Prayer for Tony and Lyn (20171001)

Let us come in the Holy presence of our God.

In the name of the Father…

Heavenly Father, we praise, honor and thank You for gathering us once again as a family to enable us to express our gratitude to You, Lord, for the infinite blessings and graces that You bestow on each one us, especially today, that You gathered us in this humble, beautiful and brand new abode of Tony and Lyn.

Truly, this is the day that You made for us thus we will rejoice and be glad in it!

As we gather before You today, O Lord, we will first acknowledge our sinfulness because we know that we are unworthy to come before Your holy presence thus, we would like ask for Your mercy and forgiveness for the sins we have committed against You. Please just have mercy on us, Lord, for truly, we are repentant and remorseful on the sins that we have made against You. And for all of these, Lord, have mercy on us.

At this juncture, Lord, we would like to offer You our songs of praise, Father God.

(praise and worship songs)

We praise, honor and thank You, Lord, for the countless blessings and graces we received from You each day, Father God, most especially for the good health that we enjoy that enabled us to be service to You, individually and as a household, for all of these, we praise and thank You, Lord…

At this point, we would like to lift up to You, Lord, our concerns, worries and problems, Father God. We lift up to You our health, especially, for some of us who are advancing in our ages, that You give us fine and outstanding health everyday so that we can give out our all to You, in the Your service. Just allow us to be able to do the things that you want us to do for your glory and magnificence, for all of these Father God, please hear our prayer…

And all of these Almighty Father, we pray to You, in the Mighty Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You, in the power of the Holy Spirit, One God , forever and ever, Amen…

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory be…

-------------

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us remember that we are in the Holy presence of our God.

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven as we join together as one united Household to pray for our beloved brother Tony who needs a breakthrough in some area of his life.

God our Father, we humbly come before You as Your children to intercede for Tony’s personal intentions. We know that in all things You work for the good of those who serve and love You. So we cry out to You - call upon You to fill him with favorable things You know he needs.

We praise and thank You Lord for the past miracles You have performed in our midst. Your Word speaks promises of healing and restoration. And today we claim these promises over our brother Tony. You are the giver of all good and perfect blessings. You are Tony's greatest Healer and Physician. You are his restorer and deliverer. You are a faithful God who has never stopped parting the Red Seas in his life. Let Your perfect love and mercy touch the brokenness of his body, mind and spirit. You are the God who heals, and You have the final word on his destiny, the number of years he'll  live and serve You here on earth. We believe in the healing power of faith and prayer and so we implore You Oh Lord to begin Your mighty work in Tony’s life right now.  There's so much we don't understand about life. Your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts higher than our thoughts. But we do know that with one touch, one word, you can make Tony whole again and his body and spirit shall be healed. We ask You to forgive him of his sins, cleanse him of his transgressions, and begin Your healing from the inside out.

We come to You as one family and bring You to the places where Tony is physically hurting and going through painful trials.  Allow us to unload his many burdens at the foot of the cross. You see things where no one else is able to fully see or understand. You know the wounds and scars on his heart. You know the afflictions and tribulations he has encountered in the past. You know the difficulties and oppressions that confronted him being the Founding Father and Founder of GK; and the pains he continues to carry today. The millstones. The cares. You know where he needs to be set free. We ask and beg You to cover him every broken place. Every wound.  Every heartache. Every physical and emotional pain. Every malady.

Lord, you know TONY so well – He is your zealous, dutiful servant, a brother and sincere friend to us. You created him. You crafted him with enormous capacity to touch and empower other people’s lives specially the poor and the disadvantaged. You know the number of hairs on his head, and You even know the thoughts conceived in his heart and mind before he ever vocalizes them. We pray, Lord, to fill him always with the gift of Your Holy SPIRIT. Give him the spirit of wisdom and revelation and understanding and so that he will continue to live today in Your glory.

We beseech you, O, Lord to reach down and surround Tony with Your compassion and mercy, with Your peace and strength. We ask You, Lord with the help of your Holy angel St. Michael, the Archangel  to be his defender against the wickedness and snare of the devil.  Protect him Lord from Satan's attacks, lies and discouragement and let his miraculous healing begin.

Grant him the unwavering faith to believe that all things are possible with You.  Lord we know You have placed Tony where he is at this very moment for a reason. And if You still have plans for him to do more here on this earth, he does not only need and want Your physical healing, but a thorough, deep-down cleansing and strengthening—a whole-hearted renewal of all that he is. Because all that he is - is Yours.   We know that You have used his deepest pain and suffering as the launching pad of his greatest calling- to make a difference in other people’s lives. Strengthen and sustain him, Lord. Restore him to full health. And no matter what Your plans for him entail, he chooses to honor You and gives You glory.

Likewise, we pray for Tony's Family. We pray that Your peace would fill the hearts and homes of his loved ones. And that Your grace would surround them so that they may remain united together in love – and one with You. We pray, Lord that You will continue to shine Your light upon his wife and children. Grant his children the strength and fortitude of spirit to overcome the challenges and difficulties they may be dealing with right now; keep them safe and shield them from harm and temptations. And may the love that binds together Tony and his family only grow stronger as they fulfill the destiny You have laid out for them.

We especially pray for our Sister Lyn. May she be increasingly in awe of Your goodness and mercy. May she consider each struggle as a reason to find hope in You. Let her expectant faith in You, Lord continue to protect her so that she may stand her ground and fight the good fight to the end. We pray that You will fortify her courage, endurance, steadfastness and spirit of love in dealing with the intricacies and complexities of life.  Lord God, renew her with health and strength. Continue to grant her the perseverance she needs to get through tough times. Help her to remember that You brought every family’s victory through Christ. Remind her to press on when she feels like giving up and to look forward when she feels like looking back. Continue to use her to support Tony in all of his endeavors; bear his burdens and reflect Your extravagant love to him, to their children and grandchildren.  And may her love for Tony and family abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that she may be able to do Your will - what is good and acceptable and blameless.

All these things we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son and through the intercession of Mary, our Blessed Mother. Amen. Our Father…. Hail Mary. Glory Be….

Indonesian Build at Ruby 0n 18 June 2006

Fr. Luz Flores' Visit to GK Ruby on 24 June 2006

Rev. Fr. Luz (Dodong) C. Flores of Anchorage, Alaska takes time out to make a visit to GK Ruby while attending the month-long celebration of the CFC 25th (Silver) Founding Anniversary. A GK Advocate (and the CFC Spiritual Director of Alaska and Washington State, USA), he wants to "watch and learn" how a GK site in Metro Manila operates in view of his plans to initiate a GK in his beloved hometown, Jabonga, Agusan del Norte.

Fr. Flores poses with the North B 1 Cluster Head with the GK777 tarpauline window cover as their backdrop.

... with his brother, Roman Flores , a CFC member in the province, who will oversee the prospective GK project in his hometown.

... with a sister-beneficiary

... with Jasmine, wife of GK Ruby Phase I Kapibahayan President Tata Conte.

presenting..........

People behind the GK Trilogy...

GK goes to the movies, or the movies invade GK.

On November 18, the GK Trilogy will find its way to movie theaters in the Philippines and the United States. Seated with Tony Meloto are Tony Tuviera, Bobby Barreido, and Tony Gloria. Butch Jimenez was not able to make the lunch meeting held the other day but everyone is moving towards D-Day. Standing are Rose Cabrera, Jhoanne Siy, Maria Montelibano and yours truly.

Everybody is excited about the trilogy which will be another milestone in GK history. We don't know what will come out of it but we never really know where the Lord will bring us with the work. We started with nothing but a deep faith that GK is God's work and an unbearable urge to help the suffering poor. We carry the same motivations and simply believe God guides us every step of the way.

Boy M

Negroponte speaks of Gawad Kalinga

http://shootforgk.com/web/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1139

In an event in Washington D.C. commemorating the centennial of Filipino migration to the United States, former Ambassador to the Philippines speaks highly of the work of GK.

Tribute to the working class; and Gawad Kalinga

BY FERDDIE MENDOZA
http://ferddiemendoza.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Yesterday, laborers from all over the Philippines and today in countries spanning half the globe celebrate Labor Day.

I salute my fellow workers all over the world for the wealth of nations they produce and the dignity they instill on themselves through hard work and excellence that shows in their respective trades and crafts.

In view of widening gaps between the rich and the poor in many places around the world, global leaders should sincerely assess the responsiveness of their programs of action.

In my country, many Filipinos seem resigned to their miserable fates and doomed to a downward spiraling life of poverty.

Many are honest and very industrious. I see people working from sun up to sundown.

Unfortunately, due to a general lack of education, skills and opportunities to improve their lot, very few barely come out from their lives of destitution.

They have lost their sense of dignity...their sense of hope.

Rays of hope however come from people who have refused to give up on themselves, on their brethren and on their country.

One such effort is Gawad Kalinga.

Gawad Kalinga or simply GK promotes the establishment of peace loving communities of faith, productivity, and love for the environment. It revives the Filipino "Bayanihan" spirit of collective cooperation, promotes total human liberation from spiritual and temporal oppressions and allows the poor to gain back their self-dignity and hope.

GK makes all these possible by embarking on a holistic approach to development and introducing programs that cover practically all members of the community from the parents to their children, from livelihood to shelter, from health to peace and order, from the environment to education, and most importantly (which I think is lacking in many well meaning programs to uplift the poor) is the integration of values formation and spiritual renewal into the community.

From what I heard, GK has already been adopted in several other countries as well.It would do our country a lot if our national leaders along with big business were to join the GK effort.

Let's face it; they have always had the resources to pump prime anything in the first place.

To a significant extent, recent developments have indicated that many have but a lot more have not heard and/or acted on the good news of GK.

To my mind though, by God's abundant grace, involvement and ownership of an empowered working and middle class as a coherent social bloc will ensure the sustainable success of GK.

By experience, the working masses when united for a common cause have dramatically changed their respective country's courses of history.

Let our common cause be for the eradication of poverty through the restoration of our people's self dignity and healing of relationships.



The following quotation is an excerpt taken from the Kapitbahayan Manual (For the Caretaker Teams & Community Organizers)

The GK 777 Movement:

The whole GK community, CFC's and partners from all sectors of society are gearing up towards the GK 777 Movement: to be able to build 700,000 homes for the poor, in 7,000 GK communities within 7 years.

Through this campaign, we hope to trigger the patriotism and generosity of Filipinos everywhere, especially from the private sector and the 6,000,000 Filipinos abroad.

GK 777 will be a template for development that other Third World countries can adopt.

It aims to bring back the spirit of "Bayanihan" that our country is known for.

The GK 777 is building the Filipino dream and restoring the idealism of the youth.

Our children will be the first generation of Filipinos who will be proud of our country again.

Today, more and more government officials are willing to help and express genuine service to the nation.

Our target in GK 777 is to build cities and municipalities that are squatter free and slum free.

GK 777 will encourage national leaders to legislate laws that will transform this nation's biggest liability-the poor- into its biggest asset. Motivating them to be self reliant, stimulating a grassroots economy and making the country safer for everyone.

This is our dream, to start a process that each poor family in this nation would have a decent home to live in.

A slum-free Philippines!

GK 777 is a cause of our lifetime. Be an advocate and proclaim it to the nations.

"Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise-up the age old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets and Dwellings." - Isaiah 58:12

Again, I salute my fellow laborers and invite everyone to answer to the call...Workers of the world...unite! For GK, for Gawad Kalinga!!!

One Bread, One Body - Reflection for June 21, 2006

ELI'S COMING

"When Elisha saw it happen he cried out, 'My father! My father! Israel's chariots and drivers!' " –2 Kings 2:12

Elijah was a one-man army. He claimed to be the only surviving prophet of the Lord (1 Kgs 18:22). When taken up in the fiery chariot, Elisha was probably referring to Elijah when he exclaimed "My father! My father! Israel's chariots and drivers!" (2 Kgs 2:12)

Elijah was Israel's whole army, a spiritual army that brought the government and military system of his time to its knees. Elijah stopped the rain for three and a half years, thereby shutting down much of the evil works of Ahab, Jezebel, and their cohorts (1 Kgs 17:1). Elijah took on 850 false prophets, personally putting each to death by slitting his throat (1 Kgs 18:40). Elijah was a one-man wrecking crew who could "clean house" and shut down evil.

Yet Elijah was a human being just like ourselves (Jas 5:17). We as Christians have much more power than Elijah ever had. In fact, we can do greater by far than Jesus Himself (Jn 14:12). As we exercise our faith through almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, we enter into a new dimension of supernatural power. We are soldiers for Christ, an army, "Israel's chariots and drivers" (2 Kgs 2:12).

PRAYER: Father, more than 99% of Your power in me remains untapped. May I live in the power of the Spirit.

PROMISE: "In giving alms you are not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father Who sees in secret will repay you." –Mt 6:3-4

PRAISE: St. Aloysius Gonzaga gave his hereditary fortune away and gave his life by serving plague victims.

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Loving hands that build

By Tintin P. Bersola-Babao

Last updated 03:41pm (Mla time) 05/31/2006

http://globalnation.inq7.net/propertyfocus/propertyfocus/view_article.php?article_id=3320

The Cortes Home Before

... in prayer








Have you ever experienced moving in and out of homes too frequently and having no real permanent address? I did as a young girl.

My earliest memory of eviction was when I was four years old. It was a small apartment in Cubao. We had no choice but to move out because my father had a falling out with his siblings.

The next years, my parents, only sister and I lived a nomadic life—living in apartments in Cubao, Matatag St., Parañaque, Fairview, White Plains, Greenhills, Loyola Heights, etc. We must have lived in more than 25 apartments and houses in my lifetime!

Reasons

There were varied reasons. Most of the time, we were living in dire straits. When my parents sold everything from country club shares to chicharon to earn a living, we lived in cramped apartments. When they chanced upon a gold mine selling oriental furniture, we moved to a 1,000-sq m., corner house with a swimming pool in Greenhills.

Then the business went bankrupt. We sold the house and moved to a smaller home. That was 1987 —I was 17 years old. For the next seven years, the cycle of transferring homes continued.

One night I told myself, this is it: Someday, I will buy my own house and it will be my permanent residence.

So when I started earning my own money between 1993-1996 I took a leap of faith and acquired a loan for a house which I proudly called mine—bought with my blood, sweat and tears.
I moved out of that home only when I married and moved to my conjugal home with Julius. My mom and brother still live in that house today. It’s my gift to them.

It is because of my past that I donated and helped build a house through Gawad Kalinga. Last year, on my 35th birthday, I convinced my high school best buddies that the GK house would be the perfect testament to our 22-year friendship. They all agreed and contributed money; I took care of the rest of the project cost.

Volunteer

Thanks to my “Magandang Umaga, Bayan” co-host Bernadette Sembrano, who is also a GK volunteer, I got in touch with Issa Santos, GK Head for Partnerships, who furnished me with a list of families whose house I could sponsor. I chose Mang Manuel Cortes’ family in Kapamilya Village in Sitio Ruby Fairview.

The day I met the Cortes family was also when their house was going to be demolished to give way to a new one. I could not believe a space which measured a mere 20 sq m. could fit 16 people!

Aling Helen, Manuel’s sister, told me that they would sleep in a sitting position to fit in the old bunk bed.

Interiors

The interiors would get flooded. And when the water level rose, all of them would just climb onto the bed and stay there till the water receded. Almost directly underneath their charcoal “lutuan” was, to my horror, their toilet bowl. Simply put, this wasn’t the kind of home the Cortes family deserved.

That Saturday was an emotional day for them—they were going to say goodbye to the house that was witness to their lives’ many ups and downs. Yet they were all thankful: finally they would have a decent place to live. They would no longer be considered squatters.

We all joined hands and closed our eyes in prayer. Minutes later, the “demolition team” composed of GK volunteers pummeled away until the house was reduced to rubble.

My friends and I devoted four weekends to participate in the building process. We were there during the “palitada” stage.

I never knew how difficult this job was until I tried it myself. Mixing cement and gravel was easy at first, but try doing it for more than five minutes and your back will hurt!

Our third visit to the construction site was for the bricklaying stage. Julius joined our group and he enjoyed the experience so much—lifting hollow blocks and laying them with precision.

Our fourth visit to the site was a fun one — we painted the two-story house with the family’s choice of color, light lavender. The activity became even more special because the GK choir serenaded us.

Then, it was time for the ceremonial turn-over — an emotional moment for all of us. The Cortes family gave a very simple, moving message of thanks, and we thanked them in turn. Helping build their house was an experience that nourished our souls.

The Bayanihan spirit is alive in the very concept and vision of building a GK house. Mang Manuel is a GK hero himself — he volunteers to build his neighbors’ houses. Now, with God’s grace, he and his whole family have a house they can proudly call their own.

I went back to visit the Cortes family last January when I accompanied my good friend, Dr. Vicki Belo, her daughter Cristalle, and the Belo staff to Sitio Ruby. They, too, donated houses beside the home of Mang Manuel. It was Dr. Vicki’s gift to others on her birthday. Cristalle also did the same on her natal day last April.

Last week Julius and I were at Sitio Ruby again, to judge a summer art contest empowering the youth and making them discover their true potentials. You see, GK is not just about building a house, it also means building lives—and character.

Thank you, Terrence and Thelma Grana, Couples for Christ cluster head, project director Gerry Santos, and his wife Chona, Ferddie Mendoza, SAGIP project manager – all for GK Sitio Ruby, plus all the good people of this GK Sitio. You have enriched our lives and contributed to our spiritual growth!