MOTHERS’ CHRISTIAN (R)EVOLUTION

MOTHERS’ CHRISTIAN (R)EVOLUTION

DATE : November 30, 2007

TO : All mothers and women

FROM : Mrs. Vida Cuarteros, Proprietor, Cuarteros Bread and Cakes

RE : WOMEN’S LOVE EVOLUTION THROUGH THE GIFT OF EDUCATION

Dear my sisters in Christ, fellow mothers and fellow women:

400 hundreds and 82 years have passed since Spain subjected us to Catholic Christianity but we have not yet progressed in the area of Christian love: We are still stuck up in the lap of SELF-LOVE! We are yet to mature to love God our Father above all, and our neighbor as ourselves.

Christ’s standard and definition of true Christianity is to go beyond self to love God above all and our neighbor like ourselves (Matthew 22). True Christianity is going beyond one’s own self, home and family. It is helping the poor in need, even though not our flesh-and-blood relatives. Read Matthew 25:31-46, James 1:27 and I John 5:1: WE CAN LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL THROUGH LOVING HIS POOR CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE NO MORE HUSBANDS (WIDOWS) OR DO NOT HAVE FATHERS (ORPHANS) TO EARN FOR THEIR NEEDS. The family who has lost a husband or father, for whatever reason, is the one most in need. We have to aid it sail through and survive in the ocean of life.

This nation is cursed because we have not graduated from mere lip-service, nominal Christianity. We call ourselves Christians but never have come out of our selfish shell of paganism. Paganism is loving the self alone or more than God and the neighbor. We are only up to caring for our own selves and families. But Jesus said True Christianity is going beyond loving self and succeeding in loving God above all and our neighbor.

Especially Filipino women, we have not come out of our own small shell like turtles and reached out to help the children of our poor sisters or fellow mothers. We have not reached out to help the children of the poor, especially the fatherless children who in God’s eyes are our nieces and nephews.

Many have insisted that when people are poor , to love God via the poor and to love our neighbor as ourselves is a very difficult thing to do, if not an impossibility. That can be true if CASH is the only resource or means. But we have many means and plenty of different resources. One of them is idea.

I have an idea.

If our men have had their own revolutions, I would like to propose our own women’s Christian evolution. What is that? LET US EVOLVE FROM SELF-LOVE TO GODLY AND NEIGHBORLY LOVE. Let us start in education. Education is a gift we can give to last forever or quite useful for a long time. FIND an indigent child in your barangay or community who wants to study highschool or college but couldn’t due to poverty. Choose the one most interested.

Then as mothers, join hands to act collectively as the Christian aunts of this poor child.

Here we can come in to help you. Here’s how: COLLECT ALL PURCHASE COUPONS YOU RECEIVE FROM US. Take note of this: We will only give COUPONS to those who ask. This will indicate to us that those who ask are those who have decided or agreed to get involved into this unique program of divine love.

One coupon will be given for every purchase of products worth P10.00 from Cuarteros Bread and Cakes. Staple these coupons by 10’s and when the number of coupons reaches 200, give them to the mother of the child you are supporting. It will be the mother who will facilitate the encashment of the coupons. She will receive in cash some ten percent (10%) of the total amount of the coupons.

For the moment, we do not expect we can give full scholarship to our indigent recipients. But at least, we can aid the poor family, lighten its burden and enable it to send its son or daughter to high school or college.

We will only stop our aid if, despite our aid, the mother fails to send her son or daughter to school. Our aid is intended for the education of that child.

This bayanihan of our Mga Nanay Para sa Edukasyon sa Kabus nga Pamilya Program (NEKPP) is a small step for Christian women to aid their fellowomen who are more hard up than they are. It is making it possible for poor women, without cost from themselves except the diligence to collect the coupons, to help their fellow poor mothers send their children to school! See, loving others while we are poor is possible after all! In this NEKPP, poor mothers are able to fulfill Christ’s will in Matthew 25:30-46 which is to help the poor who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick and enslaved, in behalf and for the sake of God-Christ.

We can join in Christ’s Revolution, namely: The evolution from self-love to Godly love and neighborly love. To go beyond self-love to love God above all through the poor and our neighbor as ourselves.

For He said, Whatever good or bad that you will have done to the least (poorest) of these My brethren who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick and enslaved, you have done that to Me! (Matthew 25:40). The Apostle John confirms: He who loves the Father will also love His children (1 John 5:1).

With this NEKPP idea, and using only a small part of our financial resources (read: just using our money to buy bread!), I am giving you the opportunity to fulfill Christ’s will.

This is one of the first times that Filipino women will have come out of self-love to reach out to love God above all through His poor people. And I am sure that, that if we will do this with sincerity and earnest love, then, God will also bless us.

As your sister in Christ, wanting to live according to His will, I am here offering you a way which if you will accept and decide to cooperate, will help us, Filipino women, join the Christian revolution, namely: the evolution from selfish self-love to Godly love and neighborly love.

Then God will bless our families and our nation.

Very truly yours,

Vida

P.S. Contact me at 0910-6447-828. You can implement NEKPP without a formal organization. But I am also interested to talk with your women’s group one of these days. God bless.

Nanays Para sa Edukasyon sa Kabus nga Banay Program (NEKBP)

To : Mr. Joel Rosario

Barangay Captain

Cantagay, Jagna

From : Arnulfo “Cocoy” Laniba

Cuarteros Bread & Cakes

Jagna Public Market Cellphone #: 0910-6447-828

Re : Making Your Administration Able to Grant “Scholarship” without

Spending a Single Centavo but through Cooperation

Text :

Wel,

Gud a.m. to you. I have decided to write you a short note and also to furnish a few document regarding a project which I call “Nanays para sa Edukasyon sa Kabus nga Banay Program” (NEKBP).

I am invited to attend this morning’s rally in Tagbilaran; at the same time, to deliver orders by ICM and a birthday cake to a friend in Bool. I plan to catch up your afternoon session; but in case I can’t, let this letter serve as the substitute of my presence. I will attend your next session to explain NEKBP and what benefits can it do to your members as well as to you, their barangay captain. Please also talk to your women’s president; she received a copy of this program ahead of you, sometime in January.

Blessing kaayo Wel nga naa ka. NEKBP is an excellent idea which needs an excellent Leadership. You are an excellent Leader. I want to make Cantagay the pilot barangay to start our program.

What is NEKBP? It is a simple scheme to help send our children to school. The barangay will not spend additional money for this program, not even a single centavo. It is a trio or triumvirate partnership consisting of (1) barangay officials especially the barangay captain and the women’s president; (2) the people especially the mothers; and (3) a business enterprise that has the willingness – the desire – the commitment -- to SHARE part of its income for the upliftment of the people. In our case, it is the Cuarteros Bread & Cakes.

For the details and procedure, kindly study/read the letter attached I sent to your women’s president so you can easily understand what I will say next in this letter.

What are the functions of the Barangay Captain?

He must first grasp the whole scheme or program: objectives, procedure, functions & benefits. Second, if he is sold out to the goodness of the idea, he must decide to adopt it as one of his priority projects/programs. He must fully come to realize that NEKBP is a powerful strategy to attain a high level of effectiveness and accomplishment as a barangay captain - never before done by any barangay captain before! Imagine by a simple scheme of TEAMWORK between barangay officials, women and a business enterprise YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SCHOOLING OF SOME POOR YET DESERVING YOUTH who will someday become great and return love to the barangay responsible for his or her success!

Wel, I tell you: You will become an awardee of the Galing Pook Award for Excellent Scheme to Educate the People! All we have to do is: Let the NEKBP work!

Discuss NEKBP to your Women’s President. I had already sent/given a copy of the program/idea.

Level of Cooperation

I had discussed it with Vida, my wife, who will take charge in this program. (I am on the move, you see. I am managing my own NGO, Agape Foundation (Agasoft). Its an NGO for Total, Equitable, Maximum, Aesthetic, and Sustainable Development (TEMASD) of the Individual, Family, Barangay, other LGUs, Small and Medium (Business) Enterprises as well as our Nation. We concentrate on IDEAS to help everyone achieve improvement, development and progress.)

Now, as you can read in the accompanying description of the NEKBP program, we promise to give 10% of our Sales from Cantagay residents. To further motivate everyone to participate, we will implement and grant the 10% by bracket of participation. What I mean is:

Ø if number of Nanays who participate is half of the total number of Nanays in your barangay or below half, we will give 5% discount.

Ø If 51% - 75% of them participate, we will give 7.5% discount.

Ø If 75% to 100%, then, a full 10% discount!

As what you and I have experienced, as students and now as parents and leaders, we know that sending children to school or giving them education is the heaviest and hardest burden – the most difficult problem of parents today, and it is usually the mother who feels it the most. Education is the most difficult because we have food, clothing, shelter (also medicine) as the first priorities and usually, there is not enough money left for education after we have exhausted our strength, thoughts, time, sweats and tears in difficult toil! When it comes to education, we as parents and as a barangay seem to have run out of resources and ways, so much so that very few of our children have gone to school!

So, we need other means. Other ideas which are both WISE and LOVING.

NEKBP is one of those ideas.

All it takes for NEKBP to succeed is : commitment – dedication – diligence – sincerity to love both others and our selves – (“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the most effective principle of Leadership) -- fervor to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20 & John 13 ) – and the aim that in serving the poor, we also do it because we love the eternal Father and out of gratitude, we help the poor in His behalf, for His sake, for His pleasure and happiness, and, so to speak, in His absence! (Matthew 25: 40; I John 5: 1).

Wel, let us be the new breed of Leaders! Let us not follow those trapos who are mainly responsible for the present mess and crisis in our country! They detach Christianity and Morality from Politics. Yes, they go to church, but the church’s teachings don’t go with them to the halls of power! Therefore, they have become politicians without Christianity and Morality, thus, heads without heart.

We will be different. How? It’s simple: We will be Leaders of God – His servant–leaders who implement His Law: You shall love the Father your God above all and your neighbor as yourself.

How?

NEKBP is one way!

See you this afternoon, my good friend! If I can’t make it, please inform me of your next session. My number: 0910-6447-828.

Very sincerely yours,

Cocoy