My so-called Life

SPLANCHNA: symphaty, affection, or inward feelings

Got this new word from the sermon of the pastor this afternoon. He talked about having a heart for mission. Honestly,previous sermons about "mission" didn't catch my attention... mission to Korea, Europe,& Singapore...I just listened and didn't do anything, even pray for it! But, this afternoon i even shed a tear by hearing the need/importance of mission especially when Pastor Gerry told about his trip in Dubai.

DUBAI, the city of gold, the center for many tourist attractions,the city where we held most of our Kanyaw performances whenever it's the season of the Dubai Shopping Festival, it is also the place that we never miss to visit whenever we had our fieldtrips/outings, especially the ever-famous Diera City Center! I can say Dubai is one of the most beautiful city to visit in the whole world. According to Ptr. Gerry, he had visited a lot of countries already and have seen the famous infrastructures in these countries, from Malaysia's Petronas twin Tower to Chicago's Sears Tower, but Dubai's buildings are amazing and can't be compared to these other famous infrastructures. Dubai's fast modern development is attributed to the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan, the founding president/ leader of the seven emirates federation of the United Arab Emirates, the country where i was born and spent most of my childhood and teenage years. Last Nov. 2, I got a call from my Daddy and he told me the news that Sheikh Zayed passed away. He was a good leader and everybody loves him, not only his own people but even expatriates in UAE love him just the same.You won't hear a single word from people in that country that is against him, there are no rallyist that wants to overthrow him from his throne, and big billboards of his picture with his grandsons & grand daughters,falcons, and of course his rayban(this guy is a fun of sunglasses!) can be seen everywhere.

Going back to the sermon, Ptr Gerry asked us why Dubai's development just boomed so fast and why that city is so beautiful? He answered his question with, "their Sultan had a vision for his country, he's a muslim and even if he's gone already, he left *a legacy for his people to continue with..." However, despite of the city's grandeur, Ptr. Gerry was somehow dissappointed with the news he'd heard about the Filipino expatriates there, especially the Filipinas. He said Filipinas were called "kamsa" but i think that he means "kam hada?" which means, "how much?". Of course, not all Filipinas are like that, but we've been victims of that kind of impression.We would hear this ill-mannered Arabs say things like that to us. I could still remember what our 1st yr HS adviser, Mr. Jerry Jimenez told us,you would hear from some of the taxi drivers say "Filipini no. 1!!!" , it could mean two things: it's either their plain good people or good prostis! SAd isn't it? Then, Ptr. Gerry read an email to us, sent by the person who took care of him during his one day stay in Dubai. During the introductory part of the email, she thanked him for visiting Dubai and wished he could have stayed longer, but here's the part that made me cry:
She was offered to work in Cyprus, but she chose to stay in Dubai for she knows that our kababayans need a support group.Behind the city's astonishing beauty there are these Filipina maids that would jump from the buildings to escape from their amo's cruelty, maids beaten or sexually abused to death, maids who where tag along the family's day out but are just left on the other table with no food just to wait and watch the family eating their meal, and those Filipinos who have a better condition but have moral issues.

I've encountered these kind of people, i've been with them, seen them, and didn't care for them before. But now, as i've heard that sermon it gave me the passion, the desire to help these people in every way that I can. I'll end this entry with these sentence Ptr. Gerry mentioned:

"We are not to think of benefits, but of principles!!!"

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