TRIBUTE TO DITO DE LA CERNA OF BCBP USA

By Bong Pelaez, BCBP Cagayan de Oro

BLIND FAITH
Dito and Tata (AKA Zeny in CA.) and their children left the Philippines with no excess money nor excess baggage in 1999. They brought with them their faith that God provides and will provide. God indeed fulfilled that promise.

BCBP USA HUMBLE BEGINNING AT THE GARAGE
Steve Job, founder of Apple Computer, started tinkering with his ideas in a garage.
Dito de la Cerna did the first Christian Life Program No. 1 in the garage of his residence at 4886 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA. in 2004.
What is so special about a garage?
In the Philippines, I see no attachment with my garage. If you can afford a garage, then most likely you can pay for a driver. It is the driver that becomes attached to the garage.
In the US of A, it is the man’s workplace, a storage for: personal items you cannot get rid of such as power tools, garden tools, bicycle, etc..
The garage is very personal to the man…it is his second bedroom.

SHARING IS LOVING…….LOVING IS SHARING
Dito and Tata made their Christian home available to visiting BCBP members and to migrating members needing a temporary shelter.
I am blessed to have been accommodated (October 12 to 17, 2012). I am honored to stay where BCBP USA was conceived from wishful thinking and then to just doing it…. a total of 10 outreaches as of today.
I am humbled by the generosity of Dito and Tata in making their home the venue for worship, teachings, music ministry practice and fellowship…. Indeed I would call it the “holy” ground for even their neighbors have never complained.

AVAILABILITY AND NOT ABILITY
Dito served as a faithful breakfast head of the Cagayan de Oro Outreach. The responsibilities paved the way to a higher task of organizing the BCBP Los Angeles Outreach.
He disagreed with Fr. Herb’s notion that a major task of organizing an outreach in USA is a task of a former chapter head.
Fr.Herb now agrees that Dito is one of a kind, an exception……end of discussion.

BALANCING WORK and BCBP ACTIVITIES IN THE USA
Dito and Tata are full time in their jobs as caregivers from Monday to Friday.
Their weekends are devoted to 3 major activities: the BCBP, the family, and the regular household chores.
That indeed is super balancing….compressing 3 major activities into your two days of “rest”.

MANLY CHALLENGES for DITO DE LA CERNA
Dito’s Manly Challenge is doing and living his Faith in God over a worldly and highly urbanized work place such as Los Angeles, California.
He also faces The Manly Challenge of being detached from the pleasure and leisure of what money can offer and buy.
Most of all, he is living the Manly Challenge of being a committed, dedicated and a prime mover of BCBP USA.

“Dito de la Cerna saludo ako….”