Chapel Visits, Holy Week, and The Resurrection of The Most Holy

     WOW!!! What an amazing two weeks since my last blog post! So much has happened that I couldn't keep up. Stacie and I were extremely busy putting together our testimonies and a Bible sharing for the Chapel Visits as well as starting up the food distribution program for those in need during the first week. After that was over, Holy Week was upon us. There was little time to catch our breath as we prepared to move in to our permanent residence on Alvarez Street. We were also asked to hold a retreat for the Altar Servers of Holy Rosary Parish on Holy Thursday. The rest of the time was filled with mile-long processions through town for the Way of the Cross. There was a joyous vibe as many gathered for the prayers. At one time I thought to myself, “ YES! At every hour of every day, there IS a Mass being said all over the world!” How wonderful it is to be in the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC Church! While most of my readers were in the USA sleeping, we were celebrating the Resurrection of Our Lord side by side with our brothers and sisters in the Philippines! Now, as I am typing this up through sleepy eyes, the Mass is being celebrated in America. “Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise. All life, all holiness comes from you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name.--Eucharistic Prayer in the Holy Mass

     So, in the first week, we were invited to speak at 5 chapels throughout town. It didn't seem so bad at first but after laying our hands on almost everyone to pray over them, it was starting to get hard on the kids and they soon got tired. It was an awesome privilege, however, to share how God was working in our lives as a family to those whose first language is Visaya. The people understand English but we could not tell by their expressions. With the help of our friend, Lilia, we were able to get the message out. We also felt way better after learning that each of the chapels wanted, no, expected us to come back next month! God is good :)

     I became more appreciative of the Gospel of Mathew after these visits. We used the story of the rich, young man (Matthew 13: 1-16) to explain how God was calling us to missions. Matthew has always impressed me as has Peter and Andrew and their call to follow Jesus. Mostly, though, is how Matthew was sitting at his money table and following immediately after Jesus' command. This wasn't just a fishnet or a boat that he was leaving behind. He left his old ways behind, too. Tax collectors were not honest men that charged only what was due. I know what Matthew heard when Jesus said, “Follow me.” Read my post titled “My Dream Job”.

     Palm Sunday came as we finished our fifth chapel visit. We got home exhausted but prepared to repack everything and move in to our new home by Wednesday. Then, we received a call from Father Joe asking us to put together a retreat for the altar servers...on Thursday! Of course, we said “YES!” because we had been praying so hard for doors to open for our ministry. Next time we will pray for the exact size of door to open because while we were thinking about a lil, tiny crease and God opened a floodgate instead!

     Wednesday came and we moved everything to the new home which still needed some cleaning before the blessing. When I arrived with the final load, I asked Richard if I could help him wax the floor. Now I know why he was grinning as if to say, “Yes, if you want to.” There was red dye wax everywhere. At one time it looked like I had lipstick on and nobody told me until I passed a broken glass that was used as a mirror. Ah, Humility:)

     At the very early hours of Holy Thursday, the girls and I walked into town to shop for our breakfast and items for the retreat. Stacie was up until the wee hours the night before preparing for her talk as this is the only “free” time she gets from Juju. Not me. I need my beauty sleep, but since I am not allowed to sleep for 20 hours, now you know why I look the way I do:) Anyways, we got everything we needed and got ready to host our guests by 8AM. We titled the retreat “Called to Serve: A Holy Thursday Reflection”. We again read from Matthew, talked about FMC's 5-point Catechism, shared a personal testimony, had an in-depth study of the Mass, sang praise and worship songs, re-enacted the teaching of Jesus' washing of the apostles feet, and concluded with a candlelight ceremony as we encouraged the students to let their light shine for Jesus. It was an all-around great time reflecting with the youth of Sagay. We are praying that we can do more with them this summer.

     Good Friday was also a special day that we will always remember. Many of the chapels displayed some of their handiwork in a procession through town during the Way of the Cross with the statues and floral decorations. Before the walk, I was handed a piece of paper and asked to read the 8th Station (Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem) except that the entire sheet was in Visaya. I had to ask somebody what number I was reading and quickly ran to the front of the group. Earlier in the week, I read the 6th Station in the Church. I prayed that I could see a Tongue of Fire hovering above my head as in ACTS but instead I saw many Filipino eyes looking to see who in the world hijacked the microphone from Father Joe's hands:) After I was done, I prayed that I didn't sound too much like nails on a chalkboard. I felt way better that night when Fr. Joe talked to us about it. He said that when he saw me walking up to recite the prayer he thought to himself, “Oh, boy! This is going to be a massacre.” To his surprise, everything sounded fine and that I even had the accent for it! Thank God for the Holy Spirit, our Helper!

     We went to the Easter Vigil Mass at sundown which is 6pm here. All of the lights were turned off inside of the church. The wait in the darkness was so still and ,just when it seemed like it was too long, the candle procession began and the church was alive again. The Light of the world came back on the 3rd day just as He promised! Alleluia alleluia!!! This was our first vigil Mass but definitely not our last. What an awesome holy day this is! “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

     So, there it is. This was just a brief description of what was experienced since the last time you read my blog. There was so much more but I don't have time to write it all down. You will have to wait until we see you again so that we can talk about it face to face. We pray that you are well and that your prayer intentions have been heard and answered. Thank you for your prayers for us and know that we are happy to be serving the Lord and eager to see what happens next.

Birthday Week

      With so much happening and not being able to keep up with the blog as often as I would like, I will be changing it up a little. I will be reporting a little bit more of the weekly events of our mission life. This past week was very busy with finalizing a good schedule, setting up our first home visit, and birthdays to finish the week.

      The beginning of the week was awesome as far as feeling like we are starting to “settle in”. Our family sat down and put together a schedule that already seems to be a solid one. Arriving here in March, we were having a hard time knowing what to do besides being ready for a call from Fr. Joe at any minute to say “I'm going to pick you up so that I can introduce you to (_such_and_such) group”. There was no way to know when this would be over and get back to a routine similar to the one at Big Woods. We went through page after page of re-doing schedule after schedule. At least it made for a nice starter for the burn pile of leaves that we have every day (and night).

      Our little rosary group that we started with the neighborhood children was one thing we were glad to say that stayed consistent. We also have seen an increase of the size of those attending increase little by little. Maybe this is because of the summer starting and school ending. Either way, it is good to see that children, even some as young as 5 years old, are skipping their “hang-out” time on the street and spending it with us and Our Lady. These kids literally play on the street at night because most of the homes here do not have a living room. Fr. Joe calls the main road their “sala”, also Spanish for living room, because they gather wherever there is a streetlight to play. Makes me think of our living room back home that we took for granted.

      One little surprise that happened last week was a special meeting called to talk about the use of bad language around our yard. We don't know for sure if it was cuss words that were being said or not-so-nice words that we could do without. Stacie and I overheard our kids saying that “so and so said this is a bad word”. Regardless, we thought we'd better take immediate action before it got worse. Of course, I, being the authority figure, had to tell them and I did not feel good about it. After a short prayer, I quickly felt like it was the right thing to do. To my surprise, they were all very respectful and apologized for any wrong done. I was glad that it was over but even more glad that everyone was on the same page.

      The downside of the week was the news that the mayor of Sagay had passed away the week before and plans were being made for his funeral on Thursday. Fr. Joe knew him well and our family had been with him a few times to pray at his bedside before he died. Father talked highly of him and what he had done for this town. It was also a reminder to me that our time here on Earth is unknown. We pray for the repose of the soul of the Mayor.

      We paid the mayor's daughter, who is also a registered nurse, a visit for Stacie's rash on her leg. It was finally determined that it was an allergic reaction and Stacie was given a cream to rub on it. She was also told to avoid fish, eggs, and wheat. Not so easy to do here. Nevertheless, all is well and it is almost completely gone.

      This week also was a major step for the seniors of Holy Rosary High. The school celebrated its 60th Commencement Exercises with about 40 graduates. Don't let the small number fool you. With a mass and other festivities, the class of 2011 held a 5 hour ceremony! Maddie and Meredith were excited when a few of the schoolgirls came the day before to ask them if they would perform in a dance before the Mass. With only one day of practice, the girls represented FMC well as they were placed at the very front of the pack! Not the first choices of spots on stage for ANY Alvarez but still an honor and a joy to see our little girls do a ballet type dance for us on Stacie's birthday.

      Stacie celebrated her 35th, er, I mean, her thirtysomething birthday on Friday. The parishioners got together and sang the Filipino version of Las Mananitas on our porch. Fr. Joe called me the night before and said, ”Is it ok if we do this for her? Ok, good, we'll be over there before the Stations of the Cross.” Click. Uhhhh....Stations is every Friday of Lent at 430....AM! Yes, they showed up at 345am all dressed up and with very clear voices sang Happy Birthday and other songs beautifully. Then, they came right in and offered us “suman” which is a sweet treat made of sticky rice and magically wrapped in banana leaves. It would take me years just to know HOW they are wrapped so tightly and perfectly.

      So, guess what happened two days later on my birthday? Yup, but this time we got to sleep in 30 minutes and I was sung to at 415AM since first Mass wasn't until 630AM. Of course, everyone still performed awesomely while I tried to squeeze out a smile and an audible “Salamat!” thanking them for their visit. This time they brought a sweet rice treat flavored with chocolate and in the shape of a rice cake. I have forgotten the name of it but I will call it “Choco-flavored rice cake”. The Bisayan name is WAYYY shorter than that! Oh and the kids were only able to use their sense of taste at both times. All other functions caught up about 2hrs later :)

      Another praise report has to do with what we have been praying for since we arrived. We have been praying for ways to get more involved in the town with home visits. Sometimes when one prays to God for a door to open, he'd better watch out. God might open a flood gate! “You asked for it!” is one of Fr. Joe's most memorable quotes. Already lined up is a regular Saturday home visit with a widow named Ring-Ring, preparing and taking lunch to the volunteer workers at our new home, and participating in a new food distribution program for the poor. Programs of this kind are rare here and I was asked to give any advice that I could share with the chapel leaders of the community. Well, I am a rookie missionary and I, too, have little experience in this sort of thing. However, thanks to the short-term trip that we took to Mexico in November 2010, I was able to share how home visits were handled there. With some minor adjustments, Fr. Joe accepted to begin immediately on the project—and I mean immediately! Right after the meeting with the chapel leaders, Maddie and Meredith helped me stuff sacks of noodles for the 50+ families that we will pray with and visit---this week! Already this week is off with a bang! Salamat sa Dios!

      Living on this island for a month now, I still cannot get over how beautiful it is. The palm trees, coconuts, volcanoes, waterfalls, coconuts, the ocean, and even more coconuts were all created with one spoken word! After a long day of Mass, meetings, and noodle sorting, I took a dip in God's swimming pool with the boys. Thank you, God! A perfect birthday gift on a perfect Sun-day.

John 4:34 “Jesus said to them,”My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.”