"Philippines: Mission in the midst of crisis"

You could call this another "guest post." Emily wrote another wonderful article about the ECP and the Diocese of Davao after our visit. Everyone knows about Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda which hit back in November. While it may have left the thoughts of many, it is still the present for a number of Filipinos. Even though it's been six months since the storm struck, the Episcopal Church has not stopped relief efforts. Please read on to learn more!

This article was posted on Episcopal News Service blog on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 and written by Emily Cherry, Communications Director for the Diocese of Virginia:

Philippines: Mission in the midst of crisis

Global partnerships deepen as typhoon response continues 

The island of Bantayan counts children in its team of volunteers. The Diocese of Davao

 supports a continuing relief and economic redevelopment project in Bantayan. 

Photo: Gideon Bustamante

Just over a week after the bishop of the newest diocese in the Philippines was consecrated on Nov. 23, 2012, Super Typhoon Bopha hit, killing more than 1,000 people and destroying homes and land. Almost 12 months later, in November 2013, came Super Typhoon Haiyan, killing as many as 10,000 people, making it one of the deadliest storms in the Philippines to date. As the Rt. Rev. Jonathan L. Casimina, bishop, put it, “We began our diocese with a typhoon, and we ended our first year with a typhoon.”

The YASCers of the Philippines

You could call today a "guest post." I'm cheating a little bit! I'm at Bishop Brent's son's wedding in Bontoc and didn't have time to put together a post. I shared the link a few weeks back via Facebook, but if you missed it here is the ENS article written by Emily Cherry about the three YASCers in the Philippines!

This article was posted on Episcopal News Service blog on Friday, April 4, 2014 and written by Emily Cherry, Communications Director for the Diocese of Virginia:

Young adults form faith through service in the Philippines

As part of her work with the Episcopal Development Foundation of St. Mark’s in the Diocese of Santiago, YASCer Ashley Cameron visits with market shop owners who receive small business loans from the church foundation. Photo: Emily Cherry

Almost everywhere you travel in the Philippines, you see rice: steamed and served in heaping bowls on every table; unhusked and drying in the sun alongside roads; bagged and ready to be milled; packed into trucks along the highway; and growing in fields and towering terraces across the landscape of 7,000-plus islands.

Weekend Reading

{image via}

Happy Friday!

Today I'm in Baguio with Margaret! I travelled on the night bus from Santiago last night leaving at 8am and arriving at 4am. Quite a trip but you miss the traffic and can simply sleep the whole time. Now, I have the whole day in Baguio. I'm guest lecturing two of Margaret's classes on development work of the church.

News & Resources from Episcopal Relief and Development

As you read this post I will be enjoying fellowship with my fellow YASCers, Will, Katie and Sara, in Hong Kong!

Image via // Photo: REUTERS/Erik De Castro

As you all know from the news reports, Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Central Philippines on November 8, 2013. It caused great destruction and damage knocking out power, communication and killing thousands in its path. Heartbreaking stories have been all over the news here in the Philippines. Many have wondered and asked how they can help. While there are many great relief organizations setting up camp in Tacloban and other damage areas who you could donate to, I believe Episcopal Relief and Development is a wonderful organization taking the long view on disaster recovery. Their plan isn't simply to provide immediate help but to work with community churches to assess and plan for years to come in order to make the community self-sustainable again.

The Linking of Two Dioceses

There is something to be said about being in a foreign country and witnessing two different cultures sharing and learning from one another. It was an out of body experience as I watched the world get smaller.  Not only am I here learning about Filipino culture but here I also had the opportunity to soak up information about Kenyan culture through song, dance, and fellowship.

Yesterday, the Episcopal Diocese of Santiago (EDS) hosted eleven visitors from Kenya’s Anglican Development Service. They included Bishop Joseph Sapit and other regional development officers. Last year, September 2012, Sir Patrick and a couple others from the Episcopal Church in the Philippines attended the Anglican Alliance Board’s Empowerment Conference. A couple of the Kenyans in attendance took interest in Sir Patrick’s presentation about St. Mark’s Foundation and EDS’s work with cooperatives and micro-lending, which led them to plan a short trip to the Philippines to learn more firsthand.

Sharing Experiences, Viewpoints, and Resources on Mission

Conferences in general are daunting. Walking into a room full of people where you maybe know one or two people, the introvert in me wants to go stand in a corner and chow down on hor’ devours.  Add in traveling to another continent and half the participants speak only Spanish. You could say I was feeling a little nervous (but excited) to attend the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN) Conference in Bogotá, Colombia from May 4 – 10.

Needless to say, it was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I am thankful my office gave me the opportunity to attend to share viewpoints on mission, learn what amazing projects the church is doing, and meet incredible, passionate people from the United States, Central and South America and the Caribbean. 

Me, Elizabeth Boe, Officer of Global Networking for The Episcopal Church, and Ryan Abrams, current YASC-er in Costa Rica at the Sunday Church Service. Photo Courtesy of Lynette Wilson.

GEMN is "an organization open to all individuals, organizations and diocese who have determined to share prayers, ideas, dreams, hopes and strategies about Global Mission." They host an annual conference to bring all of those players together to share their experiences, viewpoints, goals and resources on Global Mission. 

This year's conference was GEMN's 18th annual conference. They hosted it in Bogotá, a part of Province IX of the Episcopal Church, hoping it would encourage members of Province IX to attend, which was a success! There were participants from Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Haiti as well as all over the United States. 

Me on top of a mountain at Mision Santa Marta outside Facatativa where you can slightly see Bogota in the background. Simply a spectacular view!

Sidenote: For those who don't know, The Episcopal Church (TEC), which we think of as the US Episcopal Church, consists of 9 provinces. The Diocese of Virginia is a member of Province III. Province IX consists of the Dioceses of Dominican Republic, Ecuador Litoral, Ecuador Central, Colombia, Honduras, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

The theme of this year's conference was "Companions in Faith and Resources: Participating in God's Mission." It also included a focus on financial sustainability for the diocese of Province IX. There were wonderful plenary sessions ranging on topics from microcredit programs in Honduras to understanding mission in theology to how to operate a successful development group. We broke out into small groups for a Bible Study focused on mission. And they took us on two field trips to sites to see firsthand the wonderful work of the church in Colombia.

A group of past, current and soon to be missionaries with the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori. Photo Courtesy of Ashley Bingaman

Time flew by throughout the week! Highlights included: 

• Watching Elizabeth Boe break a bus window while trying to open it on our two hour long bus ride, 
• Almost having a heart attack while hiking a mountain at 9,000 feet above sea level but being rewarded by a spectacular view of Bogotá and the Colombian countryside,
• Latin Dancing to a Colombian band on the last night,
• Listening to the Presiding Bishop preach on mission and community,
• Meeting current YASC-ers and hearing their insights, 
• Sharing ideas, reflections, and experiences with a compassionate small group,
• Witnessing strong, influential, and driven women working to empower those around them to fight for human rights.

The strongest and most driven women I've ever met who run Mesa de Organizaciones de mujeres de Soacha.

By the end of the week, we were no long a group of strangers, we laughed and celebrated like old friends and family. We were all connected with the burning desire to serve the least of these and get others involved in Global Mission.

And as I shared during the GEMN Board Open Forum, I am going to take a very important lesson with me on journey as a missionary. It is the lesson of listening, sharing and developing relationships. In mission it is not about US and THEM. It is about US as a whole, Christian community. Everyone has something to bring to the table. Instead of us always stepping in offering everything we have, we need to step back to listen first to what they have to offer. It is not about doing, but taking the time to listen and share and develop those relationships.

Me with Current YASC-ers, Nina Boe, Ashley Bingaman, and Ryan Abrams

Having the opportunity to meet current YASC-ers, Ryan Abrams in Costa Rica, Nina Boe in Brazil and Ashley Bingaman in Haiti, and other missionaries of The Episcopal Church gave me such encouragement and excitement for my upcoming year! To see their enthusiasm and hear their insight made me want to get out in the field immediately. After this experience at GEMN, I have no doubt that YASC is what I am suppose to be doing as my next step. 

More resources, reflections, and information on GEMN:

• GEMN Blog with reflections from this past conference
• ENS Article: "Companions in faith and resources"
• ENS Article: "'Participating in God's Mission'; GEMN wraps up in Bogota"
• Presiding Bishop's sermon from Thursday night Eucharist at GEMN

YASC Discernment Weekend Reflection

This post was originally published on the Episcopal News Service on March 6, 2013. 

Fortunately while I was in El Salvador, I met an editor for the Episcopal News Service. After chatting for a while and me explaining how I had applied for YASC, she asked me if I would write a reflection piece about the discernment weekend. After some thought, I said, "yes." So here it is.

A group of amazing young people discerning if YASC is the most faithful next step for them!

A friend recently shared this prayer with me, “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of work, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.”

I believe the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) embodies this. I saw it when 25 potential YASC missionaries with a wide variety of skills, gifts and passions from across the country came together to discern the best way for them to serve out God’s mission.

In our own Baptismal Covenant we are asked if we will, strive for justice and peace among all people, to see and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself and to proclaim by work and example the Good News of God in Christ.

But how do we know in which way we can best serve God? What is our next most faithful step to come and follow Christ?

This is where discernment comes in.

Even though I grew up Episcopalian and work for the church, the word discernment is not part of my everyday vocabulary. What do they mean by a discernment weekend? To all my friends who aren’t religious, they were just as stumped. I simply explained it as a long interview weekend where the staff will get to know me. For me, going into an interview is nerve-wracking enough but a whole weekend of it? Terrifying. I had the complete wrong idea, though. The word interview doesn’t even come to mind.

We built a spiritual community within 72 hours; a support system where everyone opened up and felt comfortable in guiding one another through this decision making process.

There was time for us to ask questions, talk to former YASC missionaries, and learn about the responsibilities and expectations of being a member of YASC. I thought the most important part was when the facilitators broke us into small groups of six or seven people to meet for an hour, three different times throughout the weekend. The confidential space allowed us to reflect out loud our strengths, weaknesses, fears, doubts, hopes and joys. There were no wrong answers, no judgments and no interruptions. It was the perfect place to relax, open-up and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.


I joked throughout the weekend that all we did was talk, eat, talk a little more and then eat again. But the truth is I came into the weekend with an unfaltering certainty that this is what I wanted to do. I didn’t think I would learn much more or be changed in any way. But I came away with a deeper understanding of my own spiritual journey, 24 wonderful new friends who I yearned to be reunited with the minute we departed ways and energized to dive head first into this journey I am about to embark on.

As Jan Richardson wrote, “And we will open our hands to the feast without shame. And we will turn toward each other without fear. And we will give up our appetite for despair. And we will taste and know delight. And we will become bread for a hungering world. And we will become drink for those who thirst. And the blessed will become the blessing. And everywhere will be the feast."