Living Letters “You are a letter from Christ, the result from our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,

not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” 2 Cor 3:3 Sept 2012/ Issue 10

Living Letters

Dear friends,

And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least

of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' (Matthew 25:40, NRSV)

As I write this, it is raining outside. The people in many parts of the Philippines are

still recovering from the floods caused by the last monsoon. Today we have Typhoon

Igme which is on its way out, and Typhoon Julian is

expected tomorrow!

Scenes of families displaced, water logged roads, submerged

houses fill our television screens and newspapers. As the

roads were not accessible in the first days, we were able to

assess the situation via sms messages with the Balikatan

community members in Montalban. Although they

themselves were not severely affected, the houses of the

neighbouring areas of Kasiglahan K1 and K2 were

submerged, and families moved to safer grounds. The initial

needs for food, water and clothes were immediate and

urgent. In the midst of the disaster, I was very

touched by the Balikatan members as they shared

whatever food that they had, and waded through

waters to bring the cooked food to those who had

none. They also collected clothes for those who were

left homeless and clotheless. I could see the Gospel in

action in their lives!

In the following days, we were able to enter with food

packs, canned goods, clothes and 60 water filters

provided by Charis Singapore. Thanks also to Atty.

Tojun and his friend who contributed 300 food packs

for the families. In the first week, we were able to visit

around 500 families. Now, in the aftermath, our

ongoing work is to help provide materials to enable

children to return to school and to help families

resettle after their houses have been cleared of mud.

A local barangay relief worker shared that many of

these families have a psychological fear of rain now. At the first few drops of rain,

there is fear if they will again be drenched out of homes. It is a real fear as the

typhoon season is merely at letter “J”, and there are quite a few typhoons before we

reach “Z”.

Our mission continues here... as you read these pages, please know that without

your support and prayers, all this is not possible. Thank you for being a partner with

us in this mission, and may the Lord bless you for all that you share to the least of

His brothers and sisters!

Not

e fr

om o

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Dir

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Esther Fong Director ICPE Mission Philippines

Eucharistic Celebrations

Min

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Our ministriesOur ministries OUR VISION: Empowering the poor through

God’s compassionate love in the heart of Asia

Our regular fortnightly Eucharistic Celebrations

continue to draw an average of 30-40 adults and

children. We begin with a short time of prayer either

through songs or a simple reflection before Mass. For those

who are interested, individual prayer ministry is also

available before Mass.

Children Ministry

Every month, around 20 children gather for one and

a half hours of singing, prayer and basic catechism.

For Lent this year, the children had an outdoor

Stations of the Cross and an interactive session on

the different liturgical celebrations of Holy Week.

They also learned about the gifts of the Holy Spirit as

we celebrated Pentecost. We pray that each child

will be able to experience God through these

monthly sessions and to deepen in their knowledge

of Him.

RR eaching out to our neighbours eaching out to our neighbours through...through...

Home Visits What started as visits to invite our neighbours for the fortnightly

Eucharistic celebrations has now led to a ministry of befriending and

praying with the families in our barangay („village‟). Every fortnight, as

we visited the 40 or more families living near our centre, many

opportunities arose to encourage them in their faith and to evangelize

through our friendship. Neil, aged 34 and the father of a 10-year-old

said “Thank you for coming and listening to me. You are really my

friends.” Through the visits, we have also gained a better understanding of the challenges of drinking and

gambling that are prevalent in our area. We pray that the families will encounter Christ‟s transforming love so

that they will be able to fully live out the Gospel values in their lives.

Reading CornerReading Corner

Inside : large calendar, small calendar Min

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Balikatan Ministry (Balikatan, ‘shoulder to shoulder’ in Filipino, supports adults in their Christian faith and

empowers them to take responsibility for their lives and families)

Our goal for this year has been to provide for those who desire to grow deeper in their faith and

to strengthen that faith. At the same time, we seek to reach out to those who are seeking God,

who are lost and without much hope. This has been done through the Balikatan Community

meetings, and in the weekly Balikatan prayer meetings.

One major milestone for the Balikatan Ministry is the birth of the Balikatan Community on

4th of March this year. Nine women took another step in making a deeper commitment to being a

disciple of Christ; sharing life as a Christian community that encourages and empowers each

other. In this past year, they have also served as leaders with different responsibilities during prayer

meetings. These are women who have faced adversity: struggling to find the means to support their

families, crying out to God for food, healing for their children and jobs for their husbands. Through all the tough times, they

have continued to hold onto faith despite their doubts and allow Jesus to walk with them. As part of their preparation before

the commitment, they received formation on various aspects of community living and community building that culminated in a

retreat in Tagaytay earlier this year. From women who lacked confidence, they have transformed into women who know their

dignity as beloved daughters of God, and have been given a voice to make a difference in

the world today. It has been a gift for us to have shared this journey with them.

The Balikatan Community reaches out to those in the area through weekly Balikatan

prayer meetings. We see between 30 – 35 attendees regularly. The meetings focus on

sharing and living the Word of God, prayer, praise and worship and in this Year of Faith, we

will be sharing on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For new members, we had a Life in

the Spirit retreat in May.

We continue with our ongoing project of small loans to help the women set up

businesses, and assist them in finding sustainable livelihood projects. One such project has been the making of pressed

flower cards and 2013 calendars. This is in collaboration with Care Channel International. Below are photos of the calendars

for 2013. If you would like to support them by buying these cards, please email us at philippines@icpe.org.

Seeds of Faith Youth Ministry (Planting seeds of faith and hope in young lives, this ministry aims to love and

affirm the giftnedness of every child as sons and daughters of God)

In the past six months, we completed a series of teachings on the Sacraments

of the Church and we aim to emphasize the areas of prayer and the knowledge of

Scripture in the coming months. Thus in May, we had a day of Pentecost celebration

where the youth recommitted their lives to Christ and learned how to pray in the Spirit.

It was a beautiful sight as the whole group ended the day in prayer and praise to God.

In October 2011, we selected nine youths with potential leadership skills to

form the core group of Seeds of Faith. They have received on-going training and for-

mation in the afternoons after the big group meetings. As part of their formation, they

also experienced two outreaches in Tagaytay in October 2011 and May 2012. Here,

they learned more about prayer, worship leading and small group leading. They

reached out to the youth in our barangay and the child street vendors by sharing their

testimonies, performing mimes and animating the sessions. As they persevere in making

a difference for Christ in their families, schools and neighbourhoods, they were again

challenged to fix their goal in Christ.

In June, we had our annual Back to School Mass for approximately 100

children to bless them at the start of their academic year.

Front: Large calendar Front: Small calendar

Oth

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For the new academic

year of 2012-2013, we

continue to assist the families of four children in their school needs. In May

2012, just before the start of the academic year, we gave out 120 sets of

school supplies to the children and youth in Montalban. They each received

a set of writing material, paper, notebooks and other stationery needed

to start school.

This year, we also helped two High School graduates obtain further

education in training centres. We are also assisting our youth in the first

year of their college education. Another youth, Riza Ymas, won a year‟s

scholarship to study in a private school in Tagaytay. She is currently in the

first year of her High School education. Although she stays in the school‟s

dormitory from Mondays to Fridays, she returns to our centre for the

weekends. The exposure in a private school setting is a challenge for her

but she is determined to make the best of this God-given opportunity to

study.

Children Educational Sponsorship (Financial sponsorship to empower children and youth through education)

The child street vendors of TagaytayThe child street vendors of Tagaytay In the heart of Tagaytay City, children ply the streets everyday to sell local snacks, steamed

peanuts and candy. Most are school drop-outs between the ages of 8 to 14 while others

start working straight after school to supplement their family income. Last September, we

started „visiting‟ them to listen to their stories, to share food items and to give them school

supplies. From the visits ,two subsequent outreaches were organized to share Jesus with

them. The first was an outreach last Christmas in Jollibee, a local fast-food restaurant. For

most of the twenty-five children who came, it was their first time actually inside a Jollibee

restaurant although they sell snacks outside the restaurant everyday. The second was held

in May this year together with the leaders from Seeds of Faith, our Montalban youth group.

Fifty children between the ages of 10 to 16 joined the session where the Gospel message

was shared through songs, mime and a time of prayer.

Medical Assistance In this past year, we have found sponsors who have provided for

chemotherapy treatment, medication and lab tests for two siblings, Karen

Gacias, aged 15, and Philip Gacias, aged 9. Sadly both Karen and Philip

have been diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome disease. They have three

other siblings. Their mother, Noralyn works as a scavenger, and their father,

Julio, is a construction worker with temporary employment. Every month, they

have to visit the hospital for check-ups and treatment. Thanks to the medical Philip and Karen Gacias

Dental Mission Although we occasionally support families in need of

emergency medical assistance and provide first aid care to children and adults in

our ministries, last October was the first time we organized a Dental Mission in

Montalban. Fifty six members of Balikatan, Seeds of Faith and our Children Ministry

received basic dental check-ups and

tooth extractions. A team of dentists and

nurses who volunteer at the St Vincent

Medical and Dental Clinic came for the

one-day mission at the local Health Centre.

Thanks to our generous benefactor from Korea and a

dentist in Manila who waived his consultation fee, Genalyn Naldo,

aged 14, who had severe teeth problems, received a full set of

dentures for her upper teeth. She underwent multiple extractions

and fittings and is now smiling winningly and with confidence.

Genalyn having her dentures fixed and a totally

new look!

T h a n k YO U + Thank you for every donation given to our different ministries. + Thank you to our regular benefactors who support us in our daily living as missionaries in the Philippines.

Prayer Intent ions

We invite you to join us in praying:-

+ For our youth ministry in Montalban and Tagaytay- that

they may find their security and identity in the Lord.

+ For the livelihood project of our Balikatan members-

that it will continue to develop and provide them with a

sustainable means of income.

+ For the Lord to lead us to a more permanent house of

oasis where people may come for rest and encounter with

Him.

Institute for World Evangelisation – ICPE Mission 111 Lourdes Street, Barangay Maitim II Central, Tagaytay City, Cavite 4120, Philippines

Tel:+63-46-8524010 Email:philippines@icpe.org Website:www.icpe.org

Bank account name ICPE PHILIPPINE FOUNDATION INC

Peso account 003-115250-042

Bank address HSBC

Ground floor, Discovery Suites

25, ADB Avenue Ortigas Centre

Pasig City. Metro Manila. Philippines

Swift code HSBC PHMM

Youth Ministry Since October 2011, we have had two outreaches to the youth in our barangay

to share with them the basic Gospel message. At the end of every outreach, the

youth were invited to receive prayer. Since then, we‟ve also invited the youth for two

separate sessions in our house where we would spend

some time in prayer.

In July 2011, we have also started going to the

Tagaytay City College for the Campus Ministry as part of

the Tagaytay Religious Association (TRA). Every Thursday

morning, we meet students to befriend them and to

listen to them as they share their stories. Once a month,

we will participate in the half day sessions of Bible

sharing.

(Nurturing youth to be leaders, and men and women of faith and integrity)

Community Experience

In September 2011, we welcomed Gemma Kim from Korea who began her season of community experience with us in the

Philippines. Gemma has been serving together with us in the various ministries in Montalban and Tagaytay and will return to

Korea in September this year.

How did you decide to join the Community Experience?

I joined the School of Mission in 2010 in New Zealand as I was interested in mission life and I wanted to know more about

God and myself. As I still had that desire after the School of Mission, I decided to join community experience to deepen in

that knowledge.

Describe your experience in the Philippines

Although community life can be challenging at times, I enjoy it a lot. Every challenge that has arisen has helped me to grow.

In this short season of community experience, I have gained much insight into my past. This time is also a season of

strengthening my faith for the future. I know who God is to me and I am able to place more trust in Him.

What did you enjoy about your community experience?

Esther’s questions, Jitka’s friendship, Joan’s warmth and Denzil’s mischief… I enjoy living with members of this community and being one with them.

What advice would you give those who are considering joining ICPE Mission’s community experience?

Don’t focus on your fears and worries, don’t think too much about your surroundings.. just TRY IT!

Tagaytay City College