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WHILE
many mothers would start preparing breakfast for the
family early in the morning, Nove Ann Tan prefers to
read the Holy Bible first to get her through the day.
For this
mother of three young kids, reading the Scripture makes
the difference in how her life would turn out for the
day. As soon as she gets up in the morning, Tan studies
three chapters of the Bible and another chapter before
she retires at night.
For her,
getting through the Word arms a person for the
unpredictable day ahead.
Nora
Lucero, secretary-general of the Philippine Bible
Society (PBS) notes that “people in crisis go back to
the Word” to strengthen them and to search for answers
during hard times.
PBS, the
country’s main distributor of copies of the Holy Bible,
is celebrating its 107th anniversary and is observing
National Bible Week from January 22 to 28 as decreed in
several presidential proclamations.
Lucero
said the PBS distributes between 10 and 11 million
copies of the book every year, but sales peaked to 15
million in 2006, which some people attribute to the many
calamities that devastated the country.
“The
Word makes me who I am today, it’s [truly] the bread of
life. As a wife, it helps me know more of my role to my
husband,” said this 33-year old who is married to
businessman Chinkee Tan.
Tan
teaches her children through home school, a system which
she found to be effective not only for focus learning
but also in strengthening her bond with her kids. She
believes that the Bible, too, is a guideline that God
provides for parents in raising their children.
“It
always answers my questions in rearing my kids. It helps
me set the pace for right teaching and correcting my
kids. It’s like shepherding my children according to
God’s word,” she told the BusinessMirror.
Tan
believes that God is a personal God and reading the
Bible is His way of communicating to His children who
are expected to learn from His ways and be equipped at
how their lives should be conducted.
A voice
teacher at the Victory Christian Fellowship in Fort
Bonifacio, Tan loves reading the Bible so much she
studies several translations of it and buys a new one
every year. With her most expensive version to date
which costs P4,000, Tan doesn’t mind investing in Bibles
because for her it’s the book worth one’s pocket.
Peachie
Gonzaga, an artist, finds the Bible as a survival kit.
Drawn to live in the United States for a year, Gonzaga
found herself moving from one odd job to another to make
ends meet in a foreign land.
“I cared
for old people and transferred from one house to
another. It was really hard. There were nights I would
wake up every two hours because my patient is calling me
up,” she said.
Without
a family around, Gonzaga, who has held a couple of
exhibits in the Philippines, found reading the Bible her
strength and refuge. “If not for the word of God, I
wouldn’t know where I would be today. It was really a
struggle but God has kept me standing still because
reading the Word is like reading God’s love letter for
his people. I know that these shall all pass and His
promises for my life will come true,” she said.
Former
Sen. Jovito Salonga observes, “despite the defective but
functioning democracy in the
Philippines,
there is no risk in talking about the
Bible.”
A son of
a minister, Salonga was jailed during World War II and
read the New Testament to fellow detainees.
“Life in
prison during the Japanese occupation was hard but was
also a source of peace and joy,” he said, saying the
Holy Bible got him through his detention. |
