Map Stop 1 :: Ricardo Nicolas Park

It has been laid to my heart since two weeks ago, a continuance of the Lord's burden when we first started last April: Bulacan would be our area of ministry. It would only be proper to claim our area of responsibility, with regards to the proclamation of God's coming kingdom, before moving out to other locations, that land which is right in our own backyard.

According to Google Maps, Bulacan is a province in the Philippines, located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, 11 kilometres north of Manila, and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578 and has an area of 2,775 sq.km. I have already mapped 20 towns that we will visit in the coming weeks, God willing. Indeed, we have made plans, but I trust the Lord will direct our steps, as I am sure there will be plenty of populated areas that are not indicated in the map, where we can sow seeds just the same.

The first stop of this route is the Ricardo Nicolas Park in Sta. Maria. This park is situated right in front of the Municipal Hall and is a convergence point of routes coming from Sapang Palay that would exit Bocaue. 

After securing permission from the authorities present we proceeded to work. This particular crowd is not as unmindful as the ones we usually have in our previous locations; these were comprised mostly of couples passing time on the benches, youth groups, passers-by, stall vendors, tricycle lines, jeep lines, and busy business establishments with patrons right across the park and all around it. We had a good number of audience this night, so much so that the 200 tracts we had were gone in just a few minutes, with one reject coming from an annoyed Muslim who had unkind words for us. The rest who took the tracts were very courteous and polite, a few stopping to ask what it was all about and getting answers. There was this man who obviously have had much to drink, but he took a tract, making small talk, not heckling in any way really, but I was mindful to keep on with the Word. I just took comfort in knowing he will have something to read about the Lord when he hopefully wakes up tomorrow.

As in every instance where there are little children present with us, much to my pleasure, they gather around me to listen with far more intent than their more adult counterparts who have the luxury of ignoring us instead. 

These simple ones actually read the tracts, one of them exclaiming, "Ang ganda naman ng nakasulat dito!" (What's written here is so beautiful!) 

My daughter asked, "Naintindihan mo ba? (Do you understand it?)

"Kaunti. Di bale pag uwi ko babasahin ko uli. Papabasa ko rin kay mama."

(I think so. I'll read it again when I get home. I'll show it to my mother as well.)

-The child who said this is around 11 years of age. His father was massacred in their home. His step-father, who is a drunkard, physically mistreats him regularly. He fears to go home this early because he knows his step-father is drunk tonight, and so he's waiting for his mother to come home before he does.

His group of friends approached me in the middle of my discourse to present a case, which I asked them to allow me to finish my speech, so I can mind them after. They gleefully obliged. Little did I know what they wanted to tell me is no childish matter.

:::

They told me they have a friend who they wanted to help. A twelve year old girl who lived with her mother and grandfather, the latter of which, they caught sexually abusing her two years ago. As it turns out, that was only one instance of many, resulting in this now twelve year old getting pregnant. We asked if it is possible to talk to the girl and so they called her. When she then walked past us she was with her mother. And yes, she was pregnant, her mother rudely berating her not to talk to us.

Confronted for the first time with such a case as this, we cannot simply walk away. And so we asked the children to accompany us to the nearby police precinct to report the matter. After a brief inquiry of the nature of the complaint by the officer at the desk, the children were interviewed by a DSWD representative, and an immediate plan to identify the grandfather and rescue the minor was underway. Outside the station waiting for the police to prepare the sting, we spoke with these heroes whom I believe, have really no idea about the good they've done. After some admonition to stay away from trouble and corruption, we headed home. May the good Lord be pleased in blessing them with Christ in their days to come.

Too many people are hurting, too many church members playing. Is it any wonder why unbelievers are left to themselves to create their own gods, because those who profess having the light of the Gospel choose to hide it under a bushel instead? This truth cuts deep in so many ways.