“TATAY BOSI”

02- 15- 11 MI DAILY DEVOTION (John 14:1- 6)
“TATAY BOSI”
1- “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2- In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3- And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4- And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5- Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6- Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
“Tatay” is the tagalog word for “father”, “dad” or “papa”. He is commonly known as “Tatay Bosi” or “Tatay Pedro or Pete”. He is not as popular as Billy Graham or he is not as popular as Dr. Gavino S. Tica but he is the man. He was used by the Lord in a very special way. He has no PHD or Bachelor degree, but he made it in life and he had accomplished what others were not able to do so in spite of their money, degrees and resources in life. He did not start a church or pastor a church, but he is surrounded by pastors and Christian workers in their family circle. Tatay Bosi is from Tuguegarao, Philippines who was raised in a very poor family. Tatay shared to me few years ago that he was an orphan. He grew up not knowing his parents, but tatay is not like some of those kids you know who became a problem in the community. He is not a highly intellectual person, but he knew what he was doing and he is smart. Actually, Tatay Bosi is a World War II veteran. He fought for our freedom and he gave his life for us so we can enjoy the freedom that we have right now in the Philippines and the United States of America. Tatay Bosi raised his children from the Province of Cagayan Valley in Luzon, Philippines. Some of his children, grand children and great grand children are pastors or pastor’s wife, leaders or deacons or Christian workers. Tatay is now living in the United States of America with his wife and some of his children. Some of Tatay’s children, grand children and great grand children are in Canada or at least overseas. I remember Tatay shared to me in the nineties that he would be happy if he would die in his seventies. I said, “Tatay, God can give you more than that and you can even ask Him to give you life ‘til you reach a hundred years old.” And Tatay said, “I don’t want to live that long…” I said, “How about 87 or 97?” He said, “I want to die before I lost my eyesight, or the word that he used was “useless” in tagalong “inutil”. Tatay is a very positive person except for that day when he shared to me that it would not be good for him to live long and be a burden to his family. Tatay is in his eighties and he loves to cook, loves gardening and cut the grass, clean up the church and the surroundings, and he loves to call me and ask me to drive him to the store or the Salvation Army. Last week Tatay said, “I can’t go out right now because it’s snowing hard and I’m looking forward of sitting next to you Pastor (Ely) and drive me to the Thrift Store. Tatay is very weak because he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Today it’s Tatay Bosi’s birthday and the churches and the brethren from around Michigan and Windsor, Canada have joined hand together for a special tribute to him. This is a tribute to an unknown or unsung hero; who made a difference through his life and the life of his children and grand kids. His name is Tatay Pedro Bosi of Dearborn, Michigan. God Bless you and you are special to my family (The Sagansay family) and my church. Happy Birthday!!!
(Titus 2:13) “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14- Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. ”