Marga Cacho, member of Regnum Christi, brought many souls closer to Christ with her smile, enthusiasm and charity.

I still remember the first day of the mission November 6, 2002. We were in the car on the way to see the village near Malvar in the Philippines for the first time and I remember thinking, "Is this for real? Am I really going to be knocking on doors of complete strangers and asking them if I could come in and talk to them for a while about God?" I really did not think I was the right person for this.

When we got there, each group was assigned a specific row of houses to cover. And then... the adventure began. We would go inside a house, read a bible passage, pray and talk to the people about their life and concerns they had.

At first some of the people were a bit apprehensive. They did not understand exactly why we were really there. But I think after the first day the news about us spread around the village. But as time went on many of the families would invite us into their homes even before we could ask them.

The people there were very hospitable and generous. I remember on my second day I saw this baby goat on the road and so I started playing with it. And before I knew it the people were offering it to me and telling me to take it. Gestures like these really touched me: knowing that these people really had nothing much to give, but they would offer the little they had.

I remember in particular the visit we paid to an old lady. We were talking to her and trying to invite her for confession that afternoon. She was telling us that before she was active in Church but she hadn´t been able to go to Church for quite some time. The reason was that she had two strokes which left her more or less paralyzed from the waist down. We told her that we would try to ask the priest to see her but we were not really sure if it was possible. Luckily, the priest was available at that time and did visit her. I heard after that he could really see the happiness shining in her eyes.

From this experience I´ve realized that the joy of helping other people is indeed the greatest happiness one can achieve. The fulfillment I felt cannot be replaced by any material possession or anything else for that matter. I hope the Movement can continue to grow even more here in the Philippines so that future missionaries could experience what I have.

(April 1, 2003)