Exposure

God-sent             It was a shady Monday morning. The dark skies, cold breeze and drizzle warned all of the arrival of a heavy storm. Still, we pressed on our journey towards the house-building site in Talanay, located in Batasan Hills. It might not have been the most pleasant of trips or the most conducive of conditions for house-building, given Mother Nature’s scattered mood swings causing murky stubborn earth, however what greeted us seemed to counter these natural forces – a swarm of youthful smiling faces, all radiant with the desire to help out. It was a contagious energy that imbued us then and there.             The house-building activity is a project of Gawad Kalinga (GK) facilitated by Couples for Christ (CFC), supported by sponsors and partners of GK, and primarily manned by members of the Youth for Christ (YFC) along with the residents of Talanay. We were there as volunteers but were welcomed like members of YFC. Our duty was to aid in the building of the houses, which in other words meant to be obedient to the main man carpenter.             A vivacious fifteen-minute song/prayer worship to Lord God within the YFC circle was lead by an equally lively prayer head who sang and played the guitar. It was a prayer of many intentions. More importantly, it was a prayer asking for God’s grace upon the future residents of the built houses and everyone else whole heartedly participating in the Gawad Kalinga project.             Truth is, most of us in our group have never been part of anything like this that the activity made us a bit awkward. Personally, I felt like an idiot singing and dancing in the rain although I thought of no reason for this, since I’m not at all embarrassed of my religion or faith preference. Perhaps it was the naked almost vulnerable feeling of practicing my belief in the open the way El Shaddai devotees do during a public telecast. I could never put my heart on my sleeve when faith is in question, the ultimate reason why I’m supposing I did not pass smoothly like some others through the narrow Judgment Cave back in my Mt. Banahaw experience. Besides, I never did imagine myself taking part of anything like it – eyes closed, hands raised, feet moving to the beat of the song, body swaying while singing passionately. Although this I believe is an option during that time of worship, I was enthralled just the same with the way every YFC member seemed so sincere and sure of themselves as they sang and I smiled in my corner like a donkey. When eventually I felt at ease, I was compelled to sing only to find myself merely clapping to the beat of the song as I’ve been doing since I did not know the lyrics. It was an experience I would never forget and cannot believe I took part of at an age I still consider too young for it. I always thought of getting into it in my late married forties. My group mates and I will definitely remember this first time.             As soon as the worship ended, our task was casually assigned. All members of YFC (that temporarily included us) were asked to fall in line starting from the pile of bricks down the earthen stairs and pass to each other the bricks heading upwards where the carpenters formed the brick pattern on the stairs downwards. Though it seemed like we did minimal work, it became wearisome as time passed.             The clock struck somewhere around 10 AM only an hour and half after our arrival, and it signaled merienda or somewhat like an early lunch. Everybody was asked to take part. Workers, residents, CFC members, and of course YFC members – in an open small area, we gathered and ate our meals while the rain poured. We were served juice in tetra packs, pansit, ensaymada, Spanish bread loaves and rice cake. It was an all-Filipino meal shared by Filipinos. Rain fell down but we were blanketed not with its chill but with the warmth of everyone’s accepting aura. We felt immediately at home with strangers turned friends a mere couple of hours ago.             Brunch was over before we knew it and we were back to work. Most of us returned to our same mechanical work while some, we joked were promoted and assumed the flattening of earth stairs. With sufficient acquired energy, everyone was upbeat and up for the challenge of completing their assigned tasks.             Our group however had to excuse itself while we interviewed the Chapter Couple Heads then the resident whose house Gawad Kalinga had recently half-completed. The former was packed with information regarding Gawad Kalinga and its ongoing activities as the latter touched us with sincere gratefulness to the Lord’s blessing. Indeed Gawad Kalinga is a God sent. God bless its pioneer(s).

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