This past
May, I was blessed and honored to be able to travel to South Korea with the
Oikos Sisters to have an immersion/retreat with a Catholic congregation called
Kkottongnae through the generosity and support of the Diocese of Borongan. There we attended the “Love in Action” school
that taught the importance of loving and caring for everyone, especially those
who could never repay the generosity shown them, namely the poor, disabled and
elderly. We participated in a festival
in honor of the poor and homeless of Seoul called the Pumba Festival. The Holy Spirit struck straight to the hearts
of the Oikos Sisters and, almost immediately upon returning home, they began
planning their own festival for the poorest of the poor here in Borongan, a
barrio fiesta called Adlaw Han Mga Kablas.
The Oikos Sisters
were founded out of a need they saw to help the poor. In 2018 they will celebrate their 20th
anniversary! Since their inception, they
have been caring for the poor in countless ways. What we participated in with Kkottongnae was
a celebration of and for the poor people.
A festival where they can laugh and dance and sing and eat their fill…a
day of joy for them. That is the spark
that ignited within the Oikos Sisters and fueled our Adlaw Han Mga Kablas
fiesta.
A few weeks before the event took
place, the Oikos Mission was in high gear preparing for our fiesta. The Oikos Sisters called upon their
co-workers to assemble gift packages for each adult, child and family who would
come, to build “houses” where the food would be served and to help on the
fiesta day. They also requested help
from the Borongan community for donations of food and drinks for the poor. Invitations
were made and given to poor families and Oikos scholars together with Caritas
and Diocesan scholars helped to decorate our venue, the Don Bosco Youth
Center. They also helped to pack up the
gifts and were an enormous help the day of the event.
On Saturday, September 30th,
our Adlaw Han Mga Kablas, the sun was shining outside and Christ the Son,
through the grace of the Holy Spirit, was beaming through the faces of each Sister and volunteer . It was an early day
for all of us, and yet we were all blessed with energy and joyful spirits
throughout the entire day. We were
expecting around 250 fiesta guests, but the count nearly tripled as more than
600 people came!! We were astounded and
worked quickly to make more gift and rice packs for our guests as they were
singing, dancing and having such a fun time thanks to our talented MC’s and
house band. But God, our Abba Father,
shed His light and
His miraculous mercy on us as each child who came received a party bag and each
adult received a grocery pack with rice. We had just enough! And the food? It was like being on the mountainside near
the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago…not only did we have enough food to feed
everyone, but there was more leftover, even after all of the volunteers ate
after the event!! We were all praising
God for His kindness to us!!
We were so blessed with the presence
of Father Roneil Canillas, Father Roberto Picardal and Most Reverend Bishop
Crispin Varquez who celebrated a beautiful mass for us. We were aided by many of the mothers whose
children are sponsored through the Oikos Sisters, the CRLJ Charismatic
Community, Sister Bing of the Living the Gospel Sisters and many past and
present sponsored scholars. Truly, each
person was a gift to us and not only helped to make the day run smoothly, but
made it fun too!
One of the high points for me was
when everyone gathered in a circle and sang “Hawak Kamay” together, which means holding hands. Being a foreigner, I was unfamiliar with this
song, however, with a friend’s help, I learned its sweet meaning…You are never
alone, no matter what happens. Not only
can you look to God in Heaven, but you can always depend on me to be there for
you, to hold your hand, to help you in this uncertain world. You are never alone. As the words were translated to me and I
looked around at all of the people standing and holding hands, singing with
everything they had in them, it really moved me. To me, that is what Oikos is all about…being
there for anyone who God sends their way, bringing God’s love to the poor and
giving others the opportunity to do the same.
It seems that for the Oikos Sisters,
and for me, it was the very fruitful trip to Kkottongnae in South Korea that
led to what we hope will be the first annual Adlaw Han Mga Kablas!! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!
