| This Mother’s
Day I was touched when Recto, one of my students, gave me a beautiful
gift. Recto comes from one of the mountain tribes and is the only
person in his tribe ever to have gone to college and seminary.
He has a deep love of the earth and holds all life in wondrous
awe. A month ago we had talked about the possibility of planting
flowers around the yard to beautify it. But we had yet to realize
this dream. At 7:00 a.m. on Mother’s Day I returned from
shopping at the market. There, in the yard, I saw that Recto collected
the flowers on his own and planted the flowers in the very spot
I had envisioned. I left for the market at 5:15 a.m., so he must
have come shortly thereafter with the flowers in hand to plant
them for me as a surprise. Small kindnesses make such a great
difference.
In one of my classes I asked my students to write on courage.
I was hoping to be able to understand my students better so that
I could teach to fit their needs. After reading their stories
I was humbled by their courage and their determination.
Here are two experiences that are typical of my students. The
Protestant churches in the Philippines are in great need of pastors.
Most churches are in poor areas where the people can barely support
themselves, let alone a pastor in a church. Yoked parishes are
common, yet as you read from Joel’s story, these churches
often decline. Most ministers pastor their “own” church
as well as an outreach mission church.
“Courage,” Joel wrote in a paper for my class, “is
the strength, directness, and determination of the soul in face
of danger. This might weaken the soul and its purpose, but God
strengthens God’s servants and encourages them.”
Courage has been the guiding factor in Joel’s life. Life
in the rural Philippines is heartbreaking and Joel’s family’s
life as farmers was no exception. The small farm that his family
tilled could not support the family. Both his parents had to hire
themselves out as day laborers to their more prosperous neighbors
to make ends meet. The dilapidated house in which they lived leaked
continuously and shook whenever anyone walked in it. During the
typhoons Joel and his family were forced to flee to the church
for safety.
The refuge they found there impacted Joel’s life in dramatic
ways. His family’s trust in God to guide and care was the
guiding force in their lives. Not only was his father a lay leader
and Sunday school teacher, but he found precious time to bring
his young child to revival services, evangelistic crusades, and
church meetings. In the spirit of enthusiastic joy Joel committed
his life to the parish ministry at the age of 12. He speaks of
this event in his life as true “conversion.”
The spirit of euphoria did not last. His father’s tragic
death soon after threatened to plunge the family into abject poverty
and too bring an end to his dream of becoming a pastor. His mother’s
strong faith in God formed the bridge that brought Joel’s
family from hopelessness and despair to courage and determination.
“Despite these tragic events,” Joel writes, “we
had in the family my mother’s strong dedication and faith
in God has sustained us to remain firm and hopeful on God. My
mother is so convinced that God will always sustain us and never
forsake us. She taught us that it is not money that matters most
in life. She taught us that it is simple living, a strong devotion
to God and a love for God’s work in the church. Throughout
these difficulties in life, I saw God’s hand at work. In
the stormy waves of life, God gave me the courage to move on.”
Painstakingly, bit by bit, the family fought for their dreams.
God’s hand was visible whereever they went. Joel took a
theological extension course offered by Union Theological Seminary.
Kindhearted strangers pledged support for Joel’s studies.
At 16 he was the youngest student in the class. Soon, the district
superintendent approached Joel and asked him to pastor a small
rural church. He was only 17. This small rural church had never
had its own pastor before. The church was languishing. The church
was dying. They had no budget, no program of activities and hardly
anyone came to church, but by God’s loving hands Joel was
able to minister and work with the people of the church. Its pitiful
condition was dramatically transformed.
“In a few years we witnessed a revival in the parishioners’
Christian life and commitment,” says Joel. “Members
were reactivated. New members were received. The parsonage was
finished. A budget and programs were made and increased. And most
of all, the congregation had more time for fellowship with each
other. Indeed, by the courage God gave me and to the church in
Santa Cruz we witnessed how God works in marvelous, surprising
and unexpected ways.”
Ruby Ann wrote of her experiences with God’s grace. She
is a student in the master’s of divinity program and will
be sent to a small, poor, rural church when she is graduated from
UTS next year. As a young high school student, Ruby Ann’s
life fell apart. Her young parents died unexpectedly from sickness.
Anger and depression stalked her. Despair haunted her day and
night. As the eldest in the family it was up to her to support
them. How could she do this and continue her studies? She yelled
at God, “How could he have taken her parents at the early
age when they had not yet enjoyed being together as a family?”
“What kind of God are you?” Finally, when she hit
rock bottom, with nowhere else to go, she turned to God and gave
her life to him.
Looking back, Ruby Ann realizes that God used ordinary people
to ease her path. She was directed by God into a world which she
never dreamed could have existed and never expected to see. She
finished her studies at a Bible school and learned there that
it is only in the Bible that life’s answers could be found,
and only in Jesus Christ that spiritual sustenance could be obtained.
There, under the inspiration of the prophet Isaiah, she learned
that she could “soar on the wings of eagles because those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”
“It is easy to be at peace when our life is calm,”
writes Ruby Ann, “but it is not easy to be peaceful when
circumstances throw us into turmoil, when the waters of life turn
against us, but when we remember that we stand firm on the rock
that is Jesus Christ, putting all our faith and trust in him,
we are at peace.”
It is through these and all my other students that I feel refreshed
and renewed in my faith. I hope you feel the same way.
In Christ,
Mary
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 189 |
