KATIPAN Hall: Monument of Gains in Networking

Early this morning I received blogging tips from Pastor Jonan Castillon. He is the pastor-friend I mentioned earlier who advised and taught me to open a blog. Enjoying now the benefits of on-line writing, he is willing to share his talent to pastors for free. Tentatively, we have scheduled a hands-on training for pastors on April 27, 2011.

Learning Institute for the Fullness of life and Empowerment (LIFE) will coordinate this activity. LIFE is a voluntary organization of pastors, social workers, educators and other professionals which was organized after my term in CBMA. Purposely, it will continue the commitment to serve the pastors beyond our term in the association. Interested pastors in Iloilo may contact this blog. You can also visit Pastor Jonan’s site.

Following an expert advice, starting today, this blog comes out every Thursday, Sunday, and Tuesday to avoid information overload. A journal of faith journey, it attempts to inspire readers to continue the commitment in service in respective fields no matter what. This is a forerunner of my dream book, PADAYON: Our life journey.

Padayon is an Ilonggo term which means continue. In deeper sense, it connotes moving/going on (or never give up) despite adversaries or adversities.PADAYON serves as framework or acrostic of my life’s experiences and the lessons learned from life. This blog deals each area or sub topic accordingly. The series of posts on Gains and Pains in Serving the Pastors is a representation of the second letter in PADAYON, i.e., Antipodes. After three more posts, discussion will focus on the third topic – Doing God’s Will is dangerous to your health.

Previous blogs mentioned the role of KATIPAN Hall in reclaiming the spiritual heritage of the Camp Higher Ground as icon of serenity, spirituality and renewal. Katipan is an Ilonggo term for Covenant. In the CBMA context it means Katuman sang Tingob nga Pagsalig kag Binuhatan (realization of something through collective faith and action.

Never did it occur in our wildest dream that our association would engage in an infrastructure project. More so, under my term as president. My social work orientation and past organizing experience taught me to be people-centered in approach to development. However, circumstances led us to this new challenge.

It started from an invitation of the Pastors’ Kids (PK) Association to hold our National Assembly at Camp Higher Ground in 2006 for free. At that time, they were starting to develop the Camp after the mandate to manage this neglected treasure of our Convention. Few months later, the Convention leadership retracted, forcing the PK to cancel its goodwill.

Having set our preparation on the venue, our Association decided to take matters in our hands. With the projected cost within our reach, we undertook the project. Only to found out later, there was an overly underestimation of the cost. Upon expert advice, we opted to improve the design with permanent materials due to susceptibility of the area to termites. Exhausting our own resources, we engaged in various fund campaign and use our network, both personal and organizational. Concerts, dinner for a cause, solicitation, loans were but a few of the strategies we undertook.

Soon, we got the support of auxiliary organizations in our Convention, as well as related institutions and Kasapulanans. Our NGO network was also tapped, as well as linkages with the government officials the city and province of Iloilo. Later, independent foundation and network of our pastors abroad assisted us. The rest is history. After fours year, the collective faith and action was realized. The Katipan Hall was finished- a monument of gains in networking.

The Return to my First Love

Admittedly, the comment or criticism (whichever) of a lay leader about my pastoral identity has pierced my soul. But it was enlightening, rather than hurting. It reminded me of my childhood dream and commitment. Flashbacks of the past were refreshing and inspiring. The impact of the exemplary life of our pastor has fixated my mind to follow his footsteps. My only ambition in life since childhood was to be like him- study theology at Central Philippine University to become a model pastor. Failing to make it after graduation in high school, I did not find other alternative. Instead, under the tutorial of my father, I mastered the gambling profession. No, my father was not a gambler. It was his means of livelihood that raised us 5 children.

It took a couple of years and two motorcycle accidents to revive the dream. Forced by misfortunes and threats, I entered a bible school. But another two years and a couple of critical incidents prevented me to catch it. One year suspension for rebelling against the administration and another year of serious heart ailment (the first major attack), a semester before graduation caused the delay.

Then came the opportunity to fulfill the dream in 1977. Working full time in a church, I gave my best in the ministry, as if I had only one year to live. Literally, because that was my bargain to God during my serious illness. After my term, the opportunity to study in CPU came which opened another chapter of life discussed in previous blog. Still, another delay happened. The cause, however, was no longer illness, but a healthy disposition to take up the challenge of times with willingness to offer my life for the cause of the Filipino people.

Returning to my first love was not that easy. Now, a family man, I could not just leave my employment in the University. As a transition, a week-end work in a local church in Iloilo City became an alternative. In the process, I realized I could no longer recover the lost time and opportunities in working with churches. Hence, the decision to focus on pastors, guided by the belief that whatever developments in their lives will trickle down to the churches.

However, my intention was not taken, without question and reservation. I failed to get the confidence of majority in my first attempt, no matter how clear my platform was. Some were honest enough to express their suspicion on my political leanings. My independent and principled stance also did not get the backing of veteran power brokers in the Convention whose candidate was miserably junked by majority of the pastors in a three-cornered fight in 2001. The experience did not dampen my spirit. My second attempt was wholeheartedly welcomed by the pastors. In an unprecedented event, I ran unopposed and served the association for two consecutive terms.


Next post: Gains and Pains in serving the pastors.