North B - 1C : My new CFC Home....and the challenges ahead

1^st service meeting with Sta. Lucia Chapter leaders

Just at the end of last month, my wife and I said our goodbyes to our CFC beloved unit household. By the afternoon of the next day, I informally met most of the leaders in North B – 1 C (Sta. Lucia chapter) in a meeting held at the residence of Bro. Buddy and Sis. Virgie Villarey. The Villareys are the chapter leaders of NB – 1C scheduled to be on a prolonged trip to North America to visit their children who now reside there.

God works in the most mysterious ways indeed and His plan had brought me to this chapter to act as chapter head for the next six months.

That first meeting I thought was very productive as I became familiar with the senior leaders, pillars you may say, of the Sta. Lucia chapter as many of them where there from the day it was created.

I had led in prayer and presided over the meeting during this month’s First Friday scheduled chapter assembly. Arriving early, many were I think surprised and a little embarrassed that I had arrived earlier than everyone. Still, I thought it was a very fruitful night as I had now the opportunity to introduce (which I strongly believed) as much needed reforms. Some of these “adjustments”, they were already doing. Such was in the case of organizing a Mass prior to the corporate assembly. The leaders believed that notwithstanding the Holy Mass’ great importance, it wasn’t practical to hold one before the prayer assembly rather encouraged members to attend the parish scheduled and/or CFC sponsored masses at the parish.

The succeeding first meeting I organized and led with the chapter’s CLP team in our residence on the first Saturday of July was equally productive. The CLP was to start the next day and as the acting chapter head, I was asked to give the orientation talk.

Our Christian Life Program (CLP) is well under way

The Christian Life Program (CLP) at Sta. Lucia was held at the old Health Center of the barangay. It was a small, dark room where the air wasn’t well ventilated. But it served its purpose quite well without much cost for the CLP team. The chapter had invested on some equipment such as wall mounted electric fans that were very useful during CLP sessions.

1^st Home visit (Marquez residence)

After the first talk, I had some free time to spend before hearing the 5pm Mass at the Sta. Lucia Parish with my family. So when Bro. Mar and Sis. Myrna Marquez invited me to visit their home, I was fully obliged. This was my first home visit to a member of this chapter.

By Friday, July 11, I had called for an action planning session with various leaders of the chapter. I wanted to share my plans for the remaining months of the year and provide a clear direction as to what activities and thrusts we should focus into.

As in many chapters, a major concern has been the apparent lack of pastoring and spiritual formation for the members. Unfortunately, many new members end up not being guided and cared for by untrained or uncommitted leaders. It continues as a vicious cycle with the entry of new members being handled by the previous set of untrained or uncommitted leaders and the cycle goes on. It no wonder why despite several CLPs conducted in a year, some chapters’ membership continued to decline through the years.

1st Pastoral Prayer Meeting with Chapter Household

I followed the service meeting with my first ever pastoral meeting with members of the chapter household held at the Barros residence. I had expanded the household to include family and other service ministry coordinators for most of the forthcoming meetings. Again, like in many chapters, I had observed the growing alienation of several ministry coordinators from the mainstream CFC community particularly at the chapter level.

As many chapter leaders pointed out during last year’s pastoral congress, ministry coordinators’ presence was wrongly associated with “fund raising tickets” to be sold and seemingly nothing more. As a response, I decided to include the KFC and YFC chapter coordinators into the pastoral meetings of the chapter household. Better integration and coordination between the service ministries and the chapter was a major part of my plan.

Home visit to the Marinas family

After the second CLP talk delivered by Fr. Mike Rabino, I spent my free time while waiting for the 5pm Mass at Sta. Lucia Parish at the residence of the Marinas family.

The more families I get to meet in this chapter, the better appreciation I have for their service, their friendship and the community as a whole. As I very soon found out for myself, there are lots of good families in Sta. Lucia.

1^st Visit to GK Melchora Aquino

The following weekend, I scheduled a visit (my first one) to GK Melchora Aquino, the local depressed area being helped by the chapter. Bro. Terence had forewarned me of certain difficulties with this Gawad Kalinga site. Again, the problems I observed during the visit seem to come from the same source – a general sense of apathy on the part of many beneficiaries.

This indifference is not really exclusive to this GK site. Based on my personal experience as a Kapitbahayan Membership Training (KBMT) sessionaire who has held talks on the value of community organizing and value formation in GK site community development, a major error on the part of the leadership during the early years of GK was the over emphasis on building houses. The pay forward scheme or swat equity arrangements didn’t become very successful as beneficiaries interest to serve waned soon after their own houses were built.

This phenomenon only strengthened my view that Kapitbahayan training, community organizing as well as value formation should have been given equal if not more premium especially during the onset of our work with the poor.

Going through the GK neighborhood

The soft programs of GK like SIBOL, SAGIP, and SIGA (family ministry counterparts of GK) were practically non-existent in Melchora Aquino. Unfortunately, livelihood through TEKTON or OIKOS for environmental projects were also not yet undertaken. I understand only GKare (Health) had some projects that were undertaken for the beneficiaries.

With their houses built, many CLP participants I was informed also became inactive in the community. It was quite obvious that these participants as in other sites were not spiritually mature enough to continue their Christian service even after construction of their houses have been completed.

Refreshments anyone?

I also got to know several good CFC families living in GK Melchora Aquino. However, they were simply too few to sway the general apathy of their community, The lack of ownership by many of these beneficiaries of the GK program courted disaster as in some previous efforts that acted more as dole outs than genuine community development.

Much work is still to be done with our GK beneficiaries

Beneficiaries have to be made to see themselves as partners in this work. More importantly, they have to act as responsible stewards and stakeholders in GK efforts. To do this, the people have to view GK beyond building houses. GK also means peace and order for their locality, cleanliness in heir environment, various programs for their children, health care for their families and possibly even livelihood for themselves and their community. In the core of it all is a strong, organized and united community.

Another good thing I see in this chapter is that it has a separate acting Project Director – Bro Phenchie Mariňas for GK Melchora Aquino who can really focus on major concerns of the site along with its Kapitbayan (KB) leaders. Chapter heads then are “freed” from the nitty gritty day to day activities of the program to give more focus on the pastoral concerns of his chapter.

Catering to this pastoral concerns I believe will be the hallmark of my Christian service in this chapter.

Creek in front of the GK village

A month has passed already…very quickly. Much I felt has been started…but much, much more is yet to be done.

I am very thankful for the support and friendship that I have so far received in Sta. Lucia for the past month. It has given me greater confidence and energy to pursue what I have humbly started to do and face the other challenges ahead.

I thank God for my new service, my new friends, my new brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you Lord, for our new CFC home.