New life in the Lord!

Balikatan Life in the Spirit 2012 participants and team

Each participant receiving a Tagalog Bible and notebook

 I came to bring fire to the earth ... (Luke 12:49) - this was the scripture for the Balikatan life in the Spirit seminar held on 16-17  June 2012 at our house in Tagaytay.

We welcomed nine women and two men from Montalban. Most of them had already been regularly attending the Balikatan prayer group for the past year. This seminar is to deepen their relationship with and commitment to the Lord. It is also an initial preparation for their commitment as Balikatan prayer group members.

It was an intense weekend. In the first session, Denzil shared on the revelation of God as father, and his invitation to us as children. The participants became aware of their distorted images of God - as one who is far away, and silent in their lives, or like the policeman waiting to catch them in the wrong, and punish them. The effect of these false images brought fear into their lives rather than love resulting in acts of superstition at times, and  finding it hard to believe that God loves them as his precious children. Struggling with their lives, they feel burdened and overwhelmed by their poverty. In these struggles, it is easy to think that God does not love me or is punishing me. As Denzil gently presented the truths about God who loves as Father, the participants expressed that in the prayer time, they  experienced the Father's love.

nailing their sins to the cross

 As we focussed on the Father's plan to bring all to Him, Jitka spoke on sin, it's effects on our lives, relationship with God and others, and our need for salvation, our need for Jesus. Graced in the Father's love, and becoming aware of the sins in our lives, we asked the Lord for forgiveness and  nailed our sins on the Cross, a symbolic gesture reminding us that Jesus took our sins on the Cross and died for us. Fr Gerald, ofm was present offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was an experience of the mercy of the Lord and healing.

In the evening, Esther shared on the new life that Jesus offers us through his Holy Spirit. In order to receive the new life, we have to be willing to die to the old life, and to clothe ourselves with the new man or woman that Christ calls us to be. During our prayer, there was indeed the grace of letting go of old ways, and allowing Jesus to give us his new life in the Spirit. Many shared that they felt the grace to let go of their past, their wrong choices, and receive God's love anew in their hearts.At the end of the first day, there was joy in their hearts as they shared their experiences.

Day Two began with Mass at the neighbouring parish. One participant later shared that as she received Jesus in Holy Communion, she was overwhelmed with the joy of his presence. thanks be to God! In the next session, we prayed with the participants for a new empowering by the Holy Spirit in their lives that they may grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord, that their hearts be set on fire that they may be transformed into witnesses for the Lord in their families, and neighborhoods. We could experience the presence of the Holy Spirit setting our hearts on fire, transforming us from within.

As our journey of discipleship is ongoing, Jitka shared on the importance of growth and ongoing transformation in Christ. At the end , each participant wrote a letter to Jesus, expressing their thanks to him, and what they have experienced. In this letter, each also wrote the concrete steps they will take in their lives to respond to his love. This letter is then closed, and kept with us for the next three months. In three months' time, these letters will be returned to them, and they will read and see how they have lived their concrete steps.

Commissioned to go forth in the new life in Christ!

One participant shared that his concrete step would be to stop his drinking bouts that he had once or twice a week. Instead he would spend the time with his family, and prayer. As heavy drinking is a real problem in their area, let us pray for our brother that the Lord will give him the grace to surrender his drinking to the Lord, and that our brother will not be put off by the sneers of his neighbors. Instead may he be a witness of Christ's light and freedom in this area. Alcoholism and gambling are the things that break up and keep families in much hardship.

During this weekend, the participants were very blessed as they had the space to receive from the Lord. One man expressed that he was touched by the way that the missionaries served them, that there was no division between us. Another shared that she was touched by the respect and dignity that the missionaries gave them. They were grateful for the food that they received, a sign of God's abundant provision and love for them.

We thank the Lord for the opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters and to witness God's liberating hand at work in their lives. This is a step towards empowering them in his love, to take responsibility for their lives,and make choices that lead to life, Thank you to our benefactors and friends who have made this possible through sharing generously with us your resources and prayers. May the Lord bless you richly!

Today we bring you news of great joy... the birth of a community

 On 4th March 2012, nine women from Montalban, Rizal Province took an important step in their journey of faith. Together, they said "yes" to the Lord's call of starting a community of people gathered around the Lord, the Balikatan Community.

For some of them, the journey began 6 years ago when we started the Balikatan Ministry in Erap City, Montalban. They came as they wanted to grow in their faith. In this time, they walked shoulder to shoulder, and supported each other through the challenges that faced them and their families ranging. They are women who have faced adversity: struggling to find means to support their families, crying out to God for food, healing for their children, jobs for their husbands. Through it all, they have continued to hold onto faith despite their doubts and allow Jesus to walk with them.

Supportive husbands witnessing their
 wives take this new step

Balikatan prayer group celebrating the birth of the Community

  They have been empowered... from women who lacked confidence to women who know their dignity as beloved daughters of God who have been given a voice and can make a difference in the world today. It has been a gift to have shared the journey with them.

Their commitments

The nine women professing their commitment

On 4 March 2012, before their husbands and children and the Balikatan Prayer Group, Georgina Calanao, Noralyn Gacias, Jocellen Abbang, Reina Galupo, Maricor Cunanan, Janice Abelardo, Sonia Baduria and Susan Ranola signed their commitments as members of the Balikatan Community.

Jitka presenting a statue of the Holy Family, model
 for the Balikatan Community's mission to families

Balikatan Community members withe their fanilies
 and Balikatan Prayer Group

The journey towards community...
As the Balikatan Ministry developed, there were a group of women who were committed and wanted this ministry to develop and bless more people. They had experienced the goodness of the Lord and wanted to share with others. In 2010, they made a commitment in the Balikatan Ministry and in 2011, this was renewed.

In these two years, 8 of them were empowered and served as leaders of small groups in the Balikatan Ministry. The team also coordinated the small group meetings that occurred once a fortnight. During these two years, besides attending the usual  ministry meetings in the morning, they were also receiving training as small group leaders in the afternoons. We saw them coordinating more our activities, and visiting families in the area. For the reverse carolling projects, they visited and found the 300 families that were in need.

At the end of 2011, they were ready for more. It was clear that the Lord was wanting to give them more. From December to February, we had some intensive formation towards community. This climaxed in our weekend in Tagaytay on 11- 12 February.

Community formation weekend in Tagaytay

Community preparation weekend 11- 12 February 2012
Over this weekend, we spent moments together in prayer, community building and planning for the Balikatan community. Jitka gave sessions on the blessings and challenges of community, team building and growing in relationship with each other. Other sessions focussed on the practical aspects of living out community. As it was also the feast of our Barangay and parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, we were invited and shared in the fiesta! Our time ended with nominations for the first leadership team of the Balikatan community. There was much excitement as we prayed for the Balikatan community. It was clear to all that the Lord is giving them a gift of the Balikatan Community and he was assuring them of his presence with them as they respond to his call and invitation. 

Our journey as community begins today

Congratulations to our sisters of the Balikatan Community! May the Lord bless the Balikatan Community, and continue to give our sisters His joy, wisdom and courage to share Jesus in their neighbourhoods and make a difference. May Christ's light shine through them brightly!

Card making Livelihood Training!

 Last Thursday, 13^th October, nine Balikatan members received special training from Care Channels International Ltd, a non-profit organization that seeks to help the poor become self-sufficient and independent through various initiatives including livelihood training and micro-enterprise developments.  They learned the intricate and delicate art of pressing flowers and creating designs for cards and calendars with the pressed flowers. It was a full day of learning and hands on work. With clear demonstrations and an array of pressed flowers and leaves to choose from, Balikatan members began creating their first card in a design of their choice. Following that, they made 2 other cards based on the format and structure of the required cards for sale.

Our Balikatan members were thrilled to discover their own creativity and also the finer points of pressed flower cards. At the end of the session, they shared that they were delighted to be able to create something and to learn a new skill.

From here, nine of them will enter the next phase of training where they will practice sticking the pressed flowers on the given designs. If successful, they will proceed to work on the actual cards that will be used for sale.

We thank God for this new beginning and this opportunity to partner in mission with Care Channels International. We thank Ate Lyn and Seng Eng of CCI for their help and look forward to a fruitful and blessed collaboration.

As the Balikatan members left, they were reminded to persevere in the new skill and to keep encouraging each other in this new venture.

A one- of -a-kind retreat

For the first time, our Montalban ministries of Balikatan Ministry (adult group) and Seeds of Faith (youth group) came together for 3 days of retreat in Tagaytay. It was a special occasion for the adults and youths to participate at the same retreat and more significantly for families whose parent and child were able to attend the retreat together.

Centering around the theme ‘Thirsting for the Living Waters’, the participants met together for common prayer times, games and meals but had separate sessions for inputs. Throughout the 3 days, they encountered Jesus the Living Water in the various sessions comprising of teachings, prayer ministries and the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist. As the weekend marked the start of Holy Week, we journeyed with Jesus as He entered Jerusalem and reflected on His love.

One highlight was the outdoor Way of the Cross. Each person took turns to carry a big cross in small groups while reflecting on the 14 Stations of the Cross. In the evening, they continued their reflections on Jesus’ love for them on the cross in a prayer ministry and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Many of them shared that it was a grace-filled occasion of growing in awareness of their sinfulness and Jesus’ loving forgiveness. The following day, we celebrated Palm Sunday together, again with the awareness of entering Jerusalem together with the Lord who would lay down His life for a friend. Earlier that morning, we had prayed for them to be renewed in the Holy Spirit and released further in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was thus with such grateful hearts that a chorus of voices began praising God in greater freedom and in the joy of the Spirit.

For this retreat, we were blessed to have the use of the retreat house of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). Surrounded by lush gardens and tall strapping trees, the participants enjoyed the beauty and stillness of God’s creation in the morning reflections in the garden. Strengthened by the retreat, we hope that the adults and youth will continue to pray, encourage one another and grow as a community in Montalban.

We thank the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Seminary in Tagaytay for the generous use of their retreat facilities and the cooks from the St Augustine Major Seminary who prepared our meals. God bless you!

Renewing our commitment

On 27 February 2011, thirty men and women expressed their commitment to love and follow the Lord as his disciples, to grow together in faith, to share and support each other, and to serve in Christ’s mission to reach out to others. Of the thirty, ten were expressing their commitment for the first time. Most of them had been attending the Balikatan ministry meetings in the past year. The remaining twenty had made their first commitment in January 2010 and were renewing their commitment for another year.

There was much joy as the members made this commitment. It was apt that the Gospel for this day was from Matthew 6:24-34. In their daily struggle for survival, many of the Balikatan members face challenges to choose money, other values to be their gods. On this day, they chose clearly that that they want to serve God, and no other. Jesus’ words not to worry about what we are to eat, drink or wear, spoke into their reality since often, many of our Balikatan members and families do not really know whether they will have something to eat, drink or wear. His assurance that “your Heavenly Father knows you need them all” strengthened them to make this commitment expressing their desire to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and trust that all other things will be given them as well by the Father who knows and loves them.

Rest and Restoration for Balikatan retreat

On the morning of Saturday, October 23^rd Balikatan members from our ministry in Montalban, came to our house where we hosted them for a weekend retreat, the theme being, “Rest and Restoration” focused on Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd.

The first day began with a time of praise and worship followed by the introduction of the theme of the retreat and getting the retreatants to identify where they were at in their faith journey. The day’s second session touched on the topic of the Lord being their shepherd and elucidating the different qualities of sheep that the participants could identify with themselves. This was followed by a short time of ministry through song and music, a time where many experienced the Lord’s comfort as community members prayed with them. Later that evening, a time of Eucharistic adoration enabled some more to encounter the closeness of the Lord through His Eucharistic presence.

The second day, Sunday, Oct 24^th, once again began with a time of Praise and Worship followed by the final teaching on what it meant to be the Lord's true disciples viz. the vices that one needed to leave behind and the virtues one needed to imbibe and mature in, so as to build one’s community. Each of the sessions had a time for sharing and reflection among their different groups.

There was also a time of sharing their entire experience. An opportunity to reconcile with God was made available by offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist culminated the two-day retreat during which each of them wrote down concrete steps they would take in building their community.

Finally, before their long drive of more than a 100 kms, back home, a short sight-seeing trip of Tagaytay was coordinated so that the retreatants could have a view of the famous Taal volcano considered to be the smallest active volcano in the world.

All in all, it was a time of blessing as the Lord met each participant and refreshed them through His grace and presence

Music training at Balikatan Ministry!

In our efforts to empower the members of our Balikatan Ministry in Montalban, Rizal Province, we have started guitar lessons for 10 of our members. Coming together once every fortnight, they are coached in the basics of guitar playing by our very own Domi! Although our members share one guitar at the lesson, it does not dampen their spirits as they come together to learn. Here’s what they have to say...
Georgina Calanao

"I want to learn how to play the guitar so that I can play for worship. My problem is that I do not have a guitar so I can’t practice. I find our music training very helpful as I can now play more during our small group meetings. I enjoy playing the guitar and singing."

Cristina Panelo

"I want to play the guitar as I would like to start playing in the church and also for our small group meetings. I’ve always wanted to play when I was young but I never had the chance to learn."

Perla Melmida

"I want very much to be able to play the guitar as I want to eventually lead worship. One day I hope to be able to pray by playing the guitar and worshipping God."

Balikatan Ministry- commitment ceremony!

contributed by Andrina Tan

It was indeed a very joyous occasions for all the ICPE missionaries who had been journeying with the Balikatan members. On 23 January 2009, 34 Balikatan members expressed their public commitment to deepen their walk of faith with Christ through prayer and living out the gospel values in their daily life. As a community, they also committed to deepen in relationships and support for one another- truly expressing their call to be Balikatan – shoulder to shoulder in Filipino.
Many of the members expressed their joy and excitement in taking this step. Issac Melmida, a member since 2009, shared his feelings of excitement as taking this commitment means he is even more ready to serve in Balikatan and to be a good Christian.

Fourteen of the Balikatan members have also been selected to serve as leaders in the group. They are currently under-going leadership training which would equip them with skills to lead cell-groups and Bible reflections. The leadership training emphasizes servant leadership, taking Christ as role-model. The training reinforced the concept of a leader as one who not only tells others what to do but leads by example and lives out Christian values so that other members can model after them.
Balikatan started out as a weekly meeting for adults in Montalban. From the humble beginnings of a handful of members, it has now expanded to a group of about 40 committed members with some taking up leadership roles. The commitment to spiritual growth of our members as well as their eagerness to invite their friends to join our meetings has enabled this group to grow steadily in numbers and has also become a place where friendships are built and where faith stories are shared.

Balikatan ministry update

Morning Group
Since the beginning of the year 2009, there was an increase in members of the morning session from a group of 25 to 35 and more! The turning point was the Life in the Spirit Seminar conducted in April 2009. After that seminar, our new Balikatan members became very alive and excited during our regular Saturday meetings.

Each week, with great enthusiasm, they participated in the times of Praise and Worship, small groups sharing and teachings. These teachings included the Ten Commandments, an introduction to Scriptures, and at the present moment, a series on prayer (a series of 7 teachings).


From the teachings on prayer they found it most helpful praying ‘The Jesus Prayer’ in their busy lives. The prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God , have mercy on me, a sinner” can be repeated many times throughout the whole day. They shared that praying this prayer as they cooked, cleaned, walked, went to sleep and upon waking up, helps them to be constantly aware of God’s presence and also helps them to overcome their difficulties and feelings of sadness, irritation and impatience.

We also welcome two new team members to our Balikatan team - Domisiano from Korea and Andrina from Singapore who are presently going through Staff Formation in our ICPE Centre.

Afternoon Group
At the beginning of the year the members created the vision for their afternoon group
“To have a permanent Balikatan Community in which members are supporting each other.” They are very much aware of the fact that they themselves have to carry out this vision through:
• Living Christian Life
• Helping one another as much as possible
• Helping new members
• Reaching out to their neighbors and friends in their clusters
Encouraged and strengthen by this vision and strategies they started to follow the series of teachings on Christian character like speech, integrity, virtues etc., they were also helping out with leading sharing groups in the Morning Group and reaching out to their neighbors of whom some joined the Balikatan Meetings.

A huge smile, glasses and a treasure in the bible

"I am so happy that I can read the Bible! The reading glasses are such a gift. With my clearer eyesight I feel that I am closer to God because I am able to read His word. Also, I don’t have to squint anymore when I provide my manicure and pedicure services. I thank God for this gift!"
Neng, Balikatan member and mother of 8 children. Neng works part time as a free lance manicurist

It all started when we were presented with a pair of old reading glasses from a visitor to our centre. We brought it along with us for our Balikatan meetings to see if anyone would have use for it. When Neng first tried on the pair of glasses and looked at the faces around, she immediately took it off exclaiming that it made her vision blurred. After explaining that it was only for reading, she read a few words off her Bible and broke into a huge smile, saying “I can read!”. It was a heartwarming sight as Neng had never before read the scriptures aloud at Balikatan meetings due to her long sightedness. At that meeting, she read beautifully off the pages of the Bible and was so pleased to be able to participate. Nowadays, Neng attends our Balikatan meetings with her glasses and carefully stores it back in the case once she is done. Through that pair of glasses, she has found the treasure box of the Word of God unlocked for her.