MAGIS

"And Behold I am with You till the End of Time..." (Matthew 28:20)
Mrs. Vivian Ocampo, HS English Teacher

Posted  Monday, 25-Oct-2004 3:45 PM

     At last, the dream of having an outreach ministry with the aged materialized with the launching of our first meeting last Saturday, October 16.  The day started with getting to know the men of Old Folks, a home for aged Chinese.  Each one was made to write his name, age, birthday, former occupation, interests and religion (I was surprised to find out that there were ten Catholics, two Protestants and nine Buddhists in what I thought would be a predominantly Buddhist community).  Those who couldn’t write in English either wrote in Chinese or were helped by their peers.  That being done, a roll call was conducted so that we could associate the name with the face.  Then we, the team introduced ourselves: Joy Bautista, Jaimee and Beverly from Mary the Queen Parish, Benita Ngo and Janice He from the Grade School Chinese Department, and Betty Didulo and Vivian Ocampo from the High School unit.

      The next event was the morning exercise conducted by Benita Ngo, our taichi master! She demonstrated the entire tai-chi exercise to the accompaniment of soothing Chinese music.   Then the old boys were taught the first movement – only the first movement for now since the rickety bones might not be able to take the entire exercise at one time.  It was amazing to see the elderly men, once stooped, suddenly trying hard to stand upright and move to the music as they meekly followed their teacher.  One who could hardly walk balanced himself between his one good leg and the table on which he was leaning with one hand.  With his free arm, he waved and swayed to the rhythm of the music.

      The highlight of the day was the moon cake game where the men were divided into two groups.  Instead of moon cake items like soap, toothpaste, biscuits and other goodies were given away as prizes.  Suddenly they were like children scampering to get good seats around the table; two even almost got into a verbal fight because the other didn’t want to give way.  I was amused to see them behaving like orphaned children, hungry from want and neglect.  They each had a particular hiding place for their winnings, their loot: under the chair, on their lap, in boxes, in a corner.

       The morning ended with a picture-taking and as we were leaving the building, some of the men came out with us.  They asked if we were coming back and seemed overjoyed when we told them we would be coming regularly every month.  “Kahit huwag na kayong magdala ng pagkain – huwag na! Basta bumalik lang kayo!” one said, almost like pleading, and as the van rolled away, we could see them waving good-bye enthusiastically … like little orphans … until they were just a blur at the distance.

       The experience we had was exhilarating. Even now, a week after, I am still floating in the joy that we were doing God’s will – that God had put His stamp of approval on this enterprise.  “Is this counted as overtime?” Someone asked.  “Overtime! This is all for the glory of God – the reward will come from God.”

I N V I T A T I O N

To those who would want to share our joy and work in God’s vineyard, you are all welcome to join us starting next month.  You don’t even have to feel obliged to come every month, so please inform me in advance. Thanks!

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