By CBF field personnel Brittany Ramirez
The plane landed. After the usual wait for folks getting their luggage and exiting the aircraft I saw a Filipina airline worker take the hand of the older Filipina woman exiting the aircraft. She put the woman’s hand to her forehead and says, “mano po” a sign of respect and greeting of someone older than you in the Philippines. This brief interaction suddenly brought a sense of deep joy and comfort. It hit me, we are home. It was now so familiar, and I realized I had missed it while we were stateside. Because now this is home. Now, these once foreign practices felt familiar and comforting. 
This traditional Filipino gesture of taking an elder’s hand and touching it to one’s forehead is called pagmamano. If you studied Spanish, you may recognize the Spanish word for hand, mano, from the Spanish influence on the Philippines after 400 years of colonization.
The gesture and word means to ask for a blessing. It reminded me of the blessing it is to return home, and to finally feel at home here.
We have officially been in the Philippines for two years. This means that we have served here as a family longer than we served in China together. We have now lived in our home here longer than any other home as a family. This sense of home and blessing after so many years of loss and exile from our home and ministry location in China is a blessing.
And this blessing of home, what is the point? What is the purpose of moving so far from family and friends in the U.S.? What is the point of learning the new customs and culture and language of this once foreign place? It is so that we can share that blessing with others. With another community who is away from their original home, searching for something familiar among the new and foreign place they find themselves in.
We are here to be the presence of Christ, to share in beloved community and bring a sense of “home” to the Overseas Chinese friends we are meeting here. The past year, our sense of community and home among this group has grown. We teach English classes each week, but also share together through meals, monthly gatherings and updates about where to find the best authentic Chinese food and ingredients in the city.
Being in a foreign place is not just hard, it can often feel isolating and lonely. Our sense of calling and passion for this community comes from our own personal experiences of this. So, to be able to create a space where folks can come together and help each other feel a little more at home here, is the blessing we hope to give. We pray that as we share in beloved community, they can know and experience the presence of Christ in an authentic way. In a way that feels familiar, feels like being welcomed home, feels like a blessing.