It seems pretty timely that a few days after I write my blog about needing more vocations in Oikos, there is a Vocations Jamboree in Borongan! For those of us in the know, we can with great confidence agree that, there being no such thing as a coincidence... God is pretty awesome!!
All this week, aside from my trip to the south, I have been going with a few of the Oikos Sisters on trips all around Eastern Samar taking vocations flyers to schools and churches. We've traveled in what they call a Vocations Caravan. Religious from all over the Philippines are welcome to Borongan by Bishop Crispin to spread the word about vocations in general and their own orders in particular. I've made about 30 new sister and priest friends this week! And far from being competitive, this was a week of bonding among the religious... really beautiful to see!! I even got to speak at one of the schools... not about Oikos, really, just that I am visiting Oikos as a missionary and told a little of my story. I encouraged the young adults to really seriously take a look at the religious/missionary life. I told them what joy it has brought me (missionary work) but that I am just a little sorry I didn't seriously consider this option when I was younger.
So, the week culminated in an all night Vocations Jamboree called Wake Up the World. There were over 1,000 teenagers and young adults there... which was awesome! It started out with lots of loud Christian rock songs, with motivational and high energy dance performances peppered in between. The best were the ones done by the Oikos scholars!! Oikos scholars are college students being sponsored through Oikos by generous people all over the world. A year of college for these students is around $1,500.00/yr, USD. You may be thinking how great and cheap that is, but for the poor here in Borongan, it might as well be a trillion dollars. I believe there are 25 scholars in the Oikos community right now. They are the most respectful, grateful teenagers I ever met!! (not counting my nieces and nephews, of course!!)
Anyways, Voc Jam 2015 was pretty cool! I was on the holy hour team, so I helped guide the prayers and songs. The kids were broken into three groups, there being like 350 kids in each group and they alternated going to three stations. One was the orientation station where the kids were introduced to each order of religious and had time to meet with them, sort of in speed-dating style! Another was the booth station. Each order had its own booth and the participants could go up to each group and get information, prayer cards and leave their contact information if they were interested in learning more. And then there was the holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. So, each team had to go through the whole process 3 times, meaning I had 3 holy hours last night, which was pretty cool. The kids were receptive and responsive, which at 3am is pretty impressive! The whole thing kicked off at 4pm and lasted until 3:30am with mass at the Cathedral with the Bishop and about 16 priests... way cool! And I made it up the whole night!! Woot woot!!
The one thing I don't think I will ever forget is walking from St. Mary's College, where Voc Jam was held, to the Cathedral at 3:30 in the morning. Try to imagine about 1,500 people walking tiredly down the vacant streets of Borongan, praying the rosary (actually droning it out at that point), stumbling a little, with blurry eyes, shuffling our feet for about a 3/4 mile walk. All I could think is that we looked like a village of zombies shuffling down the early morning streets! There were a few tricycles out at that time, hoping for early fares... I can just imagine what they thought!! Then what pops into my tired head is that we are zombies for Christ!! Oh my, I thought that was ridiculously funny at that hour and was trying to control my laughter, but wasn't entirely successful. Zombies for Christ... Yikes! Could be a good idea for a Christian action flick... except for the small problem of Christians not believing in the undead. Oh yeah... might not work. ;)
By the way, if anyone is interested in supporting a young adult from Borongan for a college education, you can visit the Oikos website at www.poorhouseholdofgod.org. Good night!! xoxo
