A Good Beginning
A SERIES on Grace To Be Born is never complete without tracing back its beginnings. Because yes, it’s a good beginning.
Our founder, Bro. Bo Sanchez (seated extreme left, with Grace To Be Born trustees), reminisced how Grace began in his article A Decade of Grace published in our The Feast Family May 9, 2019, in celebration of the 10th Founding Anniversary of Grace To Be Born.
“In August 2008, I preached about the evils of abortion at The Feast, our Sunday faith gathering which at the time we held at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City,” Bro. Bo starts. “That talk would lead to Grace To Be Born, our ministry serving unwed women in crisis so that they will not resort to abortion.”
It happened that a devoted member of the Light of Jesus Family, Bro. Rey Ortega was present at The Feast.
In July 2008, Bro. Rey and his wife Myrna went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico City. There, they learned that the Blessed Virgin Mary, called Our Lady of Guadalupe, was the Patroness of the Unborn. And the couple sadly noted there was no ministry in the Philippines focused on saving the unborn.
After they arrived home from that pilgrimage, they attended The Feast in August 2008– the day Bro. Bo happened to be preaching about the evils of abortion!
Coincidence? Or God’s Divine Design? Read on…
Bro. Rey was so moved by Bro. Bo’s talk that he sent him an email the following day.
“He asked me if I would approve organizing a new ministry on saving the unborn from abortion. Of course, I agreed right there and then,” Bro. Bo writes.
Glitches, lack of funds, prevented the immediate establishment of the Ministry. But God was undaunted.
Three months after, in November 2008, Bro. Bo was invited to give a talk during the meeting of the Rosary for Life Movement in Makati. Bro. Bo couldn’t make it to the meeting so, he sent Bro. Rey to proxy for him.
And there, Bro. Rey met Betty Roxas Chua (above, left with husband Sebastian), founder of Rosary for Life. They got to talk about Bro. Rey’s desire to start a Ministry for the unborn.
Coincidence? Or God’s Divine Design? Read on…
The following day, to Bro. Rey’s pleasant surprise, Betty and her husband Basti offered the use of the Chuas’ building in Pasig indefinitely, free of rent, for the Ministry.
By 2009, the Ministry was shaping up with a core group forming the first Board of Trustees for the Ministry which included Betty Roxas Chua, Bro. Rey, Ditas Español (above, red blouse), and Doris Lee (purple shirt) and with Bro. Bo serving as chairman. But for one reason or another, they could not find a common time to be together to launch the Ministry.
But God was undaunted.
Soon, the group found a common free day for the launch. The Ministry came to life as the Grace To Be Born on May 8, 2009.
And Bro. Bo writes, “I smiled and said, “Ha-ha-ha, that’s the birthday of my mom….”
Coincidence? O Divine Design?
Sis. Pilar Sanchez (right), Bro. Bo’s mother, turned out to be a staunch supporter of Grace. And the birth of Grace To Be Born was no doubt by God’s Design. Because the following Sunday, May 10, happened to be Mother’s Day —just the right day to give Grace as gift to the women the Ministry would hence take care of.
Today, led by Executive Director Sis. Ester Palacio (center) are the courageous front liners serving Grace mothers and babies amid the challenges of the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic menace.
