We are blessed to have a door open to serve at Saint Louis University Sacred Heart Medical Center. In a few days our chaplains will start serving there, working with Fr Embry, the head chaplain of the hospital. The formal MOU is being worked on with signing coming soon.
We believe this is a great new opportunity for our chaplains, our chaplain trainees, and for the patients and staff of SLU Hospital.
Reviewing our website, we realized that a couple of pages had not been updated IN YEARS!!
So they have been updated and you are welcome to check them out.
#1. Staff and Board of Trustees: https://bukallifecare.org/about/staffteam/
#2. CPE Cost and Schedule: https://bukallifecare.org/cpe/cpe-cost-and-schedule/
On Monday, May 1, 2023, KABSAT, a holistic ministry organization based in Baguio City, held its first anniversary celebration. As a major partner of KABSAT, we have been working with them in counseling patients at Baguio General Hospital Cancer Center. We are thankful to KABSAT for the group’s focus on caring for the needy in Baguio.
They are working on a Website, but for now, you can learn more about them through their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083621520346
Realized suddenly that we have not updated our brochure in about five years. We did not make major changes— just replaced the things that are no longer true, with things that are.
Spiritual Wellness Training
April 15, 2023 the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) Cordillera Chapter held its seventh Family Support Group (FSG) session. In the spirit of the season of Lent, the theme of the FSG session focused on “spiritual wellness”. Mr. Fritz Gerald M. Melodi attended the session as resource speaker and spoke on “Shame, Vulnerability, and the Psalms”. The presentation centered on how vulnerability, as taught by the Psalmists, contains potential to mend the controlling power of shame. After the presentation, attendees shared their experiences and reflection on the presentation. The theme of spiritual wellness is part of PMHA’s thrust of holistic care for mental health. The session was attended by educators, mental health practitioners, and family members of individuals with mental health concerns. PMHA holds monthly FSG sessions mainly for psychosocial support of individuals who provide care for family members with mental health challenges.
Crisis Care Training
The Para sa Bata/Kabataan Project is a partner of ours in Baguio and is holding a training in Crisis Care Training April 28-29. This is being organized by one of our CPE trainees and pray it will be a valuable activity for all participants. The Venue is still to be determined (at the time of this posting).
CPE Training
Our Summer Intensive CPE, with 9 trainees, and 3 supervisors-in-training is in full swing. It will finish in early June. Late June we hope to start a half unit intensive unit of CPE in Baguio. If you have any questions, contact us at bukallife@gmail.com.
Other News
— In late April, Bob and Celia Munson will be back in Baguio after several months in the United States. They were able to attend the CPSP Plenary in Virginia Beach, VA March 12-14. Supervisor Vo was also in the US for a shorter trip but is back to work in Baguio now.
— Dr. Lyn Montecastro, formerly of Bukal, but now forming her own CPE training center in Cebu City, is holding a commissioning service in mid-May.
— Chaplain Renato Eustaquio, another graduate of Bukal, just held a CPE graduation in Bocaue on April 15.
Bob Munson, the administrator of Bukal Life Care, recently met Robert Charles Powell and based on their conversations decided to read and review some of Powell’s writings.
He started with a classic. This is the book that Powell originally wrote almost 50 years ago regarding the history of the Clinical Pastoral Movement. The review can be read by clicking below:
Our CPE team (Summer Intensive) was able to join with our partner, KABSAT, to be trained in LIFT. This is a training for working in a palliative care setting. It was led by Lalaine Cerdeno-Clark, who works with Ruth Foundation. We are thankful for the help in our training.
Our Advanced CPE group is finishing up, led by Supervisor Vo.
February 25, we plan to have a certification board (through CPSP-Philippines) for our 3 advanced trainees. The hope is this board will ultimately allow one or more to move into the SIT (Supervisor-in-Training) program.
In mid-March we will start our Summer Intensive CPE program. We presently have around 12 trainees (though numbers change). This will be led by Supervisors Celia and Vo (with hopefully some help from new SITs). The plan is to finish in the first week of June.
During March, Bob and Celia will attend the Plenary gathering of CPSP (US) in Virginia Beach, VA. In January, the two of them along with Supervisor Vo attended the Board meeting of CPSP-philippines.
Update on the Update: The board for Crista Andrea Napay, Maricel Tindungan and Bhab Dicang. Board members included Diplomtes Celia Munson, Paul Tabon, and Larry Gusto. Also joining was their supervisor, Diplomate Vo Canoy. The board was done online on February 25, 2023, with two board members and two of the candidates IRL at Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary. All three passed their boards with plans to serve as Supervisors in Training (SITs) under Celia and Vo this summer.
Chaplain Vo was able to lead training in Basic Counseling for two different groups at a gathering of Southern Baptist Youth of Luzon, held at PBTS this December.
Bukal Life Care 