The Chinese word for “crisis” interestingly also contains a character for “change.”
And indeed 2020 both shook and led us through adventures we never imagined taking!
Here are a few of the many firsts ANCOP had in the last 12 months or so:
AGW went virtual.
Virtual ANCOP Global Walk. It was challenging to recreate our biggest annual event into an online highlight, but we did! All over the world, practically round-the-clock, there was someone walking to help us reach 5 billion steps for our scholars. 178, 498 walkers raised a whopping Php 53,549,697.45 (USD 1,113,458.86 as of Feb. 2, 2021)! Not bad for a global family all on lockdown.
We gave a little more extra…
ANCOP family’s “First Fruits”. What is ANCOP to us? It’s really more than where we work. It’s where our hearts and souls are—not to mention our pockets! This is why for the first time, on Jan. 16, 2020, all of our staff pledged a certain amount to be deducted from their monthly pay to help send scholars to school.
We met up with you!
Coordination meetings with PITs and donor countries. What happens when you have more time on your hands? You meet up with the people who matter! That’s why for the first time, we virtually met up with and honored our donor areas last year: Canada, Australia, US, Northwest Europe, Central and Southwest Europe, and Asia, as well as our Program Implementation Teams in Metro Manila Big Sectors.
We prayed with you—everyday.
ANCOP Communal Prayer. Nearly every single day, we gathered online to pray together. As many as 60-80 people would join us our daily Divine Mercy chaplet and rosary from as far away as Guam, Italy, France, Seychelles, etc.
ANCOP is truly Jesus’ & Mary’s now.
On the feast of the last apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, Oct. 13, 2020, ANCOP President Rudy Gaspillo formally consecrated ANCOP Foundation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Taking only 7 minutes, this happened on the 200th day of our Communal Prayer. What a great leap of trust!
We’ve started insuring our houses!
Insurance coverage for our houses. Another first, ANCOP did a pilot test of having insurance coverage for 300 Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO)-funded houses in 5 communities in Albay, Sorsogon, Leyte, and Metro Manila. Typhoons and calamities are a reality in the Philippines, this is why we decided to front-end the premium of the insurance. Homeowners will eventually shoulder part of the costs. (Nirva Delacruz)
