The Introduction

After about 24 hours in travel from Tampa to Atlanta, to Korea and finally Manila Philippines, Leann and I were greeted to a welcoming of pastors, volunteers and the other interns we are privileged to work alongside for the next three months. Since that landing, it has been a whirlwind of experiences arousing joy, sorrow, conviction, beauty, resentment and despair. Coming to see firsthand poverty in its rawest form and seeing God among the poor here in Manila has already revealed a new intimacy in my experience with Christ, and this is only the beginning.

After landing and slightly recovering from the jet lag, we were placed right in the mix of things. We are working among the poor and living in solidarity with them. The four of us, Leann, Kelly, David and I are living in a four-story building, on the top two floors, in a slum of Quezon City in metro-Manila that we have endearingly come to call “the condo”. This is where we sleep, eat, pray, hangout with the local youth, worship at times and sing classic rock ballads with the locals. Anything karaoke worthy will do. It has become our meeting space, our monastery, our community home and more importantly our church.

This church we call “the condo” is on block 5 of a 6-block slum called Damayang Lagi, in Tagalog meaning, “always helping one another”. This community has not only revealed the ugliness of poverty but also the beauty of the poor among it. It has revealed an ugliness of ourselves that cannot be seen under the shadow of western culture. It has revealed and even deeper meaning of what justice is and what a just God has called us to be to the world. Even in this short time we have come to love this place and the men, women, and children here while simultaneously hating the situation that has been created. Even as I type this right now one of the local boys we have come to love, Jasper is sitting with me overlooking as I type this. We have been able to build incredible relationships with the youth here in Damayang Lagi and even with the language barrier we have a band of children and young men over almost every night playing guitar, eating together, laughing together and poking fun. Through this intimacy we have been able to start sharing with them the gospel and the love God has for each of them regardless of the circumstances they have come to live in.

Among these guys we recently met a boy named Joshua, who the neighborhood guys call “cute”. He is a 10 year old boy that looks no older than 8. His mother is a maid in a local suburb but he stays in a shelter here in Damayang Lagi. His mother disregards him and takes no care for her son. His daily diet usually consists of rice and salt. He is very mal nourished. He is among the forgotten, the poorest of the poor here in Damayang Lagi. We were able to have him over at “the condo” and give him a solid meal, joke around and play with him. Although shy at first, he began to open up and by the end of the night David and he were able to wrestle around the room and play while we watched his face turn from desperation to joy. The smile he carried was so big that it was as if it was the most fun he has ever had. In the midst of this beauty I couldn’t help but think if this was the most fun this child has ever had, simply playing and being noticed. Someone taking notice of him and saying you are loved and cared for, you are not invisible, not only do we love you and notice you but the God of creation, the God that is love notices you and cares for you. He is on your side. The God of liberation wants to liberate you from the poverty that you exist in.