The story of Cute

I realize over the course of this missionary journey that I have not shared the full impact of everything that has been happening here in Manila. So many things happen in our community daily that are worthy to be wept over. I have become numb over time, insulating myself from the emotions that all these experiences should cause and deep down I do feel the pain of the fall in all of these things. In insulating myself I have not been able to adequately reflect on all things that happen here in Damayang Lagi. These men and women live day to day in survival mode deprived not only of the luxuries of the world but also the necessities. I realize this is late in the game to recognize this but from here on out I plan to share all the experiences with you. I could write volumes of books about everything that happens here in the community but over the next couple months as I continue to process everything that is happening here, especially in light of my coming home to the states next week, I pray that you will continue to follow as I write it down here. Please look at each of these stories on a level that is below the surface. Although I may not be an eloquent writer, let these stories sink in and realize that with each story is a face, an experience that happened to someone as it could happen to your brother or sister, son or daughter.

The first story I will share is about a boy named Joseph. Joseph, who is properly nicknamed “Cute”, is a 10-year-old malnourished child that lives here in the slum. Although 10 he has the body of a 6-year-old because of his lack of nutrition over the years. This kid, in spite of all the hardships he has endured, never lacks a smile on his face. We see him every morning for breakfast as he slowly climbs our stairs still rubbing his eyes from the sleep he just woke up from. His favorite game is called Smackdown. After he eats his meal he runs into the room upstairs and starts shouting smackdown and we begin to wrestle with him around the room. He hangs out with us all day until his sister comes in the evening to walk him home. He has become a child of ours while we are here and he is looked over not only by us but also by the older guys we have become close with here, the guys nicknamed “Mafia”.

A couple weeks ago Cute came over to our house at about 8PM stumbling up the stairs. Having a dizzy look on his face, he could not concentrate or even hold his head up. When he reached the top he fell into Leann’s arms. He reeked of alcohol. One of the guys in the community was celebrating his birthday with some friends and they thought it would be funny to give Cute a drink called Hunch Punch, a blend of liquors mixed with fruit punch. They told him it would be fun to drink and gave him about 7 shots. After, while they were still partying, Cute stumbled through our door. We spent the next 3 hours nursing him, getting him to drink water and feeding him rice to absorb the liquor. Never did I think I would have to use these techniques on a 10-year-old boy. After hours of this Cute finally was able to go to sleep after sobering up quite a bit.

When you try to describe who the poor are it isn’t just the people who don’t have luxuries. The poor are the weak and oppressed, those who are caught under some sort of weight that they can’t overcome. They are those who are the lowest in society and the most helpless. Who are the poorest among these but the children? As it is children look to others to provide them food and clothing. They have to rely on those older than them for shelter and guidance. In general children are the weakest, the poor children are the weakest of all.

As Christians, we are called to look out for the poor and oppressed. Jesus once pulled a child aside told his disciples that whoever receives this child receives him and the one who sent him. To receive Christ we must seek out those who are the least in the world and receive them into our lives, making their burdens ours, and striving to set them free from the oppression they face. Who are burdened the most but the Cutes of this world?

Joseph or "Cute" as we know him

Camp

Over the past couple months we have been planning a retreat for the youth here in Damayang Lagi. It was a time to get away from the slum to an outside province in a place called Laguna located in the mountains south on Manila. Forty youth from the age of 13 to 23 came to the Word of Life camp to learn about who God really is, learn more about the gospel and enjoy time together away from the chaos of the slum. It was beautiful. These three days were spent exploring different aspects of what it means to be a Christian and what is the life that God has to offer. There were team building games, relay races, a pool they could play and splash in and of course basketball. Each of us had the chance to lead a group of youth through different activities and Bible studies.

What was probably the greatest blessing was being able to watch community form around the central theme of the gospel. This community that was formed has carried on into Damayang Lagi. These men and women we see here now come over everyday not just to eat but also come asking questions about God and life. We have Bible studies in our “Condo” everyday, and when we skip a day they are quick to question us about it. When they borrow one of our iPods, instead of hearing them sing Bruno Mars, which is typical, it is Hillsong United or some other kind of worship music. God is moving among these people. Although I feel that I have stumbled my way through these past couple months, dragging my feet and failing at communication God has still used all that to move in this community. Although I have said it much, it really is beautiful.

Bathing With a Bucket

It has been an adventure trying to adapt to the way of life in the Philippines. So much of my way of life in America I have taken for granted and have taken advantage of. One such example is a simple thing like a shower. In Damayang Lagi there is no such thing as hot water. Every shower is a cold shower. Typically it does not matter much as the weather outside is at a constant degree of sweltering, but sometimes it is a little cooler out especially when it rains and the cold shower just hurts. In fact sometime it hits you so much so that you will hear one of us yelp from the needles of cold water that pierce our skin. Also, the guys bathroom has no shower per say. In lieu of a shower, the men’s downstairs bathroom has the typical bathing rig as most of those who live in this slum. It is a faucet at knee level with a 5-gallon bucket and a small scoop. The process at first is daunting but now has become a typical part of daily life and can even be seen as a luxury, compared to how people live in other areas of Manila. The first step is a nice, cold set of water scoops, which are poured over the head and body. Once decently covered in water next is the lathering process. This is all done in sandals as the toilet is a mere 6 inches away from this lavish bathing rig and the ground is not completely sanitary. Once sufficiently lathered, next comes the scrubbing of the feet. Throughout a nice day the feet are significantly dirty and a small swipe of the cloth or of soap will not suffice. Once all lathered up and scrubbed down a second set of refreshing scoops of water are poured over to wash away the soap. This process is all done is a 3’x4’ bathroom, which also has a toilet, so moving around must be strategic. After all this is done you dry down, throw your shorts back on and walk out into the public space of your shared room. Now if your hair needs to be washed…well, have fun.

This all said, I have come to greatly appreciate the way everyone who lives in Damayang Lagi takes advantage of what is had, and shared. The bathroom is not only ours. It has become anyone’s who needs to bathe. Everything is done without complaint but rather with gratitude. This washing is necessary. Water is another expense and this way of life reduces the amount of water used. A typical bath, soak, lather and rinse will use about 10 gallons of water, total. This helps take advantage of every resource sparingly and wastes nothing. The men, women and children here cannot afford to waste. In the end it is a beautiful thing.

(Also, the flushing process of the toilet is not done by handle. You put water in the bucket and dump it in the toilet. Another way to conserve a valuable resource)

The Adventures of a Typhoon

A couple weeks ago the thrill of living in the slums and eating with the poor was made even more complete by enduring a typhoon in Damayang Lagi. We sought to find shelter on the top floor of our “condo” by blocking window openings with tarps and dining tables, covering every crevice of the plywood windowpanes with whatever we could find to prevent the storm from ravaging our small space. This storm, about the size of a class 1 hurricane, came through Manila on a Monday morning, stopping any chance of doing anything other than sitting through it. I have experienced a few storms like that in Florida and have weathered them all well there in the shelter of homes, but in the slums it takes on a different feel.

Here we did not have windows to shut and keep the rain and wind out. Electricity was off almost immediately, and our area was one of the last to be turned back on. There was no transportation anywhere, so to find another place to rest, like a coffee shop down the road or pizza place to eat, was to walk through the storm. And our experience was not the worst. For the men and women who live closer to the river, any large storm immediately overflows the river and pours into the their homes. The wind rips through the back of Damayang Lagi and tears at structures built out of tin, rope and plank wood. We saw how the poor really do have the worst in all types of circumstances. One of the friends we made here, Kuya Rudy, has his place on the river. It was one of the first to flood and he lost a majority of his tin roof. His house, which was only a 24’ x 12’ space, was reduced to a small shelter of about 10’ x 12’. Many families had to stay elsewhere and come home to clean up the wreckage left behind. But in all this we were able to connect even more with the community and share with them this experience. Even now we have the opportunity to pour more love out and we are planning on spending a day or two helping Kuya Rudy rebuild the part of his house that was lost. In this I am learning about our call to look out for the poor, especially in times of disaster. It is there where we will see Christ. It is there where we see the good news spread and love beget more love.

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.