By Mike Wood, Overland Park, Kansas, United States
Eugene Asidao and Nestor Nano have now been in the Philippines for more than a month distributing copies of The Urantia Book (donated by Urantia Foundation and Urantia Association International) to libraries, universities, study groups, and interested individuals. Shortly after their arrival, they met Febby Marshall who is a police inspector living in Manila. The introduction came via a reader of The Urantia Book from the United States who read about Eugene and Nestor’s trip in the December issue of Urantia Foundation’s News Online. Febby was excited to meet them and has been helping with project logistics.
Urantia Foundation has received numerous emails from libraries and universities in the Greater Manila area thanking the Foundation for donating The Urantia Book. The list thus far comprises six university libraries with fourteen branches, including the Loyola School of Theology, the National College of Business and Arts, and two public library systems with a total of twenty-five branches.
Upon their return, I look forward to hearing Eugene and Nestor recount the details of their adventure seeding The Urantia Book in the Philippines. Although we may never know the full impact of their endeavors, I am reminded of “the parable of the sower.”
“A sower went forth to sow, and it came to pass as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside.... Other seed fell upon the rocky places.... Still other seed fell upon good ground and, growing, yielded, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold. (1688.4) 151:1.2
No one asked Eugene and Nestor to undertake this project; it was entirely their idea. They made arrangements to take the time off of work, they paid for their own transportation, and they paid for the shipping of the books. They only asked for help in obtaining copies of The Urantia Book.
As we boxed up160 Urantia Books in November, Eugene and Nestor told us that they had no idea how this project would unfold. They just knew that they wanted to share with the people of their homeland The Urantia Book and its teachings.
Their outreach service brings to mind one of my favorite morontia mota statements:
The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day’s work—do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God’s. (556.13) 48:7.13