How Much Should I Give?

June 15 was another prayer meeting at the church we attend. One of the men (Verolo) that attends this prayer meeting is actually working with another small church up in the mountains. That church has a family living in their community that is living there without any support. The father (Max) had a business that went under and they are living in a house that another man is allowing them to live in rent free. They have several children and the man is trying to plant papaya. This is all well and good but it takes a few months for the plants to bear fruit so in the meantime they have next to nothing.

Back to Verolo, he works at the church in the mountains as a volunteer pastor. The nearest church gives him $32.00 per month to help with transportation. At prayer meeting Verolo asked us to pray for Max and his family, especially that they would have food on their table. In passing Verolo mentioned that he had given half of his honorarium to Max last month.

My tithe seems very small.

Another Year

June 13th found me standing in front of 32 (it has since grown to 34) eager faces. They are taking a class called Understanding and Communicating Scripture which means that I get to help them jump into understanding the Bible and then learning to communicate the same. A tall order for anyone, whether student or teacher. We have an additional challenge, they are listening to me in English and Cebuano. They understand some English, some Cebuano and three other languages. Welcome to the post Tower of Babel world!

One of the greatest joys is looking at the list of places they come from. Four of them come from a small church in the community of Kadjukan. The church's name is Mountain Top Evangelical Free Church. These students come from one of the most remote parts of the island where I live. They have come from their small village to a metropolis of one million where there is water that comes out of faucets (most of the time) and electricity that is in the walls (most of the ...). They do have one advantage, they speak Cebuano as their first language.

There are two young people who come from the first church that Carol and I attended 22 years ago in Butuan City. One is a young man who is the son of a fisherman that we got to know at that time. What a priviledge of have their child in my class. The student wasn't even born at that time!

There are a further three that come from a small group of islands that speak a different language (we have over a 100 languages in the country). This language group has a New Testament translated by their uncle, a Wycliffe missionary.

Not your average group of students but I wish you could be there with me every Tuesday morning.

Stealing Laundry

The other night, during the start of prayer meeting, there was large commotion about three doors down the alley (there are not streets and to call it an alley is even pushing it). I asked what was going on (understanding when everything is calm, is hard enough, when things get emotional, forget it). They said that someone had lost some of their laundry from off their line.

I guess that describes the level of poverty here that clothes hanging on the line are not safe. People steal them, sell them for quick cash and buy drugs or just food.

I think of the vast amount of clothes that are donated to Goodwill every day and then try to reconcile that to clothes being stolen off the line.

We really are not in Kansas anymore...

Recent Reading

Since this is the summer break in the school year here in the Philippines I have some time for additional time for reading and study. Currently I am reading Alister McGrath's A Passion for Truth. I am finding it very helpful and interesting at the same time. I have just started so maybe more about this another time. I just finished Dave Tomilson's Post Evangelicalism and that book I did find disturbing. I am going to need some to digest that and maybe I will need to re-read D. A. Carson's Ministering to the Emergent.

One thing I am enjoying, besides the reading, is downloading various articles and talks given by several very insteresting people. I then listen to them while driving to our church planting project. I have just recently discovered N. T. Wright. I realize that many people know about him but I did not. He helps me to hear the Post Evangelical discussion from a Biblical studies perspective.

Palm Sunday, A Very Strange Day

Today is Palm Sunday. Living in a country that is covered with coconut palms, the name somehow becomes more real. I preached today at our small, newly started body of believers. We had a great time of worship even though the neighbors turned their music up and the fact that most of the walls in the church are just grills makes that whole experience a lot more "live".

It was good to be there with the saints. One dear lady just had one cataract surgery and is waiting for the second. Just having her there was such an encouragement.

I preached on one of the traditional texts which reviewed the events of that very strange event we have called the "Triumphal Entry". This time I personally was touched with two things: the context in John which has this event following the raising of Lazarus; and the concluding paragraph of Luke where Jesus crys over Jerusalem. I find that even though preaching is done, the day is winding down, but I am still very deeply moved by what Jesus said, "because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19:44b) I have decided that I am going to keep my eyes open.

The children's program went well. They had 60 or so kids. Three young ladies and one young man (junior high age in America, high school here) are coming to church. Carol is thrilled by this.

Until next time.
Vance

Graduation

It was a great weekend! Saturday, several of the men from our small church plant and I went to a small, rural community and fellowshipped with three families that have been conducting a "house church" for many years in their very simple home. They led the singing and I had the priviledge of sharing God's Word with them and then they fed us. What a humbling experience to be fed by people who do not have a lot of the world's "stuff" but are rich in grace and hospitality. I wanted to bring all of you along!

Then Saturday night was the graduation banquet for the college. We were celebrating with the eleven students who have completed their five year degree course and the nineteen who have completed their one year certificate course. The highlight of the evening was the message from Philippians 4 by one of our more recent graduates who is church planting. What he shared was so practical and powerful. I came away rejoicing in the fact that God has used this school to help mentor such a young man. The fact that Carol and I were sponsors for his wedding probably influences my thinking as well.

Sunday was graduation at the college and what a great time of rejoicing that was as well!

Today was the first Sunday School class for adults at our small church plant. We are using locally published materials. We are starting with a study of the Gospel of John. We had an excellent attendance!

I am teaching for the first quarter, actually I am going to alternate with a couple of other people but I really want this to be their "thing".

Saturday, March 25 we will be taking a small group of people from our church to visit a nearby mountain community that has a small gathering of people that represents the only group of individuals that Biblically can be called a "church". We want to encourage them and see if we can develop ways to give them some simple guidance.

This is the kind of thing we want to do for several places that we have visited recently. Please join with us in thinking how we can best glorify God and encourage these people.

We just got back from a three day break which was very helpful to us. The boys enjoyed snorkeling (Mark for the first time), swimming in the pool, watching movies (The Incredibles, Around the World in 80 Days [old,old,old], and others), and going for short walks.

Carol and I enjoyed all of the above and reading. Carol even got some time to do some organizing. Something she had wanted to do for a long time. She is so good at it that I think she should contract her services for others. I probably should be the first person to hire her.

Tomorrow is the final exam in my Hebrew class. Yes, I am still a student and still trying to figure out Biblical Hebrew. I have a great group of classmates and I wish I could utilize their abilities to take the exam but alas, that is still called "cheating" and not "collaborative" effort.

Well, I will close for now.

Vance