ANCOP CANADA CELEBRATES GOD’S LOVE WITH A PHILIPPINE CELEBRATION TOUR 2019
By Patria Balilla
CFC ANCOP Events and Communications Coordinator
Baguio City
To celebrate God’s love, ANCOP Canada gathered members of Couples for Christ (CFC) all around Canada for its first-ever “ANCOP Canada Celebration Tour,” where they visited several ANCOP sites in the Philippines which they sponsored. This allowed them to see for themselves the fruits of their labor from their donations and volunteering to the organization. The tour started on January 22, and ended January 27 on CFC Mission Core Retreat at Baguio City.
Parañaque Site Visit: Participants of ANCOP Canada Celebration Tour 2019 started by visiting PAR 2 Homes, Parañaque City to check the on-going site who sponsored mostly of CFC ANCOP Canada. Some of them had the chance to interact with prospect house partners living beside the construction, wherein a creek would be found.
Together with 35 participants, composed of CFC couples and HOLD members from different states in Canada, they started the first day at PAR 2 Homes at Moonwalk, Parañaque City, where students from Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) recently held their build activity. They went to see the progress of the site, which is in partnership with Parañaque Rotary Homes, as well as checking the people living in the area which are the prospect home partners. They then went to Fr. Hofstee-PCCF Community at Caloocan, where they held a short program with sharing of stories from the home partners of how thankful they are and how much their lives were changed because of this housing project. The last site they visited for Day 1 is the San Miguel Ville at Brgy. Santulan, Malabon City. A program to welcome the participants were held, attended also by the representative of this site’s partner donors, the Diocese of Kalookan, EMME Foundation, and the Local Government Unit of Malabon.
Bulacan Site Visit/Groundbreaking: The second day of ANCOP Celebration Tour started at Baliwag, Bulacan site with a groundbreaking ceremony of Phase 2. Together with the participants are representatives from the local government unit headed by Baliwag Mayor Ferdie Estrella and CFC Bulacan. It was started with a mass then proceeded with the blessing of the houses in Phase 2 and the ceremonial lowering of time capsule for the groundbreaking.
After spending the night at Bulacan, they also made a visit at the Starville-Tony Vickar Village at Baliwag, Bulacan. They attended the Groundbreaking of its Phase 2, together with ANCOP USA and the Local Government Unit of Baliwag which are the major donors for the project. The participants really felt the hospitality of the people, as they were welcomed with festive dances and delicious lunch at the Mayor’s residence. After this, they proceeded to meet the home partners at ANCOP Vancouver Homes at Paniqui, Tarlac. They had some time to go around the village, and later on shared some food and stories with a Fellowship Night with the villagers. Later that night, several participants spent the night on some of the home partner’s houses to immerse to their lives.
The next day at Tarlac started with a Holy Mass then followed by a Turn-over Ceremony of 11 new houses to its respective owners. The houses were blessed after the mass. It was truly a beautiful sight to see the new home partners get a hold of their new homes, giving them new hope for their families. Their stay in the site was short but sweet, witnessing the grace of the Lord unfold to our poor brothers and sisters. They later on proceeded to Bayambang, Pangasinan to witness once again a Turnover Ceremony for the first ten finished houses in CFC ANCOP-Calgary-Mojares-KKSBF-Bayambang Community. The program was attended with the key donors, including ANCOP Canada, Bayambang Local Government Unit, and Kasama Kita sa Barangay Foundation Inc, while CFC Pangasinan is well-represented as well. The new home partners are truly grateful to the great act of kindness of the donors with their beautiful homes on a beautiful community. The rest of the houses are set to be finished on March 2019.
After all their site visits, they now proceeded for a Fellowship Night at Malasiqui, Pangasinan then attended CFC MC Retreat at Baguio City, marking the end of the ANCOP Celebration Tour.
Tarlac Turnover of Houses: The 3rd Day of ANCOP Canada Celebration Tour started with a mass by Fr. Cielo, followed by the blessing of the 11 newly turned-over houses for ANCOP Vancouver Homes in Paniqui, Tarlac. It was truly a beautiful sight to see the new home partners get a hold of their new homes, giving them new hope for their families. Their stay in the site was short but sweet, witnessing the grace of the Lord unfold to our poor brothers and sisters.
Bro. Ricky Cuenca, ANCOP Canada President, always highlighted to the home partners that they too, are grateful for all these things. He told them that most of the donors from Canada are striving hard just to gather funds in supporting ANCOP programs and projects. He reminded them to take care of these things, as these are also fruits of hard work of their brethren in Canada who do their best as part of their service to God. As for the participants, they are now much more eager to help our poor brothers and sisters, as they saw joy in having a heart for the poor. (CFC ANCOP Communications /pmb)