xmlns:og='http://ogp.me/ns#' The Mid-Week Message: The Spirit of Bayanihan

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Spirit of Bayanihan


November 12, 2013

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Thank you to the many who have asked about my family members in the Philippines, and I am grateful to report that they are doing fine.  I have a cousin on my father’s side who lives with his wife and son in Cavite City, about twenty miles outside Manila.  Except for a few fallen branches, they had virtually no damage from the storm, and their city is resuming life as usual.

My mother’s family is mostly in Calapan City, in the northern part of the island of Mindoro known as Oriental Mindoro.  It is about three hours south of Manila, and much closer to the track of Typhoon Yolanda (which is what Filipinos have been calling Typhoon Haiyan).  I have a number of aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family there, and news from them was less forthcoming over the weekend.  I have since heard that they did not have nearly the strong winds, storm surges, and sheer devastation that those on the eastern seaboard did.  While they were out of power for a good part of the weekend, they have since had electricity restored.  And except for a road that has been destroyed from a landslide in northern Mindoro, life for the people there is slowly returning to normal as well.

There was a time not too long ago that such a horrible natural disaster, and the plight of its victims, would have been unfathomable.  Sadly, the last few decades have given us quite a frame of reference, with one-word labels now etched into our collective memory:  Katrina.  Haiti.  Tsunami.  Joplin.  There are more examples, of course, both regionally and internationally, and the sum effect of such devastation is a temptation of numbed helplessness.    When we see the images of Filipinos combing through debris to find loved ones, and a city of 200,000 people turned to rubbish, we add them to our ever-expanding file of misfortunes for humanity.  We feel like we have seen this before, and we believe that we will see it again.

But at every turn, we have also seen another reality.  It is a sense of courage and camaraderie in the face of calamity, which pulls people together from across the divides to help others in need. 

In Filipino culture, there is a concept called bayanihan (“by-uh-NEE-hun”), which means “community spirit.”  It is literally translated as “being part of a bayan, or “community.”  It originated in the now obsolete practice of gathering people together to relocate a person’s home in the village.  Using crosswise and lengthwise bamboo poles, neighbors would carry the house on their shoulders from one place in the village to another, often with a festive and spirited mood, ending with a party thrown by the homeowner in gratitude for their community’s assistance.  Today, bayanihan is a common feature of Filipino life, encouraging people toward acts of leadership, initiative, volunteerism, and compassion for the sake of others.

I am certain that bayanihan will prevail throughout the Filipino people throughout the long, arduous process of recovery and rebuilding.  But if there is anything that Katrina, Haiti, the tsunami, Joplin, and now Yolanda have taught us, it is that we are all in bayanihan together.  Barriers of nationality, geography, economy, and culture fade to the fringes when we see fellow human beings, members of our global bayan, in need. 

There are many relief organizations already responding, and I am grateful to hear early reports from our own United Methodist Committee on Relief.  UMCOR has been quick to arrive on the scene and coordinate their response with local and national relief organizations.  It has authorized $97,000 of immediate aid to the Philippines, in the form of food, water, and water purification tablets that will help thousands of people in upcoming days.  If you would like to make a contribution, you can do so through their website (www.umcor.org) or through the church.  Make your check payable to St. Paul’s and designate it for “Typhoon Relief.”  One hundred percent of your contribution will go to support those who have been affected.  For more information on the United Methodist Church’s response to the typhoon, click the link below.  [1]

Thank you again for the prayers and concern for members of my family.  I am grateful to report that they are okay.  Now together, let us be the church, in bayanihan with the world.

Grace, Peace, and “Mabuhay!” (which means “Good Life to You”),

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA  51012
Ph:  712-225-3955
Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org

[1]  http://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/Resources/News-Stories/2013/November/1110umcormobilizesdisasterresponseinphilippines


COMMITMENT SUNDAY 
Join us this Sunday for our annual Commitment Sunday celebration, as we give thanks to God for the bright future ahead of us in 2014, and claim that future with our commitments of prayer, presence, gifts, service, and witness.  Please bring your completed Commitment Forms to worship that morning.  


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