The Mission That Started It All
Perhaps, those who’ve known me as a missionary thought that I’ve always had in me the “heart to serve.” But no! I became one out of curiosity. Yes, I am a planner, and I have larger-than-life dreams. Being a missionary isn’t a priority. Like all the other good things I have in life, the call to serve was a God-given gift.
I was invited to join Pure Heart Philippines, the lay missionary organization that I’m affiliated with now, by a good friend and workmate of mine, Allan. But seeing that the name of the group implies purity of heart, I thought that I don’t deserve to serve and I’d never qualify as a server. So, after 3 years and three “No’s” to his invitation to join PH, Allan invited me to PhiloBrew instead in March 2018. And by the grace of God, I said yes.
Since that day, I have met several PH servers. And it just happened that one day, I came across one of their FB posts about an upcoming Missionary Formation Weekend.
God’s Birthday Surprise: A Mock Mission That Turned Out Real
I joined the weekend formation without thinking too much that it falls on my birthday. I thought that my 28th birthday would be as uneventful as the other previous ones. When I was a student, my birthday normally happened on the week of the final exams. When I was employed, it usually fell a day before payday. Growing up, I’m really used to treating my birthday as just any kind of day. But as it turned out, on my 28th birthday, God prepared a surprise for me.
During the formation workshops, we were assigned to plan for a mock mission that would include talks, praise and worship, testimonies, and games. I was assigned to give a testimony. I thought it was just on paper, but on that Sunday (14 October 2018), we were told that we were going to carry out our mission plan for Chiara Luce, an apostolate of the Apostolic Sisters of St. John.
And that, my friends, was my first mission. I didn’t plan to actually serve. I didn’t prepare for its reality. And I dare to believe that God planned it for me.
A Welcome Surprise
I thought I would be alone on my birthday. But God gave me a community and awesome people to grow, serve, and love – students, missionaries, and religious people.
Yes, I treasure my parents and siblings. But that formation weekend opened my eyes to the bigger family that I am meant to serve.
