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by Yoly Tumangan Tubalinal.
September 16, 2011
Spending our Labor Day weekend in the middle of nowhere wasn’t something Bart and I would consider extraordinary. To start with, we had to work with a crazy direction I hurriedly pulled out of the internet which we took with us without bothering to check first. We drove some 70 to 80 miles until we couldn’t go any farther because the directions no longer made sense.
We stopped at a convenience store hoping we could find someone who could tell us how to get to our destination. But without knowing exactly the name of the camp we were going to, we were out of luck. At first we thought we were lucky to find a woman working for USPS, who tried her best and spent quite a while figuring it out and asking other people for directions. Her enthusiasm didn’t help much and she ended up saying “Sorry, I wish I could be of more help…”
Just when we were about to give up, a young man came in to buy something and overheard our conversation about a camping ground owned by a church. “Are you going to the Bible Witness Camp?” he asked.
That young man was God-sent. Not only did he know about the camp, he also knew exactly how to get there and gave us the perfect directions. We were there in less than 10 minutes.
Though buried in acres of cornfields, the Bible Witness Camp didn’t look too detached from the world or too shabby for our purpose. There were small and bigger cottages wrapped by tall trees in the adjacent forest. The gym, which served as our meeting room and church, was clean and well equipped. But nothing could beat the kitchen, Bro. Mario’s favorite, with all the gadgets to make cooking and dishwashing most convenient even with a hundred hungry mouths waiting to be fed.
I won’t write about this experience like it was the most ideal and spiritually enriching retreat one can ever imagine because it wasn’t exactly like that. Overall, our 3-day retreat was 40% spiritual renewal and 60% camaraderie and fostering or strengthening relationships with fellow church members. But it was this interesting mix of mundane activities such as the light conversations, karaoke singing, eating, passing the time, quiet time with God and sharing the Word that gave Bart and me a stronger sense of belonging, a realization that indeed, this is where we belong… in this church… and with these people.
On Sunday evening, September 4th, our last night at the camp, we gathered around a bonfire – the young and the not so young IPJM members. Sister Bless Domingo went ahead with her plan of having me give a brief talk, primarily addressed to the youth. She got the idea when I told her we had to give our youth a stronger sense of direction and motivate them to aspire for excellence and to dream big. I reiterated to her the need for our church to provide a more holistic approach to our youth. She was thrilled at the prospects of moving our ministry to this new direction.
There was a meaningful and sincere sharing of ideas that evening. And while others might have stopped there, I didn’t. My mind continued to process the infinite possibilities of shaping young minds and making a difference in as many people’s lives as possible. It was as if my “Energizer bunny” had been turned on and it just kept going and going but who knows for how long?
Sunday, September 5th, after our service that morning, we had a one-on- one session with Pastora Luchie and then, with Pastor Armand. Pastora Luchie’s words were an affirmation of what many people had already told me and Bart only this time, with reinforcement from the Scripture. She and Pastor Armand reiterated the role they believed Bart and I could play in spreading the Word, etc. given our position in the community. They opened our eyes to the tasks that lay before us like they had never done before.
Back in Buffalo Grove that evening, I reflected on what had transpired at the camp. I thought about why people perceive us in a certain kind of way and the reality of what we are. I didn’t want to be presumptuous nor do I want to be moved by a false impression, least of all, by any feeling of self importance. I searched my soul and prayed for guidance, for divine wisdom, that I be led not to a path I do not deserve to tread but to the way of truth. I looked for answers to my endless queries and found them in the Scripture.
Romans 12:4-8 says, Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
All Christians collectively form the body of Christ. The body is formed of many different parts (Romans 12:4-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27). All are important. It does not matter what part of the body you are. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it (1 Corinthians 12:22-24).
Hallelujah! To God be the glory!