Speaking Hope: Manila Update from Hart Weins

Yesterday (Sun Feb 7th) we went to join John and his fellow young International Teams (IT) missionaries at the Church they are helping to plant in a “squatter” community located within sight of what would be the Philippine equivalent of Bay Street or Wall Street. This part of Manila is called Makati, the richest city in the Philippines. Even Rambie, who has lived in the Philippines all his life was surprised that there would be squatter communities in Makati, but they are there, inhabited by the poor, the broken and the marginalized of society. These are the people that the IT ministry and the Church they are planting is trying to bless. As with any new Church plant, there is always something for young energetic volunteers to do. Yesterday for example Brett, one of John’s young colleagues (also from our area in Ontario) learned at 8:00 AM that he was on to preach the sermon. The father of the pastor who had been scheduled to preach had passed away at night and so Brett, who was supposed to have a weekend off, was asked to step in. I thought he did well, given his youth (21 years old), lack of time to prepare and the fact that he is getting married today (the civil ceremony). The Church wedding is schedule for next month when his parents can be here. Brett selected 3 texts. From Micah in the Old Testament – “What does the Lord require, but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” From Jesus in the Gospels – The greatest commandment, love God and love your neighbour. From Paul in Philippians 4 the encouragement to focus on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable. Brett is still learning Tagalog/Filipino, so his message was delivered in a mix of English and Tagalog but in language easy enough for most to follow.

The service was conducted in a lively “charismatic” manner led by an energetic worship ensemble of young volunteers from the Church. As I might have expected, I was asked to share a few words of encouragement from the Scriptures and to demonstrate that I too could speak a little “Filipino.” There was a separate program for the children lead by the young IT interns, but some of the younger children who needed to be near their mothers were in and out of the adult service. It struck me that there were many more women than men in the service. I learned later that in some cases mothers had been abandoned by the fathers of their children. At least one young woman was married to a man who lives in another country, something that is quite common in the Philippines where there are not enough good jobs to go around for the millions of young adults who need them. The radical difference in demographics between Canada and the Philippines struck me again wherever I went yesterday. The city of Manila is teaming with people, overwhelmingly young people in their twenties.

After Church we joined John and his colleagues for a nice Filipino lunch – rice and fried chicken. Then I and Rambie returned to the SIL Guest House where we are staying, for a little rest as I was feeling the effects of my jet lag. We travelled through Manila by “jeepney” the ubiquitous and unique Philippine mode of public transit serving the residential parts of the city and linked to the high speed light rail transit connecting the various cities that make up metro Manila, a city of 15 million people. The light rail system is a new feature since we lived here and it has certainly helped to relieve some of the traffic congestion which has always plagued this city, but only slightly. The growing population continues to put pressure on the infrastructure and overcrowding is evident everywhere – a continuing source of stress (on top of the heat, humidity and pollution) for the people who try to make their living here.

We agreed to meet John and his colleagues again on Tuesday when they hold their Church run day-care, an experimental new program where John is applying his passion for teaching. Some the beautiful artwork of the day-care children was on display at the Church. We will not see all of the ministries in which John is involved in this short visit. On Wednesday John and Jarred will have their Tagalog lessons while Rambie and I go out to the Taal volcano where the Catholic Bishops group is holding their Bible conference – about 3 hours south of Manila. Then on Wednesday night we will all meet at the bus station for our overnight trip north, first to the beautiful Ifugao rice terraces and then on to Tabuk in Kalinga, the province where we began our ministry.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Manila Update from Hart Weins

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