Ashoka
Philippines 🇵🇭
I am who I am, I have always been. A father of a fine 19-year old boy, a breadwinner, I was repatriated, displaced and distressed. Let us go back when the world stopped, 15th of March 2020. I was locked down in the US for 51/2 months without work and pay. I went home to the Philippines without a penny to my name August of the same year. Life was already tough because of the pandemic, it became tumultuous to us for we were scarce of everything. I almost gave up and threw in the towel. Despite of it all, I never blamed God for what was happening to us, in fact, I am still thankful for we are still alive as Covid ravages the world. Why? God has placed in me faith, faith that is daring and withstood everything. Ever since I was young, I have been exposed to being religious and spiritual, I have served in different ministries and capacities. I knew I was called yet, I ran away from it. Going to the US and working there changed it all. Now, I am back to square one, having nothing and yet I have everything. I started serving again, I formed an advocacy group for repatriated and distressed OFWs, who like me, was badly beaten by the pandemic. We were serving wholeheartedly and voluntarily, till we got featured in Washington DC and Japan, we got recognized and I was nominated for a national award for public service. Then I was invited to partake in a program called ALSE OF-LIFE from Ateneo School of Government, a six-month course on leadership, social entrepreneurship, and financial literacy, little by little, I was being molded back to who I was, a servant of God, little by little, my path is clearing up, the course was a game-changer, I thought it was just theoretical, I was wrong, it has that tinge of spirituality the seeped into the crevasses of your soul. There I came to know Ashoka, yet again, another blessing of deepening my faith and the Lord truly showing His purpose in my life. There I saw and knew that I wasn’t alone, I wasn’t weird having this extraordinary faith that I was not alone and I am not the only who feels like this, sees the world like this, moreover, I knew that I belong. The 4-week Masterclass has shown me a clearer picture of what I am supposed to do and there are people like me who can and will help me in my journey and my quest in spreading the good news that through faith all will be well no matter what. I am truly magnanimously blessed being a part of this and that I am so looking forward as to where the waves of substantial change will bring me through Ashoka. 2020 has been a year I will never forget, for it took away a part of my life that was supposed to be the answer to what I was aspiring then, servant leadership. Little did I know, the answer was waiting for me 2021 till last year, when my world started to move again and revealed my purpose, when I came to know about ALSE and Ashoka. I am a living testament of His grace and mercy. I am thankful to God, our Abba Father, for not forsaking me nor leaving me hanging, for keeping me all the time, not letting me feel that I was alone. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share what I have taken and learnt from our program, truly left an indelible mark in me. That there is still a chance for me to take control of my life and have a life of ease together with my family, it all changed. Now, I say unto all of you, HOPE IS ALIVE, I am alive, and yet at my darkest, He has shown me the way. A changemaker, a servant, His follower. Here I am Lord, use me.