89 – Our first Christmas and New Year in the Philippines
Christmas is always a busy period for us in The Salvation Army. A lot of activities are planned for the occasion – carolling, parties, visiting hospitals and Homes for children and elderly. Generally it is reaching out to the people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As leaders in the Philippines we wanted to maximise our time and reach out to as many people as possible in the territory during the festive season.
Thanks to some of our overseas friends, we were able to invite the officers from Territorial Headquarters to our home for dinner – a typical Singaporean cuisine and we finished off with apples (not affordable normally) and also minced pies, the filling my wife’s own concoction. We had sufficient funds provided by our prayer partners to give every officer a book entitled “City Shepherds” written by a missionary pastor working in the Philippines. Christians on mission are all shepherds to the people we seek to serve.
We conducted the Christmas meeting in the one of the Corps in Manila. Two days later we went to the Northern Division and taking advantage of the public holidays for the New Year to visit eight centres. Nicanor Bagasol our THQ employee drove us up to Urdaneta Divisional Headquarters where we were billeted for the first night. At my suggestion he took time off to visit his own friends while I did my own driving.
From there on, my wife and I were on our own going round visiting the various Centres. We wanted to learn how to get around the territory which to me was quite a challenging experience. A couple of days later, on our journey we discovered the car had a flat tyre. I had to change the tyre myself. There was no way to contact Nic as telephones were rare in those days let alone mobile phones as we know it today. Even in Manila our Chief Secretary did not have a telephone in the quarters although The Army had made application for one years ago.
One of the places visited was Santa Anna on the last Sunday of the year. Two single women officers were stationed in this church and community centre. There I learned a new skill - drawing water from the well. In order to help these ladies I volunteered to draw water for them. To my mind it was a simple matter – just pump the gadget above the covered well. I tried several times, but no water came through the tap. Captain Florida Oalang had to come to my rescue. She smiled and said to me, “Colonel, look at that bucket of water near the pump; you need to pour some water into the pump first.” What I had to do was something new - to prime the pump! In life we are always on the learning curve. Mutual sharing is beneficial. You see, for city dwellers like me I had to learn a new skill. A leader has a lot to learn from those he leads! There were many more lessons I had to learn from these gentle patient Filipinos.
All through the years The Salvation Army had installed many of these pumps in the villages to benefit the community. Funds for these had come from overseas territories. It was part of our caring ministry to the community.
What a great time we had that day in Santa Anna. Five junior soldiers and two senior soldiers were enrolled and eleven recruits accepted during the Sunday morning Holiness meeting. As usual at the close of the meeting the Mercy Seat was lined with seekers.
A United Women’s Rally was held on New Year’s Eve at Urdaneta Corps. More than 200 women took part. One of the highlights was ingathering of the Territorial Home League Helping Hand for the Army’s work in Bangladesh. The Corps representatives were dressed in the costumes of different countries as they brought in their contribution and presented to my wife the Territorial President. The ladies loved dressing up and it was a most enjoyable time for all who attended.
Our next stop was Asingan Corps where we had a youth rally. The building was quite new then. From there we moved to a small Corps at Piaz where the comrades did not get too many visitors. We decided to stay the night at the quarters with the two single women officers. It was an old building in a dilapidated state. We had to climb up a ladder to get to the quarters above to stay for the night. Toilet facilities were outside the building. It was good to share fellowship with these two ladies.
We did the meeting at Alcala Corps on the first Sunday of the New Year. This corps was on the verge of closing down until new officers were appointed. They were in good spirits and set their mind to work to revive the Corps. In the Holiness meeting we had the privilege of dedicating their baby daughter and also enrolled a new soldier. This man had been in the military for about 25 years and served overseas for 14 years. At the time of our visit he was already retired and served as the barangay (village) secretary. He gave a wonderful testimony and pledged to spend the rest of his life as a faithful Salvationist serving the Lord in his home village. At the end of the meeting there were seekers among them the barangay captain.
It was a long and tiring week for us that first Christmas and New Year in the Philippines and we gave thanks to God for the privilege that was ours in serving the people of the territory.
Nic and his family joined us on our journey back to Manila. I was glad of his support. Throughout the three years, I never once had to pump petrol or wash the car. Nic did everything to keep it in tip top condition. When we had to travel out of Manila, we would drive to the airport, park the car and Nic would pick it up later to leave it at Headquarters. When we returned from our trips he would always be there to meet us. Faithful Nic was always there for us when we needed him. We thank God for him and his wife Connie who served as a secretary at the Finance Department. Such faithful and loyal Salvationist employees keep the Army work going smoothly through the years.
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