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When
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After
a two-month assignment at the United Nations in Bangkok, I returned to
Manila on the 18th of May. Jean met me at the airport and from
there we went straight to the prayer meeting of our lower household
composed of senior officials from the Department of Science and
Technology. We went home at almost midnight and immediately we started
planning our mission trip to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. We were
scheduled to leave on Sunday morning the 20th of May and we had
little time to prepare. We had been appointed country coordinators for
Indonesia and regional coordinators for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore, and this was to be our first pastoral visit to
these countries. In Indonesia, we were expected to appoint the new
National Director and the members of the National Council. And for both
countries, we were scheduled to have a series of meetings with the CFC
leaders and to give several pastoral formation talks. With so much to
prepare after my long absence in Manila, we slept at almost two in the
morning. The
following day, Saturday, the 19th of May, Jean and I, together
with our youngest son, Jonjon, continued preparing for our three-week
mission. We packed copies of my first book that had just come out, Letters
of Aquila and Priscilla, for distribution to the members of the CFC
community in Jakarta, which funded its printing. We made sure that we
brought copies of the expanded outlines of the talks, copies of relevant
e-mails, our CFC IDs, and other needed materials. But at 4 o’clock in
the afternoon, Joel, our special child, started having a nosebleed. We
placed an ice bag on his forehead, pinched and then cleaned his nose, and
turned on the room air conditioner to make him more comfortable. But his
nose kept on bleeding whenever he got up his bed. We started getting
worried. We prayed over him. He calmed down and his nosebleed stopped for
a while. But at around ten in the evening, Joel’s nose started bleeding
profusely again. We called an ambulance to bring Joel to the Philippine
Heart Center. At that moment, we thought, “If Joel is confined in the
hospital, we will have to postpone our mission.” Jean and my eldest son,
Joubert, together with his wife, Cyril, went with Joel to the hospital.
Jean asked me to stay home, to continue packing, and to help Jonjon pack
his things. I went to bed at almost two in the morning. I was awakened
when Jean came home from the hospital at nearly three in the morning. We
agreed that I should proceed with the mission knowing that there were
serious concerns in the CFC community in Indonesia that needed my
immediate attention. With
little sleep, I left on the morning of the 20th of May for the
long trip to Jakarta, where I had to wait for five hours at the Brunei
airport for the connecting flight to Jakarta. We chose this flight,
despite the inconvenience, because it was the cheapest fare available. We
did not want to impose too much financial burden on the CFC community in
Jakarta, which would reimburse us for the cost of the ticket. During the
trip, Jean and I kept on exchanging text messages regarding Joel. I
arrived in Jakarta at half past eight in the evening and went straight to
the residence of Bert and Fe, the Chapter Leaders of the Jakarta
Expatriate Chapter, for the first of a series of one-on-one meetings with
the CFC leaders in Indonesia. It was past midnight when we finished our
discussions. I finally arrived at the home of my daughter, Joyce, where I
would be staying for the rest of my mission, at nearly one o’clock in
the morning. Early
the following morning, I left the house in Vila Cinere Mas for the hour
and a half trip to Hotel Indonesia in the central business district of
Jakarta where I would be staying for the next couple of days. The CFC
leadership decided to place me at the hotel, which was centrally located,
to facilitate the travel of the CFC leaders who would be coming to meet
with me. I met with Fr. Mankey, the head of the Missionary of the Sacred
Heart based in Rome, during lunch. Later, I met informally with the
members of the National Council who earlier had tendered their
resignations to pave the way for the appointment of the new Council
members. It was past midnight when I went to bed.
The
meetings the following morning, May 22, started before 8 o’clock.
Because I had little sleep for several days, I woke up late and missed my
breakfast. The first CFC leader came at 7 in the morning and awakened me
when he called my room. I took a quick shower, dressed up and started my
meetings before the scheduled time. Because the leaders came into my room
one after the other, I did not have a chance to have a quick lunch until 2
in the afternoon and a quick dinner until past 9 in the evening. That day,
I held one-on-one meetings for 15 hours non-stop, from 8 in the morning to
11 in the evening, with only two quick meals in between. The
next day, May 23, I checked-out of the hotel and returned to my
daughter’s house. In the afternoon, I recalled the discussions of the
previous two days and wrote down my thoughts. During those past few days,
Jean and I had been exchanging text messages and calls regarding Joel. I
was informed that Joel’s bleeding continued unabated and that he needed
blood transfusion. Requests for blood donations were sent out to
relatives, friends, and brothers and sisters in the CFC community. Many
donors came. Jean informed me that Joel had been given six units of blood
plasma. I continued praying for the healing of Joel and encouraged Jean to
be strong in the midst of these trials. I told her that my discussions
with the CFC leaders confirmed the urgency and importance of my visit to
Indonesia. In the evening, I held one-on-one meetings with the Unit
Leaders of the Jakarta Expatriate Chapter. The meetings ended at half past
midnight and I arrived home at one in the morning. May 24 was a holiday in Indonesia, the Feast of Christ’s Ascension. We attended the 10:30 a.m. Mass and had lunch with Fr. Binzler, the parish priest of the Jakarta Expatriate Parish. At 3 p.m., I gave the CLP Talk on Repentance and Faith at the residence of one of the CLP participants. From there we proceeded to the home of Bert and Fe, where I met with Tony and Renee, who were interested in pursuing CFC’s work for the poor. After dinner, we held a prayer assembly of all the leaders (household heads and above) of the Expatriate Chapter. We prayed for the healing of Joel and of Jean, whom I learned earlier had also fallen ill with severe colds and high fever. After the corporate worship, I gave a talk and sharing on my reflections on Matthew 1:1-17. My day ended at past midnight. After completing the first round of one-on-one meetings, I used the next two days, May 25 and 26, to consolidate and write down my thoughts on the discussions of the previous days. I also prepared for my talks for the following day on Living as a People of God. I called up Jean to ask details on the condition of Joel who was still confined in the hospital. During the previous days, we communicated mainly by text messages. Jean informed me that after some improvement, Joel started bleeding again. His doctors said that he might have to stay longer in the hospital. Jean and I were praying that Joel might get healed by Saturday, the 26th of May, so that she could join me by Sunday, the 27th. I felt strongly the need for Jean to talk with the wives of some of the CFC leaders in order for us to make the right decision and give the proper advice. I spent these two days in preparation, prayer, reflection and Scripture reading – praying for Joel and Jean, preparing for my scheduled talks, writing down my thoughts, and reflecting on the concerns of the CFC community in Indonesia. The concerns of the community overshadowed my own concerns. That
Friday evening, the 25th of May, was crucial. Blood samples
were taken from Joel to determine if he was well enough to be released
from the hospital. Jean and I were in constant touch through text
messages. We prayed hard that the results of the blood tests would turn
out well. I told God that I could not do this mission alone. I needed my
pastoral partner. I needed Jean’s presence and assistance. God answered
my plea. That Saturday morning, Jean sent me a text stating that the blood
tests showed good results and that Joel’s doctors had given orders for
his release that afternoon. She also informed me that she was flying to
Jakarta on Sunday, 27th of May, also via Brunei, but had to pay
a penalty for changing her flight schedule. The penalty was most unwelcome
since our hospital and phone bills were now mounting. On
Sunday, the 27th of May, we attended the 9 o’clock Mass,
where the choir was the CFC Voices of Praise. Then from 10:30 in the
morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, I gave the teachings on Living as a
People of God to the leaders of CFC Jakarta, both Indonesians and
expatriates. The teaching was well attended and I felt that the talks were
also well received. After the teaching, I started the second round of
one-on-one meetings with selected leaders. Then I left for the airport to
meet Jean who was arriving at 8:30 in the evening. From the airport, Jean
and I proceeded directly to the home of Bert and Fe for the second round
of discussions with them. We went home at almost one in the morning. Jean
was very tired after traveling since morning and having just recovered
from flu and fever. The
following morning, we were up early for the second round of meetings with
the other CFC leaders. The meetings ended in the early evening and we had
a late dinner at the home of our daughter. After dinner, I briefed Jean on
the results of my earlier meetings and gave her my handwritten notes to
read. On
the morning of the 29th of May, having completed all the
meetings, Jean and I discussed the results of our two-on-two meetings and
we started finalizing our choices for the new members of the National
Council. In the afternoon, I started preparing my talks for Brunei. In the
evening, we met the members of the Family Ministry team at the residence
of the SFC coordinator. We went home at almost midnight. On
the morning of the following day, the 30th of May, we notified
the new members of the Council of their appointment. We requested all of
them to be at the home of Bert and Fe, with their spouses, at 6 p.m. for
the first prayer meeting of the new Council household. That afternoon, I
prepared the Provisional Agenda of the meeting of the National Council. We
started the prayer meeting at 6:30 p.m. As the worship ended, I prayed for
discernment, asking God to reveal His will on who should lead the CFC
community in Indonesia. After a short period of silence, it became very
clear to me that I should appoint Bro Gunawan as the new National
Director. I announced my choice, to the surprise of Bro Gunawan and Sis
Theresia. Then I requested everyone to join me in praying over them. With
everybody congratulating the couple, we had our dinner and fellowship.
After dinner, we held the first meeting of the new Council. We went home
at almost midnight. Upon reaching home, we prepared our things for our
flight to Brunei the following morning. We slept at past two in the
morning. We
were at the airport before nine o’clock the following morning for our
10:45 flight to Brunei. After checking-in, I noticed that Jean was on her
cellphone. Our maid was telling her that Joel was gasping for breath, that
she had already called for an ambulance to bring Joel to the Heart Center,
and that our son, Joubert, was already on the way from his office in
Makati. We immediately called up friends and neighbors in Manila to ask
for help. One of them was Jun Dimarucot, our household head many years ago
when we were new in the community. I also checked with Brunei Airlines if
we could get an immediate connection from Brunei to Manila. I learned that
the earliest connection would be the following day at 5:30 p.m. but the
flight was already full and the waiting list was long. Jean and I kept
using our cellphones. We called friends, we talked with our son, Joubert,
with our maids, with Jun D, and many others. We gave instructions, we
asked for information, and we sought for help. I contacted Joe Tale to ask
for his help in getting us seats in the earliest scheduled flight from
Brunei to Manila. But before we even boarded our plane, Jun D informed us
that Joel had passed away. The ambulance arrived only after more than an
hour. He and Joubert arrived even earlier. But Joel had no more pulse when
they reached him. We cried in an isolated place in the airport. We felt so
helpless. We felt so far away from home. All we could do was pray. All we
could hang on was the Lord. The
two-hour flight to Brunei was agonizingly slow. We could not use our
cellphones. We did not know if we could get a connecting flight on the
same day. We did not know if we could get seats even on the Friday flight
of Brunei Airlines to Manila. We could not give further instructions to
our son on the proper arrangements for Joel. We could not receive any
further information from Manila. In the midst of these uncertainties, we
held on to the one thing we knew was certain – that God was in control,
that God had a plan and that plan was good. We were certain that God would
never abandon us. Arriving
in Brunei, we were met by the leaders of CFC Brunei. We immediately went
to the office of Brunei Airlines. There were no other flights to Manila
except on the following day at 5:30 p.m. If we fly to Singapore and then
to Manila, we would arrive in Manila just a few hours earlier. We decided
to stay in Brunei and take the Friday flight. But we were informed that
only two seats could be confirmed – that of Jonjon and myself. Jean had
no confirmed seat! The brothers and sisters of CFC Brunei brought with
them several tickets owned by CFC brothers and sisters who were on the
same flight but were willing to give their seats to us. They showed these
tickets to the lady at the Brunei Airlines counter. I called Joe Tale
again, making sure that the lady heard what I was telling Joe. After a
while, we got all three seats confirmed. Certain that we can leave for
Manila the following day, we proceeded with our mission to Brunei.
From the airport, we went to the parish grounds where the CFC activities were taking place. I gave the CPR Talk on Relating with People Outside CFC. We joined the last part of the YFC Camp and then attended the Mass and the devotional prayers that followed. During dinner, we met and talked with the other members of the CFC community. Then we made a formal call on Msgr. Sim, the parish priest and spiritual director of CFC Brunei. At half past ten in the evening, we finally went home with our host, Mon and Tita Santiago. The
following day, we met the members of the Governance Team of CFC Brunei.
After the meeting, we prepared our things, and then left for the airport
for our flight to Manila. Arriving in Manila that Friday night, the 1st
of June, we proceeded directly to Funeraria Nacional. It was a very sad
homecoming for us. We had cried at the Jakarta airport and in the plane
going to Brunei. We had cried in bed while we were in Brunei. We thought
we had already shed all our tears. But when we saw the lifeless body of
Joel, we could not help but shed tears once more. It was half past two in
the morning when we left the funeral parlor to go home. We were greeted by
a dark and lonely home. It was also different. Because one room was empty
– Joel’s. Epilogue Joel
died on May 31, the birthday of our son, Jenner. He was laid to rest on
June 3, the birthday of our daughter, Joyce. In Letters
of Aquila and Priscilla, I wrote an article about Joel, who was born
with a heart defect, autistic, deaf, mute and blind. I said that God had
given us an angel who was incapable of committing sin. Jean and I went on
mission to Indonesia and Brunei out of love and obedience. At the end of
that mission, God gave us our reward – a very powerful intercessor in
heaven, our very own son, Joel Pacis Uriarte. |
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