Just returned from the GK1MB camp at GK Reunion village in Batangas. What a privilege to witness young people taking their place in the greater scheme of things and realizing how we play such a valuable role -- providing the much needed energy to move and propel the movement onwards the vision of a slum-free Philippines. We strain towards the goal. Like the pioneering St. Paul, we run in such a way that we intend to finish the race, to reach the goal and win the prize. This is the Joshua generation. Our generation. The next generation of leaders, movers and shakers of the soon-to-be first class Philippines and builders of a more humane and loving world.
We are changing ourselves and our country one day at a time,keeping our eyes on the year 2024 when 21 years would have passed (one generation, our generation) and we are leaving behind social progress and prosperity based on a culture of caring and sharing. These are exciting times! There is a lot of talk about change. But we are not after any kind of change. We want change that is positive and good and full hope, the kind of change that carries in itself a transformative power that the changees become the changers, change that is like a forest fire that sweeps across the 7,107 islands and the world...but we hold in our hands a special kind of change, the kind that builds and not destroys. Change that gives life! And not just any kind of life,but a fullness of it.
In the Philippines, we are building a nation. We are building a nation from the ground-up, from the poorest of the poor, all the way down to its roots. Our roots are the source of our strength. The roots of the Filipino people are their faith in God and in themselves... The greatest assest of our country are its people who have been long abandoned, neglected and deprived of the many opportunities many privileged people take for granted.
It is such a great opportunity to witness the coming out of the budding light, like a streak of sunlight breaking free, such a beautiful thing to witness young people stepping up and taking their stand, placing their lives at stake for that one chance, placing themselves on a lamp stand so that other people may eventually see and find their way. And all we need is faith and courage, so that the budding light may become a torch.
We have this one chance to make a difference. We have this one chance to make a change. Life is short. We will not leave the world as we received it. We will make it better. And we are doing it with GK.
---(A Spanish poetry): Todo pasa y todo queda, pero lo nuestro es pasar, pasar haciendo caminos, caminos sobre el mar.
In Tagalog: Lahat ay dadaan at lahat ay iiwanan, ngunit tayo ay dadaan, dadaang gumagawa ng mga daanan sa ibabaw ng karagatan.
In English: Everyone will pass and everyone will leave, but we shall be going on our way, creating pathways upon the ocean.
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