By Gee-Gee O. Torres
Assistant Editor

When I went to Korea last year. I meet many wonderful people and among them were our Filipino missionaries. Here I would like to introduce to you five wonderful persons who chose to live their life on mission.

Sr. Norie arrived in Korea in 1978 and worked with the urban poor. After several years she was reassigned to the US to work in the vocation ministry. And now she’s in Korea as a pastoral counselor and spiritual director. Sr. Norie says that until now she has not mastered the Korean language which is said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. “However, I think I can understand more than those who master the Korean language because I have mastered the language of love.”

Sr. Norie reminded that as missionaries we should always remember that God is already here before we came. In the old days missionaries were perceived to be bringing God to the people. We need to come to them with respect and love. To be a missionary is to learn from the people you are working with.

Sr. Michaela Santiago, fma is the oldest Filipino missionary in Korea. She arrived in Korea in 1957 at the age of 24. Korea then was just recovering from the devastation caused by the Korean War.

“When I first arrived in Korea, there was nothing – no food, no water, refugees everywhere. We had to go the US Military campus to ask for food and water.”

Sr. Michaela always wanted to become a missionary when she was small. The Lord answered her prayer by showing her the way to the Salesian Sisters.

Now at the age of 72 she is happy to see the fruits of her labor. “I feel my mission now is just be a candle and continue to give light to the people around me.”

Sr. Amy, from Albay, is the first Filipino Columban sister to be sent on mission. In 1962 after her final vows she was assigned to Korea to help in the medical mission at Mokpo Hospital. “When I first came there was no water supply, no electricity. It was so difficult to take care of the patients. Many died of various diseases such as tuberculosis. I remember us once having an emergency surgery in the hospital. An eight-year-old-boy had an acute abdominal pain. He had to be operated on. As we were doing the operation the electricity went out. I was holding the flashlight and I was terrified to see parasites coming of the child’s stomach. After a year of taking care of him at the hospital, the boy recovered.

I left Korea in 1977 and went other US for another assignment in Korea when I arrived I couldn’t recognize Korea anymore. It blew my mind to see the changes – subway, high rise buildings, concrete roads.”

Sr. Amy is now the administrator of St. Columban’s Clinic in Chunchon, the only clinic run by the Columban Sisters in Korea today.

Sr. Genevieve is from Guimaras, Iloilo. She is one of the pioneers of the Carmelite Missionaries of the Carmelite Missionaries in Korea. She came to Korea in 1977 together with Spanish Isabel Vidart and Amparo Baquedano. “I thank the Lord for helping me survived in Korea – 24 long years. Perseverance and humility are two important things which help all these years. I really enjoyed my missionary life. Yes, there were difficulties along the way but it made me even a stronger person. I always thought of what my father told me before I left for mission, never to let down my congregation because in doing so I would be letting him down too. Now as I look back I feel fulfilled. I could say all the hardships were worth it – we now have a Korean delegation. “Sr. Genevieve is now the sister general in their Provincial House in Seoul where she continues to support their Korean Sisters by being a living witness to God’s love.

Sr. Rita arrived in Korea in 1966. She was assigned in Chonju, south of Korea, where she helped victims of prostitution. After six years the Good Shepherd Sisters left Chonju and moved on to Seoul. “In the seventies Seoul was very different from the bustling city of Seoul today. It was then the factory area. We started a night school for factory workers. Many of them hadn’t been to high school. Students volunteered to help us in our apostolate.”

The Good Shepherd Sisters now have two apostolates in Korea: Good Shepherd’s Home for runaway girls and Euphrasia Home, temporary shelter for unwed mothers.

Sr. Rita would have wanted to go to Vietnam for her next assignment. She almost made it but due to a heart problem she had to let go for Vietnam for the moment. She is now staying in their convent in Seoul helping in their various projects in her won little way.