The Government and Church of the Streets

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid…(Mark 10:32)

            I met the new Consul General of Hong Kong last Saturday morning.  It was an ordinary meeting between two ordinary people.  The conversation though was far from ordinary.  I was pleasantly surprised at how the new Consul General warmed up to the idea of how important the streets of Hong Kong are for OFWs.  He talked about his work with OFWs in Abu Dhabi.  He shared about how important it is for an Embassy or Consulate to reach out to as many Filipinos living in the host country.  OFWs are fond of associating themselves.  There are several registered Filipino organizations in Hong Kong but there are also several that are not.  Congen Noel foresees a rather busy schedule of reaching out not only to the registered, but to the unregistered as well.

            On Sundays and other off days, Filipinos in Hong Kong are either in specific shelters or somewhere in the many streets, corridors, fast food outlets, parks, etc. of Hong Kong.  While visiting shelters may be simpler than walking around all the places where Filipinos congregate, the latter are no less important than the former.  The streets are ordinary and seemingly ordinary people stay in the streets but what is not seen are the many not too ordinary experiences and situations that take place in them. It was through the advocacy of street evangelization or bringing the good news directly to people wherever they are that I met many unique and important sectors or sub-groups of OFWs in Hong Kong.  Walking through the streets of Hong Kong led me to the first group of cancer survivors that eventually grew into Buhay Ka, a vibrant organization that reaches out to and cares for the sick, especially cancer survivors in Hong Kong.

            Reach out is  very personal. It involves going out to meet individual persons or small groups.  While I did not walk around with a portable PA system and stand at street corners to preach, I nonetheless went around relating and listening to those I meet.  Rather than stand and be the center of attention, I would sit and listen.  I realized how simply listening was already an act of evangelizing (bringing the gospel of Jesus to others).  From my many running advocacies (Patakbotakbo), I slowly learned the art of listening in the streets of Hong Kong (Paupoupo).  Thus was also born a small group of OFWs which called themselves “Lakbay Lingap.” Lakbay Lingap simply went around on a Sunday to sit with OFWs to simply listen and get to know them. The listening of course eventually became two-way.  Gradually, the small group gained more and more friends Sunday after Sunday.  The members of the group would meet before and after an hour or so of walking and talking to different  groups and individuals.  The stories were rich and most challenging.  There was a lot of life and from the eyes of faith, a lot of grace in the streets of Hong Kong.  I was not only evangelizing, I and members of Lakbay Dangal were being evangelized as well.

            It is no coincidence that my first meeting with Consul General Noel Sevigon was not in his office at the United Center in Admiralty but in the wide open space of  Chater Garden.  He was talking to members of  Jehovah’s Witnesses when I approached him.  It did not take long to warm up to Congen Noel.  In fact, seeing a Consul General of the Philippines in Chater Garden made an otherwise cold winter morning rather warm.  We started talking about the importance of the streets and outreach programs.  He told me how interested he is in the concept of the Church of the Streets.  I forgot to mention to him how interested I am as well in the Government of the Streets.  An initial insight and impression stayed with me since that meeting with Congen Noel.  Aside from the Church of the Streets, there is also the Government of the Streets.  I am glad to see not only an ordinary Consulate officer in the streets of Hong Kong.  No less than the Consul General of the Philippines in Hong Kong walks the streets of Hong Kong.  Thank you Congen Noel for the warm encounter last Saturday.

            Thank you for the willingness to be part of the Church and Government of the Streets.

Buhay Ka, Struggles in Mortality, Glimpses of Eternity

        When I surfed the web in search of the meaning of the lotus flower in Buddhist and Hindu tradition, the following description came up:

The lotus rises through the murky waters of ponds and lakes yet, when it blooms, it floats upon the surface, its petals shining and untainted by the mud from which it emerged.  In the scriptural language and sacred poetry of Hinduism and Buddhism, the lotus perfectly embodies the soul, rising up through the murkiness of worldly experience until it reaches the surface of the spiritual realm and blooms, vibrant and pure, free from all taint and attachment.

        The lotus is the symbol chosen by Buhay Ka, a Hong Kong cancer support group that has done volunteer work for more than four years.  Today, a little book of less than two hundred pages will be launched at the Sacred Heart School of the Canossian Sisters on Caine Road.  When I was looking for a book title, I thought of the volunteer work that several OFWs, mostly women have done in the arena of cancer prevention and providing healing support for those suffering from the disease.  The memories were vibrant with the laughter, tears and the countless speechless gaps of time spent with friends who have struggled to confront the most fundamental issue of their mortality.  Their struggle most dramatically highlighted the “mud of life” or the inevitable struggle to find meaning and hope in situations of fear and crushing despair.  The cancer survivors courageously played out the drama of mortality before those who are well who tend to overlook and deny the reality of everyone’s mortality.  Amidst the ups and downs of hope and despair, many doggedly held on to whatever is a source of light and comfort.  Most of the survivors have learned to face the darkest of fears and descended into the depths of uncertainty.  But they always returned to the surface to breathe and gaze at the dazzling sun.  Their struggle with mortality does not crush but trains the spirit to seek the way towards the light.  Mortality does not fall apart into nothingness but gradually opens up into the light.  It is not an easy journey.  It is treacherous, in many ways similar to scaling a steep mountain surrounded by ravines where no one survives a fall.  But both survivors and their friends learn to climb.  They are the lotus flowers growing out of the Hong Kong mud.

This is Buhay Ka, the story of their Struggles in Mortality and their Glimpses of Eternity.