Letter from the Philippines

This letter from Sr. Christine is a response to our letter congratulating OLM on their recent award.

Hi from the Philippines!

Thanks very much for the congratulations. We have been receiving messages of support and the news of how last Sunday evening went from various friends. It certainly is nice to be reminded in such a clear way of how many people do know about us and keep us in their thoughts and prayers. It was only tonight that I realized that people had to pay to attend the function. It really took me by surprize that people would actually pay money to watch US get an award! Wow!

We've been having our own excitements here... you probably heard that the country spent one week under a "State of National Emergency." The President declared that it was necessary because of groups that were trying to destabilize and overthrow her government. It was a dangerous time for the country as rallies were banned, a couple of newspapers were shut down for printing seditious material, and warrant-less arrest were possible. Before the State of Emergency was declared we were planning to attend a Prayer Rally on the main street of town. Since rallies were banned, it was changed to a "Prayer Assembly." And, instead of being held in a public place, there were three meetings points, Xavier University, the Cathedral Grounds, or Cagayan Capitol University. Some of us when to Xavier and some of us went to the Cathedral. Both held very nice ecumenical and inter-faith prayers for peace, honesty, and justice for the nation.

Yesterday we had a good excitement here when 38 people met at our house to renew their commitment to inter-religious dialogue between Muslims and Christians. We had prayer and sharing stories before sitting down to lunch together. I'm mad at myself though because I had brought the camera down to take photos, and completely forgot to do so! Everyone had left when I remembered about it.... Hopefully the next time we have some kind of event, I'll remember to take some photos and send some to you again!

Bye for now then... Peace, Christine