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| Me in the middle with Pastor Terry Casino and Aloysius Palting |
by Susan Palmes-Dennis
The people of Gastonia, North Carolina exude the Filipino's strong sense of hospitality to visitors like myself.
Visiting the area felt like I was home and home for me is the Philippines. The smiles that greeted me and the aroma of food made me nostalgic of my birth country one cold Saturday evening.
I already visited twice Grace Point International Church under the stewardship of Pastor Terry “Tereso” Casino who is a town mate back home.
Pastor Terry and I were not only town mates in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao, Philippines. We also breathe the same air as we reside in the same street and I knew in a heartbeat his family though he's younger than me.
It was in Gastonia that I first appeared in my capacity as president of the Fil-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC) and their warm welcome just encouraged me to do more.
Maybe I was just longing for the Filipino in us—the talk, singing and dancing as well as food that made me go there every time I am invited. So last Saturday I was there again for the Valentine's Day party where almost everyone was in their best red colored outfits.
She said the church is part of originally part of the CIC (Concord International Church).
The ministry is in partnership with the Bethlehem Church.
When the couple was assigned to Gastonia to have their own church last year they started with only four persons.
A year after they grew like mushrooms and now they are a growing family of very active church goers who without fail would gather together for two hours every weekend.
“They meet two hours including the dinner. They are doing 'discovery work.'
Their discovery is similar to Bible study but they do a lot of integration and emphasized more on knowing the truth and applying it in their lives,” the soft spoken Cecille said.
She said the biggest reward is the transformation of their lives for the better. When asked how to measure transformation among the people, Cecille said it is manifested in how they talk, act and deal with people.
In talking about transformation, Cecille mentioned the book of James in the Bible which talked about the practicality of life and faith.
“They discovered that they can be better people by listening and being slow to anger. And they discover this truth by reading the Bible,” she said.
From four members, the church now number more than 40 persons excluding the number of kids who tag along with their parents.
Aside from keeping their faith, the church goers cement their ties by sharing food with each other. That means native Filipino cuisine like pinakbet, escabeche, biko, fish stew, rice, fried fish and tinola.
I sampled their version of ampalaya (bitter melon) which they cooked with vinegar, sugar and tomatoes along with other greens. I remembered my mama lecturing me and my siblings on the value of eating amaplaya which she usually cooks with eggs.
It was only later in life that I learned that the ampalaya can help people with diabetes. Oh, but I strayed too far from the subject at hand which is the people of Gastonia.
As I said, I always loved meeting them because their smiles and warm welcome encourages me to visit them repeatedly. They show me the best traits of a Filipino living in a land they call their second home.
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| photo courtesy Aloy Palting and Muffy P.Therrien |
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her email susanap.dennis@yahoo.com as well as her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)
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