Last Saturday, as my family and I were at SM Clark in Angeles City, I received a call from Sarah, who is like a daughter to me, informing me that her dad’s plane crashed somewhere in Masbate and that her dad, Capt. Jess Bahinting, was missing. It was quite a shock. He has not yet been found as of this writing along with his co-pilot (a student pilot) and a VIP passenger, Secretary Jesse Robredo, the secretary of the Dept. of Interior and Local Government. (His personal assistant was rescued right away). We continue to hope and pray that they’re all alive and well.

Jess Bahinting, the Pastor and Friend

Back in 1987, I was assigned under Pastor Jess Bahinting as his ministerial trainee then later on as his assistant pastor. We worked together for about 5 years pastoring our local churches (Grace Communion International) in the northern Mindanao area. We traveled a lot along with our wives and little kids. We became close family friends until now.

In 1991, he went back to his home province of Cebu and there he established his flying and aviation-related business which includes a flying school, aircraft maintenance and repair, sales and chartered flights. While doing business, he also continues to serve the church and he is currently the overall head (area superintendent) of all our pastors and local churches in the Visayas area.

Aside from pastoral ministry (preaching, visiting, counseling, etc.), I learned a lot from Pastor Jess Bahinting about cars and engines, body repair, trouble shooting, and even the buying and selling of vehicles. We did a lot of those—manual labor!—while we were together. He is an expert aircraft mechanic aside from being a seasoned pilot and flight instructor. We sort of “took care” of all our fleet vehicles (all the pastor’s vehicles) in our area.

We also helped some of our church members build their homes (again, manual labor mixing concrete and doing carpentry), helped church members move from one home to another, helped brethren with babies who had cleft lip and palate problems to get free medical help and many more.

We had many other unusual experiences together like being stopped by soldiers who suddenly came out of the bushes. It was so sudden and was quite scary as they asked for identification card and checked our car. The soldiers said they had an ongoing “military operation” and they were pursuing rebels. This was in one of the troubled spots of Mindanao where we frequently visited our church members. There were other experiences we had together with our families which bonded our two families closely.

Capt. Jess Bahinting is well-loved by many in and outside of the church. A great example of a true and real Christian friend and brother in Christ all the way. He has actually helped a lot of people in so many ways for so many decades now and not just only recently. He has always helped during major calamities in the Visayas area  transporting people and goods using his planes. It should be no wonder that he is called a “hero” recently in the media. He has always been a hero to the many lives he has touched.

May they all be found soon safe and sound.

The recent fire in yesterday, May 9, 2012, which killed 17 people in Butuan City was a tragic one. It also reminded me of my personal experiences when I was still a young boy in that city. My family lived there for about 4 years when I was still a young boy sometime in 1964-1967. And during those times, we experienced several fires that happened in Butuan City. Whether it was accidental or arson intentionally started by criminal elements, I do not know. But it was a frequent occurrence during those years.

Fire in Butuan City When I was a Boy

It is interesting that this recent fire in Butuan City happened at Montilla Boulevard also, the same street where we used to live back then and where we experienced having our rented place burned down to the ground. I remember that our house was near a barber shop. We had a furniture shop. A loud explosion suddenly rocked the neighborhood and a big fire started in a nearby house. I was out on the street in front of our house when it happened and I saw the barbers and their customers scampering out of the barber shop with their unfinished haircut.

I remember my mother as she gathered all of her children to get our of the house and away from the fire, I suddenly asked where our little baby brother was. We were only 5 kids back then and the youngest was still a baby. He was actually still upstairs lying down and enjoying his milk in a bottle. And he was totally forgotten in the confusion all around us. Thankfully, there was still time to get the baby and we left the place safe and unharmed. Our furniture shop was burned down to the ground. My dad had to start another business from scratch once again. Those were really trying times of our lives.

In the featured photo above, my dad is the one with a hat talking to a man in a motorbike.

I came back to my cardiologist again last Wednesday after I had hypertension. She told me to come back after a month of medications and blood checkup. I was actually getting ready for another blood test but I was in for a surprise. It didn’t happen. As usual, she checked my blood pressure, listened to my chest and my back, and asked some questions how I was feeling since I last visited her. And her findings? She said I was back to normal. Last March 1, I suddenly got dizzy while driving along the expressway! I was not just driving routinely. I was actually driving fast attempting to overtake a car when it suddenly happened for the first time in my life! I had hypertension.

Thankfully, I still managed to park the car at the right shoulder of the road. The doctor said my blood pressure was now fine and she said I no longer need go through another blood test. Maybe after a month, she will check my hypertension once again.

She reduced my daily medicine intake and asked me to continue observing myself for anything. My wife and I went out of the doctor’s clinic joyful! Thanking God. A great feeling to know I’m well back again.

Hypertension: Learning Lessons

I did learn a lot of lessons though from this experience–a maturing experience. As the saying goes, regrets come last. First lesson: “Just do it!” Do not delay. Have the willpower to do what ought to be done! Yes, that’s right. I’m talking about exercise. My wife and I knew we were at an age–we are both over 50 now–where exercise is a must to maintain good health. With good intentions, we bought quite an expensive–for us, very expensive!–treadmill so we can exercise even inside our home. That was some 6 years ago. I must admit, I seldom used it for all those 6 years! It’s different now. I now exercise everyday and I use this expensive thing that we bought daily now–finally!

Visit The Doctor!

Second lesson learned is: Have yourself checked by the doctor regularly! For whatever reason, I never liked to have a physical checkup and for maybe some 15 years or more–I’m guessing now–I never had myself checked up. I should have done it long ago! Lesson learned. Now, I’m happy that I just had a forced checkup because of what happened to me.

Some 5 years or so ago, I actually learned already that I already had hypertension. My blood pressure was slightly above the normal level already. “Border line,” the student nurse told me. I realized that it meant something bad but never really took the effort to visit the doctor to find out what I needed to do! I always said to myself, “I don’t feel anything. I’m OK.” Until it suddenly happened to me at the expressway! All those years of disregard for my slightly higher blood pressure! I did not know that my heart was overworking–exerting more effort to pump blood than normal for all those years! Now I know. My cardiologist told me. Regrets do come last. Lesson learned.

Lifestyle Change

Another lifestyle change has just happened to me–a maturing experience. My wife and I had always been careful about our diet but we are even more mindful now about what we eat. Of course, I don’t hope to live forever in this physical body. I have a slightly enlarged heart at this time and I realize that my dad and my younger brother both died of heart problems. But this enlarged heart condition (left side only) can be “reversed”–not a permanent condition–if given proper care, the doctor assured me.

But the lesson has been learned. I should take even more care of my body even as I grow older and knowing that some parts of my body are not as good as it was when I was younger then. I thank the Lord for his guidance and loving care as I went through–and will go through–this personal health ordeal. Thank you Lord, you will always take care of me.