The Netherlands “Knight in the Order of the House of Orange” Award for Cecilia Lansang-Francisco

 
By T.C. Lansang
Utrecht-The Netherlands
May 8, 2020
 


Surprise of a Lifetime !!



An early morning telephone call on April 24 from Diana Oosterbeek telling Ching that an urgent and important but a pleasant call will come with a request to please leave the house phone free between 9:00 – 9:30 AM!  No hint whatsoever what it’s about; Ching’s answer was, “I have a visitor passing by this morning, could you please tell them to call later?” We were under “intelligent lockdown” in Utrecht and a church-member was scheduled to drop by that morning. Diana called again and requested that Ching kindly leave the phone open while waiting for their visitor.



Bro. Jan Bethlehem, who called last night that he will be passing by around 9:00 AM, arrived in the house with several bouquets of flowers. Ching’s immediate reaction and questions were: “Are the flowers for Sis. Cora van Campenhout?” (Ching knew of Sis. Cora’s award a week earlier.) When Bro. Jan replied, no, Ching asked again, “Are these flowers sent by Stichting Bayanihan for the elderly?” A confused Ching then welcomed Sis. Susan van Oostenbrugge, who arrived with breakfast food and groceries. She made a request for Ching to change her blouse.  Still completely in the dark, Ching agreed and went upstairs to change. She found out soon enough that it was for “a video shoot” when the call came.

The call was from Burgemeester (Mayor) Jan van Zanen of Utrecht!  The Mayor officialy informed Ching that King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands was hereby awarding her royal honors as “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau” (Knight in the Order of the House of Orange) for her special contribution in serving the community for over 20 years as a volunteer. Ching retired as Senior Pastor of the Word International Ministries (WIN) in the Netherlands in 2017 and is currently serving as the European Coordinator of the Seeds of Hope Ministry and supporter of the Seafarers ministry in NL.



The awarding ceremony was scheduled on this day, 24 April 2020, but Burgemeester van Zanen regreted that the awarding ceremony was postponed for a later date because of the coronavirus pandemic. He asked Ching about who were with her at that time, and she mentioned that two members of the church were with us in the house, Bro. Jan and Sis. Susan. He ended by asking if she liked Utrecht. She replied in a heartfelt way, “I love Utrecht. It is one of most beautiful cities of the Netherlands and such a caring city in the whole of the Netherlands.” As Burgemeester van Zanen was saying goodbye, Ching uttered a warm “God bless you, Mayor” before the call was concluded.



An overwhelmed Ching was surpised again when a lengthy Zoom chat orchestrated by our daughter Liza followed. The chat included Wim & Diana Osteerbeek-Latoza of St. Bayanihan; and with a lot of congratulations and thanksgiving, the following joined in: Pastor Rene & Sis. Rosanna, International Director of  WIN, Pastor Angel & Susan Cano, Pastor Rihard & Sis. Susy Pasaribu of WIN-NL, Bro. Nico and Sis. Salome v/a Den Toorn  of WIN-NL, Pastor Dan Lua of WIN-Davao, Pastor Clemen de Guzman of The Lighthouse Centre (TLC), Belgium,  and cousin Marite Damsani from the Philippines were  all present in the virtual celebration.



More Zoom chatting as the morning moved on, and warm congratulations from Pastor Babes & Sis. Nickie Paulate of WIN-USA, Sis. Doris Alfafara of WIN-NL, and newly-weds Liza and Pastor Charlie Espinoza, who participated in the chat from their new home in Busan, South Korea.

Surrounded by bouquets of flowers sent by St. Word International Ministries, St. Bayanihan and church members, Ching got another big surprise: Sis. Salome sent an article that appeared in the Utrecht Gemeente announcement, confirming that, indeed, she was awarded the honor of Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau. (The surprise now “sets in” as a reality for her).

Later in the afternoon, Joselle Tesorio of ABS-CBN further confirmed this big honor and award when she interviewed Ching. This was followed later by a congratulatory telephone call from Ambassador Jaime Victor B. Ledda of the Philippine Embassy in The Hague.

Three Filipina Awardees

On King’s Day, 27 April 2020, the Phil Embassy, featured on their website the three Filipina awardees: Ms. Cecilia “Sis. Ching” Lansang-Francisco ;   Ms Cora van Campenhout of St. Bayanihan and WIN-NL; and Ms. Ave Baxa of JIL. What an honor and good news for the Filipino community in NL and for our country the Philippines in the midst of quarantine and pandemic.

 

At the end of the day of the biggest surprise in her lifetime, Ching posted in Facebook to all who sent messages and congratulations: “This award is not only for me and my family but also for our churches in WIN-NL, the Seeds of Hope Ministry, the Seafarers Ministry, St. Bayanihan and for the Filipino community in the Netherlands and to those who love and serve God and others.”

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In the Utrecht Gemeente Bulletin is a summary (in the Dutch language) of the reason for the award as follows:

Mevrouw C. Lansang-Francisco - Ridder in de Orde Van Oranje Nassau

In 1995 organiseerde mevrouw Lansang bij haar thuis bijeenkomsten voor Filipijnse migranten. Deze bijeenkomsten groeiden uit tot gemeenschapskerken en zijn dankzij de inspanningen van decoranda geregistreerd als Stichting Word International Ministries the Netherlands. De manier waarop de kerk in Nederland is ingericht geldt als blauwdruk voor de andere WIN kerken in Europa. Sinds de oprichting is mevrouw Lansang leider van de kerk en organiseert zij bijbelstudies, bijeenkomsten en trainingen. Daarnaast is zij sinds 2006 actief bij Center for Sowing Seeds of Hope Nederland om kinderen in de Filipijnen te helpen. Tot op heden is zij Europees coordinator van deze stichting. Ook is mevrouw Lansang sinds 1993 actief als vrijwilliger bij Stichting Bayanihan, Centrum voor Filipijnse Vrouwen in Nederland.