Reunions

Editor’s Thoughts: ………………………….………….… “Reunions” …………………………..…………. Eddie Zamora A Story of Nobility and Chivalry …………………………………………..…………………………….. From The Internet

Featured Items about Reunions: Reunion of the Pioneers, Class of 1972, MVC-SN

SULADS Corner ……………………………………….…. “God Sent Us An Army” ..........................… Jed Calayco. Balugo Patch of Weeds: ……………………………….……………………………………………………….….………………….. Jesse Colegado LIFE of a Missionary: ………………...…….. “Unique Religious Practices In Samoa” …………………….. Romy Halasan

CLOSING: Announcements |From The Mail Bag| Prayer Requests | Acknowledgements Meet The Editors |Closing Thoughts | Miscellaneous

MVC School of Nursing. Class of ‘72

Editor’s Thoughts: “Reunions”

here have been a few reunions that have taken place not too long ago. So before I go any farther, let us find what the word Reunion means. Here are some definitions given by the internet.

*An act of getting people together again after they have been apart. *An organized gathering of people who have not been together for a long time. * the act of uniting again. * the state of being united again

The most common reunion we experience is the class reunion, which is the coming together of members of a class after the passage of some years. Many high school graduates often reunite after five or ten years. The people concerned often wonder how their classmates look like, or what they have been up to. Another form of reunion is the annual reunion of alumni. An example is the coming MVC Alumni Association Reunion this December at Rancho Mirage. In this reunion we are excited to meet friends from another place, another state, or even from another country. This reunion takes place annually. Last year, at the General Conference session in San Antonio, TX, MVC held a reunion, Cowboy-themed. I thought it was well-publicized but I was amused when someone called me as the event was ending asking what time the Reunion was scheduled to take place. It was well-attended and a very happy occasion if you ask the attendees.. I was hoping to receive some entries but I guess the announcement about this week’s topic got lost somewhere in the vastness of the ether. So I still wonder if our alumni and friends find reunions important. Does it accomplish any good? My wife and I just got back yesterday evening from a reunion of the Pioneer Class of the MVC School of Nursing. The original number of members of that class was 15. Of that small number eight came. One came from the Philippines via Canada, another came from New Zealand, and the rest were from the United States. There are another five members of the class who live in the U.S., but somehow they did not attend. Basing on the reactions of those who attended, it was a happy occasion. They graduated 44 years ago, and all are now retired nurses. Some of them attended for the first time, and have not seen each other since graduation. A few have been coming together in scaled-down reunions.

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The other form of reunion is the family reunion. I have read of huge family reunions where the organizers rent auditoriums for a whole day or even for several days. One reason for these gatherings is when the family grows, some members do not know who their relatives are. My wife, Ellen, with some cousins and nieces and nephews, are planning to have a family reunion for the Montebon family next year because the family is growing and the younger generation don’t know whose son or daughter a certain person is. There are several nurses now who graduated from the MVC School of Nursing. One graduated from CPAC and two are graduates of Silliman University. I have attended the MVC Alumni reunions probably every year. I have also been considered an alumnus of West Visayan Academy (elementary school alumnus) and Mindanao Mission Academy. I have enjoyed the reunions and delight in meeting people I haven’t met in the past. If you have not been attending class reunions or school reunions, I hope that you are planning on being part of that grand reunion of God’s special people when Jesus comes again to take His people home to the place He has prepared where there will be no more pain, nor death, nor sickness.

Eddie Zamora Redlands, Callifornia

By the way, the MVCAA officers informed me that the deadline for hotel reservation is just three weeks away, and only 30 rooms have been reserved. Get moving, Alumni.

A Story of Nobility and Chivalry

he 21-year old American B-17 pilot glanced outside his cockpit and froze. He blinked hard and looked again, hoping it was just a mirage. But his co-pilot stared at the same horrible vision. "My God, this is a nightmare," the co-pilot said. "He's going to destroy us," the pilot

agreed. The men were looking at a gray German Messerschmitt fighter hovering just three feet off their wingtip. It was five days before Christmas 1943, and the fighter had closed in on their crippled American B-17 bomber for the kill. The B-17 pilot, Charles Brown, was a 21-year-old West Virginia farm boy on his first combat mission. His bomber had been shot to pieces by swarming fighters, and his plane was alone,

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struggling to stay in the skies above Germany. Half his crew was wounded, and the tail gunner was dead, his blood frozen in icicles over the machine guns.

Brown's Crippled B-17 Stalked by Stigler's ME-109

But when Brown and his co-pilot, Spencer "Pinky" Luke, looked at the fighter pilot again, something odd happened. The German didn't pull the trigger. He stared back at the bomber in amazement and respect. Instead of pressing the attack, he nodded at Brown and saluted. What happened next was one of the most remarkable acts of chivalry recorded during World War II.

USAAF Lt. Charles Brown

Charles Brown was on his first combat mission during World War II when he met an enemy unlike any other.

evenge, not honor, is what drove 2nd Lt. Franz Stigler to jump into his fighter that chilly December day in 1943. Stigler wasn't just any fighter pilot. He was an ace. One more kill and he would win The Knight's Cross, German's highest award for valor.

Yet Stigler was driven by something deeper than glory. His older brother, August, was a fellow Luftwaffe pilot who had been killed earlier in the war. American pilots had killed Stigler's comrades and were bombing his country's cities. Stigler was standing near his fighter on a German airbase when he heard a bomber's engine. Looking up, he saw a B-17 flying so low it looked like it was going to land. As the bomber disappeared behind some trees, Stigler tossed his cigarette aside, saluted a ground crewman and took off in pursuit. As Stigler's fighter rose to meet the bomber, he decided to attack it from behind. He climbed behind the sputtering bomber, squinted into his gun sight and placed his hand on the trigger. He was about to fire when he hesitated. Stigler was baffled. No one in the bomber fired at him. He looked closer at the tail gunner. He was still, his white fleece collar soaked with blood. Stigler craned his neck to examine the rest of the bomber. Its skin had been peeled away by shells, its guns knocked out. One propeller wasn't turning. Smoke trailed from another engine. He could see men huddled inside the shattered plane tending the wounds of other crewmen. Then he nudged his plane alongside the bomber's wings and locked eyes with the pilot whose eyes were wide with shock and horror.

Luftwaffe Major Franz Stigler

Stigler pressed his hand over the rosary he kept in his flight jacket. He eased his index

finger off the trigger. He couldn't shoot. It would be murder.

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tigler wasn't just motivated by vengeance that day. He also lived by a code. He could trace his family's ancestry to knights in 16th century Europe. He had once studied to be a priest. A German pilot who spared the enemy, though, risked death in Nazi Germany. If someone

reported him, he would be executed. Yet Stigler could also hear the voice of his commanding officer, who once told him: "You follow the rules of war for you -- not your enemy. You fight by rules to keep your humanity." Alone with the crippled bomber, Stigler changed his mission. He nodded at the American pilot and began flying in formation so German anti-aircraft gunners on the ground wouldn't shoot down the slow-moving bomber. (The Luftwaffe had B-17s of its own, shot down and rebuilt for secret missions and training.) Stigler escorted the bomber over the North Sea and took one last look at the American pilot. Then he saluted him, peeled his fighter away and returned to Germany. "Good luck," Stigler said to himself. "You're in God's hands now..." Franz Stigler didn't think the big B-17 could make it back to England and wondered for years what happened to the American pilot and crew he encountered in combat. As he watched the German fighter peel away that December day, 2nd Lt. Charles Brown wasn't thinking of the philosophical connection between enemies. He was thinking of survival. He flew his crippled plane, filled with wounded, back to his base in England and landed with one of four engines knocked out, one failing and barely any fuel left. After his bomber came to a stop, he leaned back in his chair and put a hand over a pocket Bible he kept in his flight jacket. Then he sat in silence. Brown flew more missions before the war ended. Life moved on. He got married, had two daughters, supervised foreign aid for the U.S. State Department during the Vietnam War and eventually retired to Florida. Late in life, though, the encounter with the German pilot began to gnaw at him. He started having nightmares, but in his dream there would be no act of mercy. He would awaken just before his bomber crashed. Brown took on a new mission. He had to find that German pilot. Who was he? Why did he save my life? He scoured military archives in the U.S. and England. He attended a pilots' reunion and shared his story. He finally placed an ad in a German newsletter for former Luftwaffe pilots, retelling the story and asking if anyone knew the pilot. On January 18, 1990, Brown received a letter. He opened it and read: "Dear Charles, All these years I wondered what happened to that B-17, did she make it home? Did her crew survive their wounds? To hear of your survival has filled me with indescribable joy..."

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It was Stigler.

He had left Germany after the war and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1953. He became a prosperous businessman. Now retired, Stigler told Brown that he would be in Florida come summer and "it sure would be nice to talk about our encounter." Brown was so excited, though, that he couldn't wait to see Stigler. He called directory assistance for Vancouver and asked whether there was a number for a Franz Stigler. He dialed the number, and Stigler picked up. "My God, it's you!" Brown shouted as tears ran down his cheeks. Brown had to do more. He wrote a letter to Stigler in which he said: "To say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU on behalf of my surviving crew members and their families appears totally inadequate." One of Brown's friends was there to record the summer reunion. Both men looked like retired businessmen: they were plump, sporting neat ties and formal shirts. They fell into each other' arms and wept and laughed. They talked about their encounter in a light, jovial tone. The mood then changed. Someone asked Stigler what he thought about Brown. Stigler sighed and his square jaw tightened. He began to fight back tears before he said in heavily accented English: "I love you, Charlie." Stigler had lost his brother, his friends and his country. He was virtually exiled by his countrymen after the war. There were 28,000 pilots who fought for the German air force. Only 1,200 survived. The war cost him everything. Charlie Brown was the only good thing that came out of World War II for Franz. It was the one thing he could be proud of. The meeting helped Brown as well, says his oldest daughter, Dawn Warner.

Charles Brown, with his wife, Jackie (left) and Franz Stigler, with his wife, Hiya.

They met as enemies but Franz Stigler, on left, and Charles Brown,

ended up as fishing buddies.

rown and Stigler became pals. They would take fishing trips together. They would fly cross-country to each other’s homes and take road trips together to share their story at schools and veterans' reunions. Their wives, Jackie Brown and Hiya Stigler, became friends. Brown's

daughter says her father would worry about Stigler's health and constantly check in on him. "It wasn't just for show," she says. "They really did feel for each other. They talked about once a week." As his friendship with Stigler deepened, something else happened to her father, Warner says "The nightmares went away." Brown had written a letter of thanks to Stigler, but one day, he showed the extent of his gratitude. He organized a reunion of his surviving crew members, along with their extended families. He invited Stigler as a guest of honor. During the reunion, a video was played showing all the faces of the people that now lived -- children, grandchildren, relatives -- because of Stigler's act of chivalry. Stigler watched the film from his seat of honor. "Everybody was crying, not just him," Warner says. Stigler and Brown died within months of each other in 2008. Stigler was 92, and Brown was 87. They had started off as enemies, became friends, and then something more. After he died, Warner was searching through Brown's library when she came across a book on German fighter jets. Stigler had given the book to Brown. Both were country boys who loved to read about planes.

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Warner opened the book and saw an inscription Stigler had written to Brown:

In 1940, I lost my only brother as a night fighter. On the 20th of December, 4 days before Christmas, I had the chance to save a B-17 from her destruction, a plane so badly damaged it was a wonder that she was still flying. The pilot, Charlie Brown, is for me as precious as my brother was. Thanks Charlie. Your Brother, Franz

We thank our friend, Jill Rhynard, for sharing this with us. If you enjoyed this inspirational moment, please visit our website http://www.visitstillwaters.com.

Reunion of the Pioneer Class of 1972, Mountain View College School of Nursing,

September 21 to 25, 2016 in Florida

Three weeks ago my wife and I left for Florida to meet with her classmates from the MVC-SN Class of 1972

also known as the Pioneers. We drove because we also had plans to meet with some relatives along the way

to Florida and back. It took us several days to get to Houston first where we have a granddaughter from a

cousin of Ellen’s and she had a son whom we wanted to see personally. In Filipino it is a grandson “in the

knee” or “apo sa tuhod.”

We spent the weekend with a classmate and her husband, Emi and Carl Silva. It was good to rest after driving

from Wednesday morning. From a California resident’s point of view, the sights along the way were so

beautiful and green when compared to our places back home where most of the lawns are brown.

On Sunday we proceeded to Florida, but had to spend one more night along the way. We drove straight to

Avon Park where Pelvina Rapacon Bautista had a home. Pel and Ellen had been doing a lot of communication

regarding plans for this reunion. Unfortunately, Pel could not be part of most of the activities because her

husband, Roger, had recently been hospitalized and the doctor had not given him the all clear to drive to

Clermont where the group would be staying.

This is the first class, the Pioneers, at the Miller Sanitarium & Hospital.

Actually we were not too sure who exactly would join, but we had some former classmates who said they

would definitely be there. The first person to arrive was Ancheta Galinato Oliverio or Anching. On Wednesday

morning we proceeded to Clermont to our condo and we got a call that Andrea Aguirre Saguan or Deding, who

drove all the way from Florida’s panhandle—Pensacola—a drive of about 9 hours, with Dorcas Albaladejo

Kilmartin and her sister-in-law Marjorie Dodero Ward.

So on the campus of Summer Bay Resorts the reunion of the Pioneers began. First we had to find the condo

so we could tell Deding where to go. We told them which building to go to, and with resourcefulness they

found us taking our stuff to the room, including food that Pel prepared for dinner and breakfast the next day.

Flyiing in to Orlando International Airport were Joy Festejo and Loida Estabillo Cruz on separate planes. Since

none of us really knew’ our way around, we told them to just wait for Carl and Emi whose flight was so

delayed. They came together in a rental car close to midnight and just like students of MVC who just came

back for a new semester, there was the usual shrieks of joy and excitement—at midnight.

The group was housed in a 3-bedroom condo at this building

of the Summer Bay Resorts in Clermont, Florida.

The first meal together. Marjorie was adopted as a member.

of the class. Where is Joy?

The first activity for the group was a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. This is where the rockets take off for

the moon or the International Space Station. Space probes to the planets also start here. This is the sight that

greeted them.

This building, a hangar for rockets as they are prepared for launch.

The first encounter they had with NASA’s world was an Imax movie of the space program and how it started.

The life of astronauts is described in the movie, as they do space walks and how they stay fit while in zero

gravity.

A bus tour followed and the driver became the tour guide. The bus went around the space center and

everyone got to see where things take place. They saw the crawler which takes an upright rocket to its launch

pad, the move taking hours or days even, depending on how far the crawler has to travel.

One last post at the Kennedy Space Center.

Friday night the group had a vesper service with Joy Festejo giving a devotional talk and Deding Saguan and

Dorcas Kilmartin gave the special duet number, like old times. Their voices were as beautiful when they were

students.

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Deding and Dorcas doing a duet. Joy giving her inspiring message.

Sabbath morning Pel and Roger came with granddaughter, Hana. They spent the entire day with the group,

but they left by late afternoon. Deding gave a special song and Loida was the speaker of the Worship service.

Deding with a digital song sheet. Loida was well-prepared for her part.

There was a lot of food prepared by Pel and Emi. The rest of the afternoon was spent relating what each one

had done the past 44 years or so. By the way some classmates of Loida wondered why she was with the

Pioneers. If you look closely at the first picture, Loida was there with them. But one of the CIs discouraged

her from becoming a nurse so she dropped out, but nursing was her real interest. In the interim she took

education, became a teacher and a principal, but the call of nursing was persistent. She came back and

graduated a few years later, but she prefers to be with her first classmates for reasons all her own. And just

for information purposes, all these ladies are retired from nursing.

Sunday morning they checked out and left for Avon Park. There were more activities there, games, raffles,

pictures and finally a tearful good bye. Tuesday a remnant of the group went to Key West, the farthest point

south of the United States. They drove to Miami, drove through the 7–mile bridge, and joined the crowd of

tourists at Key West. It also rained hard while they were there.

Here are a few more pictures of the group’s activities.

Preparing for Sabbath lunch.

Sabbath lunch is served

A few visitors/relatives came and enjoyed with us.

The Pioneers wearing Hawaiian attire at Pel’s front lawn.

Posing with Pel’s orchids.

A pose with the three spouses, and Eben and Nancy Aguirre.

There were two birthday celebrants—Carl and Loida.

Opening prizes—lots of fun.

It could be tough too, even causing ears to itch.

The long bridge

Self-explanatory. Cuba is 90 miles from here.

Just a pose among….

This picture was taken at the MVC Alumni Reunion at Arlington, Texas August 4, 2007.

They look the same, don’t they? Another classmate here is Becky Acebedo Kibble.

SULADS’ Corner: “God Sent Us An Army” By Jed Calayco. Balugo Elementary School

“When you need something, God knows.

When you ask, God listens. When you believe, God works."

unning out of food while on the mission field was quite a common occurrence, and we were not exempted. Being a Non-Governmental Organization, the SULADS cannot really offer large amounts of monetary assistance for our monthly needs. Some of our SULADS

friends find themselves blessed when assigned to areas where it is possible to gather or produce a sustainable alternate food source. But not all of us get to be that lucky. In our case, the monthly stipend is the only resource we depend on and running out of rice in the middle of the month was something we sometimes had to live with. We worried about our food supply as the monthly reporting and distribution of stipends was yet far off, I found myself on my knees as I cooked the last remaining rice we had. Knowing that the Lord knows our needs, I felt relieved after I communed with God through prayer. I had faith that God would in one way or another sustain us through the month. That week, the town of Balugo was going to celebrate its foundation day, or as it was locally called "Araw ng Balugo." As I watched the people prepare for the celebration, I saw the sitio leader direct the transportation of 5 sacks of rice. "We could at least join in the celebration and get to eat rice they prepared", was the first thought that crossed my mind. Later that day, I was surprised when a student, Angel, approached me and said, “Sir, you need to give me an empty sack." "Why do you need an empty sack? What do you want it for?" I asked. "For your share of rice, of course!" she responded matter-of-factly. "Rice?" I surprisingly tried to clarify, not believing my ears. "Yes! The sitio is giving rice to everyone and you need to give me an empty sack so I can have something to put your share in," she replied. I hurriedly gave her an empty sack. When she returned, she handed to us our share of rice that weighed about 6 kilos. We later found out that rice was being distributed to every sitio by the Philippine Army with the directive to distribute the goods to all the sitio residents. We thanked God for continually proving that His promises are true. God really knows our needs and acts to sustain us. In this case, God sent us the Philippine Army to supply some of our needs.

© SULADS International, Inc.

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If you would like to support this mission program dedicated to taking the Gospel to the people of Mindanao, please write a check to Gospel Outreach. Mark it for the SULADS and send it to: Gospel Outreach P.O. Box 8 College Place, WA 99324 You may also donate to the SULADS using your credit card by logging on to Gospel Outreach's donation site (http://www.goaim.org/) and follow the directions. Again, mark it for SULADS. If you would prefer, you may write your check to the General Conference of SDA and mark the donation for SULADS and send it to: General Conference of SDA Donations 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Thank you for your support of this very important project. If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, Unsubscribe To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit this link Forward a Message to Someone this

Cute Nurses

y nursing colleague was preparing an intravenous line for a 15-year-old male patient. The

bedside phone rang, and the boy's mother reached over to pick it up. After talking for a few

minutes, the mother held the phone aside and said, "Your father wants to know if you have

any cute nurses."

The boy gazed at the nurse, who had the needle poised above his arm, ready for insertion.

"Tell him," he replied, "they're absolutely gorgeous."

(From Cybersalt Digest)

Farmer At The Reunion

farmer and his wife went to their high school reunion. The farmer looked around, noticing

the other men with their expensive suits and their bulging stomachs. Proud that he

weighed just five pounds more than he did in high school, the result of trying to beat a

living out of a rocky hillside farm, he said to his wife: "I'm the only guy here who can still wear the

suit he wore when he graduated."

She glanced at the prosperous crowd, then back at her husband, and said, "You're the only one

who has to."

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(From Mikey's Funnies)

Corporate Can-Do

Programmer to Team Leader:

"We can't do this proposed project. **CAN NOT** It will involve a major design change and no

one in our team knows the design of this legacy system. And above that, nobody in our

company knows the language in which this application has been written. So even if somebody

wants to work on it, they can't. If you ask my personal opinion, the company should never take

these types of projects."

Team Leader to Project Manager:

"This project will involve a design change. Currently, we don't have any staff with experience in

this type of work. Also, the language is unfamiliar to us, so we will have to arrange for some

training if we take this project. In my personal opinion, we are not ready to take on a project of

this nature."

Project Manager to 1st Level Manager:

"This project involves a design change in the system and we don't have much experience in that

area. Also, not many people in our company are appropriately trained for it. In my personal

opinion, we might be able to do the project but we would need more time than usual to complete

it."

1st Level Manager to Senior Level Manager:

"This project involves design re-engineering. We have some people who have worked in this

area and others who know the implementation language. So they can train other people. In my

personal opinion we should take this project, but with caution."

Senior Level Manager to CEO:

"This project will demonstrate to the industry our capabilities in remodeling the design of a

complete legacy system. We have all the necessary skills and people to execute this project

successfully. Some people have already given in-house training in this area to other staff

members. In my personal opinion, we should not let this project slip by us under any

circumstances."

CEO to Client:

"This is the type of project in which our company specializes. We have executed many projects

of the same nature for many large clients. Trust me when I say that we are the most competent

firm in the industry for doing this kind of work. It is my personal opinion that we can execute this

project successfully and well within the given time frame."

(From Cybersalt Digest)

High School Record

ack at my high school for the tenth reunion, I met my old coach Mr. Carlier. Walking

through the gym, we came upon a plaque on which I was still listed as the record holder

for the longest softball throw.

Noticing my surprise, coach Carlier said, "That record will stand forever."

I was about to make some modest disclaimer that records exist to be broken, when he added,

"We stopped holding that event years ago.

(From Da Mouse Tracks)

Parakeet

s I was walking through a variety store, I stopped at the pet department to look at some

parakeets. In one cage a green bird lay on his back, one foot hooked oddly into the

cage wire.

I was about to alert the saleswoman to the bird's plight when I noticed a sign taped to the cage:

"No, I am not sick. No, I am not dead. No, my leg is not stuck in the cage. I just like to sleep this

way."

(From Da Mouse Tracks)

Guard Dog

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y sister-in-law, a truck driver, decided to get a dog for protection. As she inspected a

likely candidate, the trainer told her, "He doesn't like men."

"Perfect," my sister-in-law thought and took the dog. Then one day she was approached by two

men in a parking lot, and she watched to see how her canine bodyguard would react.

Soon it became clear that the trainer wasn't kidding. As the men got closer, the dog ran under

the nearest car.

(From Pastor Tim)

Dog-Training Video

heard the dog barking before he and his owner actually barreled into our vet practice.

Spotting a training video we sell, the owner wisely decided to buy one.

"How does this work?" she asked, handing me a check. "Do I just have him watch this?"

(From Da Mouse Tracks)

First Communion On The Moon

hat was the first liquid and food consumed on the moon?

I’m betting that most are unaware of this story.

Forty-seven years ago, two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the

moon. But, what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is

perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. I’m talking about the

fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return,

he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas

during this period in his life; and, knowing that he would soon be doing something

unprecedented in human history, he felt that he should mark the occasion somehow. He asked

his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of

communion wine. Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and onto the surface of

the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin

made the following public statement: “This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask

every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and

contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” He then

ended radio communication, and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from

home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion.

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Here is his own account of what happened: "In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic

packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church

had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came

up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture: 'I am the vine, you are the branches.

Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit... Apart from me you can do nothing.' I had

intended to read my communion passage back to Earth, but at the last minute [they] had

requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray

O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew’s reading from Genesis

while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly."

"I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had

brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think that the very

first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were the communion

elements."

"And, of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were

the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon -- and who, in the immortal words

of Dante, is Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and other stars."

(From Still Waters Ministry)

Potential Juror

s a potential juror in an assault-and-battery case, I was sitting in a courtroom,

answering questions from both sides. The prosecutor asked such questions as: Had I

ever been mugged? Did I know the victim or the defendant?

The defense attorney took a different approach, however. "I see you are a teacher," he said.

"What do you teach?"

"English and theater," I responded.

"Then I guess I better watch my grammar," the defense attorney quipped.

"No" I shot back. "You better watch your acting."

When the laughter in the courtroom died down, I was excused from the case.

(From Da Mouse Tracks)

Treatment

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asked a friend of mine by phone what he was doing. He told me he was working on "aqua-

thermal treatment of ceramics, aluminum, and steel under a constrained environment."

I was impressed.

In further conversation, I learned that he was "washing dishes with hot water under his wife's

supervision."

(From Mikey's Funnies)

Unique Religious Practices of Samoa

ach country has its own unique culture and religious practices. It is best to have some knowledge and understanding of the culture of a particular country to avoid embarrassing situations.

The first people who found Samoa were not explorers or people looking to trade, but missionaries. This had a huge influence on the Samoans’ religious outlook. John Williams and Charles, two missionaries from the London Missionary Society arrived in Samoa and introduced Christianity to the island in 1830. Each Samoan village contains one or more churches. I was informed that most of the churches’ tithe and offerings are given to the pastors thus making them wealthy and enjoy the luxury of life at the expense of the congregation. There is an offshoot group of Seventh-day Adventist in Apia, called the Samoan Independent Seventh-day Adventist Church. Their leader was a former officer of our SDA church in Samoa. He wants all the tithes and offerings for his church and probably for himself too. This offshoot church had just finished building a huge church building in Apia. There is constant pressure on the villagers to contribute money to also maintain the outlandishly huge and luxurious church buildings. There are strict guidelines to do so. It is often required that

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everyone attend church on Sundays and even sometimes during the week. Some villages have regulations that require villagers to attend church three times a day and join the weekly choir practice. There is a daily evening vesper called “sa” for family prayers, which is usually held at around 6:00 in the evening and lasts from 10 to 30 minutes. All activities are supposed to cease at this time. People would just sit quietly under a tree or on the beach until they hear the sound of a gong, bell or somebody beating a pan to signal “all is clear.” Some villagers are rather paranoid about it as fines are imposed on offenders. In some remote villages, when you are driving a car, you may not be allowed to continue driving through the village, but many villages allow drivers to continue driving. If you get stopped by a morality policeman in a white shirt, just wait patiently inside the car until you get the all clear signal. Many villages also have a 10:00 o’clock curfew at night. While we were in Savaii, the second biggest island of Samoa, at the sound of a conch shell at 6:00 o’clock in the evening, two young boys came to hide in our Fale – which is a simple thatched house on the beach. It is expected that during prayer time, everyone in the village should be inside their house for worship and those who are caught violating will be penalized. Usually the village chief will require the offender to give an animal lioke a pig. If the offender does not have a pig, canned goods will be required. Constant violation of the prayer time will result in the whole family of the offender to be ejected from the village. The policemen have little to do as the village chief does the police work. A few weeks ago, two of my colleagues in Apia were walking from the market during the designated prayer time, unaware of the rules. Suddenly two young able-bodied Samoans grabbed the arm of one of my colleagues and prevented him from walking. All what my colleagues heard was “pay.” They were quite surprised and wondered what they had to pay for. Soon they understood that the Samoans only wanted them to get inside the house and pray, not “pay.” Each time we are out in the afternoons, we always make it a point to rush home before 6:00 o’clock to avoid the encounter with the Samoan morality police. Learning the religious practices of the particular country you are in will help you avoid embarrassing situations and guarantee your safety. Please pray for our brethren in Samoa.

Romy Halasan

Beautiful Samoa

More beauty. Samoa Adventist College

One of our Adventist churches in Savaii. All church-goers should wear white.

On my way to church After church, the younger brethren serve the older people their lunch.

My lunch.

The staple food of Samoans—breadfruit

A typical Samoan fale.

Our fale for the night. A new plane for the airline.

Alumni Calendar

GYC this year will be at Houston, TX. CLICK HERE for more info

When What Where Point of Contact

Oct 7-9 2016

Fall Retreat. MVC Alumni Chapter in Maryland Virgina and Pennsylvania will join with MVC Tri-State (New York)

To Be Decided Save the date!

To Be Decided Save the date!

Dec 16-18, 2016

MVC Alumni Association Western USA. Reunion

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort Spa Rancho Mirage, CA

POC: Elbert Moralde CLICK HERE to book using MVC discount

Dec 28-Jan1 GYC Houston, TX https://gycweb.org/conference/information/

Summer

date tbd

MVC-School of Nursing Golden Jubilee Anniversary Reunion. Many MVCSN classes are planning on coming

MVC Campus, Bukidnon

Devaney M. Bayeta, president of MVCSN Alumni Association (home base chapter)

2019 Aug 12-17

International Pathfinder Camporee

Oshkosh, Wisconsin USA

http://www.camporee.org/

2016 Alumni Reunion Announcements

Come! Join us! Enjoy the California desert this holiday with friends!

MVC Alumni Association Western USA Reunion December 16-18, 2016

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa 41000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270.

(760) 568.2727

To avail of the MVC Alumni Group discount

CLICK HERE to make your hotel reservations. Discount/Group prices good if booked on/before November 1, 2016

90-picture photo gallery of the Omni Rancho Las Palmas CLICK HERE

Directions to the hotel CLICK HERE

Things To Do at Rancho Mirage CLICK HERE

Closest International Airport: 9 miles: Palm Springs, CA (PSP / KPSP) Palm Springs International Airport

82 miles: Ontario, CA (ONT / KONT) LA/Ontario International Airport we recommend this

Historically, the weather at Rancho Mirage on Dec 16-18: 66F highs; 44F lows

Instructions:

1. Send 1- of your choice of photos to Ben Rosas, Jennilee Luceñara or Elbert Moralde. 2. Cost: $100 for full page. $60 for half page. (fundraiser to help defray cost of the reunion). 3. Deadline: Oct 31, 2016. (Tip: when you see costumes in the store, remember the deadline) 4. Contact info: ben.rosas5@gmail.com, jelu82@gmail.com, or elvimor@aol.com.

MVC Alumni Association Western USA Reunion December 16-18, 2016.

Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa.

Meet The Editors

This week’s issue of Cyberflashes is Eddie Zamora. Next week’s issue will be by

Melodie Mae Karaan Inapan. Please direct all entries to her or any of the editors.

NAME: EMAIL ADDRESS: Eddie Zamora ezamora594 at aol dot com Evelyn Porteza-Tabingo etabingo at gmail dot com Jessie Colegado Cyberflashes at gmail dot com Joy Caballero-Gadia watermankids at yahoo dot com Lily EscaraLare Lily_lare at yahoo dot com dot ph Melodie Mae Karaan-Inapan melodieinapan at yahoo dot com Raylene Rodrigo-Baumgart raylene.baumgart at gmail dot com Romulo ‘Romy’ Halasan romsnake at gmail dot com

If you wish to subscribe to Cyberflashes, to unsubscribe, or if you changed your email address and want Cyberflashes to be sent to your new address, please send your request via email to any of the editors. We spell out the @ and dot signs in the email addresses to prevent worms, viruses, and robots from harvesting them. If you would like to correspond, simply substitute the correct symbols.

Prayer Requests Condolence to the Rudy Bermudez Sr. family. Pastor Bermudez passed away in Loma Linda California this week. He once served as an officer at Northern Mindanao Mission, at South Philippine Union Mission and at the Southeastern California Conference. He was loved by many and will surely be missed.

Memorial Service 2:30PM Saturday Oct 15. Loma Linda Filipino Church Funeral 8:00AM Sunday Oct 16. Loma Linda Filipino Church Graveside Service 11:00AM Oct 16. Montecito Prayer for Comfort for the bereaved family of

Pastor Rudy Bermudez, Sr

Celia Mendez

Venus Alicante Pasco

Chamberlain Agtuca

Geronimo Guarino

Pastor Salvador Israel

Susante Colegado (mom of Jesse) And for those who recently experienced the loss of a loved one. May the God of peace and love be very close to these families as we all look forward to the blessed tomorrow where there will be no more death. Prayer for Wisdom and strength to stand for the right principles

Our church leaders around the world… from the GC to the local churches

Our countries’ (plural) leaders, our peacekeeping forces & military, our lawmakers

Prayer for Protection For the missionaries who dedicated their lives in service to God. Pray for their safety

and protection as they face the many challenges in the mission field.

For those who protect our country and that which we believe in

Prayer for Healing: Pastor Oseas Zamora & Roxie Pido

Acknowledgement Special thanks to the following alumni who made this Cyberflashes issue possible: Jed Calayco, Gospel Outreach & the SULADS, Jesse Colegado, Romy Halasan

Closing Thoughts

The Pioneer Class remembers Iligan days.

When We All Get to Heaven

When we all get to heaven What a day of rejoicing that will be

When we all see Jesus We’ll sing and shout the victory

Brad Paisley