By Fr. Rolly Aniscal ssc

I was selling fruits in a bus terminal before I knew the Columbans. Being the eldest of five, I had to help my parents in this kind of livelihood. Since seven, it had been my life. My parents were peddlers at a bus terminal and through them I learned to face one of the hard facts of life: how to live in a situation where what you earned on that day is consumed on that same day. I had no intention whatsoever of finishing college because I didn’t see any reason of doing so. What the use? Money flows in the terminal if you are industrious enough to run when the bus arrives and know how to entertain people in order to buy your fruits. Frugality then became my acquired value- save the last penny because it is not easy to get it.

He paved the way

God has his own way of directing my life. I happened to know that a particular program called the Christian Children’s Fund will help those who cannot afford to go to high school. There were thousands of us who were accepted and given the privilege to enter school free-of-charge. At that time, the RVM sisters were the ones running the program. I got a scholarship to study in there prestigious Catholic institution, Christ the King College. And it paved the way for me to discover my potential for being a leader in my community. It was also through them that I was introduced to the Columbans.

Columbans just over the fence

It was a clear, sunny day when a very noisy and big fellow came to our school and he was really noisy that he attracted our attention. He was Fr. Dick Pankratz. We found ourselves listening to his stories with fascination as he told stories in very festive mood. It was from him that I got to know the mission and the Columbans. In my place, we knew of some missionaries but not the Columbans. Little did I know that they have been working in our parish for many years.

A Peddler by blood

I then entered the seminary with the vision of changing my life and making some difference in the world. But it did not really erase my old ways of thinking and lifestyle. I used to always go back to the bus terminal every vacation because it is my world. Acquired knowledge in the university did not change anything in me. Friendship, trust and how to relate with people were the basic values that I learned in the bus terminal.

Missionary longing

I would say that missionary vision developed as I went through the whole program of the Columbans. My encounter with the different types of people in the society – the sane and insane, the underprivileged, the sick and the dying and the abandoned children – have helped me find my direction. Our constant contact with the Columbans abroad and those who happen to pass by the house has given me the privilege to know the life in the mission. I then started longing to go to the missions and to experience how if feels to be nobody in a foreign land.

Partaking of the Columban Experience

My missionary awareness was deepened when I was sent to Japan to do my First Missionary Experience and it was more than a privilege to partake in the experience of the Columbans in that area. I had my share of frustrations, boredom and disappointments as I struggled to learn the language (Nihongo) and the culture. Nevertheless, the more I dwelled on my frustrations, the more I sought God who does not abandon us. Indeed, the sense of joy and fulfillment cannot be denied. I am happy in the missions.  There are no dull moments here. There is always something new that can ignite the spirit within. For that reason, I asked to be ordained and to go back to the missions, wherever God calls me.

God does most of the job

I am now working here in Lima Peru as a missionary priest. After my language studies in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for five months, here I am again, struggling to speak Spanish with the common tao in my parish. There is that sense of frustration because of language barrier. However, the sense of freedom and inner joy within is what I want to convey to the people, to the youth of today. We can make a difference in our very little way but God is the one who does most of the job.

I am still peddling. But not anymore fruits in the bus terminal. I am now peddling the fruit of Christ’s love and affection to me to the people, giving witness to God’s love that I experience to the Peruvian Church.