​These words from Pope Francis remained in our hearts and fueled us as we were sent to the different places to share to the people the grace of this extraordinary month of mission with the theme: "Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World". The community here in Cebu have decided as one family to go to Bohol, Boljoon, Olango and Toledo on what we normally call a 'missionary journey'. It has been a long time since we had our last missionary journey here in Cebu and I can sense a feeling of excitement from the disciples who volunteered to share their love and life to their chosen places of mission.
 
This experience that I am about to share is from the team of disciples who went to Bohol. It's quite exciting because we have teamed up with the people from our existing apostolate in Bohol. To start with, we went there on October 19 and 20. We had two venues to give recollections. One is in the humble Sto. Nino chapel near the residence of one of the attendees in Bohol apostolate in Dauis, Panglao and the other is in ACE hospital located in Tagbilaran City. There were 18 coming from Cebu who joined the missionary journey while there were 30-40 participants from both venues.
 
The first day was quite challenging as we started late from the planned schedule yet the recollection started and ended very well. It started with a welcome talk given by one of our disciples in singles reality, Joanna Uy, followed by the talk about God the Father, by Kim Travero, a member of the youth reality. Participants were immersed as they read the letter of God the Father and as they listened to a heartwarming testimony from one of the youth reality, Kent Artajo. In the afternoon, the lives of the saints were also presented by Sue Vergara, KD Artajo, Restie Oripaypay and Joseph Micutuan, showing how the saints have lived their lives as concrete examples of people living their identity as baptized. It was then followed by a talk about mission given by one of our disciples from the couples reality, Sarah Artajo. There were dynamics given in which they were asked to identify their mission in life in the different places they have chosen. It ended with a general sharing and the team rested with contentment as we prepare for the next day.
 
The location of our second recollection was the conference room in a hospital. We were also quite excited and privileged to have Sr. Antonieta Vargas, the General responsible of the misioneras branch, who joined us throughout the day. The same flow of activities happened with a few twists. The welcome talk was given by Sarah Artajo and followed by the talk about God the Father from Tonette Yncierto. We had a group sharing, dividing the teens, singles and married couples. In the afternoon, a booth of the saints was done facilitated by the team and a testimony on how your work place can be your mission field given by one of our disciples in singles reality, Jane Jacel and the talk on mission was given by Joann Gustilo. The recollection ended with a celebration of the Eucharist and a photo opportunity from all the team and participants.
 
Thanks be to God for giving us the gift of the charism of Verbum Dei which allowed us to share the life of God through our own very lives. May Mother Mary continue to capacitate us and enable us to always go forth and make disciples of all nations. To end this, let me share an excerpt from Pope Francis's message for World Mission Sunday:
 
"As far as God’s love is concerned, no one is useless or insignificant. Each of us is a mission to the world, for each of us is the fruit of God’s love."

Here are some photos of the event:

Being one with the whole Catholic church as we celebrated World Mission Sunday, a group of Verbum Dei Missionaries and Disciples of Cebu were also sent out to Matab-ang, Toledo Cebu to live out the call of God though our World Mission Sunday theme: "Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ on Mission in the World." 
  
It's out of God's mercy when one is called to participate in the mission but it's an even more overwhelming mercy of God when you are called to participate in the mission together with your family. 
  
I would have wanted to leave our kids to my husband's parents here in the city for us to focus more on the recollection. 
However, the Holy Spirit blew differently to my husband Richard. He told me: "Since we are in charge of the music, we will bring the kids with us. Let Ate Lex sing and Zaki our 5 year old son to play the beatbox.” My heart was full seeing my 2 boys giving their lives for God through music. It was indeed a family missionary journey for us because my Mom Tessie also gave a testimony about her experience of God the Father! 
  
What truly marked my experience is that the call of God is not for us to do the mission alone but as a family. Who would have thought I will be giving a recollection together with my whole family? God is amazing! 
  
There were also other families there who shared their lives: 
  

1. Thanks to the family of Patrick, Debbie Boone, Debbie Green and Debbie Mae Tesorio who arranged the place of the recollection. They were so generous to welcome us with a bountiful lunch and a supper yummy biko dessert 
2. To the family of Kris & Elena Ty which was also complete. Kris gave the talk of God the Father and Elena spearheaded the Rosary of the Word. 
3. To the Family of Joy and Lilibeth Romero who sponsored the rosaries that we gave out as souvenirs. Though they were not physically present in Toledo but they brought roughly around 40 people as participants who completed our 138 recollection participants. 
4. And lastly thanks to the family Verbum Dei Missionaries and Disciples who gave out their lives, time, spirit and joy that day:  

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• Aida Carpela who gave the Mission Talk 
• Cynthia Tinoko, Bebot Caballero, Beth Sawal and Mars Pacita - who were in charge of the registration 
• Ma Elena Coliao and Gilna Asejo and son - were in charge of the kids 
• Victor who drove us safely back and forth 
• Sr. Mico Radan  

  
When the Father sent us, Mother Mary accompanied us.  
  
I thought we were there to evangelize but we were the ones evangelized seeing those little kids as young as 2 or 3 years old who are already very good at praying the rosary! They told us that they pray the rosary every day at 6 o’clock. I was mesmerized by their love for our Mother Mary.  
  
It was indeed a family missionary journey for all of us! Tired but very joyful! Lord, send us again wherever your Spirit blows … 

Here are some photos of the event:

Here are some photos of the event:

​First of all, we would like to thank all the missionaries and people related to the Verbum Dei’s community in Pasig for absolutely everything; their help, their welcoming, their dedication, their time...this experience wouldn’t have been possible without them.

It’s been a great and an amazing experience, and I talk on behalf of all the youth in the Spanish Verbum Dei group from Valencia. While I’m writing this article, it’s not necessary to look at my travel diary; I have my first impression of the Philippines stored in my mind. I remember how we got into the missionary’s van and we started looking out through the window all the different images as if we were spectators in a movie. In the beginning, all the skyscrapers and lights in the night. After a few minutes, all the poverty and darkness. I was shocked. There were a lot of people in the streets, even though it was late (3 am). There were kids, a lot of animals, people working in the market and even selling things on the sidewalks. You could appreciate how people was staring at you, with a lot of intensity; that touched me. The contrast between these two contrasting situations of poverty and wealth was very notable and, during the mission, we’ve experienced both of them. This was the first time I had a direct contact with poverty on a large scale (and i think I can speak for almost everyone in the group), and, as I said before, it felt as if it was not real.

During the mission trip in Pasig, we’ve done many different activities. On one hand, we’ve visited important sites in the city that are clear testimonies of the Filipino culture, like the city market or José Rizal’s museum, but the best lesson for all of us has been living as like the Filipino people. Walking through the streets trying to do it on the sidewalk, breathing in the pollution, trying not to be killed by a jeepney and doing the stop sign with the hand, feeling the hot air in your skin, bumping into a funeral and watching how it is natural to have the dead body exposed to all the people, worrying about dengue, trying to count how many cables were from electricity post to electricity post and so on.
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On the other hand, we were in touched by the children and Filipino families that showed us the toughest realities of living in this country, and the lack of equality between the rich and the poor. Despite all this, and that’s one of the things that most impacted me, they don’t lose hope, they don’t stop believing, and they are little treasures which are blind for the society; and not only to the high status society in the Philippines, but to the rest of the world. They maybe have lacks in first need things, like food, education or hygiene but I admire them so much, because  they don’t have lacks in faith; you clearly can see with your own eyes how, despite living in these situations, there’s no excuse for them for being sad: they feel happiness in every smile that you give them. Even if it’s just a hug, a visit to a family, or swinging the child in the air; you can see how grateful and happy they are.

As a group, we had everything but a routine. Lots of different situations and experiences, including going to the hospital (not exactly in order to visit sick people). Thanks to God, the check up from the Doctors there, and a lot of prayers it was nothing at all. The only kind of routine that we had was the guidelines in the morning and a prayer time to close the day with the Lord. The prayer time really helped us to deal with all the situations that we were living, and to share the experiences as well. We come back to Spain full of love and with many stories to tell; we can be a strong testimony for many people about the reality of the Philippines but, I think that the main thing that we take from this beautiful country is the way of living; I’ve realized how many things we have to learn about you. Maybe Spain is not as developed as we think: we really have to take example of what we’ve seen and share it as far as we can.


In conclusion, it’s been an amazing and great experience. I wish I could tell the pilot of the plane to turn around 180º. We are so grateful for everything and believe us when we say that we’ve learnt much more than you could ever imagine. We come back with our suitcases full of love, experiences and, the most important thing, faith. Hope to come back soon friends. With much love and peace.