The truth is that this was the hardest time I have ever had leaving the Philippines. I would much rather have preferred to see my wife and kids getting off at the Manila Int'l Airport instead. I expected these feelings to some extent as every visit has made me yearn more and more to be there full time but I truly felt overwhelmed by the need that is there, the lack of laborers, the abundance of souls at every turn and the open doors that abound in just about any arena in which the Lord would lead you to minister. We look forward to the growth, learning and relationships to be established in the months ahead on deputation but when time is short, the work is great and the need is immediate - there is a strong desire to be able to just go now.
I have not visited a place in the Philippines that was just saturated with the gospel - where anyone could say - "ya know brother, we have this pretty well under control, the streets are preached on, the doors are all canvased, there are solid churches within close travel distance for these people, the jails are covered, the schools are taught in steadily, the new believers are being effectively discipled and nationals are being trained and sent out. Not in Cavite, not in Makati, not in Manila city, not in Cebu City, not in La Loma, not in Batongas, not in Quezon City, not in Novaliches, not in Mandaluyong City, not in Muntilupa city have I seen even a fair sprinkle of baptist works for the droves of people that inhabit these areas. I would not say that any of these areas have absolutely no works or witnesses - I do know of some and praise the Lord for what they are doing and I certainly dont know everything that is going on by any stretch of the imagination (everybody say Amen now :). I do know this, the Christians I have worked with all speak of the incredible need and overwhelming population to be reached, they all speak of how there are open doors here, here, here and here but there are only so many of them to do the work and only so much time to go around. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest...
I was amazed this trip when I was introduced to a couple places that I never would have expected to find an abundance of people.
1) the Manila north cemetary - The largest cemetary in the Philippines. It was one procession after another lined up this afternoon we went there.
But it is not just funeral traffic. This cemetary is HOME to MANY, MANY people - they live in the cemetary, sleep next to the cement enclosed coffins and cook, do laundry, sell their wares etc inside this monstrous facility. Their is a huge wall that goes on forever along the road next to the cemetary and as we walked along it to get to the gate we could see people climbing the wall and jumping over.
Child asleep outside of a burial place in the cemetary
Here you can see how these little memorial spaces are mad into homes.
Kids playing in their "neighborhood". There is a group that comes in and holds an extension class on Saturdays here in the cemetary. Praise the Lord. Could there be a more appropriate place to talk of the certainty of death and the hope of eternal life through Christ.2) Sunday, after preaching at New Bilibid prison, we caught a motor-trike and then a bus to LaLoma. When we arrived, it was nearly time for those who go out on the Jeepney routes to pick up people - they go get kids/adults in the afternoon and bring them to the evening service. As we walked to what looked like a few living spaces and businesses in a plaza type setup we walked through a narrow corridor through to the back of this plaza.
Upon coming out the other side I was amazed to see a huge community of people - hundreds of kids running around playing in the mud, climbing on things or playing basketball.
I had no idea this place was even there as it is not visible from the road.
As you can see, gathering a crowd is very easy when you are an American, a giant, have a camera and smile!
nothing like basketball in a shirt and tie at about 85 degrees, amen?While we had alot of un, the situation is serious - both in the states and in the Philippines.
This isnt about tribal peoples specifically, it isnt about being sure that a person is going just to an area that has never been engaged (although this is vital work and I believe something God would have us be a part of in the mountain regions in the future), this is not just about people groups, it is about God's will and God's will concerns people. Every one a soul for whom Christ died, a soul whom Christ desires to be saved, a soul that will spend all of eternity somewhere, a soul that God deserves the glory due upon their conversion. Many churches here in the states likely have a thumb tack for the Philippines on their map, a few prob have one for Metro Manila. The city is 12 million in population - swelling to 18million during the day - the country - close to 1,000 inhabited islands, 91 million souls and a high population increase rate. The government just reported that more that 27.6 million live in poverty (by Philippine government standards - not US standards). There are 500,000 souls in jails or prisons in the country. The bulk of the population are youth under 25. Only 2.8 percent of the country is considered evangelical (consider what that may include). Catholicism has a strong foothold everywhere.
The need is incredible and the opportunites seem endless. If invested in with laborers, churches, Bible schools and the facilitation for sending nationals out, I do believe that multiplication of witnesses can take place to reach the country and be an ever growing presence as a sending agent to the unreached in Asia and the world. It is happening to some extent in some places and surely we alone will not be the difference - but God can do above all that we can think or imagine so I will think as big as I can and pray for God to exceed those expectations for His Glory. You can see from the group above that gathering a crowd to talk to about Christ is not difficult. I praise the Lord that I am a giant in this land if for no other reason than that people want to say they stood next to a giant and only came up to his elbow or whatever. If God allows that to be the means of them hearing about Christ then, praise Him - I will be a fool for Christ if he gets glory and they get the gospel, amen?
We believe strongly that God has intentions for us to be a part of training and sending nationals to unreached tribal areas in the north and Lord willing elsewhere but when you walk the streets for hours and see the abundance of people - when you blow through your 500 or 1000 tracts in an hour or two, when you see overcrowed jails, schools, squatter areas, neighborhoods, malls, streets and villages - your compassion for their soul is not rooted in the question of "is there at least one baptist work in this city" - it is more - has this child heard, has this man or this woman heard...
This is a burden that we all must seek God to increase our zeal for no matter where we are. We ought not be content with status quo because God is not (1 cor 15:34) - hordes of people around us and around the world have not so much as a gospel tract presented to them once in a while. You should see how humbly these brothers and sisters live, every peso they have is invested into transportation fare so they can get to another jail to preach another message...it always challenges me on what God's true intentions for stewardship is for us...
I am grateful to be a 6'8"american going to a country where basketball is the favorite sport and the average height (according to some chart on Wikipedia anyway) is 5'4" for a man and 4'11" for a woman allows me to gather a crowd of children and adults alike with little difficulty. I am eager to have a grasp of the language so that those fun moments of people wanting to measure themselves up to me or shake my hand could become more effective chances to transition to the gospel - perhaps with a story of how it was not the men of stature that were impressive to God (Saul, Goliath) but...
Thanks to all for the prayer regarding the trip. Can I plead with you now to pray for
- The Rock of Ages Staff in Manila
- For the Putney family - that we would be well prayed and prepared for the months ahead, that God would lead us to the churches He would have us be at, that He would be glorified and that His people would be moved concerning the need in this land and that as soon as God sees fit that we would be able to get there.
- For the Philippines
Little Betsy with Brother Jun, Sister Joyce, Sister Virge (with kids - Jon and Cameel), Sis. Yolli, Bro. Jack, Sis. Nanette (edited into the pic) and Sis. Jemma. They are a blessing and can use prayer. There is tremendous spiritual warfare in the jails and in the perception that jail ministry often receives. Support, encouragement and good health in these very unsanitary jails would be good ways to pray in addition to being Spirit led and for souls to be saved.There are many other testimonies and thoughts regarding this trip - perhaps another day. Thanks so much for praying. First and most importantly, we saw a number of people respond to the gospel - pray that they fully understood and will grow in Christ. My family was safe and healthy here, I was able to do my job with the energy and dedication needed, i learned many new things, was blessed to have a part in ministry at jail, prison, streets and church and was encouraged by and Lord willing an encouragement to my dear friends in the ministry there.
All glory to the Lord Jesus Christ for hearing and answering your prayers and allowing even the most most unworthy to be used in His service. He pdovided the means, the messages and the motivation.