I am 46 years old and counting...
In those years that I walked the surface of this beautiful world, I have been so blessed to be working with and be nurtured by two great leaders. May I reflect on what made them great:
DIREK FRED MAGBANUA... he was my first boss. He is called DIREK FRED by co-workers because he was the Managing Director of Far East Broadcasting Company. I had the privilege of working directly with him as his ghostwriter in the radio program Lifeline.
What made him great before my eyes is his humility and his moral integrity.
Being a ghostwriter of his program, we would usually tape the program late at night. He would bring along all his grandchildren and their yayas to accompany us during the recording. In reflection, I am touched by Direk's way of making sure that both of us are protected and our reputation intact.
When a listener come to visit the station with a testimony of being touched by the message heard over the radio, he would bring the listener to my desk and introduce me as the writer behind the program. NOTE: ghostwriters are ghost, they are meant not to be seen. But with DIREK, he would introduce me to the listener and share the glory with me. I am so humbled to be able to work with a great leader who is not afraid to share the "glory" with his co-workers.
When DIREK retired, I couldn't imagine working as a "ghostwriter" for another person. I have been "under" of other church, organization and community leaders. I always compare them with Direk on these two criteria: how well they take care of their reputation and integrity. Some male leaders fail in their reputation especially in relating with female co-workers. I see male leaders either oppressing and abusing female co-workers. They treat women as their slaves. Or, they treat women as sex objects... an object for their sexual fantasies.
I also encountered male leaders who are so afraid to share the glory with other co-workers, whether male or female. They try to grab the limelight to themselves. They snap at others who might threaten their glory.
Not BISHOP DANNY ARICHEA. He is my mentor in Biblical Studies. As a seminary student, I shied away from taking Advance Greek. My experience in Greek I made me realize that Biblical Studies is not my cup of tea because of the language requirement of the program (we have to take Greek and Hebrew, as required course and advance Greek and Hebrew as major courses). When I did not enroll Advance Greek, he would always tease me "Chicken" and would even do a chicken dance whenever we meet in the classroom hallway. I would retort back, "Hebrew is enough torture for a student. Hebrew and Greek in one sem is suicidal." He would continue with his "chicken dance" until we both get into our respective classroom.
The following sem, I took Advance Greek. I also took Advance Hebrew. I ended up majoring in Biblical Studies. Now I work with Bishop in the translation of Full Life Study Bible into Cebuano as Back Translator and as my adviser in my graduate studies in Biblical Studies. As Consultant in the translation project, (he is UBS/PBS Bible Consultant and foremost Biblical Scholar in the country) he doesn't impose his scholarship on the translators... instead, he makes sure that the translation is a collaborative work among the members of the team. No one is above any one. When he points out what would have been a translation problem, he would call it "translation issues" and makes the "translation issue" as a starting point for biblical and theological discussion. Whenever we are in this "translation issue" discussion, he would challenge me to write on the issue. I would complain, "andami ko nang dapat isulat. Di pa nga ako tapos dun sa una..."
He is never greedy with his scholarship... even willing to lend his books to his students, especially those under his mentorship. He would teasingly remind me, "Carmel, you cannot build your library on my books!" What I admire so much about him is his willingness to accommodate even our far-out biblical scholarship, if it can even be called scholarship. He would accommodate our scholarship, then give us books on an alternative way of reading the biblical text.
He is a bishop, but he is willing to take "orders" from an ordained minister of another church, ako. At one time, I coordinated a celebration of the Communion on a Holy Week. I wanted to use a bitter wine for the celebration. I ordered him to provide the bitter wine and provide the biblical and theological reflection on the bitter wine (the bitter wine is in sharing with the bitter suffering and sacrifice of Jesus). Pait talaga.
I've worked with pastors (n wala naman talagang K). They would re-order an liturgy I painstakingly created, un-do elements in the celebration as if to impose on me that they are the pastor! Bishop Arichea may not be the bishop of the church where I belong and ordained into, but he is MY BISHOP!. He looks after not only my personaly (and family) welfare but also of my vocation and professional development.
Ibang bishop jan... magpatahod jud... bisag dili angayan. They would cling to their office even if their integrity is put to question. They are not careful in protecting the integrity of the Church and the Gospel by their lifestyle. They have stopped studying, relying only in their political machinery. Hay naku!
I am privileged to be nurtured and mentored by these two great leaders of the church. I look around the present leadership and they fail miserably against these two great men leaders. That's the reason why the church is in the way it is now... miserable.
