The fruit of Silence is Prayer…
The fruit of Prayer is Faith…
The fruit of Faith is Love…
The fruit of Love is Service…
The fruit of Service is Peace. – St. Mother Teresa
This is Teacher Nanan at your service, your Misyonerong Bisdak in Mindanao.
How many of us have said “yes” to a certain call or opportunity that we can call our amazing miracle unfolding before our eyes? Last August 4-18, 2024, Ateneo de Davao University hosted the 13th AJCU-AP (Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Asia Pacific) Service Learning Program 2024.
We welcomed brave souls composed of Jesuit student leaders with their respective faculty companions from seven Jesuit institutions in the Asia Pacific. It was an amazing experience of faith.
I am eternally grateful to Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ together with the Ateneo Internationalization for Mindanao Office and the Arrupe Office of Social Formation for inviting me and my former ASF student French Bandong to help in making sure that all delegates would be warmly welcomed to the heart of this university in the daily disposition setting and preliminaries of the morning sessions.
Upon receipt of the invitation I immediately said “yes” and heartstormed with French on our task at hand. We had one motto since day one. For us in Team Franch “what is done in love is done well.”
I creatively coined both our first names together thus, Team Franch was born – Frances & French. Starting today, we are not only prayer buddies but Ignatian Mission Partners as well.
“Go, set the world on fire!” (St. Ignatius of Loyola)
Our mission was forever etched in the meaning of Team F.R.A.N.C.H. F for Faith, Fun & Friendship but also Ignatian Fire. R for Reflection. A for Appropriation of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm. N for Noble Endeavor of working for Democratic Resilience. C for Christ-centered journey. H for Humble Loving Ways of serving our respective countries and mission places.
For us in the Ateneo, service learning takes on a whole new meaning because we embrace it as our mission in this part of Asia. As we lovingly took on this task of the daily morning preliminaries, a miracle unfolded before my eyes. I came full circle in becoming an excited student of life with French walking me through his own AJCU-AP experience in 2023.
My being a social scientist was fuelled by the many engaging inputs and discussions day by day. But the heart of it all was really being touched by the depth of reflections of all our delegates as they lovingly immersed with our mission partner communities.
Love ought to show itself in deeds rather than in words…(St. Ignatius of Loyola)
The prayers of compassion we shared and the blessing prayer for each Ignatian prayer buddy day by day gently reminded us of our Ignatian shared mission. How even on the first day, how all of us felt so amazingly connected to each other in our Ignatian heritage of faith. We gave each other sincere solemn clap which we learned from Miss Darleen Undag. We painted empty eggshells to represent our deepest hopes and aspirations. I must thank Klariz of AdMU for one such exceptional masterpiece on her eggshell painting entitled: Conversations. Reflections. Thought processes.
We always began our mornings with silence and solemn prayers. We put together the day’s recap anchored on the theme: Democracy under Siege: An AJCU-AP Service Learning Program on Democratic Resilience through ART CO-Love beautifully captured by Pebbles of AdMU’s centerpiece painting entitled “Service in Abundance”.
My heart was deeply touched by the receptivity of these brave souls. Even with foreign delegates from Indonesia, Japan, Timor Leste, and Thailand trying to speak their hearts out, I was a witness to how the Ignatian warmth of Love and Kindness prevailed in those blessed 14 days. When words fail, art suffices. They painted Mi Amor from Timor. Team Japan painted I shall never quit. Team Thailand did write Harmony. The past two weeks made me believe even more in the goodness of humanity. What actually unites us is greater than what divides us.
Our joys and aspirations as a people are actually what fuel us to become agents of change and transformation one loving act at a time…
Testimony of faith from French Bandong
Team Franch was a three-fold full-circle moment for me. For one, it brought me back to my AJCU-AP SLP experience. From being a delegate last year in Chiang Rai Thailand, I was offered to be the main facilitator for this year’s SLP installment. It was a lot of pressure considering that the dates fall within class schedules. Yet, I perceived it as an opportunity to extend the experience to others and give back the profound joy and reflections it has taught me last year.
It was also a formation in full circle, and with all humility, a fulfillment to become a co-facilitator with my Teacher Nanan who was once my ASF Formator here in Ateneo. One has to start somewhere and by the grace of God, I started as a student who was blessed enough to be formed to do more in service. Teacher Nanan encouraged me to join the Arrupe Office as a volunteer, and three years later, we are now partners in the Jesuit Mission.
The final circle is as a political science student. This year’s theme was a deep probe into the democratic situation of the Philippines. It is equally interesting despite being familiar with the theme’s concepts particularly because of the call for a more decentralized appreciation of democratic attacks and resilience. As I lead and participate in conversations, I am able to unlearn and relearn as well. It is yet another theory to practical application in my early career as a political scientist.
This program was yet again another affirmation of a call to not just place democracy and social issues as central to our normative conversations but to also integrate faith and context based movements into our efforts to social justice. I am deeply grateful for being part of Team Franch and the working group for this program. While the AJCU-AP SLP has ended, it is the end of a beginning for contemplative action moving forward as we engage in each of our contexts. By Frances Nina Fernandez-Bitang