Katig

There I was on an outrigger boat to Masbate, marvelling at the pristine waters, the clear blue skies and cloud formations, and the breathtaking islands.   This was my much needed quiet time, heart almost near bursting as I recalled how the world recognized the humble but heroic work that is GK during the 2012 Skoll World Forum.   It felt like a walk through history and into the future, an almost 12 year journey of faithfulness, seeing God’s hand moving throughout my own personal history, the history of GK and our nation – all so intimately intertwined in His grand plan.

As I was pondering and searching my heart, I found myself strangely attracted to the outrigger, more worn out than the rest of the boat, weary from the non-stop onslaught of the big waves as we traversed for almost three hours.

“Maging katig.”

It is the answer to two questions I’ve been asking lately – how did we get here, and what will continue to propel our work forward?

It is the call to be an outrigger - not to be the engine to steer or control where to go, but to simply be that source of balance and stability.  And what I have seen and witnessed since that fateful day en route to Masbate have only affirmed what the Lord has been trying to say.

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In rough seas, it is the outrigger that gets a beating from the waves, but that is essential to keep the boat afloat.  “Maging katig” means finding purpose in sacrifice. 

Last week, I met Ate Inday Losenada, one of our inspiring community organizers for our Bayanihan Village in Iligan.   I was there for the turnover of homes for the Sendong victims and I witnessed a different kind of exodus as families began walking towards the new village, their children in hand and carrying whatever little possessions they had left or had collected in the evacuation centers.        
                                                   

It was Ate Inday’s birthday, and if one didn’t know any better, you would think that she was one of the beneficiaries because tears were just flooding her face as we talked to one family after another to find out how they felt about their new home.  I especially loved watching the children, holding hands with a parent and asking, “Kani na atong balay?” (Is this our home now?)  And without any words you could sense the amazement and gratitude after the loss and devastation they had experienced and the hardships of the past five months living in crowded evacuation centers.

But my favourite moments were when the family said sorry and thank you to Ate Inday – for the difficulties that our community organizers had to face when we were starting the values formation for the Sendong victims.  There were times when they were locked out of centers, asked to leave, shouted at, had arguments with – you name it – our organizers were faced with the most raucous set of unbelievers. 

But Ate Inday and her team remain unfazed because they could see the same anger and pain that they themselves had gone through as fire victims.  Before Ate Inday became a proud GK resident of GK Missionville, she was a fire victim who lost everything.  “Akala ko noon, hindi na maibabalik lahat ng nawala sa akin.  Pero sobra sobra pa yung binigay ng GK.  Di lang ako nagka-bahay.  Nagkaroon ng halaga ang aking buhay kasi nakakatulong pa ako sa iba.”  (I thought I could never get back what I had lost.  But GK gave me so much more.  I didn’t just get a house, I discovered that my life has value because it is spent serving others.)

Like her and so many others, every GK hero has a story worth telling, because our lives are emptied out serving others.  At point of breaking, when we face failure or heartbreak, we simply renew our commitment to hope.  We are this world's wounded healers – GK allows us to transform our pain into powerful instruments of healing.

Ate Inday with proud new GK homeowners :)  Best birthday gift for our valiant community organizer!

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An outrigger is a boat’s constant.  In calm waters or rough seas, the outrigger is always the balancing force to make sure the boat does not tip over.  “Maging katig” means being in a constant state of mission. 

One of my biggest sources of inspiration lately is the team that I belong to – the IT team.  It may seem a little odd to many given that what the team does is mostly within the GK Headquarters and they are hardly on-ground unlike the other teams in GK.   Thankfully, being a GK fulltime worker is less about the work that is assigned to us and more about the posture of our heart.  Yes, on-ground work is much more challenging and exciting, but the call is just as true, the urgency is just as real and the work is just as important in the office as it is in our communities.

Being in a constant state of mission means we must go beyond comfort zones and seek the greatest adventure – to be in the service of others.  And not just seek our own freedom and happiness but to work tirelessly until the majority who are poor can also live free and pursue their own happiness.

This team carries around an infectious joy as they do their work, and never complains when asked to do overtime or weekend work.  And when we plan for systems, manuals or processes, they do it with an understanding of our mission to be a support structure for GK’s backbone of heroes.  And more than just a team, we operate as a small family unit that's connected to the larger global family of GK.  And we take the word "family" very seriously.

Joseph's home razed down by a fire

I was in Iligan last week with IT co-servant Jersey Miranda trying to understand our reconstruction work and brainstorming on how to refine our systems and processes for Sendong.  Little did we know that while we were on the plane, the homes of over 200 families were being razed down by a fire, including those of his relatives, one of whom works in the IT team with us, Joseph.  As soon as we landed, he started getting the frantic calls.


I knew he wanted to be there for his family and I told him he could go home, but I honor him for deciding to complete the mission we set out to do while also attending to family matters remotely.  I saw him tear up when we turned over the homes to the Sendong victims, and he told me he couldn't help but think of his family back home.  But what was heartwarming and gave him comfort was knowing that while we were on mission, our GK family quickly got to work, responding to Joseph’s needs by immediately helping in their own way – giving clothes, money or offering their friendship and presence.  Joseph's family now lives in an evacuation center & it will be a long journey to recovery, but we are all committed to handhold and see them through this difficult time.

I often need to leave family behind when I go on mission, and everytime I do, I entrust my most precious ones to God and to our GK family.  I carry in my heart the confidence that God can take care of them better than I ever can, and that my GK family are my extended hands and feet in case Manny or our children ever need anything.

This is what it means to be a "katig" -- living out our mission of caring and sharing not just in our communities but in our very own families and homes.  It is the same spirit that I experienced when I was assigned to Mindanao, when I became part of the PMG family -- I know that I belong to an army of missionaries and I find that I have family wherever I go.  And when we say "walang iwanan," it's a sacred commitment we make not just to the GK communities we care for but also to one another.  More than just a tagline, it is our way of life..

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The outrigger is the most worn out, unappreciated part of the boat and it is almost always tested to the point of breaking.  “Maging katig” means loving without counting the cost.

A few years ago, our community organizers from GK Molave were put in prison when recalcitrant families in their community filed charges against them.  I remember thinking at that time how serious the work of GK was becoming, and how we were dismantling age old corrupt practices and syndicates and the cost to our workers as we pursued the mission of liberating the poor from these unjust structures.  With the help of partners , they were eventually released and surprisingly, they continued to conduct values formation for the community.

This year, after three years of difficult and committed work, we heard from them again as sharers during the Leaders Conference.  As they were planning on what homes to construct, these amazingly heroic families and GK residents were actually thinking of how to accommodate the very same recalcitrant families who put their leaders in jail a few years ago.

And for those who question the power of caring and sharing, GK Molave is a testament of the human heart’s capacity to forgive and to love.  When GK families experience unconditional love from caretakers, we unleash a power and greatness within them and we never know what kind of ripple effects it will generate.

This is GK’s brand of sacrificial, selfless love that I have witnessed throughout my journey.  It is a love that is transcendent, never counting the cost, never asking for anything in return.  It is the purest kind of love and the most genuine act of generosity given in a constant and consistent way – and it is what is sweeping throughout the country and the world. 

It reminds me of a wise saying by Hafiz of Persia

“Even after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
'You owe me.'
Look what happens with
A love like that.
It lights the whole sky.” 

Rainbow in Tinago Falls

In communities that have only known darkness, a GK caretaker’s heart brings a ray of light – a candle that burns bright and eventually becomes the transforming flame.   This is our deepest calling – to be a caretaker to one another, to be the outrigger so that we can safely bring every family across the ocean tempest to the peaceful shore where they can rebuild their lives.  

I was recently in Tinago Falls of Iligan, and we witnessed the formation of a rainbow right where the majestic waterfalls were.  I knew in my heart it was the Lord's way of affirming us that we will never again see the devastation of Sendong in Iligan, because we are now building sturdy homes for the poor.  We renew our commitment to be the Lord’s instruments in making that promise a reality.  May God grant us the grace to be faithful.