By John Din, JPIC Coordinator, Philippines

Connecting with others opens doors to worlds we have yet to imagine. This has been my exact experience over the past few weeks.

Here at Santuario de San Columbano, we are surrounded by full-grown native trees that continuously generate seedlings for regenerative tree planting. Yet recently, I began to feel a deep, indescribable prompting. I kept thinking, “There must be something more than just growing trees and protecting the existing forest.” I sensed a deep wisdom in this place—born and tested over the years—that needed to be shared with the world.

Driven by this feeling, I wrote to a forestry professor Mary Ann Dagunan, PhD, at the Central Philippines State University (CPSU) in Negros Occidental, Philippines, requesting a meeting to explore possibilities for collaboration. Seeking to unlock the wisdom of this land, I suggested in my letter that the sanctuary could serve as a research and study site for forestry students.

Events moved quickly. We held an initial meeting in June, and later that month, I was invited to the strategic planning session of the university’s Forestry Department. Held at the San Columbano Mission & Retreat Center, the planning included a reconnaissance visit to the Santuario de San Columbano Forest Restoration Project.

The resulting strategic plan has exceeded our initial hopes. It envisions  the sanctuary as a forestry field laboratory and student immersion site. More importantly, it outlines a long-term plan to institutionalize our collaboration, turning Santuario de San Columbano and CPSU into a regional hub for sustainability and forestry excellence.

Indeed, encountering the natural world—not just seeing it, but truly knowing its diverse flora and fauna—always opens opportunities for growth. The German theologian Rudolf Otto once described the encounter with the divine through nature as a mystery both “terrifying and fascinating.” This is the very wisdom we need to rediscover today, in an era where humans have become profoundly alienated from the ecosystems that sustain us.

I look forward to this growing collaboration with the university’s forestry department. I am hopeful that this meeting of minds—a crossroads of infinite potential—will help us relearn who we are as human beings, and who we want to become in the face of the challenges facing our planet.

Featured Image: John Din (left) with professors from Central Philippines State University (CPSU) in Negros Occidental, Philippines, during their visit to Santuario de San Columbano for a reconnaissance of the site.