The author has recently migrated to Sydney, Australia. He has contributed an article featured in Misyon’s January-February 2007 issue, Our Hideaway section.
Dear Father Seán,
Salaam Aleikum! It was in my senior year in high school that I found Misyon. My great religion teacher, Mr Eduardo Verdadero, introduced it to our class. He encouraged the writers in our class, especially me, to get published. About three years later, with both of us gone from the school, I finally did it. Idle Thoughts Past an Ash-heaven Morning was my first article to be published and what a feeling I had! My breakthrough after numerous rejections truly saved me from oblivion and furthered my understanding of that great word, ‘hope’. Now, every time I read your magazine, I remember Sir Ed because aside from pointing me towards pretty good food for my soul, in more ways than one, as my best mentor, he influenced me profoundly in the way I look at myself today.
I am inspired by the touching stories of the missionaries. Through prose and pictures alone, I come to visit different places and get a clear vista of the mission work abroad. The letters which appear in the last pages always have special meaning for me, since they show that no miles or seas can separate your readers. I picture it all as one big family where everyone is invited to look with the same heartbeat. And that is, writing for us to feel the world, and its various vistas. There exists no greater testament of one voice – a band of letters is but a prelude to the ultimate correspondence. Likewise, it tells how far-reaching the voice of God is. How pleasing it is to know that places as far away as Africa and Europe can be on the same page, at the heart of the matter. We truly need one another, don’t we? So though seas and mountains distance us, we almost always find a way back, simply to remember.
Forty Shades of Green, published in the July-August issue last year, particularly caught my attention. I liked the way Joey Puerta described Ireland and his work with the Redemptorists there. He drew some eye-watering accounts of a typical missionary’s stint, its wonders and questions, joys and tribulations. Like me, his experience of God was not always as it is now. But once he found a burning passion in himself to serve for the greater cause of sharing His kingdom, it was like an echo that kept sounding. As I continue to learn the complexities of living, what to do and what not to do, I can happily state that somehow, someway, I am indebted to Mr Puerta. He really made me stop in my careless wandering of the earth’s tracks and reconsider where I must go from here.
At first, I have to admit that I saw mission work as boring, if you want to know the truth. As I began reading the articles, this impression began to dim. Until . . .
Forty Shades of Green. My skepticism about missionaries totally shattered, I just knew at that moment that someday I too will embark on a similar mission of my own. And I see myself revisiting those places in Ireland mentioned by Mr Puerta. Judging from his account, it truly is a place to go. To each his own.
After reflecting on his musings, I surmised that there are special places for extraordinary moments in our sojourn. In the author’s case, it had to be Ireland. This was where he heard the Lord’s voice and felt his presence the strongest. As for me, I am still searching for this lost setting. In my quest to find it, I owe much to the people around, the select few who, in one way or another, would help me see the light. When someone then asks me the meaning of life, I definitely can’t get lost. Others - that is the answer. So here I am in Sydney, exploring through a mango-orange sky.
My reading of Misyon has helped me tremendously in my journey of faith. I have learned to remove the excess baggage, like material possessions, and choose the truly important ones, like love. Since stumbling on a new-found friend, I can say that I have done my best following His fold. You will know how I feel if you similarly have held something deep in your heart. Loyalty is the ticket. The lessons that I have learned from subscribing to what you preach will always stay in my heart, wherever I tread.
It is hard to tell what makes us stop in our careless wandering of the earth’s tracks and savor the freshness of its wonders. Sometimes it could just take a special magazine to renew our view of the world and instill courage to break through boundaries and find a difference. While I can wait until the winter of my life in search of its pleasant surprises, there is no doubt I would have waited too long, had it not been for Misyon. More power!
Yours with gratitude,
Christopher Ong