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By grace you have been saved |
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Myanmar is our 102nd country! The establishment of this CFC community is God’s grace in action. Since Jean and I came to Bangkok last year, we have been trying various ways to establish contact in Myanmar for the purpose of holding a Christian Life Program. I contacted a former colleague at the ASEAN Secretariat, the daughter of the former foreign minister of Myanmar, to request for some names. She gave me the name of the wife of a senior government official who was Catholic and active in church activities. I also contacted the Philippine ambassador in Myanmar and the Embassy gave the name and contact number of a Filipino priest in Myanmar. But God had another plan. God brought a Myanmar colleague at the United Nations, Brigitte, to the CLP and she became a member of Singles for Christ. During her dedication, her mother, Lucy, came to Bangkok to attend. Lucy liked what she saw and heard. She became our contact. We requested Lucy to invite even just five to seven of her friends to the proposed CLP. Knowing that Myanmar was a predominantly Buddhist country, we were content with this number. But the Lord again had other plans – He wanted to start big! For two consecutive weekends, we conducted the first Christian Life Program in Myanmar. With us were Ed and Marichu Mondigo of CFC Cambodia, and Arnold and Letty Itao and Edgar Dante of CFC Thailand, as well as two new Burmese SFC members from Bangkok, Brigitte and Helen. We had over 120 participants on Saturday, 21 September. Sessions were held at the parish hall of St. Mary’s Cathedral, an old and beautiful cathedral located at the heart of the city. We stayed in a hotel, about 15-minute walk to the cathedral. We took the 8 o’clock morning flight from Bangkok to Yangon. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we went straight to the parish hall, walking through the numerous sidewalk vendors lining up the street leading to the cathedral. With only nine of us, it was not easy to get over a hundred people registered and prepare ID cards, while teaching them to sing CFC songs. Even tougher was dividing them into groups and leading the discussions. Ed and Marichu handled one CFC discussion group and Arnold and Letty the other. Jean and Brigitte took care of two large HOLD discussion groups; Edgar, the SFC male discussion group; and Helen, the SFC female discussion group. I led the SOLD discussion group. We gave the talks, led the discussions and sang songs while attending to numerous other tasks. The Saturday sessions ended at almost seven in the evening. We walked back to our hotel, had a quick dinner and slept soundly like babies cared for by a loving mother. The following day, we woke up early to attend the six o’clock Mass in English at the cathedral. After Mass, we walked back to the hotel to have a quick breakfast, and then walked back to the parish hall to start the Sunday sessions. More participants came, pleading with us to allow them to attend the sessions. Handling the praying over session of over a hundred participants was our greatest challenge! But we managed with God’s help and guidance. After they were prayed over, many participants hugged us tightly. The handmaids were particularly endeared with Jean. They hugged her tightly, many crying with joy. They lined up, not to shake my hand (which was what I tried to offer) but to kiss it – with their lips actually touching the back of my right hand! It was a deeply emotional moment for us all! We ended the day with a full charismatic worship, which saw over a hundred people singing loudly, clapping energetically, raising hands joyfully, and many dancing enthusiastically. As soon as the worship ended, we all rushed to the airport to catch our 8 p.m. flight – saying our goodbyes with quick kisses and hugs. My brothers and sisters, God’s grace covers us with full protection. Let me share with you two incidents that happened to us. Because we were always rushing, Letty unknowingly left her wallet, with all the cash and other valuables, on top of their bed on Sunday morning. She did not realize that her wallet was not with her until she returned to the hotel and saw her wallet on top of the bed. She checked it – nothing was lost! God protected her valuables and spared her from worry while she was serving Him. Jean also did not know that she left her coat in the hotel room. She realized it only when we were already on the way to the airport. But we could not turn back because we might miss our flight. At the airport, Jean called the hotel and the staff promised to look for it. The following Monday, when Brigitte returned to Bangkok, she had Jean’s coat with her. Nothing was lost. God protects those who serve Him. During the week that followed, Jean prepared all the CFC, HOLD, SOLD and SFC IDs, as well as the materials and handouts, to be given to the participants during the coming weekend. The following Saturday, Edgar, Jean and I were back in Yangon. Helen, who stayed behind, joined us. The service team was down to only four people. But that Saturday, 28 September, we completed all the talks, held the dedication ceremony and celebrated the Lord’s Day. Ninety-one people completed all the sessions. We explained to them that only those who attended all the sessions were eligible for membership. The others would have to attend the next CLP to complete all sessions. There were several young participants (less than 21 years old) to whom we could not give IDs because the entry point to YFC is the Youth Camp. They were a bit disappointed but became excited when we described to them what a Youth Camp was. They wanted to have the camp as soon as possible. We selected 22 people (three CFC, three SOLD, three SFC, and 10 HOLD) to attend the leaders training workshop the following Sunday. We started immediately after the 8 o’clock Mass. At the end of the sessions, we selected the members of the governance team (2 CFC, 2 SOLD, 3 HOLD), finalized the groupings and appointed ten household heads (1 CFC, 1 SOLD, 5 HOLD, 1 SFC male, 2 SFC female). Then it was time to catch our flight back to Bangkok. We arrived home at almost 11 o’clock in the evening. Many of those who missed some talks and therefore did not become members were disappointed. However, they all said that they would attend the next CLP and were eager to know when. We were also invited to conduct a CLP in another parish, which was about three hours drive from Yangon, where also over a hundred participants were expected to attend. My brothers and sisters, there is a great hunger for the word of God in Myanmar. They want to learn how to read the Bible properly. They say that Bibles are difficult to find in Myanmar. Many of the handmaids have Buddhist or non-Catholic husbands. We told them that, as in Bangkok and Phnom Penh, they should invite their Buddhist husbands to the next CLP. My brothers and sisters, it was God’s grace that made the first CLP in Myanmar possible. God was in control all the way. It was God’s plan all along. It was God’s grace at work. It was God’s grace in action. As St. Paul reminds us: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8). And what a gift! |
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