He will continue to complete it
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My appointment at the United Nations ends this month and we (Jean, Jon and I) will be returning to Manila after two years in Thailand. When I came to Bangkok on 19 March 2001 to take up a two-month assignment at the United Nations, I did not expect to come back with my family a few months later. In fact, I had accepted a senior administrative position in a leading university and was elected to the board of directors of a major bank in Manila. My brothers and sisters, I want to share with you some of the things that happened during those two months, which show the hand of God in every event. A few days after my arrival, Rouquel Ponte and Lito Tayag arrived from Manila and we gave a teaching to the CFC community that Friday evening, 23 March. It was held at AIT but only a handful came. I gave the talk on “Handling Difficulties in Couples for Christ.” This was followed by a retreat of CFC leaders at Baan Phu Waan during the weekend of 24-25 March, which was also attended by leaders from the provinces, including Tharae. I gave the talk on “One Heart and One Mind.” It was during this retreat that Rouquel formally announced that Lito would take over from him as CFC country coordinator for Thailand. The following Tuesday, 27 March, I joined a luncheon meeting between Rouquel and the members of the National Council at the canteen of St. Louis Hospital. It was during this meeting that I proposed the holding of the first strategic CLP in Thailand. On 31 March, the first planning meeting for the strategic CLP was held at the residence of Khun Prakal, the CFC Thailand National Director. I remember that during those two months, I still attended the prayer meetings of our lower and upper households and so I traveled regularly to Manila during weekends and holidays. In fact on 7 April, we held the teachings on financial stewardship and evangelization training at our residence in Quezon City for the members of our household composed of senior officials of the Department of Science and Technology. On 28 April, Jean came to Bangkok for a couple of weeks. The following day, we attended the traditional “mango festival” at the farm residence of Khun Arom. It was there that I gave the teaching on covenant orientation. The following weekend, 5-7 May, the first strategic CLP in Thailand was held at Baan Phu Waan. It was a pivotal event that changed the lives of many members of the community, including us. It was this CLP that led to events that made us stay in Thailand for another two years. Many of you are already familiar with the rest of the story. I invited the Executive Secretary of ESCAP and his wife to the CLP and they attended. The rest is history (see Aquila and Priscilla issues of July and August 2001). I was reluctant to accept a long-term appointment at ESCAP since that would mean relocating to Bangkok. We were concerned about Joel, our multi-handicapped son. After years of living in Jakarta, we wanted to be in Manila to take care of him. But God had other plans. He took Joel from us when we were on pastoral mission to Indonesia and Brunei and removed that one concern that would prevent us from coming to Thailand. We thus interpreted Joel’s death as an indication of God’s desire for us to leave Manila once again and serve in the CFC community in Thailand. Subsequent events proved this to be true. My brothers and sisters, two years have passed since then. The CFC community in Thailand has grown in number and in spiritual maturity. The Family Ministries – YFC, SFC and HOLD – are vibrant and active. And KFC will soon be established. We have established a community in Pattaya. The communities in Tharae, Korat and Ubon are growing. And we have started to organize them better – putting a formal organizational structure in place and keeping records of active members. We have brought into the community couples in mixed marriages. We see the fruit of this effort in the faithfulness, commitment and dedication of Vichai and Tati and Chat and Elsie. An organized system of tithing is now in place. We have paid in full our long outstanding financial obligation to CFC Manila. In fact, we have been able to contribute funds to Gawad Kalinga for the construction of two houses in Payatas. We now have a revitalized music ministry that we can all be proud of. But our most significant accomplishment is organizing and hosting the highly successful First CFC Southeast Asian Regional Conference, which inaugurated CFC’s mission ad gentes. We are grateful to have witnessed how the Holy Spirit has worked powerfully during the past two years in transforming, expanding and strengthening the CFC community in Thailand. But the work is far from completion. We still have to bring CFC to the Korean community in Bangkok. We also need to bring into our community more couples in mixed marriages. There are still so many Catholic Filipinas married to Buddhist Thais that need the spiritual nourishment, which comes only from a personal relationship with Christ. For this purpose, we need to further strengthen the Handmaids of the Lord, that they may be able to convince their husbands to join the community. We need to develop the CFC Thai community in Bangkok and raise Thai leaders who can make the commitment to serve. We should aim to establish a chapter-sized Thai community in Bangkok by the end of this year. This Thai chapter should hold its own monthly assembly and have its own music ministry and family ministries. But most of all, we need to revitalize the National Council, include more Thai members, and renew the council members’ commitment to regular prayer meetings and fellowship. Our brothers and sisters, as we prepare to leave Thailand, we want to make the words of St. Paul as our very own farewell message to you all: I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right that I should think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, you who are all partners with me in grace…And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God (Phil 1:3-7, 9-11). We give thanks to God for bringing us to Thailand and giving us this wonderful opportunity to be part of this community. We hold you dearly in our hearts because you have all become our partners in grace – partners in proclaiming the Good News from the first day we came to Thailand. We will always remember all of you. We will pray constantly that your love for the Lord may increase, that you may grow more and more in knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit, that you may discern what is truly of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. The work ahead of you is formidable and challenging. You cannot do this with only your own resources and abilities. You will need to focus on Jesus and ask for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If you do this and you remain faithful to your covenant, always desiring to do the will of the Father, we are certain that the Holy Spirit will continue and finish the good work that Christ has started in you according to the perfect plan of the Father in heaven. |
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