Surviving after typhoon Yolanda

3 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato

Minx and Alfred, live in Kalibo, a Philippine island in the Province of Western Visayas, particularly affected by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), on 8 November 2013. Ever since they met the Focolare Movement, 29 years ago, their life has changed: “We started to serve God in every neighbour,” they tell us. “The day before the arrival of the typhoon – they recall – we were warned by radio and TV but we listened to the news as if it was one of the many already suffered in the past. Our 4 children were home for the holidays at the end of the semester in school so we were all together when the strong winds and the rains began. It was the first time we experienced such a powerful storm: the windows shook, the roof began to peel off piece by piece and the big mango tree in our garden was uprooted and fell without, thankfully, hitting the house. The water from the rain began to come in everywhere and flooded the entire house. When the second floor began to shake, we thought everything would be destroyed.” “In the midst of the disaster – Minx remembers – in my heart I said: ‘It is You, Lord, this tragedy is a face of your abandonment and I want to love you. Please, spare us all … ‘. That night, in the midst of darkness because of the black out, in bed, I thought about what surely must have happened to those who live in wooden houses. As the tears flowed, I prayed for them. Early in the morning, after seeing that we were all right, I went looking for our neighbours. There was only destruction and frightened faces everywhere. I tried to put aside my pain to welcome every suffering person I saw. A little girl, a friend of the family, weeping, told me: ‘Auntie Minx, we no longer have a home … paano na kami?’. Her innocent words broke my heart. I hugged her and I said, ‘Let’s not lose our love and faith in Jesus, let us pray and continue to love Him in others … Jesus will help us.’ Our prayer has been heard, because the next day aid started to arrive, first from family and friends and then from many parts of the world, through the Focolare. Now we even have a generator so we can carry on a small family business, given that the electricity has failed for many months. I tried to be always available at any time to give help. One of my sons said, ‘Mom, do you prefer to help others when we have nothing to repair our own house?’, because the water continued to come in when it rained. I reassured him: ‘Jesus will remember our kindness.’ After a few months we were surprised and happy because our house was included in the project of repair and reconstruction for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. It has now been repaired and even if other typhoons continue to arrive we feel more safe and secure. We are so grateful to God and to the Focolare, which has supported the project.” A reconstruction project for the victims of the typhoon. The Focolare Movement in the Philippines, with the support of Action for New Families (AFN) and the Association for a United World (AMU), is conducting a reconstruction project for 60 families. In Tacloban, 6 houses have been built and documents and permits are being prepared to begin construction of another 5; furthermore, a substantial contribution has been given to 7 families who had already begun work. In Baybay, a piece of new ground is being purchased on which to build. In Panay Island, in addition to the 5 houses already completed, another 7 are under construction, while negotiations are underway for the purchase of land on which twenty terraced houses will be built for families who did not own land. The houses are built with solid materials: concrete roofs with eaves, foundations and masonry walls, one or two floors (according to need), each one about 50 square metres in size. WHERE TO SEND YOUR DONATIONS: FOCOLARE MOVEMENT IN CEBU – see also Emergency Aid poster Payable to : Emergency Typhoon Haiyan Philippines METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COMPANY Cebu – Guadalupe Branch 6000 Cebu City – Cebu, Philippines Tel: 0063-32-2533728 Bank Account name:  WORK OF MARY/FOCOLARE MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN Euro Bank Account no.:  398-2-39860031-7 SWIFT Code:  MBTCPHMM Payable to:  “Help Philippines– Typhoon Haiyan“ Email: focolaremovementcebf@gmail.com Tel. 0063 (032) 345 1563 – 2537883 – 2536407 New Families Movement (AZIONE per FAMIGLIE NUOVE Onlus) c/c bancario n° 1000/1060 BANCA PROSSIMA IBAN: IT 55 K 03359 01600 100000001060 Swift: BCITITMX

Living the Gospel: overcoming distrust

1 Sep 2014 | Non categorizzato

“I work as a guard in a Church in Montevideo, and sometime ago, upon opening the door every morning I would always find a boy dressed in rags, who would enter the church with the typical beverage we drink here. My first reaction was one of suspicion and distrust, due to his appearance. I thought: “I hope he is not here to steal!” After some time, however, I remembered the Word of Life … so I started to greet him and speak to him. He told me that he was homeless. One morning, seeing that he was all neat and dressed with new clothes, I asked him if he had found a place to stay. “No,” he answered, “I wash myself in the square with soap the Ministry for Social Development distributes. I don’t like to be dirty.” Then he recounted that he was a Catholic and went to Church ”to speak with God.” He had received his First Communion as a child. So I said, “Why don’t you come to Mass and then speak to the priest.” From then on he started attending Mass every day. Since I had gained a bit of weight, I had many clothes that no longer fitted me. “Perhaps they would fit him” I thought. So I filled a bag and brought it to him. “Oh no, that’s too much!”he exclaimed on seeing the bag. “I need so little, since I live on the streets.” From then on also other people of the community started to help him, convinced that every man is “Christ in person.” It was then that this man, who was now a friend, managed to find a good job (he works really hard) and rent a room.”

J. B. (Montevideo – Uruguay)

«A few days ago, on my way to the market, I saw a woman rummaging through the garbage bins and selecting the things inside. I stopped for a moment to look at her. She then said “The rich people throw away so much… but these things are still useful.” She simultaneously showed me a pan, saying: “This is made of good material.” “You’re right!” – I answered, really surprised at what she had found. It was a good pan, you could see that it had been used, but it’s one of those things that last forever. So we continued our conversation. “… this could serve to make pudding, and that other thing to drain…” and we went on and on. She then showed me a holy picture of Our Lady which she had found in the garbage, together with a statue of Our Lady of the Valley, one of those tiny and really old lead statues of Our Lady.  “Do you know what this means for me?” – I said – “It means Our Lady is with you.”  “Yes!” she said. “God and Our Lady are always with me. They are always by my side.” Then on seeing that among the objects, there were plants that I liked, she shared them with me and asked me to choose a branch, and still another… On arriving home I put them in water so they would germinate and be transplanted. In my heart I prayed:  “Thank you Jesus for allowing me to meet you out in the streets. Thank you for coming to see me. Please do not tire of looking for me, if I do not search for You in the outskirts of life.” T.S. (Cordoba – Argentina)

A temporary focolare in the Holy Land

30 Aug 2014 | Non categorizzato

“Arriving in the Holy Land at the end of July when the broadcasts on TV were full of dramatic events, was described by many as just plain crazy! This project of a “temporary Focolare,” that is, a one-month Focolare in Palestine, was supposed to be undertaken in spring, when all was calm. But then weeks before our departure, the situation plunged: “What shall we do?” we wondered. And the answer was: “This is the right time to go, on the other hand, to bear witness to love that overcomes fear.”  Surely the Focolare’s ten-year presence in that region was our warranty. And so, on 30 July we settled in a small apartment in Bethlehem. Waking up in the city of Jesus’ birth was really very impressive. “Is this a dream?” we wondered. Soon we started visiting the families, priests, and the youth: all were surprised and happy to see two men focolarini from Italy, and a third who came from Jerusalem to stay with them. As in the Mariapolis in Nazareth, there had also been strong encounters  with a big number of participants (despite the situation), where we received a letter with photos from the members of the community residing in Gaza, who could not physically attend. Then on 8 August, right in the midst of the battles, we held an interreligious meeting in Jerusalem with Christian Arabs and Jewish friends together with Muslims: the objective was to pray for peace. It turned out to be a really poignant moment of “intense light” in the black night of the war. A Rabbi surprised us all with his really moving prayer for the children of Gaza. There were 80 participants in all, a tiny miracle, given the situation. We felt the deep change in three aspects: pain, love and prayer. The first, the pain for the stories we heard, aspirations to be a State, and for a true and lasting peace, water freedom of movement a better future for our children and above all, the aspiration to live in harmony and peace with all our neighbours. The second element was love: we have received so much love in these three weeks! Much more than what we gave. And the third, prayer: long moments, at times entire days passed in silence, praying for all those dying and those shooting; a there was also prayer for the arrival of mutual forgiveness in this blood-soaked land. The characteristic of the whole experience was life in the midst of the population lost in the crowd. Not being in a comfortable apartment in the big city, we learned to ration water which was scarce, for example. This is practically part of the life of the Palestinians. We wanted to and are still experiencing what it is like to pass through the check-points,  what it means to smile and greet a soldier with a machine gun on his shoulder; or to be nice to an old lady, trying to sell her mint plants under the burning sun. In all these things we felt God’s presence. And you could feel God in the Holy Land walking at your side once again, down these roads. We lived this experience with all those who are here to contribute to making Jesus’ dream come true: ‘that all may be one’ (John 17,21). That prayer which Chiara Lubich gave her life for. The day will come when the united world will dawn on the Holy Land: it will be the world of mutual forgiveness, the true water that will quench this thirst for peace. And on that day, all of us together will have to be here to continue loving.”

Luigi Butori (Italy)