Sharing a Discipleship Story While Giving Back to the Community

At Virtual Staffing Solutions (VSS), giving back to the community is not just an act of service—it is an expression of our faith. On July 19, 2025, VSS Missions volunteers from the AUSA Retention Group, Learning and Development Department, and Facilities Department, together with CEO David Lemasters, Country Head Lisa Mariano, and VP Leo Senica, visited GMA-Habitat Villages—home to Typhoon Haiyan survivors—to support a remarkable initiative led by 32 senior citizen mothers tending a community garden for food sustainability.

The group brought groceries, planting tools, seeds, and other materials. More than that, they took time to listen to the mothers’ stories—accounts of survival through the storm and perseverance through the years. This garden, born out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, became a symbol of resilience and hope when their backyard plots were lost to a community park project. Through the compassion of a local church, I-konek klesia, discipleship took root. Two faithful women—Lourdes, a 79-year-old retired teacher, and Lorena, a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy—shared the gospel and discipled another mother, Nanay Mayet, a stroke survivor raising three children under challenging circumstances, a deaf-mute daughter, a son who has a heart problem, and another son who wandered away because of depression after the typhoon Haiyan.

Through discipleship, hope spread. As Nanay Mayet experienced Christ’s love, she in turn shared it with other mothers, proving that God’s blessings overflow when faith is passed from one heart to another. VSS volunteers witnessed this firsthand discipleship is not limited to words but is lived out in action, compassion, and community. For the team, it was a moving reminder that true service does not stop with material help but seeks to build lives through faith, encouragement, and spiritual growth. And once you

receive the love of Jesus Christ, it does not stop with you, you will pay it forward.

In collaboration with AUSA Retention Group led by DAM Jay Roger Tibig, VSS extended special support: a small food stall for Nanay Mayet’s livelihood, financial aid for Lorena’s ongoing treatment, and groceries and VSS merchandise for Lourdes. These simple yet meaningful acts of kindness showed that when we align our resources with God’s purposes, every seed planted has the potential to change lives for generations.

The day was filled with laughter, songs, heartfelt conversations, and even the joy of sharing in the garden’s fresh harvest. Our volunteers were not only givers but also receivers—receiving wisdom from the mothers’ stories, strength from their resilience, and inspiration from their faith. Everyone went home with a renewed sense of purpose, carrying with them the truth that discipleship is a continuous cycle of receiving and giving.

As Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19–20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This outreach reminded us that discipleship multiplies blessings, strengthens communities, and transforms ordinary gatherings into moments where heaven touches earth.