Philippines

I'm hanging out in the Philippines for the next few weeks. I'm staying in Manila. I've been here once before but this time is very different. I didn't see Manila from this angle last time. A missionary family is graciously hosting me in their home for 2 weeks. So I'm getting to know some people who have lived here in Manila for 8 years. This has become home for them.

I'm not sure I'd ever what to live in Manila. It is a smoggy, noisy, and dirty place. I'm very aware that I'm in a country where its people are struggling. Korea, the USA, we have a lot more at our fingertips in terms of education, jobs and the niceties reliable electricty, water and phones. Korea is not as reliable as what I find in the States but it is lightyears ahead of Manila. The missionries have not had a working phone in their home for the past week. They recently had some flooding in their home so the wood floor needs mending. The door isn't closing as it should be. These are just minor troubles and really they are not even worth mentioning.

There are other things they deal with on a regular basis that would make many people crazy. I think just driving to work here everyday would make me crazy. There are not always stop lights and you can count on not going the speed limit for very long. Is there a speed limit? People weave in and out. And when you are driving straight down the road beware of the kids darting out in front of you or the trike shooting around the corner to cut you off. The woman I'm staying with surprised me when she asked if I'd be interested in driving in Manila. OH NO! Thanks, though. I thought Korea was bad! Driving is perfectly simple in Korea. People take jeepneys here so they are riding in this overpoluted air without any protection from the smog and extreme levels of diesil exhaust. No wonder so many kids have ashma and lung related problems here in the city.

Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Hope Church in Antipolo. I hear it is a relatively new church. Maybe it has been around for two years. The church is located in a housing development and is nearby to a huge cement factory. The church is a small one room building and the pastor said it is too small right now. I went to Hope Church to "teach English". I didn't make plans to teach English while I was here so I've felt totally unprepared. There was about 10 people who came to the church for the "english lesson". I imagine they had expectations for an English class that were not met by my style. Oh well. I played some games with them. I've had a very diverse group of people. It is diverse in age, from Kingergarden to 60 year old grandma. It is diverse in the level of English, from very articulate to hardly putting sentences together. I'm feeling how unqualified I am to teach English as a second language. In the end I know it isn't about English only.

Jen is a girl who has just finished High School. She is a Christian and wants to be a pastor. She has a story I hope people will hear about. Actually her story is just beginning. Jen has a cleff pallete and it seems she has had a surgery in years past. I don't know the language to use to describe her problem. Basically I think that her pallate is not closed. This makes it very difficult for her to speak clearly. The pastor has suggested or more question, how can she preach if she can not speak clearly? It is a good question. She really wants to go to the Nazarene Bible College in Luzon, Philippines. It will be enough of a challenge for her to go to Bible college. She really needs to have surgery so that she can speak and be understood. I can tell that her disabilty makes her shy and I wonder what would happen if she was given a new inside to her mouth. I don't know a lot about her. I don't know what kind of student she would be. Her english is pretty good. Definately it is better than my Korean students. It sure would be nice if God provided for those needs. The pastor has told her to pray. That church has already commited to supporting 2 students through Bible College so they can not support someone else. Actually that is a huge deal for this church. I wonder how God will work in her life? She needs a miracle.

That is one story and there are so many others to be told here of great need. I'm amazed by the poverty and the lack of support for those who have so little. In the states we have goverment support for health problems and extreme poverty. I know the State's welfare system has its problems but here in Manila there is not a welfare system at all. When people do not have, they just do not have.