EVANGELIZATION - A Search and Rescue Mission For Christ

Evangelization must not only be a drive to gain more adherents to the faith and to the community; rather evangelization must be defined as a collective effort driven by impassioned witnesses of Christ in a search and rescue of as many men as possible.

This is the overall objective of this year’s Servants of the Lord International Conference held in Baybay, Leyte last 27th to 29th March 2009.

Thus, the organizers of the conference made it clear to one and all that in order for this objective to be achieved, everyone have to work in unison; not merely waiting or being passive but to be more alert and pro-active – a real search and rescue operation of the lost. For the lost will not exert any effort to find the right path, rather it must be the duty of every men of God to find them and secure their spiritual safety.

The main reason why such an order for all SOLD members is being issued is due to what is happening in our world today. According to SOLD International Coordinator Manny Garcia morality and the definition of what is right and what is wrong are being subjected to a relentless attack. Even the community is not spared: there are members who have lain low from attending the community’s services due to emotional issues; pressures from work and family; and most of all because of the lures of a hedonistic world.

Since men are inclined for more actions than mere talks, the highlight of the conference is in the team building activities conducted on the whole of Saturday. The almost five hundred delegates were divided into twenty teams regardless of their provincial or sectoral affiliations or of age or of social status.

In the morning, the teams were tasked to finish five missions in the shortest time possible: raft relay, obstacle course, Takeshi style water bomb, River treasure and an analytical and deductive mental game called Who owns the Zebra. Since these activities require team effort and building their own stratagems, it provided opportunities to build close relationship and camaraderie among each member of the team they belonged to.

When they finish each activity satisfactorily they were able to earn points that entitled them to a sumptuous lunch they themselves cooked complete with all the necessary ingredients. Each of them working as a team, everyone was able to finish all the task assigned. With all the teams having a cook-out along the beach, it was indeed a scene to behold.

“The team building activity just proves that as men of CFC we can work together regardless of age, province, dialect or ministry we serve in, in the end it is still evangelization and our own personal conversion that counts. That no one is too young or too old to serve God as long as we are one in spirit”, said Joemar Salumbides, the head of event.

Not only SOLD members attended the conference, there are also CFC male members serving in other ministries that were present. In fact three members of Tarlac’s Provincial Councils were so engrossed and overjoyed in their participation that they offered their province to be the next host of the SOLD conference. Provincial Council members of three other provinces from Visayas and Mindanao also participated.

During the afternoon, two simultaneous workshops were conducted. One workshop moderated by Willy Padida, is designed to help the delegates how to conduct a proper Christian Life Program for every situation – whether a large one composed of twenty or more participants or even a small one that only has a few expected candidates. Every opportunity must be seized in order to bring in as many men as possible to the flock.

The delegates themselves admitted that it is the individual’s lack of enthusiasm in organizing a CLP and timidity in inviting others that is the main hindrance to their evangelization efforts.

In another workshop moderated by Jun Dujunco, writing and developing their Pastoral Formation (PFO) materials was dealt with. Several topics were given as an example - mostly dealing with the development of their manly characters as being fathers, family providers and their leadership potentials.

The light ceremony during the evening session was a solemn rite initiating every delegate to become real soldiers of the light. Robert Ardiente led everyone in deep contemplation on how to shine through despite their pains, sufferings and insufficiency.

“The overall objective of the ministry is to promote it to the whole [CFC] community as a ministry for men that would go across all ministries. It would not be age defined but would be able to cater to the needs of all men in the community. There is no single track or talk in CFC that addresses the needs of men and SOLD aims to fill in this niche. We also hope that the top leadership in CFC will see this need and help the SOLD ministry to get off the ground in their [respective] areas”, Manny Garcia said.

The message of the Servants of the Lord is loud and clear; the ministry has evolved into an integral part of the whole CFC community. Its ways and means in developing a true man of God must be adopted by all CFC men – from the members up to its top leaders.

Indeed, the real needs of today are men of good and exemplary characters.

God, Religion and Poverty

Recently, I chanced upon a discussion in the internet regarding why there’s so much poverty in the Philippines and other Christian countries. The discussion started with this story of a conversation with a wealthy foreigner visiting the country and a pastor.

The visitor is telling him how he had come to love the country due to its beautiful people and breathtaking sceneries. Then continued with his observation that Filipinos are a very religious people. Bible verses could be seen almost everywhere; from the mud flaps of tricycles and jeepneys to anywhere a person is able to express his religiosity. However, in all the places he has visited, he also observed that in spite of the people’s profound belief and faith in their religion, still, there is so much poverty in the country.

The question was then posed: Why so much God and poverty in our country?

The pastor then laments that in some “godless” countries like China and Vietnam (both are Communist or Socialist countries), they were able to reduce their poverty rate and were currently getting the lion’s share of available worldwide investments. It is a well–known fact that religion is being suppressed in both countries. In China, any citizen can only practice those religions which are officially sanctioned by the state. Vietnam has just recently been recovering from its war for independence and unification. They have fought a hard and long war that lasted for more than twenty years. Its Communist government has also suppressed the people’s freedom of worship.

While some Christian countries like the Philippines and in some Latin and Central American countries where religiosity is prevalent continue to grapple with poverty. There being not enough investments – local or foreign – to drive their economies forward.

Statistics show that from 37% to 45% of the Philippine population live below the poverty line. With scarce opportunities for jobs, a significant number of the labor force is looking beyond its shores for gainful employment. Majority of these workers are married individuals who are forced to sacrifice familial relationships in the hope of gaining better living conditions for their families.

Are the achievements of these two Communist and “godless” countries a result of luck or of intervention by the gods?

Both China and Vietnam adopted the Socialist form of government after waging a bitter and deadly civil war. Both countries suffered from graft and corruption, from hunger and lack of economic activities as what the Christian countries are also experiencing. Both countries have also recently discovered that Communism or Socialism is just an illusion.

The difference is both China and Vietnam, after realizing their mistakes, undertook major social and economic reforms for the sake of their people’s welfare. While the Philippines, in spite of two peaceful revolutions, have not or could not implement any social or economic reforms needed to alleviate its poverty situation.

However, despite these adversities and deficiencies, Filipinos are still ranked as one of the happiest people in the world. Therefore, I could surmise that religion does have an influence on poverty, but on a positive note. The Filipinos’ belief and faith in their God and religion lessen the burden they have to face daily in their lives. It is the only hope that they can hold on to in their unpleasant world. It is the only source of his strength to have the power to choose his own path and curve his own destiny. Aside from this belief there is no one else that they can turn to.

Ever since the advent of man and his society, poverty has already been one of its main concerns. Social stratification evolved at the same time that humans learned how to live together as a community. Establishing its civilization, the urbanization of society also came into development due to the significant changes in the way people interacted among themselves. From a simple village organization to a larger, more complex urbanized social structure brought about by their new found needs for trade, agriculture and warfare. People are being uprooted from their homes and lands either from conquests or of their need to find a better means of livelihood. Oftentimes they could only found them in the cities where there are more economic activities. With these new development there came into being another stratum in its social hierarchy, the lowest echelon of society – the landless, the laborers, the slaves - the people we now call the poor.

As civilization progresses, this social stratification rose among nations around the globe as well. Wealthy and powerful nations use cheap labor and resources of less powerful nations for their own interests in building their empires or enlarging their domains. This dynamic continues up to the age of colonialism from the 15^th up to the early 19^th centuries.

History is replete with moral codes on social justice. The earliest known written one is that of the Babylonians which have their Code of Hammurabi, the Confucian teachings of the Chinese, the Talmudic Laws of the Jews, and the Bible of the Christians. In spite of these moral codes and teachings, sadly, the call for everyone to relate to the poor with compassion remain unheeded. Mistreatment of the poor and social injustice is ubiquitously practiced.

Many times man has tried to implement social justice. The bible tells us of how the early Christians lived communally that no one among them were in need. During the times of the prophets, God has continually reminded His people to live according to what should be morally correct. The early fathers of the Church have continuously preached to be compassionate with the poor. And some of them even practiced their vow of poverty. In modern times, the Industrial Revolution that began in England produced what was later became the model of the modern labor codes to protect women and children from exploitation. Abraham Lincoln waged one of the bloodiest civil war against his countrymen to end slavery in deference to America’s declaration of human rights. All of these are in vain. Social injustice is still prevalent. Poverty is still the scourge of mankind as it has always been.

While it is very true that Christianity is the best legacy of Spain to the Philippines, it is the tyranny of some of its adherents that contributes to the persecution of the majority of the population. Their avarice is unquenchable.

On the other end of the spectrum are those that are simply apathetic to the conditions of their countrymen. Here lies the majority of the populace. Those who are simply contented just to earn their upkeeps to go on with their ordinary lives.

Unless man will learn all the lessons of history that was played down from one era to another era; unless man will heed the moral teachings handed from one generation to the next generation, the tyranny and the apathy of man shall always be with us. The poor among us will still be persecuted and oppressed as they have been for thousands of years.

Sex and Marriage

We know that sexual intimacy before marriage is immoral. However, to some the statement will be debatable, and to some it is still the rule.

But do we really know the reason why? Do we believe it is immoral because we just inherited the idea that it is wrongful to have pre-marital or extra-marital sex through our parents or because this is what was said by our priest or pastor, or this is the custom we have grown up with?

However, some statistics and studies suggest otherwise. There are now more couples living together without going into a more lasting bond that is marriage compared to that of twenty or more years ago. The reasons may be varied. Here in the Philippines, one of the reasons may be economic, which is a very flimsy reason. A simple wedding ceremony can suffice if the couple will. Also, there are not a few instances wherein the woman is already in the second, third or more months of her pregnancy at the time of her wedding day. I have also often heard that marriage is just a piece of paper signed by the man and woman with the agreement to live together as a family. Today, we are also hearing of same-sex marriages.

Time has indeed changed, some of what we conceived before as immoral is becoming the norm today - all in the guise of liberalism, progress, or practicality.

Consider the facts that there are more children raised by a single parent than it was twenty or more years ago. Sadly, unknown to many this situation have an effect on children. It is said that evidences suggest that children raised by a two parent household perform better than those of single parent household. Studies also shows high probability that a child raised in a single parent household may end up being pregnant during their teens or of having a failed marriage.

This subject matter came to me one day as I was reading my daily devotional book, Word Among Us. And I chance upon this article by Fr. Alfredo Hernandez entitled Why Wait? I kept thinking hard whether I would write something about this subject. I do not claim to be an expert on this. However, I came to the conclusion that I have to share this with all of you as I find this subject pertinent to all, a very good reason why sexual intimacy have to wait for marriage.

Fr. Hernandez defined four characteristics of a Christian Marriage:

1. It is forever: The permanence of the couple’s love for each other represents Christ’s eternal commitment to us. Christian marriage must last forever. It should withstand the tests of times. The longer each one clings on to the other, the sweeter the relationship becomes.

2. It is faithful: The couple’s mutual faithfulness witnesses to the love of Christ, who will never abandon his people. For better or for worse... For richer or poorer... In sickness and in health... This is the vow each of them made at the front of the altar of God- this is what makes it sacred. It is not just a matter of signing a contract of agreement between two people.

3. It is fruitful: This aspect of Christ’s love is expressed by the couple’s willingness to bring forth new life. Sexual intimacy is the crown of the couple’s relationship. It has a purpose other than being a self satisfying action. Sexual intimacy is not an act just for the satisfaction of one’s biological impulses; rather it is an act with a much deeper purpose done with love. Love will bear the fruition of the act. Both has to be ready to face the sacrifices rearing a child entails.

4. It is self-giving: Christ sacrificed himself totally for the church; similarly, husband and wife commit themselves to withhold nothing from one another.
Fidelity to each other must be held sacred. Each one now has to live for each other and to their offspring. A new chapter in their lives is now opened wherein two hearts have become as one – same vision, same mission, same purpose.

Even at the very start of the relationship, the couple has to learn how to give one’s self for the other. And I can assure you that it will entail a lot of sacrifices for each one. Sacrifices which will mean the success of the union.