Photo Update 4

The adventures continue even without the teams here.  Below are some fun pictures from the last two weeks.  We are meeting so many people and having a good time.  Moriah is loving school and really making some progress.  We will miss our friends, but we are excited to forge new relationships here.  Keep praying!

A Few More Pics

An Experience in the Bars

Angeles city is perhaps the hub of the sex tourism industry in the Philippines, making Fields Ave. the lynch pin to that hub. In One city block there are over 40 bars which contain on average 75-100 Filipinas in each. That is 3,000 – 4,000 women for sale on one city block… Let that sink in before moving on… Rachel and I visited a handful of these bars this last weekend and had some memorable experiences. One involved a woman named Gen.

Gen is a waitress.  Although she says she is not for sale. She wears a tag with a number on it just like the hundreds of other women in Atlantis Bar who are.  I struck up a conversation with Gen after attempting to order a Cherry Coke (another long story).  I started the conversation with the question “How much does that girl cost?”   She replied, “That one costs 3000 pesos, she is a ‘model.’  The girls wearing white tags are cheaper, only 1500 pesos.”   “Ohh,” I said, “How does that make you feel to know she costs more than you?”  I made her nervous with my questions I could tell.  She replied timidly, “Well she is more beautiful than me.”  After her response she gained a bit of confidence back and asked me, “Why? What do you think?”   It was  the question I  hoped she would ask.   Quickly I replied, “I don’t think Filipinas should be for sale at all!” She laughed and said, “Oh no they aren’t for sale, they are for rent!”  We both laughed at that comment.  Her because she thought she side-stepped an awkward conversation, and me because I knew that these were just semantics.

I reminded her that she had just told me their prices and that she herself believed one human being to be more valuable than another.  And it was her response that will forever stick in my memory.  She looked me in the eyes and asked with the most confused look on her face, “Who are you?”

What Gen saw in me that night was life, and without a doubt this was the first time she had experienced anything like this in that God forsaken, hell hole known as ‘Atlantis.’  With a few words I began to re-order the chaos that has been allowed to exist since the United States Military first began exploiting women a 50 years ago.    I Reminded her that people are not to be bought or sold, and that God values all humans equally.  I told her that God forgives all the girls in that bar right now, but retains the sins of the wealthy men who own and patron such places.

As we left I reminded Gen that I was powerless to stop this industry, and that ultimately it would be her and the hundreds of girls dancing in front of us that would have to bring this industry to its knees.  I am sure Gen is back at work tonight, but I am confident in the ability of truth to penetrate darkness.  Gen will not be the same because she had an encounter with the living God.  How do I know?  Cause I was there too!

Photo Update #2

Moriah Starts School!

Moriah started school this week! She is attending a very small, new Christian school called Tender Sprouts, located right on Rizal Ave., one of the main streets here in Olongapo, PI. Joel and I visited several other schools early on, and had even committed to one prior to finding Tender Sprouts. We stumbled upon it as we were walking one morning. We went inside, met Teacher Lany (as Moriah calls her) and came away feeling like this school would best suit Moriah’s needs during our time here.

One reason we were drawn to this school was simply the distance. Its about a 2 min. walk from our house! Every other school we visited would have required us to take transportation. Another reason we chose the school was because the teacher offered to do daily, one on one Tagalog tutoring with Moriah. This was at no extra charge, so we were very thankful for that :)

There are only 10 or so students of various ages (b/t 3yrs-10yrs.) and the ACE curriculum used is very flexible for Moriah. Because they use paces, Moriah is able to move at her own speed, without the pressure of moving to fast or the boredom of being taught things she already knows. This also allows her some freedom to miss a day here or there when we need her to, b/c of our current busy schedule with the immersion teams here. Some of her schoolwork is “kinder-2” level, and other things are grade 1 level. Kinder-1 and kinder-2 are their preschool levels here, and grade 1 is similar to 1st grade in the States, at least that’s what Ive understood about their school system so far…

I walk Moriah to school every morning at 9am, and pick her up at 2pm. She has a one hour lunch break from 12-1. The final hour is her Tagalog tutoring. The school has a high emphasis on behavioral teaching as well as academic. Moriah is really enjoying school. I think the structure, and being around kids her age is going to help her a lot. The first day, I picked her up for lunch and took her back for tutoring. The next day she asked to stay and eat her lunch with everyone else. I was comforted by her desire to be there. The teacher often shares her food with her- rice, chicken adobo, etc. That seems the beat the PBJ I fix for her, LOL. All the other kids eat traditional Filipino food freshly cooked. I guess I’m going to have to step it up a bit :) I know it is very different for them to have a white girl there, as it is different for me to be sending her there. The teacher and I are working through our communication and I am trying to learn their ways of doing things. Moriah is a trooper. She has had so much to adjust to here, and Ive been surprised at her ability to vocalize this transition for herself. She is a strong little girl.

Not just a story…a reality…

A couple weeks ago, several of us went to visit the DSWD’s Women’s Center. Upon arrival, after a short jeepney ride and a not so short walk, we were surprised to find the center almost vacant. On the outside we observed this huge, nice residence that looked to serve as a wonderful home and rehabilitation center for battered women, but when we entered, we were greeted by the entire household: one worker and two women, whom each had two children. Having already met so many women (in the bars, on the streets, etc) who desperately need food, shelter and love, I was expecting and hoping to walk in on dozens of women and dozens of children, along with many workers, serving to provide for and rehabilitate them. Why were there not more women here? I placed this frustration aside, for the moment, so that I could engage with one of the women staying there, Lalang. She had greeted me with a smile and wave from the kitchen, where she was seated, eating and feeding her two children. Something drew me to her and I left the group to go talk with her.

Through her broken English, and my very broken Tagalog, she humbly shared with me a part of her life’s story, and I share it with you today because, sadly, Lalang’s story is not unique. Lalang’s story is representative of the plight of the majority of women in this country, and it breaks my heart daily.

Lalang experienced physical abuse by her former husband. From my short experience in the Philippines, Ive come to understand this is very common here. Many men are uneducated, without work and drink away the pain of their inability to provide for their families. This often escalades into wife battering and other forms of abuse. Though I don’t know the details of Lalang’s experience, I can be sure that it was nothing short of pain and suffering. Lalang is in her 20’s and a mother of two precious boys- Wayne- 8 months old and Warcky, 2 yrs.  When Lalang and her husband separated, she and her two kids were forced to move out of their home in Mindanao. With nowhere to go, she and her boys found refuge at this Women’s Center. However, this center is only a short terms center, where they are provided with food, shelter and perhaps some sort of counseling and reintegration/skills training, though I saw no signs of either of the latter happening. Lalang went on to share with me that her time at the center was almost up. She had been offered a job, from a friend, as a caregiver for a “rich, old Japanese man” (her exact words) whereby she would make P2000/month ($43USD), pocket change for this man… Though I can’t be for sure, this story sounded all too familiar. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Filipinas get offered jobs as ‘caregivers’ or ‘waitresses’, only to show up and find out they have been tricked into some form of sexual slavery. Lalang could indeed go work as a housemaid for this man, at least that’s what I had to keep hoping for. Her story kept getting worse. The following week, she was going to be taking her kids to R.C.C., a children’s home for kids whose parents are not able to take care of them. Lalang shared with me that if she is not able to visit her kids within 6 months, her parental rights will be taken from her and the children will be placed up for adoption. Lalang shared all this with me with a straight face, emotionless, that is, until I asked the very hard question, “Lalang, how do you feel about leaving your children?” Nursing her 8 month old, with her arm around her two year old, she began to weep and said, “I love my babies, I don’t want to leave them, but I have no choice. I have to feed them somehow”.  My eyes welled with tears; the tears I’ve been fighting off since I got here. I fought them but all I could do was place my arm around her, join her in this moment and tell her, “I’m sorry Lalang, I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t be this way”.

I realized that day that I have been carrying with me this false reality that women in such desperate situations grow numb and don’t feel what I might feel if I were in their shoes. Perhaps it’s been a protection mechanism to keep from feeling the pain. Coming from a culture of power and privilege, Ive had a choice my whole life to decide what I will feel, see and experience. To have to leave my kids and go work for a few dollars, just to feed them, was unfathomable for me and too painful to even imagine. But that day I imagined it, for a moment I felt a portion of it, and it was perhaps the most painful thing Ive ever felt. To add to the moment, my mind was flooded with the faces of the many women Ive met in the bars that have left their children to work and send money back to them. These women don’t get to mother the children they birth. Injustice, on so many levels, snatches this right from them. They are impregnated then left to die along with their children.

The chances of Lalang being able to afford to go see her kids within those 6 months are slim. It will cost her P500, one-forth of her monthly salary, to go visit them. The details are sketchy and it’s hard to predict what will happen to Lalang and her two boys. I have plans to go back and visit her, find out more of her story and of course my ultimate hope for every woman I meet is that together we can figure out another way. The sad reality is, today, right now, there may be no other way for Lalang. But as we continue to work here in this land, educate, give voice to the injustices and let God work though us, I find hope in the faithfulness of God to act as we give our lives for a redeemed humanity, as Jesus taught us to.

Photo Update

Below are some of the pics of the kids from the last few weeks. Some highlights! Moriah felt back at home safe and secure in the arms of Ronald ;) Ethan still loves slides, even the bumpy filipino kinds. Tricycle rides are always a highlight for the kids. Moriah made instant friends with a Hanjin Employee, Boyet, who also has a 4 year old child who lives hundreds of miles away. We had a chance encounter with the mayor of Olongapo tonight as we were writing this update. Moriah made friends with a neighborhood girl name Joy. She is also 4 years old and the two of them hit it off like best friends.

Week 1 Update

Well we have only been on the ground for about 5 days now, and it feels like its been a month. We have hit the ground running to the different “areas of need” as we like to call them. I will try to give just a brief snapshot of life over the past 5 days, and as we begin to process these encounters more I am sure more in depth accounts will be posted here.

Monday

Ethan single-handedly holds up an entire 747 filled with over 400 passengers. There was a mix up in the booking and we were supposed to have received a paper ticket for Ethan to board the plane from Detroit to Japan. The travel agency never gave us this ticket and so as we sorted out the issue all the passengers aboard the plane had to wait. As if that wasn’t bad enough, our seats were in the very back of the plane so we had to feel the stares of all the passengers as we walked by.

Tuesday

We were in the air and losing 13 hours by crossing the International Date Line.

Wednesday

The kids didn’t sleep cause their schedules were completely backwards, but it didn’t stop them from enjoying their first day in the Philippines. The day we spent running errands and getting settled in at the house. The house is very nice, there is plenty of room for all 15 of us, and we actually get our own room. Wednesday night the team hit the bars of Calapandayan and Barretto. I stayed home with the kids while Rachel made her presence known with some of the girls in Barretto (an up date will be coming for this some time I am sure). I tweeted that night, “Its weird saying goodbye to you wife knowing that when she returns she will not be the same.” I think this trip will be filled with moments like this where we are forced to change or be crushed by the weight of this burden.

Thursday

We spend Thursday out in the mountains near Olongapo. We hiked to find a river where we could swim, and along the way brushed up on our Tagalog with the natives known as the Aete. This was a different group of Aete than who we previously visited, however they were just as friendly and as much fun to spend time with. Moriah and Ethan loved the water of course, and we look forward to spending more time out there with Chief Jimmy and his family.

Friday

I sometimes forget how difficult it is to conduct business here in the Philippines. Something as simple as getting connected to the Internet takes a half of a day somehow. I am not complaining though, I still enjoy the pace of life, talking with the other people waiting and the AC units that most of these businesses keep cranked on high. But not all work stopped just because I was taking care of business. The rest of the team spent the morning in another one of our areas of need known as Pag-Asa, a slum area of Olongapo. The team met some really great people and took down the names and the needs of the people there. By Friday night, the kids were about halfway adjusted to the time change; they were sleeping from about 4pm to 2am. So Rachel and I would just stay up with them in our room keeping them entertained.

Saturday

The team split up on Saturday with they guys going to visit the men up on the SBMA (former Military base) who work for Hanjin, while the girls visited the YWAM center in Olongapo. Hanjin is a Korean shipping company who has recently built the 4th largest shipyard in the world right here in Subic Bay. They employ over 18,000 people, and underpay most all of them. We made contact with several applicants being sent home due to illnesses they were unaware they had. (Another article will be written on this topic too) The YWAM facility here works specifically with women who worked in the bars. It was good to gain more perspective from people who are here doing things to help these endangered guardians of life (AKA the trafficked women of the Philippines).

Sunday

The kids slept until 4am this morning, almost back on schedule. Today we spent the day hanging out with families at the beach. Ethan was a hit, with dozens of children hovering around him touching his skin. Moriah also attracted a crowd, but was too timid to make friends until right before we left.
As you can tell this has been an incredibly busy week, and tomorrow we start it all over again. Keep praying for us as we make this transition. We are really enjoying our time, despite dealing with the heat and humidity, and things will only get better as our bodies get adjusted, and we make more friends. God Bless!

Stanford Village Flooding – Updated

Well it’s official The most rainfall ever recorded in this area. Last I heard we had received over 13″ in a two day period. Freeways are flooded, several fatalities, lots of damage to the roads just about everywhere. Here in Stanford we are still high and dry, however we have also been stuck here for two days straight. Roads in just about every direction are shut down due to flooding. I cant help but compare however these floods to those in the Philippines where we are about to spend the next 7 months. Most of the deaths here could have been avoided had people not tried driving through flooded roadways, or not jumped on a makeshift raft and attempted to float down a river that is 30-40 feet over its banks. In the Philippines however the majority of deaths occur as a result of lack of building regulations in impoverished areas. The reason there are no building regulations is quite simple. No one cares if these people die.

Missiology in Deuteronomy?

Introduction

Chapters 17-27 of Leviticus are known as the “holiness codes” (Dillard/Longman, 75).  This section of Leviticus begins instituting laws which the people of Israel were to be aware of and follow.  Prior to this section, most of Leviticus has been about rituals, and instructions for the priesthood. As we enter chapter 17 however, the focus of the writer becomes broader sweeping as it begins to incorporate God’s vision for Israel to be a light to the nations.  Specifically, within the holiness codes dealing with bloodshed, the repetitive mentioning of “aliens residing among them” brings to light the Missiological endeavors of YHWH throughout this section.  Although there are certainly health benefits from the observance of these codes, it is my intention to show that prohibition on bloodshed and eating blood primarily served the purpose of setting Israel apart as a light to the world. [Read more...]