Simply Heartbreaking
Maybe she thought it’s the only way out of poverty.
Janette Ponce, 32 years old from Magdalene, Laguna, may have decided she had enough. She forced three of her four kids to drink muriatic acid. Then, she drank the toilet bowl cleaner, too. Neighbors rushed them to hospital. Doctors declared her children, Marjorie (4 years old), Margarette (3 years old) and MJ (2 years old), dead on arrival. After a few minutes later, Janette also died. Thank goodness her eldest son, Mark Genesis (8 years old), slept in his grandmother’s house that night. Else he would have suffered the same fate. On the other hand, her husband Orly was working as a construction worker in Manila when the suicide happened.
Simply heartbreaking…
Expect the media circus and the teary-eyed politicians who would wag their accusing fingers at whomever they think should be held responsible for our economy that is so grim it would drive a mother to murder her children and herself… until the next big story comes. Then, Janette and her kids will be forgotten. But, we can do more than just sigh or shed a tear. If we fail to do something about it, we are no better than those grandstanding presidential hopefuls. James 2:15-16 tell us, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (ESV) Sponsor a child through World Vision. Help in a feeding program. Provide a monthly allowance for a poor neighbor’s or relative’s kid. Encourage people to avail of micro-financing opportunities such as those provided by the Center for Community Transformation. Volunteer in the next Operation Christmas Child gift-giving event. Let us do something… anything but lip service.
The love of God calls us to action. “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)
Brethren, let us provide another way out of poverty.
Janette Ponce, 32 years old from Magdalene, Laguna, may have decided she had enough. She forced three of her four kids to drink muriatic acid. Then, she drank the toilet bowl cleaner, too. Neighbors rushed them to hospital. Doctors declared her children, Marjorie (4 years old), Margarette (3 years old) and MJ (2 years old), dead on arrival. After a few minutes later, Janette also died. Thank goodness her eldest son, Mark Genesis (8 years old), slept in his grandmother’s house that night. Else he would have suffered the same fate. On the other hand, her husband Orly was working as a construction worker in Manila when the suicide happened.
Simply heartbreaking…
Expect the media circus and the teary-eyed politicians who would wag their accusing fingers at whomever they think should be held responsible for our economy that is so grim it would drive a mother to murder her children and herself… until the next big story comes. Then, Janette and her kids will be forgotten. But, we can do more than just sigh or shed a tear. If we fail to do something about it, we are no better than those grandstanding presidential hopefuls. James 2:15-16 tell us, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (ESV) Sponsor a child through World Vision. Help in a feeding program. Provide a monthly allowance for a poor neighbor’s or relative’s kid. Encourage people to avail of micro-financing opportunities such as those provided by the Center for Community Transformation. Volunteer in the next Operation Christmas Child gift-giving event. Let us do something… anything but lip service.
The love of God calls us to action. “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:17-18)
Brethren, let us provide another way out of poverty.
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