Obo-Manobo embraces Christ

It was about 6 years ago when I met Jennifer at the hospice of the Missionaries of Charity (MC) in Pag-asa Street, Fatima Parish, Davao City. She wears a big smile in her face, that makes one return that warm smile back to her. At a first glance, she would be mistaken to be a volunteer coworker or one of the helpers.

She helps in folding the newly washed clothes of the rest of the elderly patients and makes rosaries. Despite the fact she is on a wheelchair, Jennifer has a happy disposition and quite productive: She cleans her closet, fixes her bed, and helps her other patients.

One of the outreach activities of the MC Sisters is going to the remote areas every week to dispense medicines to hundreds of families. Hence, one of these places is in Marilog, where the Sisters met Jennifer’s mother. She has a spinal cord compression that makes her unable to walk.

Jennifer Sumaliday Ubat wanted to be a Roman Catholic. And so, she was baptized last October 15, 2012. Somehow she responded to the cry of our good Lord Jesus…”I thirst,” the very core mission of the beloved Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta — to bring the living, the suffering, the abandoned and the dying destitute souls to Jesus — the mission of caring for the poorest of the poor…the “Victim Souls” whether one is an atheist, a non-Catholic or a Lumad.

Jennifer, an Obo-Manobo from Sitio Apo, Barangay Suawan, Marilog District, Davao City, was born on September 25, 1977. She is a solo parent, differently abled individual, and worked as a domestic helper.

The MC hospice is a haven to sanctify and purify the victim souls. And so Jennifer’s desire and love to sing during the Holy Mass, attentiveness during spiritual lectures, and joining the daily prayers and Blessed Sacrament Adorations, were vehicles in nourishing her soul. Jennifer now enjoys her rewards in heaven as she passed away weeks ago. (MC coworker)