This Week

Meeting with PBCC Student Leaders

We recently met with some of the student leaders at our new "home church" over here inthe Philippines. We talked about a theme for the rest of the quarter called "Everyday Worship.' Basically, some of the youth are going to get up and share how we can please God everyday, and specifically as people living in Metro Manila. How can you be a "Filipino Christian?" This is one topic our youth are looking at. What are some things in the culture that we should really not give up, like respect of our parents, for example. What are some cultural things that are displeasing to God? That will be an interesting one.


A shot outside the breakfast place (Jojo's smiling!)

The next day was my parents' spiritual birthday, so we went out to a breakfast buffet with them and my brothers who live here. I shot a video journal in the van while we were driving there and it's up on the site now. In it, I am actually driving "pretty fast" for Metro Manila. I just happened to be on the right street at the right time.

I can't blog a single time without mentioning somethign about driving. I guess that's becasue it's my most difficult cultural adjustment here. A few days ago, I felt like I was driving in a full-on waterfall!!! Zero visibility even with the wipers on high! The other night, we were stuck in head-to-head "traffic" where vehicles going in opposing directions were muscling their way through the mess. Today, it took half an hour to go about 50 meters to pick some stuff up at the mall. We made the mistake of going out on some kind of a super sale day. It was jam packed with people. Not good.

I think we'll stick to swimming for fun on Saturdays. We did find a brand new place call ed Tiendasitas today, where they sell plants and crafts and have a food court and stuff. It's very open-air. It kind of reminds me of the International Marketplace on Wakiki. So I feel like I'm on vacation when I go there. And most importantly, no crowds! At least not yet...

Driving and Relativism

Last night's drive to youth group was probably the worst driving experience I've had here to date. I had three close calls and the traffic was just terrible. It took over an hour and a half to get about 10 miles out to church.

The other night, I even encountered a car in opposing traffic heading right at me---and driving faster than you normally do around here!

I got to use this as an introduction to a message on Relativism and God's Law by talking about how it seems like drivers don't really believe they have to obey posted traffic rules like a "No U-Turn" sign, for example, but rather, that it's really just up to them. Then I said that sadly, this isn't confined to driving. Many Filipinos are buying into the lie that's already so prevalent back home: That right and wrong are just up to them.

But it's more subtle here. Since most people are form a Catholic background, it seems full-on relativism isn't as popular as what might be called "selective relativism". Youth especially see only certain moral evils as relative---the ones they'd like to indulge in! I don't really understand it all just yet, but one manifestation of this is the term "walang pakialamanan." It basically means "mind your own business." For example, if you confront a fellow employee about stealing money out of the cash register, they might tell you to mind your own business. It's intriguing to me. And I'm eager to learn more.

Last night I got to share a bit with a visitor from a Catholic background who stopped going to mass because the priests in his area weren't so much preaching the word as they were expousing their own political views from the pulpit. We had a good talk and I hope to see him again next week.