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Testimony

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The day I passed the board exam, I went to church to thank the Lord. In my silent prayer, I remember asking him help me find my place under the sun and before I left, I asked him why He chose me among many.

 

On my way to church, I saw a card tacked on the corkboard with this message:

 

… Because you are the one I need, I need your hands to bring health to the sick

    (Matthew 4: 13-15)

 

… To convey the blessings of the Lord to the children - (Matthew 19: 13-15)

 

… I need your feet to walk my path. - (Luke 6: 12-16)

 

… To go in search of the needy. - (Luke 10: 29-37)

 

… I need your heart to be with me, and to bring the salvation to all

    (Matthew 22: 36-40)

 

… And to show my mercy and compassion. -  (Luke 15: 1-32)

 

From that day on, I knew everything was done according to His will.

 

In my quiet times with the Lord, I realized He has given me all the tools I needed and that nothing happened by chance. All the more I believed in the saying “There is divine pattern for one’s life and faith, things fall in their right places, in their own time.”

 

My family, my benefactor and member, the CCFCM Foundation, each is a part of the Divine plan.

 

I will continue to serve . . .

 

It is God who works in you, to will and act according to His good purpose … Philippians 2:13

 

1986 - Bro. Rene Ellorin was called upon by the Lord to do a very special task, “to open the Divine Book to those whom He chooses to be His Kingdom.”

 

God also has plans for me, to be His instrument for His good purpose … There was an offer, an invitation, a challenge …

 

1987 - I took the challenge … I enrolled for my medical course through the full support of my benefactor …

 

1989 - Bro. Rene, one of the 12 disciples chosen among the 300 candidates, was anointed and given a very special training.

 

1991 - I finished my course and started my postgraduate training in a government hospital and cater mostly to indigent patients. I started to realize the need to do something …

 

Bro. Rene was already active as a Kriskap leader, forming small “kapitbahayan” involved in the word of God, together with the parish priest of the church of Transfiguration in Murphy, Quezon City.

 

1992 - I passed the board exam, ready to practice my profession. Not by chance by according to God’s plan, Bro. Rene approached me inside the church and asked me to join the church choir. Not only I did join the choir, I also involved myself in the apostolic works of the group.

 

1993 - The decided to give birth to a community named Christian Community Formation Center. A priest suggested to include Mama Mary in the group and so today, the foundation’s name is “Christian Community Formation Center with Mary.”

 

Though the group operated on meager funding mostly coming from personal contributions of members, they continued their work and desire to link evangelization efforts with service to fellowmen especially among the ranks of the poor.

 

October 13, 1999 - After the mass for the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima, about five members of the group including myself held a meeting at Bro. Rene’s house, the temporary home of the Foundation. We decided to register the CCFCM Foundation at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-stock, non-profit religious organization. We wanted to organize and entity that is intended to support people we would like to reach out.

 

November 10, 1999 - CCFCM Foundation was officially registered with the SEC and was given a Certificate of Incorporation.

 

Exactly two years after, on the same month of October …

 

October 2002 (1st week) - Inside my clinic in San Mateo, Rizal, I felt as if I heard a whisper from the Lord … that says:

 

“There should be an “Adoration Chapel and a Hospice Care Center in this site.”

 

I considered mentioning this to my husband but maybe because of other pressing works to do, I did not have the chance to tell him, should I say, God made it that way, because he would just be the one to do the task …

 

October 2002 (2nd week) - As I was doing my routine consultation in my clinic at Murphy, Bro. Rene and Nestor had this casual talk outside. In the middle of the conversation, Nestor had this to tell Bro. Rene: “Ninong, we all die and everything we have in this world, we cannot bring it to the other side, we want to put into good use whatever God has given us.”

 

October 10, 2002 - The project was put into writing. Slowly, the vision started to take shape. A visit by a civil engineer accompanied by Bro. Rene yielded a positive result – the engineer pledged her services for free in support of the project. Again, it was part of God’s plan.

 

October 20, 2002 - 6:00AM, a call from Arizona, USA sealed the destiny of what has been a vision of the CCFCM Foundation’s noble mission. 6:30AM – From Arizona, we got our first pledge of seed money. 6:00PM – We got our second pledge of support from Florida, USA.

 

October 25, 2002 - I attended a workshop of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians held at the University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital. Not a chance encounter but rather a part of God’s plan, my colleagues in the profession provided me with materials and information I needed to put up a hospice care center with pledges of support of what ever they could extend to me. Links were established as we gave each others’ addresses and phone numbers.

 

October 28, 2002 - 8:30AM, Bro. Rene, Nestor, and I held a meeting at my clinic in Murphy. A covenant was made, the three of us joining hand-in-hand in prayers and together with the Lord, we agreed to work for the CCFCM Foundation’s mission.

 

“For where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there among them.”

 (Matthew 18:20)

 

This was part of Bro. Rene’s prayer as we joined hand-in-hand.

 

10:30AM, as I was reading the “Ligourian,” a Catholic magazine, I came upon a part that says:

 

“God prepare us, bring us to the right places, and then asks us to do something. We must say ‘yes’ and do it to the best of our ability…”

 

I was again browsing another magazine and I came upon a part that goes:

“When a man comes to die, no matter what his talent and influence and genius, if he does unloved, his life must be a failure and his dying a cold horror…” (John Steinbeck, Novelist)

 

4:15PM, before going home to San Mateo, we dropped by Monasterio de Sta. Clara to get our supply of holy water and to thank God for the day’s blessings. A big poster at the entrance door greeted me with the words:

“God loves a cheerful giver” – 2 Corinthians 9: 7-8

 

Before I went to bed, I glanced at the scroll hanging in the wall of my room, and it says:

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:31)

 

October 29, 2002 - I told my brother who is an architect about the plan and he willingly agreed to design the project. He said his way of supporting the Foundation is to give his services for free. We only have to finance the materials needed in the design plan.

 

October 30, 2002 - Before the month ended, I was approached by my eldest daughter. She was touched by the plight of illiterate adults very much older than she is. The documentary film was shown in a late night TV program on the night of October 29, 2002. She pledged to volunteer for the “Adult Literacy Program” of the foundation. This will be her apostolate to the Foundation, her way of giving back to God the talent she has been privileged to have. I am counting too on my second daughter to tackle the programs for pre-schoolers and children.

 

October 31, to November 1 & 2, 2002 - A time to rest … to have a purposeful silence and quiet time with the Lord … God has wonderful ways of doing things . . .

 

 

LORNA JEANNE E. BAUTISTA-DELA CRUZ

November 2, 2002