Now, for those who don’t know or have just a faint recollection about her, here is the story of her life in a nutshell.When she was still small almost 70 years ago, an uncle brought her from Iloilo to Mindanao, particularly in Parang, Maguindanao. That was the last time she saw her parents; she had never returned to Iloilo since then nor had she been visited by her relatives after she left her birthplace. Her life in Mindanao, during her childhood years, was full of burdens, gloom, and distress. Instead of giving her a chance to go to school, her aunt took advantage of her naivety and frailty by giving her heavy household tasks. One of that was to cook rice every meal, with the instruction that she dare not put off the fire from the dirty kitchen, so that it could be used for the next cooking.
But, one day, she dozed off and fell asleep, and therefore forgot to ensure that the fire would keep burning. That was the scene when her aunt arrived. When her aunt noticed that the embers got nearly snuffed out, she became irritated and accused her of not being vigilant in her assignment. Too angry, her aunt took one of the firewood with embers still flickering and mercilessly shoved it on Basilia’s neck. The scar had remained for a lifetime.
Another time, she was rammed with a knife at her back by her aunt, which resulted into another scar for Basilia. A neighbor took notice of that cruelty and offered for Basilia to migrate to Midsayap in North Cotabato, which used to be more than two hour’s ride from Parang back then. She readily agreed in order to put decency back into her feeble life.
When in Midsayap already, a couple took care of her. She still nursed a desire to go to school at that time. But then she later deemed it proper not to push through with her dream feeling that she was already past her prime as a grown up girl. She soon got married and had children of her own. Somehow, because her husband was a poor farmer with lots of vices, she endeavored to work hard in the farm by planting vegetables to help eke a decent living for the family. To further make both ends meet, Basilia also became a “mananabtan” or a shaman offering prayers for the dead.
One afternoon, I (Babes) saw her in the neighborhood and started to share the Gospel to her. She was angry because she thought that her being a dedicated “mananabtan” is assurance enough for salvation. But God’s words worked wonders in her life. One day, by faith, she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ and received Him as her personal Lord and Savior. Thenceforth, she hungered for the word, like a babe desiring for milk. But since she did not know how to read, she asked her neighbor to teach her how to read. Because of a passionate heart to learn, she was able to read gradually. And her excitement was displayed in her manner of loudly and religiously reading her Bible at an early morn and the whole family could not help but simply listen to her.
After many years, because of her demonstrated Christianity and her determined prayers, her husband became born again, and so with her children. After many years too, she was able to memorize many scriptural verses by heart as a practicing Christian. She can quote the same with ease and dispense a particular verse or passage to a needy or grieving person, just like a doctor jotting down a prescription to cure an illness – but only in the spiritual context. It was no wonder why our neighbors flocked to her – an “unschooled” elderly – for advice to help soothe their nerves and solve their numerous concerns and worries in life. It was no wonder also why she became bold in sharing the Gospel and started following up many women in the neighborhood.
Early this year 2010, she became sick, and later on was diagnosed to have tumors in her intestine. The doctors advised that she better not be operated due to her age and other complications in her body. Lately, in her quiet time, the Lord led her to Isaiah 38. That passage was about the Lord telling the king that he would soon die. Basilia took it as a direct message from God. She then told her family that soon she will depart. Sure enough, the following day, she joined our Lord Jesus in heaven.
Her life is indeed a memorial of God’s faithfulness. Her hard past was used by God as one of the sovereign foundations where she eventually met the Savior and served Him wholeheartedly. Today and for eternity to come, Basilia is surely rejoicing in blissful contentment because – together with millions of those who are saved and who have gone ahead in heaven – she fellowships with them and looks at Jesus face to face.
This was written by Dr. Babes Mendoza in memory of her.
