Hope for a weary world….
Three years ago this month, this child from my parents homeland stole my heart.
Her family lived in the nipa huts of my family’s ancestry
Homes made of woven palm leaves and bamboo poles suspended above the ground
These homes are meant to protect from flooding when the rains come.
These huts could not survive the three typhoons that slammed into the Philippine islands last month. Three typhoons. The virus. Lives devastated.
Decades ago my family was impacted by another devastation.
79 years ago this week
a silent enemy crossed the dark waters of the Pacific Ocean.
catching an island by surprise
wreaking havoc on its beaches.
Its surprise destruction changed history
and set off a world calamity--
The Second World War.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
caught the world by surprise
U.S. soldiers by surprise.
And 5000 miles away near Manila
my father and his surrounding troops were caught by surprise.
My father was a soldier in the Philippine Scouts.
That day changed his destiny.
A boy from the province was thrown into the frontlines of war
fighting for a country, and a world outside the borders of his barrio.
He endured disease, hunger, famine
Witnessed death and cruelty as a prisoner of war in the Bataan Death March.
All the while clinging to hope, that someday he would return home
“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.”
C.S. Lewis
My father fought for a country he had never seen.
A land he longed for.
His hope amidst death, carnage, and destruction
was the hope of a land of promise.
With faith and perseverance
my father fought through the horrors of war.
Enduring the worst for the possibility of giving life to others.
After the war he became a citizen of the United States of America.
That generation of brave men who fought before us
fought face to face.
To preserve all that they loved….
Faith.
Family.
Country.
On the Philippine Islands 61 years ago, this week,
my parents, meeting and courting during the brief weeks my father returned to his homeland on leave as a soldier in the US Army, stood on the steps of a justice in Manila and became man and wife.
As a couple they dreamed of a better life in America
the land of big cars and big houses and big refrigerators.
They hoped to raise a family in this land of promise.
To educate their children, even send them to college.
Every choice, every step they took as a couple
was to provide their family with a better life
Their dreams became reality.
Their children went to college.
Built homes. Built families
who continue to be dreamers and givers.
Three years ago, in December 2017, our family of dreamers and doers and givers
journeyed to the homeland of their parents and grandparents. Three generations. Fifty family members stepped foot on Philippine soil,
some for the very first time.
They made the journey from all corners of America to help those in need: the teachers, doctors, dentists, administrators, business owners of our parents’ families, fifty of us help the underserved Ati People, the outcast indigenous people of the Philippines, in a free medical and dental clinic.
Today we have opportunity to help once more the people of our homeland.
The ones not only experiencing the loss and devastation of COVID, but also the loss and devastation of multiple hits by three typhoons.
There are silent enemies around us
Ones that seek to destroy the hope and resilience of our people
The resilience my parents demonstrated in all areas of their lives
Providing shelter
Providing opportunity
Providing hope for those in need.
On December 9, 1959, my parents joined together in a marriage that would provide a foundation for hope and renewal in the US not only for their family but for many others.
Join us as we continue their legacy of reaching out to others
Meeting the needs of others in a spirit of love and sacrifice
To help the Ati people survive not only the effects of COVID but also the flooding of their makeshift homes.
Global Changers Outreach continues to support the Ati Village in Boracay that our family ministered to in 2017. With your help, we can give aid to these children and their families devastated by the virus and the typhoon.
We fight an unseen enemy in these times.
An invisible virus.
A spiritual enemy.
One we cannot see.
But desires to destroy us.
We who long for eternity will stand firm on the hope of Christ.
Stand firm on His promises
to bring all of us to a better land.
A better place.
A land of hope.
My mother’s favorite Christmas song was O Holy Night. I still pause each time I hear these words:
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
When yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.
Please give a thread of hope to these people already weary, caught in this disaster.
Click here to kamayproject.org for more information how to help.
