I'll be home(less) for Christmas

Like many of you, I have spent the past few days gathering old clothes and sending it to some group that would deliver them to the victims of tropical storm Sendong. Just like you, I felt that sending used stuff seemed shallow compared to the devastation that we see everyday in print media and television. So I felt that the next best step would be to send cash. But just like many of you, I had my doubts and fears, wondering if the money will really reach the victims or will be spent wisely.

The best thing to do would be to go to Cagayan de Oro or to Iligan and volunteer my services. Again just like you, that did not seem wise considering Christmas is just around the corner and I would really want to be around when my dear daughter opens her “Big” Christmas present.

To be away in a disaster area is not appealing considering I would have to be away from my Mom and the rest of the family for the Noche Buena. Yes Christmas traditions make it difficult to be away from family reunions, the Christmas service and the opening of Christmas gifts.

I have been wanting to go to the disaster area and lend a hand or be of help. But it is not an easy thing to do. I shudder at the thought of seeing and smelling corpses; my throat runs dry at the prospect of listening to stories of loss.

The last thing we want to be is out of place or lost. I have no “live” contacts on the ground, just a few past acquaintances and they are all probably neck deep in misery or work. Like you, I wouldn’t want to find myself being useless and behaving more like a tourist than a volunteer.

But I have also learned that if it is God’s will, the first thing He does is put a desire in your heart. It begins as a thought, but little by little it grows, and like a burning flame it draws your attention until you can’t get it out of your mind.

Then He confirms it through a word from someone. Without saying anything, people start talking about the very idea you have in your mind. Then He creates the opportunity.

Yesterday, just after lunch, my friend Sister Eden from the Sisters of St. Paul asked to see me and catch up on her current activities. After the usual stuff, Sister Eden started to tell me about her plans for Christmas but seemed unsure if it was a good idea to be telling me about it.

She acted as if I would call her “crazy”, the minute I learned about her plans. So I encouraged her and asked exactly what she was planning to do for Christmas.

That’s when I learned that Sister Eden planned to leave the next day for Cagayan de Oro. Instead of enjoying Christmas with her “family” at the convent, she had decided to spend several days at a hospital run by the Sisters of St. Paul.

GOD truly works in wondrous ways.

Since Monday, I have been sending out feelers on Facebook that I was willing to join any outreach group going to Iligan or Cagayan de Oro. Although everyone was actively donating cash or kind, no one had any intentions of going, at least not until after Christmas. Suddenly here was an open and enthusiastic invitation from someone I have worked with regularly.

An hour later I learned from Marc Soong and Robbie Consunji that the Land Rover Club of the Philippines will follow with their own contingent of jungle tested off road vehicles bearing gifts we call relief goods.

Right after that, I learned from Charo Logarta of Globe Telecoms that she will be in Cagayan de Oro and will link us up with the entire Globe Team that has quietly been helping without any publicity since the beginning of the week.

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As of 9:25 a.m. today, Dec. 23, I hope to be on board PAL PR-183 headed for Cagayan de Oro City with my Sister Eden. This unplanned spur of the moment or divinely orchestrated trip will take us to Cagayan de Oro where we have decided to spend Christmas in an evacuation center.

Just like the victims of Sendong, we will be “homeless” and will have no loved ones by our side. But it is probably going to be the most real reminder I will ever have of what Joseph and Mary must have gone through seeking for room at the inn.

While Sister Eden plans to lend a hand at the local hospital and the evacuation site, I hope to link up with a college player of the National University Bulldogs whose home was totally washed away by the floods. Whether we help one person, one family or an entire community, what matters is that we help.

I guess in many ways, many of us are just waiting to be asked or looking for opportunity. If you’re looking to do something different and real this Christmas, come and join us. Be different and make a difference.

This Christmas, if you can’t go, be a sender. If you can’t minister, be a blessing. This Christmas find the meaning for your life by making a difference in the lives of others. I wish each and everyone of you a deeply meaningful, God centered Christmas that brings answered prayers, healing and forgiving reunions.

In return we humbly ask for your prayers for protection and over flowing compassion. May God bless you, call you and guide you to bring gifts not only to the King but also to our fellow men. 

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