On the Scene of a Rally

Fort Bonifacio Standoff: Image from inq7.net

"Don't got to any rallies. You could be arrested." These were some of the first words spoken to me by a leader of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches upon our arrival in July. This was when it was just startingto come out that the president may have been involved in election fraud.

Well, me, I'm not thinking of getting arrested. I'm thinking of keeping my family out of harms way as best I can (Yes, I know we moved to this country voluntarily, but that's another issue!). Anway, could you really see me and Christine and Jojo in an angry crowd holding up signs to overthrow the government?

But seriously, today, we drove right by a gathering demonsration on our way back from church...and saw the escalation on TV when we got home! We have to drive by a number of miliatry camps to get home and all I saw were a bunch of onlookers and huge military vehicles in the street. Oh well. Luckily, we got through that area before the real action began.

Long story short, a huge group of protestors and even some politicians were arngy that a certain marine commanant was relieved from duty on suscpicion of being involved in a plot to oust the Philippine president on Thursday night. This really wasn't that big of a deal, but I'm just letting you guys know that this stuff is going down right in our very midst. It hits close to home when you see the news "live on the scene" before you see it on TV!

I hope people still read our blog. I know I haven't updated it as often as I should and maybe it's old hat to a number of our supporters already. But please keep praying for our safety. Thanks.

Here's some info on what we passed by from a local english-language newspaper: Marines holed up inside camp agree to stand down

State of Emergency

Good thing we decided to call my dad this morning to see if he needed a ride into Ortigas Center. We were almost heading out the door when he told us to turn on the news (our TV is usualy set to Blues Clues or Jojo's other Nick Jr. shows!). Schools and businesses were closed and it was beginning to get messy downtown.


Troops on Double Red-Alert: Picture from CNN.com

Apparently, the government foiled a coup attempt last night and fears more civil unrest may develop from rallies planned this weekend. The capital building went on double red-alert and the president declared a National State of Emergency around 11AM. Basically, all rallies are now illegal and there is rioting in the streets about 25 minutes away from our house (about 3 miles away). If you've seen the CNN footage of protesters being hosed down by a water cannon (in front of a shrine to the Virgin Mary), that is literally across the street from Messiah College!

Some are contesting the president's declaration of a State of Emergency because it never went to congress. Under this, the government has the power to take over private businesses and utilities, arrest people without warrants, etc.. etc... The government says "everything is under control" but the level of security at the palace and the rioting in the streets make you wonder.

Suffice it to say, we didn't leave our village today. Pray the civil unrest settles down soon. We are all, OK though.

Here's the lastest from CNN as of right now.

Trip to Tagaytay

This weekend, I took the family out to see a truly remarkable island volcano called "Taal" in Tagaytay. I actually camped on there for a couple of days when I was in 7th grade. What makes it so cool is that it's an island volcano located within an island nation (the Philippines), AND inside the volcano crater is ANOTHER island--I've been there, too! Yes, it's an active volcano, but we didn't set foot on it as a family. Maybe when Jojo's older. :-) Here's a shot of the view we had (sorry, it was a bit foggy when I took this picture):


Taal's an island volcano, within the Philippine islands, that has an island inside its crater

Mostly it was a trip to get away once again. I really thanked God for this. It's no understatement to say ministering (and just living for that matter) in Metro Manila is a stressful job. I find that we need these kind of things after a few months of living in the city. Every now and then we need to hit the "reset button."

Tagaytay reminds us of the beauty of the Philippines and that we actually live on an island! And the air. Ahh, the air. I never thought I liked breathing clean air so much. I actually used to loathe camping trips back in the US (saying I loved the city, and as long as I had broadband and malls I would be OK). Now, I think I'm becoming a bit of a nature freak. Christine LOVES nature, and Jojo loves it too! He was running around and really having a blast. I think we shall be back in a few months.


Jojo and Mama having fun on the grass

On the "church" side of things, I was really excited to meet a seeker who had only been to an evangelical church twice in her life the other Sunday. We talked for a bit and then I invtied her to youth group. I prayed for her every night and guess what? She came! She even connected with one of our student leaders and wanted to meet for accountability with her once a week! Now I'm praying she would come to know the Lord. She seems really interested and always has an excited smile on her face. Her name is Dannie.

Well, we're back in town now and it's back to work for me. We have our langauge teacher again in the morning and I've got to get a couple syllabi finalized and submitted for the inspection of the government, too: Philosophy and Apologetics (for Messiah Colllege).