Faithful In The Little Things

Less than a month ago, I put together a little venture for the urban poor mothers of the He Cares Foundation - a kitchen cooperative to engage in the business of cooking and distributing packed lunches, merienda, and dinner (the call centers!) to offices and other establishments in the city. From a business point of view, the market is huge and the potential is immense; goodness knows that my own office building alone demands more than what is being supplied. But this enterprise is rooted in something more important than that: the empowerment of these women to become not just recipients of God's grace and blessings but channels of these blessings themselves. Which is exactly the essence of He Cares' mission.

The old proverb "Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" applies particularly to the HCF Mothers' Kitchen Coop, and to other such HCF cooperatives I'd like to establish in the near future. Our counterpart of acting for ourselves upon God's providence aside from merely asking is essentially scriptural: Matthew 7:7 does not end with "Ask and it will be given to you," although it is surprising that many believers (myself previously included) seem to remember otherwise. The rest of the verse reads (to 7:8), "seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." The Bible is replete with references on how His people powerfully went into action upon His grace and received miracles upon miracles. Moses leading Israel out of Egypt. Rahab lowering down Joshua's spies, and the red cord out her window. The widow giving her last meal to Elijah. The diseased Roman centurion who bathed in the river Jordan. The faithful friends who broke through the roof to lower a paralytic down to where the Lord was. The hemorraging woman who touched His cloak...I could go on and on. The point is, they not only asked; they acted, and they received.

God has given us talent, resources, skills, intelligence, and the most wonderful gift of free will, all of which are wasted when we sit back on our heels and expect Him to do all the work. And then, more often than not, when our prayers are "not being answered," we tend to blame Him or otherwise justify our circumstances by saying "He said 'no.'" Our inaction, which invariably results in resignation and cynicism, has absolutely no place in the Good News of our salvation; otherwise, we would never be celebrating the ebullience of Easter morning.

Back to "my" mothers. Over the last two and a half years, I've seen them receive so many of His blessings, and still revert to being resigned and cynical. I've preached the Gospel to them, shared how God has been acting in my life and in the life of others, and frequently reminded them how good and faithful He is. But I never quite witnessed the rapt expressions on their faces as when I first told them, only four weeks ago, that God's providence becomes truly real when they act upon it in their own lives. When they actually become responsible and accountable for everything He has given them - and how, acting upon those gifts, that can translate to unimaginable blessings in their lives, and the lives of those around them. That they can actually be greater than what they presently make themselves out to be, and that God is glorified even more in achieving that greatness.

From six mothers on that first day, the coop swelled to 20 seven days later. Now they even want to bring their husbands in. I can't describe the impact of their transformation - from crippling despair wrought by poverty to hope - had on me. It was just a dream, an inspiration; but with faith in God's power, we remain anchored on the promise that in Him, "all things are possible!" (Matthew 19:26). Through His grace and providence, things are now moving swiftly to make the dream a reality. And the women are now truly empowered: no longer are they mere beneficiaries of "hand-outs," but they are actually taking active part in how they want their lives to become. Since the enterprise is a cooperative, they, under the guidance and auspices of the Foundation, are ultimately responsible for the operations and profit of their work. How small or how big they can make their profits grow, and how they will lift their neighbors from envy to contribution and transformation is entirely up to them. And it's simply miraculous how God's power is working in them, with this newfound hope. They are actually acting, instead of always just asking. Praise be to God!

Today's penultimate meeting of commitment before we begin full operations on the first week of December was empowering, not just for them, but for myself. As I advised them on business and money matters, particularly in handling their personal finances (who would have known I had that in me; thank you Lord for the continuing surprises!), He inspired me to draw upon His word. "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. (Luke 16:10)" Kapag pinagkatiwalaan ka sa maliit na bagay, maaasahan ka sa mas malaki. A striking verse that applies not only to how one controls one's money, resources, and business, but also to everything in life that comes from the Creator. Skills, talents, relationships...everything that is entrusted to us by Him. Mindblowing - I got much out of that just by speaking it. And so did they.

It definitely was no coincidence that one of the mothers informed me that Luke 16: 1-10, was today's (more accurately, yesterday's) Gospel - and I was not aware of it (my story of not having time lately to go through my daily Mass readings). And to put God's word into action through this transformative Kitchen Cooperative, now a little thing, and through faithfulness, will be something really big, is indeed a blessing, and a privilege. All glory belongs to Him. :-)

The Time Has Come

Just got in from Hillsong United's concert at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. I loved the energy and self-expression of all the many thousands of young people (myself included, hehe...) who gathered together to unabashedly sing, dance, and rock their praises to the King.

While I'm admittedly partial to Hillsong's Reuben Morgan, and to a lesser extent, Darlene Zschech, I can't help but get caught up in the contagion of United's powerful performances. The first one - a new song from their most recent album (United We Stand, 2006), is particularly apt at this point of my life: I've always said that my "medium" setting is busted, and I can only operate on "high" and "low." And, these days, I've come to realize that my "low" button is busted as well. :-)

The Time Has Come
by Hillsong United

Found love beyond all reason
You gave Your life Your all for me
And called me Yours forever
Caught in the mercy fallout
I found hope, found life
Found all I need - You're all I need

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today, today it's all or nothing
All the way, the praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today, today I live for one thing
To give You praise in everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You


All we are is Yours
And all we're living for is all You are
Is all that You are Lord


Praise Him to the Highest Heavens for a truly powerful evening of praise and worship. United rocks! Even for an "old-timer" like myself :-)

Full-Speed Ahead!

Haven't had much time to write lately, mainly because I've been living life to the max and playing full-out. I am profoundly grateful for the grace to be able to do so.

In the last 10 days I:

- Went back to Boracay (a breakthrough in my relationship with the island, which I'd sworn off forever), and experienced the most perfect vacation ever (breakthroughs in my travel OC'ness, relationships with people - including men, and the Bora bar scene), with a great friend and sister I only met in September (a breakthrough in friendship and choice of traveling companions!).

- Had a ton of fun at an awesome Halloween party (only a few hours off the plane, in full costume, no holds barred!)

- Reconnected with old friends and connected them with new ones

- Attended Mass at 6:00 am (major breakthrough); on another day, got home at 6:00 am and lived to tell about it...

- Went back to Cali! (always a great idea)

- Created a kitchen cooperative with the He Cares mothers, to supply cooked food to offices, run a carinderia/s

- Got Third-World Traveler Publishing Co. up, running, and in action!

- Got in action towards the December 1 deadline of setting up HBO & Associates' new office - a big, big game I love playing

- Booked more clients for C+C Personal Caterers

- Etc. and so much more!

So this is what life feels like, at full-throttle. Barely 10 days, and I feel like I've accomplished more than I ever had in 10 years! And I have absolutely no stress, even with all these things going on...although a massage right now would be absolutely lovely (running hard, but not yet tired).

God's grace be praised!