Buried in the Kitchen Floor

The other day I was reading the local paper, Sunstar, and came across a story that I still find hard to conceive of. A grandfather had been reprimanded by the officials for burying his newborn granddaughter in the dirt of the kitchen floor. Now, I know that it is illegal to just bury someone anywhere but this had to be the most sad incident I have ever heard of.

The child died shortly after being born at home. By now you have all realized that the family is poor. The child died at birth, the kitchen floor was dirt and in a Roman Catholic country burying someone in unholy ground is the same as sending them to hell. Can you imagine what that was like to be digging a hole in the kitchen to bury your granddaughter? What was it like to be the mother in the next room, if the house had more than one room? What was it like to have bury the tiny body in the floor because you do not have any place else?

The local government did not send them to jail. They exhumed the body and buried it in "holy" ground. Then they warned the family to not do it again.

What kind of world do we live in where this kind of thing happens? Please pray that Carol and I will figure out further ways to be Jesus in this community.

Visiting Friends

It is early in the morning on Monday, August 10. I am in Anchorage and enjoying the hospitality of the people of Trailside Community Church. This church has supported us for 25 years and the encouragement from them and other friends here in Alaska is greatly appreciated.

But this is not the only place that Carol and I have experienced this. We have eighteen supporting churches and 60 plus individuals who monthly, quarterly give generously to make it possible for us to stay in the Philippines. These churches and individuals, many for the entire 25 years, have faithfully contributed. The total amount contributed is in excess of one million dollars.

This makes me both humbled and encouraged. Humbled by the large trust lavished on us by these generous donors and encouraged by the fact that they do not quit.

Sadness in Public

Yesterday, I was driving through the center of our town of 96,000 residents at 8:30 AM when I saw a lady standing in the middle of the road. Buses, jeepneys, trucks and private vehicles were going by on both sides. If you live where we do, none of this would sound strange. People regularly stand on the center line waiting for traffic to clear.

What made this unusual was the fact that the mature woman, in her 30's, was naked from the waist down. It is not common but it does happen from time to time. We have been here for twenty six years and this is the second instance for us.

One of the things that comes with poverty is a reduced insulation from problems in the world. This woman, I have no idea what was "wrong", was obviously in need of some assistance. She was distraught.

This society does not have institutions for these kind of situations. There is no place for this woman to "go" so that she will not be seen.

Carol saw a similar situation where the woman was totally naked and pregnant. She went to a local agency of a well known Christian organization that provides help to these kinds of people. She was told that the woman had been there earlier and when they tried to provide clothing she broke the door getting out of there.

I cried. I am not sure what else I could have done. I need to think of something better to do.

Visiting a flooded Church

The view from the roof of the church.











In a pre-school,waiting out the storm in a pre-school.














A car repair shop in the neighborhood. Someone is still living here.













The front yard with things from the pastor's family buried in the mud.













Pastor Ricky and I discussing how to use the funds that I brought to help the church, the community and the pastor's family. Thanks to the donors.














I was able to visit this church three weeks after it was flooded by a typhoon, high tide and the emergency release of water behind dams. The pastor and his family got on the roof of their simple, rented residence as the water rose to 7 feet deep within the house. They then fled to a neighbor and finally to a local daycare center. They have moved back into their residence and with the help of many, they have restored some semblance of normalcy to their lives.

Pray for them as they seek to minister to families all around them.

I want to thank the donors who gave so generously so this could happen.

Books and Students

Because the small school for missionary children closed because of a lack of students we had the fun task of distributing the materials, furniture and computers that were left.

These are few of the students from the college, where I teach, collecting some FREE items. Students all over the world love free things but these students do not get a chance to do this very often.

Thanks to the generosity of many, we had the joy of doing this! There are still many items which will be used in the future to help start several, God willing, Study Centers in the rural areas of this island.

People

This is a small portion of the association of churches that we work with. It was at a conference that I mentioned in the previous post. This group of seventy churches come from basically four regions in the Philippines. This particular conference is being conducted in the Central Visayas, where we live. This is a big advantage for us since that means that they predominantly speak the language that we understand.

Think of that for a minute, when these churches get together they have five languages they can choose from. Most people can speak three of the five (of course which three does tend to vary) so they are much more adept at these things than I am!

Currently we are seeking to move out of the large city we have lived in for the past 22 years and move to the much smaller city of Naga (80,000 population) but we are having a hard time finding housing. Please pray. We want to be there to help set up a Study/Tutorial Center that will enable us to supplement the education that the kids are getting in the public school. I just recently heard of one city's educational system with 40,000 students, 5,000 more than last school year, that has a student to teacher ration of 60 to 1.

We want to find a house that someone will long term rent to us, cheap! I know, doesn't eveyone, but we really feel like we could use this to find a way to meet observed and felt needs in the community.

Joys of Teaching

I have found that teaching is one of the things in life that brings joy. Not that I teach only for the joy that it brings but I am surprised by it (thanks to C. S. Lewis for describing that process). This past Wednesday I spent the day in the mountains with about 150 people from the churches that we work with in this part of the country. We sing, eat together, talk and listen to people encourage us in our walk with Jesus.

One of the other things that happens is that I get to talk to men and women that are working in these small churches, far from any large city or even a good sized town, but they continue to remain faithful. This is one of those young men, and of course his daughter. I cherish every time that we can get together and hear what they are doing. Pastor Marlon and I are sharing a different experience, we are both raising rabbits. He is doing it for a little money on the side and I do it so that we can demonstrate to others that it is possible to earn additional funds and provide extra protein for their diet at a very low expense.

Marlon was one of my students and now we talk to each other about theology and rabbits. It makes for joy.

Interesting Reading

Currently I am reading a fascinating book about contemporary China entitled Oracle Bones. I am not an expert by any means regarding China, her culture or her history but I have found this to be an interesting introduction.

I have also enjoyed reading a blog regarding theology which I am sure others will enjoy.  It is Faith and Theology and is located on blogspot as well.

Men

Sunday, November 18, Pastor Reuben, Pastor Virollo, Japeth and myself went thirty miles south of the church and into the hills to attend a joint men's fellowship. There was a great meal (whole roasted pigs, chicken soup that was the best, rice and young coconut) and excellent group dynamic activities. We did things together as teams and the leadership helped us to "process" what happened and what we can learn from all this. We sang together, prayed together and just stood around and talked. There were about a hundred men in attendance with several of the pastors being former students of mine. It was just one of those times when you are very glad you are doing exactly what you are. The men in the picture are from a small mountain community two hours further south. The man in the jacket holding the microphone is their pastor, Mehroy Parantar. He and his wife have been in that small community for eight years and it is a delight to see their ministry there. Thanks for helping to make this possible.

Naga Kids

For the past three Sundays I have been doing something I have not done for about 13 years, and I am enjoying it. Carol invited me to teach the youth at the Sunday School outreach in Naga which is conducted in the mornings before we go to church. I am really having a great time. There are between 50 and 90 children each week. They come from homes where the income levels are very low, lower than you are currently thinking.

I get to teach the students who are in secondary school and above and currently we have fifteen students with a slight preponderance of females. We are outdoors so do pray that we will not have rain to often. High tech presentations include crayons, pens, clipboards, student books and chairs. I am having a great time. Some of my students are in the tiny picture.

Children

My brother, Mark, and his wife, Miriam, just had their first child last August. This event triggered some thinking on my part. We, Carol and I, have five children sprinkled from 29 years to 11 years. I have often just assumed their presence in my life like living room furniture. My brother in turn, while just a few years my junior, is enjoying his first. It made me think about the furniture in our lives. Truly our children are the best blessing that we can enjoy. I suppose I may have something else to say when we have grandchildren (that will be April 2008). Well, I need to get to work but I was just wanting to express my thanks to God during this Thanksgiving season, for our children.

This is something I never thought...

Last night, the two young ladies who work in our home and myself slaughtered two rabbits. Some of you are aware that we are raising rabbits as a potential community development project, well, we are not raising them for pets so it came time to slaughter and I pulled out the manual and literally read step by step as we went through the process. It was interesting that these two young ladies, Aimie and Luna, knew more about the process than I did, even though they had never been around rabbits. Just one of the life skills that modern society removes from our portfolio.

Raising rabbits has been interesting and I do think there is potential. This country is the size of Arizona with a population of 80 million. Traditionally they have depended on fish as a major component of their diet but the fish are disappearing so we are looking for alternatives. Got any other ideas?

Home

I am back in the Philippines after being away for four months or so. It is good to be with Carol and Mark again. I will be seeing David (away at boarding school) in a few weeks.

Last Sunday, September 30, I went to our small church and one of the gentlemen said to me as I came in the door, "Welcome home!" If I had any doubts about coming back, that greeting settled them right away. Carol was not feeling well so I took the teachers to the Sunday School and it was a good reminder about what it means to live without many of the nicer things of life. Things I enjoyed in the United States and enjoy at our house here in Cebu.

Just wanted to thank everyone for walking with us through this path! Vance

Spending the Night in Jail

Wow, I bet that got your attention. Actually I was not even close to jail but a friend of mine was because he is a missionary in a Middle East Country. He is now home, along with the rest of his family and I praise God for that. I had the chance to talk to him. He was water to my soul. He did not over state the drama, in fact he downplayed what happened to him. Most of what he talked about were his friends that he left behind and how he wished he could have said goodbye. I have never experienced anything like that. I consider my conversation with him to be one of the more significant "God sightings" I have ever experienced.

We need to remember that some of our brothers and sisters do not get to enjoy the blessings that we do. 

Praying in a House

Yesterday, Sunday, May 6th, we had a visitor at church. A young lady from Mindanao. She seemed to really enjoy her time with us. At the close of the service Pastor told us that she had requested us, the whole church, to come and pray over their house. This is not an usual request. I have prayed over musical instruments, cars, motorcycles, jeepneys, and a house or two. This is a common way for people to acknowledge the Lord's provision in their lives and to ask God's blessing.

So, we all climbed into private or public vehicles and about twenty of us, adults and children, went to the house. We pulled up in front of one of the nicer houses in town and went inside. That is when I realized this was going to be different. People were nervous and quiet. Then Pastor explained why we were there.

Last week in the news I had read about a botched robbery that involved the killing of a young nursing co-ed. I knew that it happened in our town of 80,000 but what I did not know was that it had happened in this house. The young lady who had come to our church was asking us to pray for protection for the remaining tenants who were house sitting while the owner lived in the United States (this is a very common practice here). The other young lady who was in the house was very afraid. According to the current state of investigation, the murder happened five days ago, the robbers were known by the occupants and they came in the front gate and were allowed entrance through the front door. They discovered the young lady in the course of the robbery and killed her. They just took a few smaller items.

Pastor had all of us pray together on the first floor of the house and then we went throughout the house praying for the occupants and binding the work of Satan in that place. It was quite an experience. Please do pray for our small group of believers that they will continue to reach out to those around us and demonstrate the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ in our community.

How important are birthdays?

Last Sunday, April 22, we sang "Happy Birthday" to one of the ladies in our small church. This is something we do whenever someone in our small group has a birthday. This is not something that is difficult to do since we only have thirty-five to forty adults and maybe 15 children in the worship family.

That is where I had something to learn. Pastor Reuben told me yesterday that she cried while we sang. Something so simple touched her so deeply. How could we know this or even think that this would have such a profound impact on her? I am so glad that there are people like Pastor Reuben who remember to sing "Happy Birthday."

I cannot remember what was preached that Sunday, maybe I was the preacher, but I will remember the results of singing that simple act of grace extended to a lady who experienced it.

Please pray that we all will be faithful in extending grace to one another. Remember Jesus said something about a glass of water given in his name.

Easter a week later!

Today is Tuesday, April 17 and I am still thinking about Easter. I cannot believe how important the events of Easter are to my life and my ministry. Our Holy Week was spent with three days at our very primitive church camp in the mountains with 80 people from our small cluster of churches.

The most meaningful event for me was praying with our "family". We were Carol, David, Mark and our helpers: Aimee and Luna. Aimee and Luna prayed, it was awesome hearing them express their concerns about their families to our Father. Made the long drive worth it all.

Besides going to the camp we hosted one of my college friends who came to teach a class at the college. Steve Peacock of Eureka, California taught for four and a half hours each day for seven days and brought the seventeen students along with him on a journey through the gospel of John. It was fun seeing this country and its people through the eyes of our guest. He had a good time and we did as well.

Well, I need to go. Thanks for sharing the journey with me.

Waves

In January I went with three of our boys to Siargao Island so that Brendon (24 years) could try out surfing in the Philippines. You have to understand that we do not have waves where we live and seeing them here in the Philippines was a treat for all of us.

The only problem was getting there, it took the better part of 36 hours in each direction. It was beautiful and the four of us did this for less than $200 for three nights accommodation and food.

Two Saturdays out of Three

I will be attending a funeral this Saturday, February 17. That will make two Saturdays out of three. Sometimes it is just to often to be reminded about our mortality. The funeral two weeks ago was a person that was elderly (funny how relative that term becomes) but this time it is a man who died of cancer and is much younger than I am.

I suppose that is the dividing line. People older than I am are "ready" and those younger are "not." That probably says a lot about myself and my less than desirable attitude towards aging.

I have been reading Randy Alcorn's Heaven and finding myself saying, "Yes, of course, why didn't I think of that?" It is such a well balanced presentation of a topic that can quickly become unbalanced. Anyway, these two concepts have much to inform each other about, namely that heaven does change how I think about mortality.

Heaven while looking at the neighbors

Today I am preparing to preach tomorrow. Pastor Reuben, Hermie (our student intern) and I are working our way through a series called, Transformed. It basically looks at various passages in the Bible that talk about change in our lives. A few weeks back I preached on Transformed by the Truth. I tried to talk about the role of truth in our lives and the need for a commitment to the same (just got done reading a short book by Michael Green on this general topic and found it very helpful). Tomorrow it is Transformed by Heaven. I dug through the pile of books by my bed that still need to be read and found Randy Alcorn's Heaven and once again reminded myself that this needs to move up through the pile to the top.

As I was reading I came across Hebrews 11:16 which says, "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." As I looked up I saw the sixty to seventy homes that are behind our house, very small, very simple. Some people are going to really appreciate that city.

Lord, as I preach your word about the wonders of the New Earth, please help me to communicate the little that I do comprehend as these people need the hope that it can bring.