The volume of Filipinos going abroad has never stopped accelerating over the past five years. Batangueños continue to leave the country looking for greener pastures to live a better life as individuals and families. More and more students prefer to take courses that will help them land jobs abroad than here in our country. Sad to say, most of the time they are only focused in the financial rewards rather than the development of essential values of our great Christian and Filipino traditions.

Much had been said regarding the tremendous effects of migration in the family, society and economy. Less had been mentioned regarding the missionary dimension of migration. From Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles, D.D., migrants develop a new direction apart from just working and earning abroad for themselves and their families. They become the new missionaries of the new generation. Migrant Filipinos are filling the churches and they are taking the reins of the parish leaderships abroad wherever they are.

Indirectly, while bringing with them their Catholic faith, they carry with them the story of Jesus to their working area. Their Catholic culture and traditions come indirectly in the way they relate with people and how they do their work. Directly, they actively participate in many different church activities and mandated organizations involved in different apostolate and ministries. Here, they do missionary work.

Of course the role of the missionaries, remain to be A vital aspect of the church mission of bringing the Good News to the rest of the world, to people and nations who are not yet evangelized.  But with limited vocations to mission, the Filipino migrants are going around the world bringing their faith and gospel values as part of the missionary spirit of the church.  Their training begins in their home and in their parishes and schools they came from. They learn the basic tenets of faith;  and when properly guided and formed in the schools and in the parishes, they become a very important resource of mission in the church today.

It is ironic that now after being evangelized by the west more than four centuries ago, our Filipino migrants are going back there bringing the good news and their faith experiences to the same people who brought faith to us.  It is then urgent and important that the church, with the leadership of priests and religious, initiate further education, training and formation of our lay people especially those planning to work and/or live abroad.  As such, they are being prepared to do mission.  They will form a great aspect of the Church evangelization and mission program.  More and more people, more and more Filipinos and more and more Batangueños will spearhead in telling the Story of Jesus and sharing their Catholic faith around the world.

Let us take care and guide our Batangueño migrants and their families. When we do that, we prepare them for mission and we take part in the missionary life of the Church even if we are here in our Archdiocese of Lipa.