos, SPC

Sr. Carmela Santos from the Philippines works in London, England. Here she tells us her parish ministry and some of the people she has met and learned from.

International Parish
St. Joan of Arc is a thriving and active parish in Highbury, Borough of Islington in North London. It boasts of a happy community of some 5,000 parishioners; many of whom have immigrated from several parts of the world. Most of them come from common wealth countries, Ireland and Western Europe. There are a good number of Christian, Jewish and Muslim churches in Islington but the Roman Catholic Churches are apparently the best attended.

I am Impressed
In St. Joan of Arc, as perhaps in other parishes in England, a newcomer like myself can’t help being impressed by the quality of Catholic life among many of the parishioners- a striking facet very often taken for granted by local Catholics but certainly an admirable feature worth emulating by all of us in whatever part of the world.

A few example of outstanding Catholics in the parish are particularly inspiring and worthy of mention.

Nellie Powell
Nellie Powell is a one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. She is a Londoner of French and Welsh extraction and has work all her life in schools and hospitals doing sewing, cooking, embroidery, serving meals. After over 60 years of service she was taken ill and has since then become housebound. The Sister of my community (St. Paul de Chartres) bring her Communion, offer nursing care and see to her little needs. At 88 when most elderly people sit back and expect to be waited upon by family and friends, Nellie thinks of a thousand and one way to make those around her happy. She is an excellent cook and her spic-and span-kitchen, she says, keeps her going. She is always pottering around and keeping herself busy. There is always a batch of scones or a fruit cake and other goodies ready for gardener, the post man, the window cleaner, the kindly nun who takes her blood pressure or brings her Communion. She has a whole list of birthdays of the hundred nieces, nephew grand nieces and friends. There is not a day that she does not send a little something to someone in the family or her wide circle of friends.

 

Widows Mite
Her church offering arrives at the presbytery every Sunday without fail. The little pension she gets being mostly spent on the church, its ministers priest and the sisters of the parish.

 

Life is Short...
I have read letters of appreciation and gratitude to this great lady by different employers who, over the years, have had only praise for her service and the many kindnesses she has scattered along the way. I can truly say her life can be summed up in her own words when she says: “Life is short. I just like to make people happy before I go.” A simple but profound thought from a simple and profoundly Christ-like lady.

Chris and Angie
Chris and Angie are two lovely ladies from Ireland who came to settle in London 25 years ago. Like many of the Irish people who take their faith very seriously, these young ladies have undoubtedly made the Catholic faith Center of their lives.

Secret Energy Source
Their day begins with Holy Mass and Communion at St. Joan of Arc Church; this is the driving force behind their self-giving spirit. Where girls of their status enjoy the benefits of well-paid jobs, Chris and Angie have instead given most of their energy  to voluntary works of Charity

Gratis et Amore
They have taken upon themselves the cleaning of the entire church which is by no means a small task. They see to the candles, the flowers, the hymnbook, the sacristy. They take to the church repository, which includes the ordering of articles, Sunday sales and collections. It is what we would call service with a difference because it is totally offered ‘gratis et more.’ Indeed, a service of love!

Paul and Breda
I have great admiration for Paul and Breda. They are a young couple married just five and a half years ago and have two beautiful children aged one and a half and four. It was on their wedding day, s they made their way to the altar for the ceremony, that Paul was suddenly seized with an uncontrollable shaking. Breda, thinking he was merely unduly nervous, dismissed this laughingly and thought no more of it. It was sometime later, after Paul had seen several neurologists that he was diagnosed as suffering from a severe form of multiple sclerosis.

Bound to a Wheelchair
The days that followed were intensely traumatic- a period when their love for each other was put to the test. The disease was ravaging and ruthless. Three and a half years after that fateful verdict, Paul, once an able bodied and healthy man, is now bound to a wheelchair, completely helpless and in capacitated. Breda has taken up single-handedly the full responsibility for nursing a disabled husband, keeping the house, and taking care of two lively toddlers.

Joy and Irish Humor
I visited their home one afternoon; it is far from being gloomy. The effervescent Irish humour bubbles over and laughter echoes within its walls. I was particularly struck by their undaunted spirit, the mature, unshaken faith, which I thought uncommonly joyous. There was, I noticed, not only the conspicuous absence of bitterness, but a truly Christian attitude in the face of horrendous suffering- where adversity is very often looked upon as disgracefully evil, where suffering and bitterness almost sound synonymous.

Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Paul and Breda have gone twice to Lourdes but Paul’s ailment persists. Nevertheless, they take life in stride and in matter-of –fact style get on with the business of living.

A Special Mission
Perhaps there are other miracles for Paul and Breda. Or perhaps the Lord has marked them for a special mission.
And like shining stars in God’s firmament, these beautiful people continue to enlighten, to inspire, each in his own way, each one fulfilling his own special mission on earth.

“Life is short. I just like to make people happy before I go.”

By: Sr. Tammy Saberon

Sr. Tammy Saberon, (author) a Columban Missionary in Hong Kong for 81/2 years. Sr. Tammy now the Mission/ Vocation Animator of the Columban Sister in the Visayas and Mindanao

One of the strange things that a Missionary experiences is to long for something she used to do or used to have at home but at the same time to discover something beautiful in her new land, something  beautiful in her new land, something which compensates.

Disappointed
My first New Year in Hong Kong was a kind of cultural shock for me. I was excited to welcome the New Year, so on December 31 I was prepared to stay up to 12:00 midnight. But later in the night, I noticed most of the Sisters who stayed with me to welcome the New Year. We turned on the TV. To see what was happening outside. At 12:00 sharp a few British, Chinese and other nationalities were shown on TV, greeting the New Year with a gun salute and everybody greeted one another: “Happy New Year.” I look out the Window. It was very quite and no fire crackers at all. I was disappointed. I was lonely. I wished I was in the Philippines at that very moment.

New Year in February?
February came and everybody was talking about Chinese New Year. I never knew that there was such a New Year for Chinese. I was curious what could this Chinese New Year be?

New Clothes, New Shoes
Every Chinese household begins to prepare for a new Year the last month of the lunar year. The home must have special cleaning before the New Year begins, and often it will even be given a fresh coat of paint. Traditionally, everyone wears new cloths and shoes during the new clothes and shoes during the New Year Celebration, so shopping must be done for this.

Looking for Good Luck
On New Year’s Eve everyone must go to the parents’ home for the big family meal together. (In Chinese custom the wife becomes part a part of the man’s family, so they naturally go to the man’s parents’ home). However, in the Hong Kong situation, where many people work on New Year’s Eve, a family often chooses, another time to have their big dinner together. It will be very special meal which will include mushrooms; a stringy vegetable that look like hair, because the words hair vegetable sound like the words for prosperity; pigs feet which represents being lucky at winning money in gambling...Everything they eat, use, say or give as gifts symbolizes something good which brings them luck, not only for the new year, but through out the year. The food must be plentiful and some must be left over for the next day to show that the New Year is starting off with plenty and there will be plenty all year.

Worshipping the Gods
It is customary not to sleep on New Year’s Eve night. At exactly midnight the gods and the ancestors must be worshipped. After worshipping the gods and ancestors all children, from the oldest to youngest, will, in turn, serve tea and bow to the parents, thanking them for taking care of them during the past years. I a child is married, the child and his wife will serve the tea together. The parents will give lucky money to the children in turn. Then they will play cards or other games until morning. The next morning the children will again serve tea to the parents and other elders and wish them good health and a happy new year. They will in turn give lucky money to the children again.

Flower
Another custom for the New Year’s Eve is to go to the Flower Market. The Flower Market are set up about two weeks before New Year. Not many people go to buy flowers so early, as they will die before New Year’s celebration. But people go to buy the peach trees and orange trees (they symbolize good luck). After family dinner, they might play cards or watch television and then go to the Flower Market after midnight, that’s then the flowers are very cheap. In the past Flower Markets only had flowers to sell but today, there are toys, foods and many other things so that people can buy things as gifts when they visit relatives and friends.

Red Envelops
The noon meal is called ‘starting –off- the-New Year’ dinner. This signifies the new year has begun. This meal is usually quite early in the day around 10:00 AM. After this the family start visiting relatives to wish them a Happy New Year. A hostess gift is always taken when visiting, originally, these were gifts, fruits or homemade steamed cakes. Nowadays it is fruit or boxes of candy or cookies. Married people must carry many of the red envelops of lucky money to give to the children.

Changing Attitudes
When visitors arrive at home, the first thing the hostess does is to pour a cup of tea for the guests. The usual new year’s snacks are served: steamed cake, fried dumplings, preserved fruits and melon seeds. Usually, every home must have at New Year, the traditional box sweet for people to eat when they come to visit. Traditionally, this consisted of dried louts seeds, coconut strips and melon seeds. Today, they have also chocolates and candies because some people (especially the young people) do not like to eat traditional sweets.

 

Two Weeks Long
Chinese New Year lasts for fifteen days ( if I remember it right) and so visitation and celebration continue until the last day or the fifteenth day of the of the new year.

Lost and Found
I was disappointed to lose the Filipino Bagong Taon celebration but my new land made up the loss a hundred fold.

 

By: Lily Javier

Lily Javier is a Filipino migrant worker in Italy. She helps at a special center set up to keep the Filipinos together. Here she tells us about the Center and about one of the Filipino Missionaries (O.S.A.) who has helped to make life away from home easier for these unwilling exiles.

Disturbing News
Nearly one year and a half ago the Filipinos in Turin, especially the mothers were disturbed  upon learning that Sister  Claribelle  Jugueta, O.S.A. was going home to the Philippines, assigned to a new mission.

Marvelous Work
Sr. Claribelle was very deeply involved in her worked in “Centro Filipino di Torino” being assigned to handle “Asilo Nido”. She had done a list of noble works- counseling unwed mothers, caring for the Filipino children ranging from infancy to three years old, assisting Sister Trinidad, the head of the Center and facilitating Bible studies. Her utmost sacrifice, dedication, discipline, hardwork and genuine love of children was wonderful to see.

The Filipino Center
The “Centro Filipino di Torino” aims to recapture the hearts of the Filipino and to unite theme. The Center is open to all. At the same time it has been a refugee center. Its services are open twenty-four hours a day. It serves for festivities, conferences, celebrations of Masses, conducting classes in Italian, sewing and cooking and job placements.

Helping the Mother
Then there is the “Asilo “for Filipino mothers, unwed or wedded. They leave their children at the Asilo from morning till six or a little bit later in the evening, depending on their working hours.
We will all miss Sr. Claribelle especially the small kids who were closely attached to her. It may take time before the children can adjust. But for us who have stayed, worked, and dined with her, the laughter we have shared together, and her sweet voice, plus her gifted talents of healing will never be forgotten. We are all praying for good health, safety and protection. Congratulations Sister Claribelle on your Silver Jubilee.

By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD

St. Paul to the Filipinos
Once a month, I meet my catechists and explain to them all the four Sunday readings. In one of those meetings, the second reading was from Paul’s letter to the Philippines. Knowing that Ghanaians call Filipinos “Philippians”, I said, “kindly read the letter of Paul to my great-grand parents.” Not even one noticed the joke.

Chauvinism?
My catechist Nicolas Busi and his wife live an exemplary life. Both command the respect of the whole village. At their door was written “In the name of Busi and wife Amen.” Observant as he is , Nicholas noticed my wry expression when I read it. The next time I returned, the notes were gone.

King of the Ants
I found near our church at Abodiom, an early opened Catholic village, a deserted anthill with a hole near to top. Gazing at it for sometime, my imagination told me that if the hole widened a bit, one can peep through for a good picture. Inspired,, I went enlarge the hole telling every passer-by that I was looking for the Queen Bee. When the sun was lambent in the West lighting directly through the anthill, I got picture which I captioned: “The King of Ants.”

Know you priest
A sick woman at Yara asked for her baptism certificate to my surprise for I had not baptized her. But according to her, when she was sick at the hospital, a priest baptized her wanting to know who the priest was, she went home and came back to tell me that a certain priest was Fr. Joseph Kintampo,  according to her brother baptized her. Then I remembered I did baptize a dying a dying woman at Techiman Hospital, a parish nearby. I asked, “do you know Fr. Joseph?” she shook her head to my dismay. The catechist scolded her for not knowing the priest in-charge of her. Known to all my catechumens, it is a requirement before baptism to know three names: that of the Pope, the Bishop, and mine. If they do not know the names, they are in real trouble.

Pale Face
In my remotest Yara village, while just about to sit down after a long, long, walk, I saw a two year old child running helter-skelter out of the yard disturbing his mother. The father who is also my catechist said to me: “Father listen to my child. He said he is going to wash and wash and will be as white as you.” No wonder the mother was laughing instead to getting annoyed.

 

Adam
During a baptism, I was distributing the candles when I distributing the candles when I discovered we lacked one. I bent over the table for the big Easter Candle and handed it to  Adam Kwaku Fogo, one of those being baptized saying, “Adam! Since you were responsible for our original sin, take this big candle.” That made his baptism more meaningful though a ripple of smiles ran through the church.

 

By: Neil Collins

On Visit to Pakistan
The feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, I was appointed as Lay Mission Coordinator for the Columbans in Mindanao. After ten good years in various parishes in Zamboanga del Sur I found it difficult to move into a new, unknown assignment. Then, in September, I was able to spent A week in Pakistan and to witness the work of three Filipina lay missionaries Pilar Tilos and Emma Pabera from Negros Occidental, and Gloria Canama from Misamis Occidental. The experience has colored all I’ve said and done since.

Cricket Everywhere
The lay missionaries had prepared a Filipino meal to welcome us to Lahore, so it was like coming home when I sat down with in their house. But in the morning I felt I was far from the Philippines. I awake puzzled by the thump, thump, thump and the sound of children’s voices coming from downstairs, nothing stranger, it turned out, than a game a game of cricket being played against our front door. That was another of the constants, cricket in the streets, on every patch of dusty, waste ground, everywhere. Pakistan are the World Champions and every male seems to see himself as a possible Test player.

Shoes Off
We went to Mass- it was Sunday-and stood around outside the school in Shadbagh parish where Mass was said. The young people seemed interested in meeting me. Emma and Pilar went off to speak to friends and organize some meetings. I took off my shoes and went inside. The hall was almost full, but I found a space on the floor near the back.  Something was bothering me, but it was only when Pilar came to rescue me that I realized that I was sitting on the Women’s side. Then I saw that fully half the congregation were men and boys. I was impressed.

Free Women
After Mass I spent the day meeting people, friends of Emma for lunch, families in Pilar’s area of the parish, and drinking endless cup of tea. Emma told me how she gets letters from home, some of which ask, “What are you doing there? Why aren’t you here where the action is?” I think she is tempted at times to agree with the writer. “We’re still only crawling,” she confessed. But I was struck by the reaction of various people to each of the lay missionaries. One young girl in the family who came to lunch was obviously deeply taken by Emma and her way of acting. Fr. Finbar Maxwell summed it up by saying that the main contribution of the Filipina missionaries may be “presence, as women confident in their Christianity leaders in their community, free.”

Get it Yourself
Evening, brought Pilar and me to other Christian family for a meal, hot and spicy – she drank three glasses of water. Like many of the Christian fathers was a street sweeper, working in the middle of the night. He had second job too, I don’t know what, and his wife cleaned a house. But they managed to have a comfortable home, and where putting their son through technical school, half of his fees paid by the government. Pilar told me one neat little story about her friendships with them. One evening when she was eating with them the boy ordered his older sister to get him a glass of water. Reacting the male dominant culture Pilar snapped, “Get it yourself.” For a second all froze, then the boy got up and poured his own glass saying, “Alright.” The girl looked at Pilar as if to say, “If I’d tried that my parents would have punished me.” It’s a small example of how a foreign missionary can sometimes do what the local could not.

Walking like a Buffalo
But when Pilar and I shared a horse- drawn buggy with a Moslem family Pilar had to sit in the middle, with the mother on one side and me safely on the other. “We have to walk like a buffalo,” she complained, meaning that a woman could look neither right nor left, in case she taught the eye of a man.

How about you?
Since I’ve come back to Mindanao I have met many possible lay missionaries, women and men, married and single, who wish to go a s partners in mission with the Columbans. I carry a packet of photographs from my visit to Pakistan, and I find that they explain what lay mission is about much more eloquently than I can. Difficult. Still crawling. Effective. All of these. And Emma would add, very enriching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Fr. Efren de Guzman, SVD

War Again!
As we go to press the peace talks in Ivory Coast have broken down and civil war has broken out yet again in weary Angola. Fr. Efren de Guzman, our correspondent in Angola and our intrepid missionary writes and tells us about the hardships.

Cut off Arms and Legs
Last April 8, at 6:00 in the morning, the soldiers in the military camp in Funda, 40 kms. From our convent attacked the people near the camp. They cut off arms and legs of men and women, children were thrown violently to the ground, some of them were killed, others were maimed. The soldiers behaved as if they had lost their mind and accused the people of having killed one of their soldiers, so they could have some reasons for putting our people in prison, one of whom was out catechist. It really was a sad day.

Soldiers are Hungry
The soldier threatened to do the same thing to other village if the government does not pay them their salary. Violence is on the rise. After a week, four people in Sao Jose (30km) were killed by the soldiers. Many soldiers want to leave their camps because they don’t receive their salaries and are hungry. Maybe this situation could account for the banditry that’s happening even in the city of Luanda. Add to this the influx of returning jobless Angolan refugees. Some 120 thousand from Zambia and more than 300,000 from Zaire.

Priest Murdered and Tortured
Within this week, nine foreigners were murdered. Last Friday, Padre Abilio Guerra, Holy Spirit Missionary, while entering their compound to park his car, was suddenly whisked away. This happened at about 7:00 in the evening. Soon after his provincial superior and a brother called the city exit police station, hospitals and other places, looking for him but to no avail. The following day at four in the afternoon he was found in the morgue of a hospital. Earlier someone had found his body in a place near the airport covered by grass. There were marks of brutal torture. He had a wound in the head, the face, the eyes, burns on the arms and a gun-shot in his side. He must have been tied up to his seats as there were marks on his thighs and lower torso. It seems that was the third attempt on him and the bandits succeeded.

Children Murdered
Carnappers are not content to get the car; they kill cruelly the owners. Last Sunday, two Portuguese couples and three children who enjoyed their day in the beach were murdered. Within three months according to the police source there have been more than hundred and fifty deaths within Luanda and its periphery. It is very risky now to go out especially by car. But our works demands that we go out. So please pray for us.

Community Based Health Program
Inspite of the difficulties in organization we are able to give a course for infirmarians to our lay leaders in collaboration with the government doctors. Yesterday, I presented some of the participants to our vicar general Padre Poljak.

Dangerous Roads
We are waiting for the dry season to be able to go to the mountains of Nambuangongo. As of now we cannot go because the roads are dangerous.
In Kilunda and Casas Novas we continue to give seminars for the formations of the Catechists on Saturdays.

Lepers Self-help
For the fist time in Funda Leprosarium we have requested some widows and mothers to help clean the houses of the lepers. They have responded to this request and they do the cleaning on Wednesdays. In Funda Leper Center (37 kms.) and other villages we have more than eighty lepers.

Swedish Volunteer
In Nambuangongo (250 Kms.) there are more than 300 lepers. We have a young lady Elsa Maria Cristina from Sweden, who is working with us for the orphans, she is taking their pictures and working on pertinent data for their records.

B.C.C
Last Saturday, I meet with a group of young people who want me to help them organize themselves into a Christian Community, we hope to help them crystallize into an active, responsive and caring group for God’s Kingdom
This is all for now!
May the love of God inspire and protect you.

By: Sr. Victoria C. Lerin, FMM

Sr. Victoria tells us the difficulties of adopting to a new culture and how it means rediscovering who you yourself are...

Jungle Mission
My name is Sr. Victoria Lerin, I am a sister of the Marcesa Sisters working in Bolivia in Latin America.
We are four sisters here, two Spanish, a Brazilian and myself a Filipina. We Collaborate in the work of the Parish administers, the Maryknoll Fathers. As of now, we have only one Priest, so formation lay leaders helps a lot in our pastoral work and we can reach even the farthest communities in the midst of the jungles which is the main concern of the Parish. [I always believe that the God of Israel is the same God of Today who is one with His people in their struggle to live as Christians].

Misery
...Missionary work in Bolivia is being one with the poor in their struggle. Bolivia has always been difficult for missionaries. Some had to work on the treeless moonscape of the Altiplano between 12,000 and 14,000 feet above sea level, others in the jungles of Pando region where I and my sisters are inserted among congregations...to go as far as...to whom God is least known. In addition, there have frequently been political upheavals. Now, however, with the economy in the state of collapse, life has become so difficult. It is a marvel that the poor can survive. Being the poorest country of America, Bolivia actually has 46% of the children undernourished and every year 62 of 981 below 5 years old die. Alphabetization is one of the major problems of the country especially in rural areas. The lack of teachers and the risk to work in the jungles add the misery of the people.

Special Option
The vision of the Church of Bolivia is in line with the vision of the Universal Church which is “preferential option for the poor”. Thanks be to God that our Bishops are very conscious of the vision and ensure their support and help to all missionaries.

No Land Title
Pando is the northern part of Bolivia and the east side of Brazil. Being the poorest region, 90% of the people live in the jungles they called “selvas and rivers rios”. Their means of livelihood is extraction of rubber and “castanas” known as Brazil nuts exported to various countries especially in U.S. The majority don’t have potable water, no medicines, and don’t have titles of the land... only 10% of the population have titles of their land.

Rediscover Who You Are
The realities which I have seen and experienced within these months of my mission has been sometimes “surprising”, “heart-warming” and heart-breaking”. I have opened my eyes to “similarities, differences and uniqueness” of every culture. For me to adapt to another culture is not easy. It is a struggle with love and faith. I came to relinquish my own culture as a Filipino. Also a Francescan Missionary of Mary, we are minority here living the best way we can our Franciscan Charism. It is not that people are putting us down but you to rediscover who you are when you live in another culture. In entering into their culture, I come to understand their life and become sensitive their customs.

Once again, many thanks for everything and for remembering us missionaries. United always in prayers. GOD BLESS!

Missionary work in Bolivia is being one with the poor in their struggle.

“You have to rediscover who you are when you live in another culture.”

By: Fr. Vinnie Busch

Fr. Vincent Busch, a Columban Missionary in Mindanao has been a leading figure in the Philippines Environmental Movement. Using seminars, articles, and film, and slide show he shares some of his deepest insight into the destruction of Mindanao and the Philippines. Here is a summary of his experience.

A Beautiful Land
Seventeen years ago I planted myself in Mindanao. I faced a new and wondrously diverse community of tropical animals and plants, mangroves and rain forest, reefs and rivers, volcanoes and earthquakes.

What has Happened
In the beginning, the hungry, suffering people of this community led me, with the help of the exodus story, to hear the cry of oppressed human beings. More recently, the degraded seas, soils, and forest of this community have led me, with the help of creation stories in Genesis, to hear the cry of the dying earth.

We Need a Dialogue
I have come to the conviction that life is in its fullness requires a healing dialogue between the dying earth and its suffering people. In that dialogue of life will be revealed. I am also convinced the God of earth and sky listens to the cry of the people in pain and that by listening to the cry of suffering people we come to know the God of earth and sky.

Poor Who Suffer First
The despoiled soils, seas, and forests of Mindanao are dying and the people are suffering the consequences. Like everywhere else on this endangered planet, it is the poor who suffer first. They do not have the political clout or the financial means to escape the hunger, drought and the heat of a baked, treeless and eroded landscape.

Not all Production is Good
The government is committed to conventional economic development. It encourages increased production and consumption, hoping to create more jobs in industry and agriculture. But when increased employment is linked with earth destroying enterprises, new job opportunity will not free people from the death facing Mindanao.

Some Example
For example, there is a beach up the coast from here. Once cooled by spreading Talisay trees, it provided a natural picnic area for the public. Then an enterprising individual cut off the shading branches of the tress and built bamboo huts instead. He rented the huts to people looking for shade, hiring two attendants to maintain the huts and collect the rent. The few who pay the fee are let in; the many who cannot are kept out.
This seaside enterprise employs two people and creates tax payers. But it has taken the abundant shade provided by God’s creation, packaged it in small huts and then proceeded to sell it to a privilege few.
On a larger scale, the beer and soft drink factories diminish the local water supply and then sell their drinks to the water-poor community.
The bountiful food and fuel of the mangrove swamps are destroyed by constructing fish and shrimps ponds that produce specialty foods for the wealthy.
To grow luxury fruit for export, large corporate farms exhaust the soil by raising just one crop.

Failed Hopes
Basic foods have become scarce and expensive because logging and mining operation have degraded rivers, seas and soils. Mining and logging employees, who has hoped for a steady income, discover that their money quickly disappears in buying fish, rice, and even water.

Disaster A waits Us
Creating jobs that destroy natural resources will eventually consume, erode and poison the forest, soils, water and air Mindanao. All this is done in the name of providing employment to help people overcome the hardships of living in a degraded and depleted land.

Mission Today
The poor of Mindanao need and deserve an economic order that collaborates with the work of God’s creation. This collaboration between the earth and the life, work and play of humans is a serious challenge for mission today in the effort to apply the Gospel to the lives of the people.

Christian Communities
Over the past few years I have worked with the Christian communities of northwest Mindanao in developing workshops to help them rediscover their communion with creation. We call one exercise the Good Gift Workshop. Participants are asked to make a drawing of their habitat illustrating the gifts of its different forest, sea, soil, river, and coastal communities.

Gifts
Most groups fill their drawings with those gifts that clearly benefit the human population: the contributions of the forest community in conserving soil, maintaining the water cycle, regulating the climate providing us with medicine, food and building materials.

 

Forgotten Gifts
Many groups also remember to include those gifts that benefit the larger earth community: a mud whole is a life-saving gift to an overheated water buffalo; an erupting volcano is a island- building gift to the Philippines archipelago. By including these frequently forgotten or unrecognized gifts, the participants create landscape that reveal the close links between the natural elements that keep Mindanao alive.

What We can Do?
Into these landscapes the participants are then asked to sketch their life-giving contributions. Here the group adds to their drawing those human activities which collaborate with the good gifts of other creatures in their locales.
Groups from farming ad fishing communities focus on ways they can restore and defend the fish, trees, and soil that give them food and shelter. They show fishermen building artificial reefs to attract food fish, farmers composting soil to increase their production, and villager, replanting the hills with fast-rowing trees for the timber industry.

Many groups go a step further to include the needs, gifts and beauty of other creatures. They look for ways to protect and enhance the habitat that feeds and shelters the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields.

Faith is Needed Too
This workshop helps them recognize and respect their dependence on a healthy habitat. But there is a faith dimension to the workshop as well.

If we believe the prayer, “Let all creation praise the Lord” (Psalm 150), then we must find way to nurture, protect and enjoy our communion with all beings.