Overseas Filipino Workers to Outstanding Filipino Witness

Welcome! This will be the last ASEAN country for this Blog. This one has an important place in my heart and I could not compare it to any place in this world.

The Philippines is a place where Chocolate Hills are,white sand of Boracay, Taal Volcano, beaches, rivers, and mountains. This indeed is a perfect place for me. In addition, the people here are loving and caring!

I grew up in this country and i know many things about it even without searching the internet. I love talking anything about it. Now, in this blog more than what i just shared above, i want to share what we call here in the Philippines the "new living heroes" or also known as OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers)

They were called this way because of their deeds and sacrifices for their families. They chose to work abroad, to be away from their families, friends, and loved ones to give a good life for them. Indeed they are heroes.

I know these things because my parents are one of those "heroes" that we are calling. And from the perspective of an OFW daughter, its kinda hard for your parents to be away from you. There are birthdays, graduations, any celebrations that you are not together and no choice but to celebrate it on my own.

More than that, I've seen the lives of these OFW when i had a chance to visit my parents abroad, and i tell you they are the lowest of the low on that country. And not only to that country but also around the world. They stayed in their because of the wages that they received in exchanged of discrimination and loneliness.

However, good thing Filipinos are capable of standing on what they believe and capable of doing things more than they could imagine. I believe that Filipinos scattered around the world will also be effective in sharing the gospel -- the truth about God. An it is not hard fro Filipinos to share what they know and what they beleieve especially in the workplace.

However, before that, this can only be done when we also give value to our Filipinos abroad. They sacrifice their lives and they give what they can give. May be it is just right that we'll give back that kindness that they showed to us.

For the ones who their parents are OFW, may be its just right if we will respect them and give them honor by studying well and understand them.
For the government, maybe it is just right to take care of them outside the country and be sure that they are all okay. and give them benefits.
For the churches that an OFW is involved or member, assist and be with them in prayers. Guide them in their spiritual life as well as their families.

For this, stress and problems would be lessen. For that these Overseas Filipino Workers would be an Outstanding Filipino Witness for Christ.

The Floating Village in Cambodia

Most of us associate Cambodia with the word genocide: the stories of killing fields, the wonder of fertility tree, and the dictatorship of a ruthless ruler Pol Pot.  Actually, no one will know Cambodia without knowing these things. Truly those historical stories are remarkable.

However, there is another thing, another story of life in Cambodia that I have found. These are the floating Villagers. They are called that way because literally their houses or boats are floating on the river. They are considered as the poorest people in Cambodia. 

The sad fact is that they cannot really afford to have a house or even rent one because the money that they have is just enough for their food (most of the time, there is no money even for food). Just imagine how hard it is for a family of many members to live in a boat.

They have hammock used as their bed for sleeping. They cooked their food inside the boat. What’s more, they even dispose their body wastes to the river. Most of these floating villagers are fishermen because that is the closest thing that they could do for living. When there is storm or even just rain, it would be a struggle for them, but they have to survive. What they do during rainy seasons is tie their boats on the near shore so that the wind and the waves would not blow them and destroy their houses.

God loves these people. I hope and pray that these people would be given a chance to live a normal life with a normal house. Nevertheless, while waiting to be blessed and to have a normal life, may these floating villagers find their shelter and refuge in the Lord. 

 

Music of Vietnam

Vietnamese lull their babies to sleep. This was used not only for babies but Vietnamese sang songs like this to express their feelings like homesickness or a wife misses her husband. 

Vietnamese used music to express themselves. Actually, while I'm looking for informations about Vietnam, I found a music that tells about wars. The message of the songs expresses their feelings of wars, they tried to stop it through their music.

This is a sample lyrics of a Lullaby:

o au o. The lights in Sai Gon are green and red,
The lamps in My Tho are bright and dim,
May you go home to read your books,
I shall wait nine months, I shall wait ten autumns

I think this Lullaby or any other songs of Vietnam shows their culture and history. It shows how important their families for them. Most of families in Vietnam scattered during WWII that made them missed their families. 

Let us pray for the Vietnamese especially for those who still feel and experience the pain of suffering in their country.

Source: http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-40-8/Lullaby-songs.aspx