Holy Love in the Philippines, Feeding the Poor

Partaking the Passion and Death of Christ through Service to the Poor     Day 2     By Bryan Mattilano

Holy Friday marked the 2^nd day of the feeding operations. In God’s Grace, the typhoon that was threatening Eastern Visayas went to the northern part of the Philippines and weakened.

Early in the morning, my family prepared the menu composed of chocolate porridge, hard-boiled egg, milk and chocolate bars. My father suggested the menu since Holy Friday in the Philippines, we would usually prepare something sweet to incite fasting and abstinence.

Children were taught by my Nanay, Lucila, to say graces before meals as some of the BHWs look over the children, ready for the distribution of the meals.

Some of the cute kids were eager to partake the meals as they were prepared with their utensils. Some of them came from the outskirts of San Jose along the foot of the mountains and far flung rice fields.

We owe the success of these operations to our Barangay Health Workers (BHW). These awesome ladies were untiring in gathering all the kids and the upkeep of the proceedings.

 

 

Holy Love in the Philippines

As we enter into the weekend, please consider how selfless servants in developing countries spend their Holy Week, and may we learn from them as we read the words of Filipino volunteer, Bryan Mattilano,

” Compassionate Reach International , together with my family and the Barangay [Village] Health Workers (BHW), initiated feeding operations in our barangay beginning] Holy Thursday.

As Christ dined with His apostles to initiate the Eucharist, we may also share His Body and Blood as we serve the least of our brethren with compassion, especially those who are victims of calamities.”

Thursday: Supper of Salvation

Day 1 “There were 192 identified malnourished children in the barangay, and 163 of them participated in the feeding program. All the children were weighed and the height was measured. The MUAC strip (Mid Upper Arm Circumference) was also used to determine how malnourished each child is.

The menu was composed of rice, chicken adobo, egg, vegetables, and hot milk.

The Barangay Health Workers (BHW) identified each of the malnourished children in every purok (sections of the barangay), getting the weight, height and the MUAC measurements, for the locations of the feeding, and follow-up home visitations.

From 163 respondents, 103 of them (63%) are already at risk for becoming malnourished, while 38 children (23%), were identified as malnourished. Only 22 children, (less than 13%) were in normal ranges for nutritional adequacy.

This malnutrition is due to scarcity of resources: sufficient food, water, sanitation, and hygiene, brought about by the devastation of Super-typhoon Yolanda, in November of 2014.

San Jose, Dulag, Philippines 1/2014

The super-typhoon also destroyed the local crops, rerouted water sources, killed coconut trees, and negatively affected the landscape and other resources in this fishing and farming community.

The feeding operation was just on time with the Holy Thursday as Christ dines with His apostles to initiate the Eucharist.

May we also share His Body and Blood as we serve the least of our brethren with compassion, especially those who are victims of calamities.

More than anybody who are most vulnerable are the children…. ” 

PLEASE NOTE:   Filipino volunteer Bryan Mattilano, is a professor at the University in Tacloban.

Bryan grew up in San Jose, and his parents and family still reside in the village (barangay). San Jose is a 40 minute commute by jeepney or other public transportation from Tacloban. This work of great love and compassion, is done by Bryan, his family, and other volunteers, without pay, and during their “vacation” times.

Bryan and Chp. Jamie – January of 2014, providing trauma support for the local population, and trauma training for the teachers of the elementary school.

Please consider becoming a sponsor of the feeding initiative in San Jose so we can continue to help rebuild lives, while caring for the least of these.

Compassionate Reach is a volunteer organization.  100% of donations go towards helping the poor, needy, and traumatized victims of disasters.

For more information email:  jamie@compassionatereach.org  and go to our website.

Thank you on behalf of San Jose and the volunteers of Compassionate Reach International. 

Contact us to find out how you can train as trauma chaplains, and/ or volunteer for mission outreach and disaster response, with Compassionate Reach International.

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The Face of Jesus in the Philippines; Holy Love

As we enter into the weekend, please consider how selfless servants in developing countries spend their Holy Week, and may we learn from them as we read the words of Filipino volunteer, Bryan Mattilano,

” Compassionate Reach International , together with my family and the Barangay [Village] Health Workers (BHW), initiated feeding operations in our barangay beginning] Holy Thursday.

As Christ dined with His apostles to initiate the Eucharist, we may also share His Body and Blood as we serve the least of our brethren with compassion, especially those who are victims of calamities.”

Thursday: Supper of Salvation

Day 1 “There were 192 identified malnourished children in the barangay, and 163 of them participated in the feeding program. All the children were weighed and the height was measured. The MUAC strip (Mid Upper Arm Circumference) was also used to determine how malnourished each child is.

The menu was composed of rice, chicken adobo, egg, vegetables, and hot milk.

The Barangay Health Workers (BHW) identified each of the malnourished children in every purok (sections of the barangay), getting the weight, height and the MUAC measurements, for the locations of the feeding, and follow-up home visitations.

From 163 respondents, 103 of them (63%) are already at risk for becoming malnourished, while 38 children (23%), were identified as malnourished. Only 22 children, (less than 13%) were in normal ranges for nutritional adequacy.

This malnutrition is due to scarcity of resources: sufficient food, water, sanitation, and hygiene, brought about by the devastation of Super-typhoon Yolanda, in November of 2014.

San Jose, Dulag, Philippines 1/2014

The super-typhoon also destroyed the local crops, rerouted water sources, killed coconut trees, and negatively affected the landscape and other resources in this fishing and farming community.

The feeding operation was just on time with the Holy Thursday as Christ dines with His apostles to initiate the Eucharist.

May we also share His Body and Blood as we serve the least of our brethren with compassion, especially those who are victims of calamities.

More than anybody who are most vulnerable are the children…. ” 

PLEASE NOTE:   Filipino volunteer Bryan Mattilano, is a professor at the University in Tacloban.

Bryan grew up in San Jose, and his parents and family still reside in the village (barangay). San Jose is a 40 minute commute by jeepney or other public transportation from Tacloban. This work of great love and compassion, is done by Bryan, his family, and other volunteers, without pay, and during their “vacation” times.

Bryan and Chp. Jamie – January of 2014, providing trauma support for the local population, and trauma training for the teachers of the elementary school.

Please consider becoming a sponsor of the feeding initiative in San Jose so we can continue to help rebuild lives, while caring for the least of these.

Compassionate Reach is a volunteer organization.  100% of donations go towards helping the poor, needy, and traumatized victims of disasters.

For more information email:  jamie@compassionatereach.org  and go to our website.

Thank you on behalf of San Jose and the volunteers of Compassionate Reach International. 

Contact us to find out how you can train as trauma chaplains, and/ or volunteer for mission outreach and disaster response, with Compassionate Reach International.

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Website

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When the Sky Falls Pt. 1

Theodicy. The aspect of theology concerned with how to reconcile a good God with the problem of evil and suffering.

My heart breaks for all the family and friends who said goodbye to loved ones during the recent rash of tornadoes. For the mom of eight children, who is now a widow with six children. The unimaginable has happened and three caskets were lined up for final good-byes.

The husband who lived, but his bride who will no longer greet him in the morning with a cup of coffee and a smile.

For the mother who received a farewell text from her son before the tornado hit.

For the missing daughters in Nigeria while mothers and fathers weep in agony while they wait for help, or news of their beautiful daughters.

For the hundreds of Korean families who won’t get to see their children graduate, or marry, or have children of their own.

Or cancer, car accidents, suicide, old age, crippling disease, kidnapping, human trafficking, gendercide, infant loss, miscarriage, birth defects, TBI’s, war, famine, etc…

Far too challenging a task to post in one blog; theologians have wrestled with this since the beginning of time. Job’s friends had plenty of ideas. The unfortunate thing is that they voiced them, as happens all too often within religious circles. It works like this – if evil and suffering is a real problem, and I am uncomfortable with the notion of a God that allows evil and suffering, I will do one of  several things – First, I will become a prosperity gospel, word of faith kind of person (been there, done that) and turn my eyes away from the real problem of suffering, believing that if I have enough “faith” only good will follow me. Or,  I will become agnostic or atheist so bad things are all just part of the evolutionary and scientific cycle and God is just a fictional cosmic character for weak-minded people who need to find an answer to suffering. Or maybe I will just overall ignore the problem and it will go away, bury it deep, even my own suffering.

There is a third alternative and one that we really need to address – we will start talking about suffering in the church. We will start educating people about suffering and evil and pain, and how to address it and help others. Oh, I know it is happening in many healthy churches, but it is not the larger part of evangelical circles. Suffering often equates with mental health as well, and we more often than not skirt mental health issues. Grief, loss, trauma – all the thing the people are experiencing in their losses are part of mental health, often leading into physical health challenges. It’s messy, it’s ugly, it’s difficult to define or be around. It makes us uncomfortable. We don’t mind addressing physical ailments, but not the mental health. And not the trauma or suffering that may have caused the physical or mental anguish.

Most of us go on about our daily lives and don’t stop to think about the intense amount of sadness going on in the world. We can’t dwell on it or it becomes an issue of our own mental health. But we need to address it. We need to think about it. It is our next door neighbor, our family member, our co-worker – it is not happening “over there” it is happening every day right here. And how we address it is the foundation of how we love others as Christ does. It is the foundation of compassion.

You can’t reflect the love of Christ to someone who is in pain, if you are afraid of their pain.

I keep going back to 2 Cor. 4:8-10  “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us,  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in [us].”                

We all need a theology of suffering in our lives – a theodicy to stay as bright lights shining to others when the sky falls. We need to be able to stand strong amid the darkness of agony and reflect hope, even when we don’t have the answers – especially when we don’t have the answers.

 We don’t have all the answers, but we have the God who IS the answer.    

Next blog,  I’ll post some recommended reading, video, and scripture texts for personal study.                                                         

Where was God in Oklahoma?

A few years ago I was told about a conversation that transpired between an individual who had lost a loved one on September 11th, and my chaplain friend who spoke to him. The conversation centered   around where was God on September 11th, and where is He when bad things and devastating events like hurricanes and tornadoes occur. Whenever I hear that statement I am reminded of my father’s frequently used comment, “There weren’t any atheists in the foxhole,” in reference to his time in the trenches of World War II. My father was not a particularly spiritual person when I was growing up so I never quite understood what he was referring to until recent years, when I starting doing crisis and disaster work.

No matter what a person’s spiritual state may be, when confronted with horrific life threatening events the questions of God almost always arise. It is why I love doing what I do, and why I wince when I hear of  organizations that go in to a situation with the main goal of enlarging their religious entity or belief system. I am a Jesus lover – through and through – but when I go in to help hurting people, it is with the hope that they will see and feel the love of Jesus in and through my compassionate acts, and nothing else  – love for loves sake and nothing else. 

So, where is God in all of this? Where is Jesus? A lot of opinions get thrown around at times like this and with them poor examples of the faith I hold dear. Some people feel the need to force God into natural events and man made disasters for answers. We live in a fallen world- we live in a world full of scientific mysteries and wonders – things happen – weather happens – bad things happen.

In the Hebrew scriptures in the book of I Kings, Chapter 11, verses 11 to 12, the Lord spoke to a traumatized Prophet Elijah who had been hiding in a cave after the slaughter of many… It went like this:

^“Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.”

Where was God in the tornado? He wasn’t in the damaging winds, or the flooding waters of Sandy, or the ripping Tsunami in Japan, or the bombings, or shootings, or earthquakes, or gas chambers, or any other devastating event; God is in the gentle whisper. He is in the rescue workers who tire endlessly to find survivors, in the people running shelters and feeding sites – He is in the neighbors who pull together, the teachers who hovered over children to protect them, the people who travel from near and far to cut trees and sift through debris, the nurses and doctors who work tirelessly, the chaplain and pastors who comfort and clothe… Hopefully God will be seen in me.

God is in the still small voice that says, “I love you, and I will be with you through every breath you take calling you to myself. Beloved, I am here, see me.”  That is where God was. That is where God always is.

Note: More on the trauma of the prophet Elijah can be found at my other blog:

http://hesedhappenings.blogspot.com/2010/02/voice-of-god-frienship-evangelism-in.html