My First Hindi Lesson

First, a quick round of “Where in the World is Rebekah?”  Somewhere warm…colorful…flowing with chai and curries.  Pune, India!  To be exact, in the welcoming, homey de Al residence.  I’m spending the month of December here with Susanna and her family.  It’s uncanny how similar our families are!  We live on opposite sides of the world, but I’m pretty sure we are long-lost twins: ardent bookworms, fond of old movies and musicals, witty humor, large and somewhat chaotic gatherings with aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Being here is like being home.

Pune, home to 6,115,431 people, is the ninth largest metropolis in India

Susanna’s mom ‘Auntie Jackie’ has a ministry with some of the children of poor migrant construction workers.  In the way that only a mother can, she’s taken them under her care.  Every day she welcomes them into the apartment for some TLC: simple lessons, one-on-one attention, coloring, and a bowl of hot semolina porridge with ghee, milk, and sugar.

One of my first days in India I joined in the morning lesson.  Susanna was sitting on the floor quizzing Radah, Anita, and Sudvarna on their letters.  When I joined them little Anita took a long look at my fair skin and light eyes promptly hid behind the others.  I guess an American ‘classmate’ is an oddity!

My first Hindi lesson was as basic as you can get!  Learning what letters make what sound.  It reminded me of being back in kindergarten.  Along with the little girls I repeated “na, na, na”; “cha, cha cha”; “ga, ga, ga”; “la, la, la” while tracing the letter-shapes with my finger (न, च, ग, ल).  Then I learned how to combine these letters into a word: चल (chala, ‘let’s go’). The Hindi script still looks like a bunch of pretty squiggles to me, but I’m determined to learn the language.  It’s all phonetic, which is a plus.  And with enough time, practice, and plenty of mistakes, I’m sure I can make some headway.  Maybe I’ll soon advance to ‘First Grade’!

My worksheet

*Please pray for these kids and their families.  Some have already been diagnosed with TB and the others are in the midst of hospital visits and tests.

Typhoon Pablo (Bopha)

Yesterday, December 4, Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) hit the Philippines.  It was a category 5 storm, with winds reaching 195 mph.

I was supposed to leave early in the morning to join Susanna in India.  My trip had already been delayed once due to visa problems.  When I got to the airport all flights were cancelled.  The rain had been coming down in sheets for hours. There was no possibility of departure; I was stranded in Cagayan de Oro City.

The typhoon winds and rain were like nothing I’ve ever experienced!  After heavy rain in the morning, the air became deceptively calm.  “Maybe it’s just a false alarm,” I thought. (This shows how much a girl born and raised in the Midwest knows about typhoons!)  But by 11:30 am the rain picked up again and was joined by fierce winds.  Trees were literally being ripped apart, windows slammed open and shut, and anyone left on the streets scurried for shelter.  The entire city lost power.  The wailing sirens and clanging cathedral bells added to the chaos.  I was thankful to be securely inside the convent adjacent to the cathedral.

At around 4:00 in the afternoon I ventured out of my room to investigate.  The rain had abated a bit, but I kept hearing what I thought were gusts of wind.  When I reached the veranda, I was utterly shocked: the placid Cagayan River that flows past the cathedral had turned into an angry, swollen flood zone.  What sounded like wind to me was actually raging water!  The riverbanks and retaining walls had disappeared under the flood.  Houses were covered up to their roofs.  Standing on the veranda with some of the Cathedral staff and a few evacuees, I watched the swirling, racing river.  Giant trees, furniture (including a refrigerator!), siding, and bamboo stalks rushed by.  The air was heavy with a damp, muddy smell.

Here are some photos I took from the convent this morning.  The Cagayan River has already receded a lot.

This was the site of the catastrophic Typhoon Sendong almost a year ago.  That storm claimed over 1500 lives.  Many of the survivors are still displaced in evacuation camps and coping with the trauma of losing friends and loved ones. (You can read about my time volunteering in the camps here.) And now, another record-breaking storm.  As a result of Sendong, though, people were better prepared.  A community-wide evacuation had begun on Saturday.  Over 25,000 people in Cagayan de Oro have moved to evacuation centers.  Casualty reports are not finalized, but the storm has claimed at least 15 lives.

    

Malaybalay, where the Eckstines and Alvarezes are stationed, was also badly affected.  Mark texted me this morning with a report: Everyone is safe, but trees are down and there is no water or power.  They used the small mission SUV to help with evacuations to the Barangay Hall.  Kring Kring, Bebe, and some of the Eckstine and Alvarez girls prepared food for over 100 evacuees.  Our good friends Bebe, Helen, Joan, and Junar, along with their families, are all staying with the missionaries.  Their houses were destroyed by the winds and flood.  It’s been less than a week since these two new missionary families have been ‘on their own’ in Malaybalay—no time to ease into a new mission post!  God put them in the right place at the right time and is using their zeal, competence, and generosity!

Maybe God kept me here in the Philippines a few days longer so that I can pray and fast for the victims of Typhoon Pablo.  I’ve been reading—no, devouring—The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun.  His accounts of the intense persecution he suffered for the Gospel in China have convinced me that, when we are following God, nothing is just circumstance.  It’s not merely inconvenience that I’ve tried two times already to leave the Philippines.  It’s God’s perfect timing.  As Brother Yun wrote from his prison cell, I will stay here “for exactly the length of time God has determined.  I won’t leave one moment early and I won’t stay one moment too long.”  (That being said, I was able to rebook my flights, and hope to leave on Friday.  Third time is the charm!)

Yesterday I was led to Psalm 61:

“Hear my cry, O God,

listen to my prayer;

from the end of the earth I call to thee,

when my heart is faint.

Lead thou me

to the rock that is higher than I;

for thou art my refuge,

a strong tower against the enemy.

Let me dwell in thy tent for ever!

Oh to be safe under the shelter of thy wings!

For thou, O God, hast heard my vows,

thou hast given me the heritage of

those who fear thy name.

Prolong the life of the king;

may his years endure to all generations!

May he be enthroned for ever

before God;

bid steadfast love and faithfulness watch over him!

So will I ever sing praises to thy name,

as I pay my vows day after day.”

Please continue to pray for the people of the Philippines!

*You can also help those who lost their homes in the storm by making a financial donation.  Donations are tax-deductible, and our missionaries will use the funds directly for those who need it.

Checks should be made out to Family Missions Company, with “Typhoon Pablo” in the memo.  Mail it to:
Family Missions Company
12624 Everglade Road
Abbeville, LA 70510

Ringing in the Liturgical New Year

Advent begins tomorrow!  For a few weeks I’ve been reflecting on the past year and praying about the upcoming one.  Here’s my ‘Liturgical New Year Resolution’:

Attend daily Mass at least twice a week. 

One of our last classes at Holy Rosary was about how to make the most of Mass.  The vast majority of Filipinos are Catholic.  But to Catholics throughout the world—even strongly devout ones—the Mass can sometimes seem boring.  When we understand what is really happening, though, it’s anything but boring!*  To our physical senses, it may appear that we’re sitting on a rickety pew in a worn-out church, accompanied by a few old ladies and an off key choir.  But the spiritual reality is that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is being made present to us.  We are taken back to Calvary, to the foot of the Cross.  In our worship we join with all the choirs of heaven in singing “Holy, Holy, Holy!”  God Himself comes to meet us in the appearance of bread and wine.   Heaven touches Earth!   As we taught our students about what’s really happening at Mass, a new fire burned in my heart for this Sacrament of sacraments.

The Mass has played a central role in deepening my faith.  Looking back on my journey with the Lord, the times I grew the closest to Him were when I made a regular commitment to Mass and Eucharistic Adoration.  It was before the Blessed Sacrament that God confirmed my call to missions!

But in the constant demands and busyness of missionary life, this commitment fell by the wayside.  Of course I went for Mass on Sundays and I treasured that time with the Lord.  But my weekdays were filled with trips to the doctor, lesson planning, bible studies, home visits, and a plethora of other good and holy activities.  These left ‘no time’ for daily Mass.  This is the same excuse uttered by the guests invited to the King’s wedding banquet in Matthew 22.  "Sorry, I have to take care of my farm", "Business is hectic, I can’t make it."  The minute I become ‘too busy’ to answer the Lord’s invitation, my priorities have become seriously skewed.**   

   

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us the key to bearing fruit.  It’s not prestigious degrees in theology or recruiting dozens of people for a bible study.  If we want to effectively build His Kingdom we must "Abide in [Him] and [He] in [us]" through "eating [His] flesh and drinking [His] blood."  In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ literally unites Himself with us—body, blood, soul, and divinity.  St. Therese of Lisieux spoke of this intimacy when she wrote, "It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, the Heaven of our soul in which He takes delight."  The Mass is a lover’s meeting—Jesus, our Divine Bridegroom, is waiting eagerly to give Himself to us as we give ourselves to Him.

I’m a missionary because I want the whole world to know the intimate, saving love of Jesus.  Mother Teresa said "We must never separate the Eucharist and the poor—or the poor and the Eucharist."  This is because through the Eucharist we are transformed by the power of God’s love.  It is "no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me."  With Christ dwelling in me, I can imitate our Blessed Mother and "go with haste" to bring Him to everyone I meet!

Celebrating Mass at our mission base in General Cepeda, Mexico

* Great resources for falling in love with the Mass: The Lamb’s Supper, by Scott Hahn, Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love, by Fr. Stefano Manelli, O.F.M., the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the YouCat.

**I understand that your schedule may not allow for daily Mass.  I’m not judging or condemning anyone who attends Mass only on Sundays.  I just want to share a personal conviction the Lord has given me and maybe challenge you to attend weekday Mass, too.

Free to Serve Him without Fear

Holy Rosary High School

Before I even left the States to come to the Philippines, God revealed that part of my mission here would involve teaching.  Teaching: the one thing I dreaded most.  Home visits?  Sure!  Feeding the poor?  Ok!  Playing and singing with kids?  Of course!  But teaching…no thanks.  I never wanted to be a teacher.  The thought of working in a school, planning lessons, and effectively imparting knowledge to students tied my stomach in knots.

But God doesn’t leave us to be crippled by our fears!  He wants to set us completely and totally free!  Three months of teaching at Holy Rosary has brought this freedom to so many areas of my life.  First, free from the fear of teaching.  He called me to do the exact thing I had been trying to avoid—no more sidestepping, no more hiding, no more excuses.  Time to face it head-on.  I had stressed about teaching for so long that it became a huge black wall in my mind.  Something insurmountable.  It wasn’t easy to tackle my fear.  Before walking into class I’d take a deep breath, say a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit, and then plunge ahead.  Many days I would leave the classroom thinking “That. Was. Terrible.”  But I kept at it, and the black wall of fear began to crumble.

As I allowed the Lord’s healing light into my life, He revealed deeper areas of bondage.  I’ve always been a perfectionist and put very high expectations on myself.  If I set out to do something, I had to do it well.  When I came up against something I couldn’t excel at, I either threw all my energy into quickly mastering it, or moved on to something else.  I was afraid of mediocrity and failure.  This is why I dreaded teaching.  I was afraid of doing it poorly—better to not even try, rather than try and fail, I figured.

It was a painful process to let God set me free from years of pride.  After one of my first classes—the kids talking or staring blankly out the window and me desperately trying to connect with them—I prayed, “Jesus, humility is so hard!  I feel useless; I just want to give up!”   But this feeling of inadequacy didn’t mean something was wrong; it meant something was right!  The Lord was finally convincing me that my own efforts weren’t enough; I had to fall on Him.  “He must increase, I must decrease.”  In prayer He affirmed the truth that I am valuable and loved not because of my achievements, but simply because I am His daughter.  Even if I completely botched up teaching, His love for me wouldn’t lessen one bit!

St. Paul reminds us that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.”  With the Holy Spirit at work in me, I began to see beyond my weaknesses as a teacher and recognize the incredible strength of God.  Maybe my lessons weren’t the most interesting.  Maybe I still struggled to maintain order and discipline.  But I loved my students, and I desperately wanted them to know Jesus.  God took my meager efforts and imperfect love, multiplied them by infinite perfection, and accomplished wonders!

On our last day of teaching some of my students gave me sweet little handmade thank you cards.  One class performed a song and enveloped Susanna and me in a group hug.  Even the tough kids had let their guard down and were drawn in by Jesus.   Looking back on the three months of teaching, my heart rejoices.  God had used me to reach these kids—three hundred young people have experienced the real, personal love of their Papa God; they are seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven.  But one of the greatest testimonies of this mission is the freedom I have found in the Lord!  Free to love and serve Him without fear!  He is mighty, indeed!

Theology of the Body retreat with our fourth year students

Our sweet, loving second year class

Bible Challenge, Part 2: “Take to heart these words…Drill them into your children”

On Monday morning I met a few of the kids on the way to school.  “I’m so excited” one girl bubbled.  When I asked why, she responded, “It’s our Bible Challenge Day!”  At first only a couple students were confident enough to come forward.  They were the ones at the top of the class who always won contests.  But this challenge wasn’t just for the star students.  It was for everyone.  We visited each class and encouraged students to just give it a try.  “Don’t worry if you haven’t memorized perfectly.  We will help you!”  I could tell that many wanted to, but were afraid.  They weren’t used to being encouraged to tackle a challenge or take a risk.

The students themselves did most of the encouraging.  They passed around lists of bible verses and quizzed each other.  Even while we were in front of the class teaching, we saw lips moving as students muttered verses under their breath.  Originally we set the challenge at thirty verses.  Our intention was for the kids to invest time and effort in learning the verses and earning a bible.  I felt like Abraham bargaining with God as the students asked “Ma’am, I know only twenty.  Is that enough?”  “Ma’am, can I recite fifteen?”  We finally settled on a minimum of ten verses.  Some students struggle with English, and memorizing even ten verses is a big accomplishment.

Working hard to memorize

By Thursday and Friday I was thrilled to find my desk surrounded by students.  Many were ready to recite their verses; others were still gathering courage from their classmates.  I gently prompted those who were nervous, and reassured the ones who were hesitant.  Filipino culture is characterized by camaraderie.  Girls approached my desk in groups of three or four, holding hands for support.  One by one they stepped up, took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and began: “For God so loved the world…”  When they finished, their faces displayed a combination of bashful pride and awestruck gratitude.  They lovingly held their new bibles as I snapped a photo, and then scampered off to show their friends.  Pretty soon those friends were also lined up at my desk, ready to recite!

Vincent with his new bible!

My teacher heart swelled with pride.  In one of our 3^rd year classes—sometimes distracted and unruly—ten students joined the challenge!  In addition to owning their own bibles, they also gained confidence.  They saw that if they set their minds to something, they really can achieve it.  As some of the girls from this class were giving their verses, a couple of the ‘cool’ guys were hanging around interestedly.  “Do you want to try?”  I invited them.  That afternoon I saw one of these boys edging towards my desk, twisting a list of verses nervously.  “Have you memorized some verses?” I asked.  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.  With a few stumbles (and his classmates crowding in the doorway for moral support) he succeeded in reciting his ten verses!  After the last verse his face broke into the biggest smile—and mine did, too.

As I sat listening to my students speak the Words of Life, I thought of the hours they had spent saying these verses over and over and over:  “You shall love the Lord your God…”, “Come to me, all you that are weary…”, “Rejoice in hope…”, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious…”  The admonition from Deuteronomy to “drill [these words] into your children” was being fulfilled.  These kids now had the ‘living and active’ Word of God dwelling in their minds and hearts.  I pray that this Word has fallen on good soil, and will continue to bear abundant fruit in their lives.

During one of our religion classes we taught the students about listening to God speaking through the bible.  The lesson included a seven-step form of lectio divina, and a short in-class bible sharing.  With their own bibles and a practical way to apply scripture to their daily lives, I am confident that they will grow in their friendship with the Lord.

 

Seven Steps for Reading the Bible

 

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand the words that you read.

2. Read the passage two or three times slowly.

3. Underline and words or sentences that stand out to you.

4. Think about why those words stand out to you.  How do they apply to your life?

5. Let God speak to you in silence.  What is He trying to say to you through this passage?

6. Write it down in your prayer journal.

7. Thank God for speaking to you.

Bible Challenge, Part 1: Chasing After the Word of God (Literally!)

As our time at Holy Rosary High School drew to a close, Susanna and I asked ourselves, “What do we want to leave our students with?”  A solid foundation in Jesus, of course!  We had worked for three months teaching about Papa God’s love for them, sin and salvation, faith and repentance.  We talked about sacramental grace, building strong families, and ways to grow in holiness.  These kids were like the ‘good soil’—eager to hear and receive the truth.  What better tool to give them than the Word of God itself?  So we proposed a ‘Bible Challenge.’  Any student who memorized thirty bible verses would win their very own personal bible.  They could also win a prayer journal by illustrating their favorite bible verse.  Our kids were thrilled at the possibility of owning a bible, and many accepted the challenge. 

Next I had to acquire the bibles.  Camiguin is remote, to say the least.  I have yet to find a library, let alone a bookstore that sells bibles in bulk.  A project of this magnitude would require a trip to ‘The City.’  This isn’t a quick run to Borders!  Travelling to Cagayan de Oro entails thirty minutes by car (or motorcycle) to the port, an hour and a half by ferry to reach the mainland, and then three hours by bus to Cagayan.  I set out before seven o’clock in the morning with my mission before me: to hunt down sixty bibles, and bring them back for our students!

By the time I reached Cagayan it was past noon.  I was already drained from the morning of travelling, and felt a little overwhelmed by the craziness of city life.  “Ok, God” I said, “It’s Your Word that I seek.  Please help me find these bibles!”  My first stop was the National Bookstore.  I shouldered my extremely large hiking backpack, and hit the streets.  When I arrived at the store, I made a beeline for the ‘Religion and Spirituality’ section.  Success—they had twenty-seven beautiful, slim New Testaments (we decided to buy New Testaments because they are less expensive.)  Quickly I scooped them up and checked out.  The cashier’s eyebrows shot up at the fact I was buying their entire stock!

Next I hopped on a jeepney and headed for one of the malls.  I stopped at another National Bookstore, but they didn’t have any.  Slightly disappointing, but I had a few more stores on my list.  In the same mall there’s a religious goods store.  The friendly sales assistant dug out some cool lime-green New Testaments, but there were only seven.  I still had to find twenty-six bibles.  My last hope was a bookstore across town run by the Daughters of St. Paul.  By this time my feet were sore, my stomach was growling, and I was soaked in sweat.  The hiking backpack weighed a ton.  “Jesus, I refuse to be discouraged.  I need your strength right now!”  As I began the trek to the last store, I offered up my aching tiredness for our students who would own these bibles.  “Lord, teach them to treasure your Word” I prayed.  But this store was a bust, too.  No small English bibles.

What to do?  I had to return to Camiguin the next morning, and was not going back without the bibles.  But could I afford twenty-six of the more expensive ones?  The minute that question entered my mind, I knew the answer.  Of course I could ‘afford’ it!  People were dying to bring the Word of God into certain countries; saints had given their lives to defend the Sacred Scriptures.   So I returned to the first bookstore, and bought the rest of the bibles. This time the whole staff gathered behind the counter as I carried up armloads of bibles.  I told them about the Bible Challenge, and even got to share about missions.

Mission accomplished.  I had sixty beautiful bibles in my possession, and a school full of students hungry for the Word of God!

Precious Cargo 

Sacrament Sweepstakes

We’ve been teaching our students about the Sacraments—“visible signs of invisible grace.”  Last Monday I had the opportunity witness these treasures of the Church first-hand.  Fr. Joe invited me to come for a ‘sickbed wedding’ up in the mountains.  The couple had been civilly married for fifteen years, and now desired the blessing of the Church.  Rizalindo, the husband, is extremely ill and confined to bed.  His wife Leonilla lovingly cares for him.  The local chapel leaders had taught them catechism classes and prepared them for the sacrament.

It was still cool when we left, and the morning sun shone brightly on the groves of coconut trees.  When we arrived at the simple bamboo home about half a dozen family members were gathered for the occasion.  They greeted Father with the respectfully affectionate term “Dre” (short for ‘Padre’, a product of the 300 years of Spanish colonization.) 

As Father began to fill out the paperwork, he discovered that the couple had not received many of the other sacraments.  The husband was not baptized, and both he and his wife needed to be confirmed.  Father administered all the necessary sacraments right there in the tiny bedroom.  I was asked to be a godparent for Rizalindo’s baptism.  This man, wracked with pain and barely able to sit up, was now a son of God!  He had been “buried with [Christ] by baptism into death.”  As Christ was “raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,” Rizalindo now also “walks in newness of life!” (Romans 6:4)

Immediately after the baptism, both Rizalindo and Leonilla were confirmed.  Again I had the honor of being her sponsor.  Although I may never see her again in this life, I hope and pray that we will meet one day in Heaven.  I will continue to pray for her, trusting that unity in the Lord transcends space and time.  I wanted to give her a wedding gift, but all I had with me was my rosary.  It was made of beautiful turquoise stones, and very dear to me.  A family friend had made it, and the medals were blessed at various holy places throughout Europe.  After daily Mass on the morning I left home to begin missionary training, she pressed it into my hand.  “I want you to have this,” she said.  “As you serve God’s people throughout the world, please remember to pray for us here.”  I know that Leonilla’s fingers will pass over those beads many times, and that God will hear her faithful prayers. 

As the couple exchanged wedding vows I was struck by the truth of their promise to be faithful to each other “in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad.”  These weren’t vague promises for ‘someday’ when hardships might arise.  They were made in the face of very real, very present struggles.  Sickness and poverty were a constant part of Rizalindo’s and Leonilla’s lives.  Their love and commitment had been tested through suffering, and was found to be lasting.

When Rizalindo and Leonilla received Holy Communion I realized that I was reliving some of my favorite Gospel stories; literally walking with Jesus as he entered into people’s homes and healed them!  The same Jesus who had visited Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and Jairus’s daughter was here present with us.  He came in the humble appearance of bread but was truly present—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!  Rizalindo, for the first time ever, received the Bread of Life, and was united to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Within a span of an hour Rizalindo and Leonilla had received six of the seven sacraments!  What incredible graces they experienced; the floodgates of Heaven were open wide!  To our earthly senses everything seemed placidly ordinary—a gentle breeze through the palm trees, kids laughing outside, the heat of the day rising.  But just beyond the grasp of the physical senses a wild, joy-filled jubilation was breaking forth.  All the saints and angels in Heaven were rejoicing over God’s boundless love for Rizalindo and his wife Leonilla!