#1 - Manila
#2 - Rizal
#3 - Mindanao
#4 - Christian's Haven
#5 - Contextualization
#6 - Jail
#7 - Badjao
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Exegete this picture
I discovered this dandy bit of nationalistic eisegesis in Bartlesville, OK on the side of an Adventist Church. I love the Ligle in the front going forth to conquer under the banner of a holy and righteous nation. And did I miss the tricerotops in Revelation?
Monday, August 31, 2009
What I believe about health care…right now. (Part 2)
3. So, what has caused the cost problem? Well, I confess that here I am pretty much out of my league. The Democrats (broadly speaking anyways) would have us believe that a large part of the problem is greed on the part of the insurance companies. I’m sure there is an element of truth there – since after all greed pervades all of our society – even our most pristine legislators. Let’s not be naive. Private industry might be greedy and corrupt, but our government is seldom better – they simply add the extra problem of inefficiency to the problem of corruption. I, for one, do not think making a profit is inherently evil. We’ve seen how “for profit” schools actually do an exceptional job of educating. And our “for profit” health care industry usually does a fantastic job of providing cutting edge drugs and care. The problem isn’t the care, it is the out of control cost. The problem is when the consumer feels like the pursuit of profit has given way to price gouging. Recently, my health insurance was charged over 15 thousand dollars for a c-section. Included in the charged was a ridiculous 2500 for three nights in a hospital room with lousy food. But (and this is important to note) it wasn’t the evil health insurance company that was at fault. I was being gouged by the hospital. The question, which I don’t really have an answer for, is why must a hospital charge so much? They are obviously paying for hidden costs somewhere (How can a hospital be more expensive than a five-star resort?) Some of these costs likely come from paying for deadbeats and the uninsured. Some of these costs likely come from the ridiculous amount of malpractice insurance they must have. Some of these costs likely come from continued research and development (we know this is the case certainly for pharmaceuticals) and expansion of services. Some of these costs are likely the result of simply being able to get away with it.
4. So what is the solution? Most of what follows is probably either partly or mostly wrong. It seems like government run health care is a non-starter. Even though those on the far left are pining for government controlled health care virtually everyone, including the president, has said that nationalized health care is not a reasonable possibility in a nation with the demographics of ours. Besides, government run health care in so many countries simply is not working. In Britain for example the average life expectancy for an adult male in Glasgow is now 54! That’s approaching third world levels. Actually, in Iraq the life expectancy is 67. And in Canada, the president of the Canadian Medical Association said in August that “we all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize.” She even has advocated for a new private insurance option to be introduced to Canadians. Of course, these are anecdotal examples and there are competing examples that others would give on how it does work – but the fact is that government run health care is off the table, and I clearly think that’s a good thing. In my opinion, several things are needed in order to bring down costs. 1) Firstly, any serious health care proposals must embrace aggressive tort reform. If the Dems can accuse the Repubs of being in the pocket of the insurance companies, it would be fair to also accuse the Dems of being in the pocket of trial attorneys. It is ridiculous that tort reform is not a major part of the proposed legislation. 2) Secondly, one of the best ways to bring down costs is by encouraging competition. Here is where we get into the controversial public option. There is certainly a lot of information floating around out there (ranging from true to false to uninformed to misleading to crazy) coming from both sides. I am not as against the public option as most conservatives although I do have a great deal of reservations about it. First, let me give my reservations: Why does it cost so much (Seriously, 2 trillion dollars to insure supposedly 47 million people!)? You can't run up deficits forever. Eventually stuff has to be paid for or am I crazy? Why is it (health care reform in general) being rammed though without time for study and debate? If the program is that important and costs that much, shouldn’t we take the time and study and debate the specifics of the program? Shouldn’t our legislators have to actually read it? I’m also concerned that private industry may not be able to actually compete with the public option, so the majority of people will get stuck with mediocre public insurance because their employers will look for the cheapest options. Private insurance will still exist, but it will only be for the wealthy or unusually healthy. The public option in health care will become like public schools – we know there are better options out there, but the average Joe can’t afford them. This public option will only broaden the class divide in this nation. After all, our own legislators have already said that they certainly won’t be participating in any public option that they vote into law. That is the bad, but there is also the potential for good in the public option. Of course it is good for people who have either been rejected by insurance companies or have no access to insurance to have an option (how we pay for it is a different matter). (There is an idea floating around now concerning co-op programs as an alternative to a public option. I don’t know enough about them to comment, but they look more promising on the surface.) Generally, I think that the greatest potential good of the public option is if private industry proves that they actually are able to compete with the public plan. I'm not optimistic of this happening, but it is a possibility. The possibility is that the public option will be so shabby that many employers and individuals will do everything within their power to avoid it. Companies will use private insurance as an extra incentive to attract the greatest talent. The public option, then, may work to spur competition between insurance companies which has to this point been rather non-existent thus bringing down costs. I like another option that has been proposed by McCain and others which is to open up the rules of competition between various insurance companies. Apparently insurance companies are currently unable to significantly compete with each other because of various rules that are in place. 3) Another suggestion is that the government reward companies who offer insurance benefits to their employees. According to some versions of health care reform, businesses will actually be penalized for not providing insurance. This is stupid because what will happen is that this will kill many small businesses or it will at least require them to lay off people or not hire new people. Rather than an expensive public option which penalizes business, why not introduce tax breaks to businesses who provide insurance as an incentive? 4) Finally, I think that a big part of the problem is ignorance on the part of the consumer. You wouldn’t pay 2500 dollars for a three-night stay at a three star hotel room because you are the one who will be paying the whole bill, but you will pay this much for a hospital room because you do not directly pay for the stay. When consumers do not take a personal interest in the cost of their own goods (in other words, when someone else pays or when the payment is deferred), gouging goes unnoticed. I don’t know what to do about this, because we are never going to buy health care like we would buy a hamburger or even a house. But I think that perhaps a part of the solution should be regular and public audits of insurance companies and service providers. (This is probably already happening – again, I’m just a novice here.) Advocacy groups should hold these groups responsible for any gouging and we should be informed as to what our money is actually going towards. Patients should be able to choose their own doctors and hospitals and should be encouraged not only to seek the best care but also a competitive cost. Insurance companies already do a bit of this with generic prescription drugs. Why not X-rays as well? Hospital A should be rewarded with greater business if they are able to offer X-rays at half the price of hospital B. I don’t know, I’m probably wrong about most of what I’m saying, but this is how I’m feeling about health care today.
4. So what is the solution? Most of what follows is probably either partly or mostly wrong. It seems like government run health care is a non-starter. Even though those on the far left are pining for government controlled health care virtually everyone, including the president, has said that nationalized health care is not a reasonable possibility in a nation with the demographics of ours. Besides, government run health care in so many countries simply is not working. In Britain for example the average life expectancy for an adult male in Glasgow is now 54! That’s approaching third world levels. Actually, in Iraq the life expectancy is 67. And in Canada, the president of the Canadian Medical Association said in August that “we all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize.” She even has advocated for a new private insurance option to be introduced to Canadians. Of course, these are anecdotal examples and there are competing examples that others would give on how it does work – but the fact is that government run health care is off the table, and I clearly think that’s a good thing. In my opinion, several things are needed in order to bring down costs. 1) Firstly, any serious health care proposals must embrace aggressive tort reform. If the Dems can accuse the Repubs of being in the pocket of the insurance companies, it would be fair to also accuse the Dems of being in the pocket of trial attorneys. It is ridiculous that tort reform is not a major part of the proposed legislation. 2) Secondly, one of the best ways to bring down costs is by encouraging competition. Here is where we get into the controversial public option. There is certainly a lot of information floating around out there (ranging from true to false to uninformed to misleading to crazy) coming from both sides. I am not as against the public option as most conservatives although I do have a great deal of reservations about it. First, let me give my reservations: Why does it cost so much (Seriously, 2 trillion dollars to insure supposedly 47 million people!)? You can't run up deficits forever. Eventually stuff has to be paid for or am I crazy? Why is it (health care reform in general) being rammed though without time for study and debate? If the program is that important and costs that much, shouldn’t we take the time and study and debate the specifics of the program? Shouldn’t our legislators have to actually read it? I’m also concerned that private industry may not be able to actually compete with the public option, so the majority of people will get stuck with mediocre public insurance because their employers will look for the cheapest options. Private insurance will still exist, but it will only be for the wealthy or unusually healthy. The public option in health care will become like public schools – we know there are better options out there, but the average Joe can’t afford them. This public option will only broaden the class divide in this nation. After all, our own legislators have already said that they certainly won’t be participating in any public option that they vote into law. That is the bad, but there is also the potential for good in the public option. Of course it is good for people who have either been rejected by insurance companies or have no access to insurance to have an option (how we pay for it is a different matter). (There is an idea floating around now concerning co-op programs as an alternative to a public option. I don’t know enough about them to comment, but they look more promising on the surface.) Generally, I think that the greatest potential good of the public option is if private industry proves that they actually are able to compete with the public plan. I'm not optimistic of this happening, but it is a possibility. The possibility is that the public option will be so shabby that many employers and individuals will do everything within their power to avoid it. Companies will use private insurance as an extra incentive to attract the greatest talent. The public option, then, may work to spur competition between insurance companies which has to this point been rather non-existent thus bringing down costs. I like another option that has been proposed by McCain and others which is to open up the rules of competition between various insurance companies. Apparently insurance companies are currently unable to significantly compete with each other because of various rules that are in place. 3) Another suggestion is that the government reward companies who offer insurance benefits to their employees. According to some versions of health care reform, businesses will actually be penalized for not providing insurance. This is stupid because what will happen is that this will kill many small businesses or it will at least require them to lay off people or not hire new people. Rather than an expensive public option which penalizes business, why not introduce tax breaks to businesses who provide insurance as an incentive? 4) Finally, I think that a big part of the problem is ignorance on the part of the consumer. You wouldn’t pay 2500 dollars for a three-night stay at a three star hotel room because you are the one who will be paying the whole bill, but you will pay this much for a hospital room because you do not directly pay for the stay. When consumers do not take a personal interest in the cost of their own goods (in other words, when someone else pays or when the payment is deferred), gouging goes unnoticed. I don’t know what to do about this, because we are never going to buy health care like we would buy a hamburger or even a house. But I think that perhaps a part of the solution should be regular and public audits of insurance companies and service providers. (This is probably already happening – again, I’m just a novice here.) Advocacy groups should hold these groups responsible for any gouging and we should be informed as to what our money is actually going towards. Patients should be able to choose their own doctors and hospitals and should be encouraged not only to seek the best care but also a competitive cost. Insurance companies already do a bit of this with generic prescription drugs. Why not X-rays as well? Hospital A should be rewarded with greater business if they are able to offer X-rays at half the price of hospital B. I don’t know, I’m probably wrong about most of what I’m saying, but this is how I’m feeling about health care today.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
What I believe about health care…right now. (Part 1)
I got an email last week from a friend asking me to explain my position on health care. I’m kind of hesitant to share my opinion – not because I don’t have a strong opinion (I do), but more because this is a complex issue which I have only a very limited knowledge of. If our elected officials, you know, the ones who would vote on health care legislation, are relatively uninformed on this issue, it seems a little foolish for me to interject as anything more than an utter novice. There is too much partisan bluster out there on this issue as it is without me adding my hot air. So take what follows as one person’s opinion given only because he was asked for it.
1. Because of my Christian convictions about the inherent dignity and worth of all people, I believe that we indeed should work for affordable, quality health care for all. Healing ministries are an expression of Christian love which is why Christians should indeed work in the health care field at all levels and also be advocates for quality, affordable care. This should also be a part of an international Christian mission as well, not merely a local concern. I’m not sure that anyone would disagree with anything I’ve said here. The debate generally revolves around what the government’s involvement should be. You hear it being said more and more by those of a certain political persuasion that health care is a basic human right. I would agree, of course, that all people should be offered the freedom to pursue (or not) healthy lives. It doesn’t necessarily follow, however, that it then falls to the government to proactively enforce that right. The second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, but the government isn’t exactly giving a gun to every citizen. Historically, personal rights have restricted or limited the role of government – not expanded its role. There are a great many people in this nation who have great concerns about the government getting too involved in our personal health care. This is especially true when one pauses for just a moment to analyze the hopeless inefficiency and callousness of so many government programs. Now, I should point out that I am not a libertarian. The government does play an important regulatory role in a great number of industries – especially health care, and I believe the government (and by government, it is important for you to realize that I’m talking about the collective “us” – government really has no money of its own) has a certain responsibility in caring for the chronically poor and uninsured. I guess what I’m trying to say is that like most Americans I do want government involved in health care – but only to a limited extent.
2. I (along with most conservatives I know) believe that the system is broken and in need of repair. I am for health care reform! However, I disagree with what has consistently been labeled as the problem. If you misidentify the problem, you will likely arrive at a less than helpful solution. It seems that when the debate began, the current administration identified the greatest problem with health care as the 47 million uninsured - a number growing more out of control every year. The problem is that this number is terribly misleading. 9.73 million of these people are foreigners living here either temporarily or illegally. 9.1 million make over 75,000 per year, and another 8.3 million make over 50,000 per year which is higher than the national median income. Of the remainder, about 45% will get insurance within four months because of job transitions. This would mean that less than 7% of the U.S. population is what we would call “chronically uninsured” (somewhere between 13.9 and 8.2 million). These numbers are not contrived by some conservative attack group. These numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau and are available in multiple places on-line. Now having this many uninsured in not a good thing of course, but the reality is that no one in this country is ever denied medical treatment, and we have programs such as Medicaid to help care for the poor and Medicare to help care for the elderly (both of which, virtually everyone acknowledges, are not exactly models of government efficiency). The problem is not the uninsured. The problem with health care is the cost. According to the National Coalition on Health Care health insurance premiums have increased 119 percent for employers since 1999 and employee spending for health insurance coverage (employee’s share of family coverage) has increased 117 percent between 1999 and 2008. Rapidly rising health insurance premiums are the main reason cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. The average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of 12 percent annually. This is unsustainable and must be fixed. (I would also add another secondary problem – and this affects my family personally. I do appreciate Obama bringing the problem of “pre-existing conditions” to the discussion. My dad, in his mid-50’s recently changed jobs and has had to avoid the doctor for nine months out of fear of acquiring a dreaded PEC. I’m not sure what the government can do to force companies to cover such individuals, but it is certainly a problem.)
To be continued...
1. Because of my Christian convictions about the inherent dignity and worth of all people, I believe that we indeed should work for affordable, quality health care for all. Healing ministries are an expression of Christian love which is why Christians should indeed work in the health care field at all levels and also be advocates for quality, affordable care. This should also be a part of an international Christian mission as well, not merely a local concern. I’m not sure that anyone would disagree with anything I’ve said here. The debate generally revolves around what the government’s involvement should be. You hear it being said more and more by those of a certain political persuasion that health care is a basic human right. I would agree, of course, that all people should be offered the freedom to pursue (or not) healthy lives. It doesn’t necessarily follow, however, that it then falls to the government to proactively enforce that right. The second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms, but the government isn’t exactly giving a gun to every citizen. Historically, personal rights have restricted or limited the role of government – not expanded its role. There are a great many people in this nation who have great concerns about the government getting too involved in our personal health care. This is especially true when one pauses for just a moment to analyze the hopeless inefficiency and callousness of so many government programs. Now, I should point out that I am not a libertarian. The government does play an important regulatory role in a great number of industries – especially health care, and I believe the government (and by government, it is important for you to realize that I’m talking about the collective “us” – government really has no money of its own) has a certain responsibility in caring for the chronically poor and uninsured. I guess what I’m trying to say is that like most Americans I do want government involved in health care – but only to a limited extent.
2. I (along with most conservatives I know) believe that the system is broken and in need of repair. I am for health care reform! However, I disagree with what has consistently been labeled as the problem. If you misidentify the problem, you will likely arrive at a less than helpful solution. It seems that when the debate began, the current administration identified the greatest problem with health care as the 47 million uninsured - a number growing more out of control every year. The problem is that this number is terribly misleading. 9.73 million of these people are foreigners living here either temporarily or illegally. 9.1 million make over 75,000 per year, and another 8.3 million make over 50,000 per year which is higher than the national median income. Of the remainder, about 45% will get insurance within four months because of job transitions. This would mean that less than 7% of the U.S. population is what we would call “chronically uninsured” (somewhere between 13.9 and 8.2 million). These numbers are not contrived by some conservative attack group. These numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau and are available in multiple places on-line. Now having this many uninsured in not a good thing of course, but the reality is that no one in this country is ever denied medical treatment, and we have programs such as Medicaid to help care for the poor and Medicare to help care for the elderly (both of which, virtually everyone acknowledges, are not exactly models of government efficiency). The problem is not the uninsured. The problem with health care is the cost. According to the National Coalition on Health Care health insurance premiums have increased 119 percent for employers since 1999 and employee spending for health insurance coverage (employee’s share of family coverage) has increased 117 percent between 1999 and 2008. Rapidly rising health insurance premiums are the main reason cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. The average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while health insurance premiums for small firms have escalated an average of 12 percent annually. This is unsustainable and must be fixed. (I would also add another secondary problem – and this affects my family personally. I do appreciate Obama bringing the problem of “pre-existing conditions” to the discussion. My dad, in his mid-50’s recently changed jobs and has had to avoid the doctor for nine months out of fear of acquiring a dreaded PEC. I’m not sure what the government can do to force companies to cover such individuals, but it is certainly a problem.)
To be continued...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Between Pacifism and Jihad
It's been a fairly good reading summer. I usually use my summers to check as many books as possible off of my list of "books that I've been meaning to read for a while but I haven't had time because there are too many papers to grade." So I usually end up reading a pretty diverse list of books during the summer - for instance this summer I've read two commentaries by N.T. Wright, two books by Gladwell, and Enders Game among others. This book by J. Daryl Charles is one of those books that has been on my list for a while.
It would be no surprise to anyone who has heard me talk about the issue of pacifism and just war (it has been a hot and sometimes contentious topic on our campus since before I got here) that I very much enjoyed this book. Charles offers pointed critiques of both militarism and (especially) ideological pacifism while explaining and defending the historical just war position held by the majority in the Church.
He grounds the just war position historically from scripture and from theologians through the centuries like the Apostle Paul, Augustine, Luther, Grotius, Vitoria, Niebuhr, and others. He also believes just war to be the only morally responsible position in light of both neighbor love and natural law. The basic mistake that pacifists make, according to Charles, is that they privilege peace above all else which may in fact lead to injustice or totalitarian peace such as existed in eastern Europe under the Soviets. The just war position, however, believes that peace is the result and goal of a just and ordered civil society. Justice is given privileged position. Charles, along with Luther and others, also sees a distinction between the role of the magistrate over society and the role of the individual in society. Jesus, in the SOM does indeed instruct us to turn our cheeks when insulted, but does this instruction also apply to the magistrate who has been given the task of providing for the protection and order of society? Further, while we may certainly turn our cheeks when struck, do we have any such right to turn the cheeks of a third party when they are being struck by the strong man?
A unique and timely contribution made by this book is that he discusses at some length what just war thinking has to say to global terrorism. Is pre-emption ever justified? How do we prosecute a "war on terror?" How has terrorism changed the way that we look at global conflict?
Charles, it seems, has some credibility to talk about this issue. In addition to studying it academically, his father was a Mennonite conscientious objector during WWII. It is in light of this he offers his most scathing critique of what he calls academic or ideological pacifists since the 60's who unlike his father who served in a Veteran's hospital are "less interested in serving others than in making a political statement or sabotaging established foreign policy." Not only that, but many academic pacifists have "proactively defended the moral legitimacy of Marxist, neo-Marxist or fanatical Muslim armed struggles" despite their despicable human rights records and militarism. Despite these rather harsh critiques he is, I think for the most part, charitable to the pacifist position - especially to what he calls principled pacifism which is a position that strongly opposes violence, but does not close the door completely. My biggest critique of the book, however, is that while he critiques pacifism, he doesn't give voice to pacifism. He refers to various pacifists like Yoder, but does not interact specifically with any of their views and solutions to global injustice.
Overall, this is a worthwhile read - especially for anyone who has had the misfortune of stumbling into a hot debate concerning pacifism and has felt totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately, this book probably won't change the minds of any ideological pacifists. But for those of us who remain unconvinced of the pacifist arguments, this book provides clear and concise arguments in support of a mediated position between pacifism and militarism.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Philippines 7: Badjao
On the final Sunday that we were in the Philippines, I had the great honor of preaching to the Christ the King Church in Tuod, Mindanao. It is a vibrant community – especially on this particular day. There were people all over the place – in aisles, standing in the back, and listening through the open air windows. It was the celebration of the 14th anniversary of the church, Mother’s Day (which I learned was also celebrated on the same day in the Philippines – Hallmark exerts international power), and the celebration of the Pastor Jun’s 25th wedding anniversary. To celebrate the day, they had a huge pig roast after church for the entire community at what I imagine had to be a great cost. It was an awesome and unforgettable day.
Just a couple days before, however, I was more outside of my comfort zone than I had ever been. After our experiences at the jails, the next day we accompanied the college students from CH on their service project. We went to the city of Iligan, which has occasionally been a hotspot of Islamic aggression. We were to spend the morning with a people group on the coast named the Badjao.
The Badjao are sea gypsies. In a nation of impoverished people, the Badjao are among the very poorest. They own no land and occupy no permanent residence. They build temporary communities along the coast on land that no one else wants. The community that we visited was just down the coast from the local outdoor market so everyday all of the waste generated from the market washed up into their homes and walking paths. The CH kids had actually spent an entire day picking up garbage for them the previous week, but when we arrived the entire area was completely covered once again by a layer of trash. They live in stilted shacks over the water which have been quickly built from scrapped and pilfered material. The Badjao are either despised or neglected by most Filipinos. The national government doesn’t officially acknowledge their existence since they have no permanent residence or even last names. They cannot vote or pay taxes. They are non-entities.
The only way to get to their community is by crossing a bridge that is difficult to describe. It is about 50 yards long and is made of nothing but scraps of wood and some thin strands of steel cable. It swings violently when walking across. It is suspended over a river which is the color of chocolate milk, and one doesn’t really like to think about why it is that color. The Badjao kids didn’t seem to mind. As we were white-knuckling it over the Temple of Doom bridge, they were laughing and diving into the water beneath.
Once in the community, we were immediately surrounded by children which becomes expected after a while in the country. On this day we were to divide into smaller groups and go into the Badjao’s homes to offer food, testimony, and prayer. I went with a group of three Filipinos to visit about 6 or 7 homes. The only way to get to their shacks is to cross bridges made only of a couple bamboo poles. If the first bridge was bad, these bridges were considerably worse. I was at first a little concerned about the fact that these bridges were obviously not made to support the girth of American visitors, but I became significantly more disturbed when one of my Filipino friends smiled at me and said, “We are crossing over their comfort room.” I’ll let you figure out what a comfort room is – but needless to say that at that moment I was far from comfortable.
After negotiating the bamboo bridges, we made our way into the homes of several Badjao families. We were received very warmly for the most part, but I had a persistent suspicion that they understood only a fraction of what I was saying through my interpreter. I decided to share with the families a paraphrased version of the parable of the great banquet which seemed appropriate in that context speaking to the despised and the outcasts. Then we would pray. The Badjao are very nominally Muslim, and their Islam is mixed with a large dose of superstition and animism. In fact, one of the other groups that day was informed by their hosts that they already had a god – while pointing to a ceramic bowl and plate resting on a table in the corner of the shack. Breakable things are so rare for the Badjao that this family, led by their father, had begun to worship these objects.
I remember that we were pretty quiet on the way home that day. What more could you say? These are people that we usually only have to see from behind the protection of a television screen. I had (and have) a lot of different feelings swirling around. It was strange, while I was there, I was happy. It was one of those moments where you really got the sense that this was exactly where a follower of Christ should be. It was also more than a little overwhelming. My sister, who is sixteen and a Filipina was there with one of her friends. On the way home they decided that once home they would yell “Badjao” at each other the moment that either one of them began to get carried away by the meaningless drama that often accompanies being an American teenage girl. Spending a morning with a group like the Badjao changes you.
Between the jails and the Badjao, I also began to appreciate more and more the approach of CH. In the face of a culture of abject poverty and corruption which is so typical in the Philippines, it is easy to lose hope. But CH has adopted the only constructive position possible – that we can change the Philippines one child at a time.
Just a couple days before, however, I was more outside of my comfort zone than I had ever been. After our experiences at the jails, the next day we accompanied the college students from CH on their service project. We went to the city of Iligan, which has occasionally been a hotspot of Islamic aggression. We were to spend the morning with a people group on the coast named the Badjao.
The Badjao are sea gypsies. In a nation of impoverished people, the Badjao are among the very poorest. They own no land and occupy no permanent residence. They build temporary communities along the coast on land that no one else wants. The community that we visited was just down the coast from the local outdoor market so everyday all of the waste generated from the market washed up into their homes and walking paths. The CH kids had actually spent an entire day picking up garbage for them the previous week, but when we arrived the entire area was completely covered once again by a layer of trash. They live in stilted shacks over the water which have been quickly built from scrapped and pilfered material. The Badjao are either despised or neglected by most Filipinos. The national government doesn’t officially acknowledge their existence since they have no permanent residence or even last names. They cannot vote or pay taxes. They are non-entities.
The only way to get to their community is by crossing a bridge that is difficult to describe. It is about 50 yards long and is made of nothing but scraps of wood and some thin strands of steel cable. It swings violently when walking across. It is suspended over a river which is the color of chocolate milk, and one doesn’t really like to think about why it is that color. The Badjao kids didn’t seem to mind. As we were white-knuckling it over the Temple of Doom bridge, they were laughing and diving into the water beneath.
Once in the community, we were immediately surrounded by children which becomes expected after a while in the country. On this day we were to divide into smaller groups and go into the Badjao’s homes to offer food, testimony, and prayer. I went with a group of three Filipinos to visit about 6 or 7 homes. The only way to get to their shacks is to cross bridges made only of a couple bamboo poles. If the first bridge was bad, these bridges were considerably worse. I was at first a little concerned about the fact that these bridges were obviously not made to support the girth of American visitors, but I became significantly more disturbed when one of my Filipino friends smiled at me and said, “We are crossing over their comfort room.” I’ll let you figure out what a comfort room is – but needless to say that at that moment I was far from comfortable.
After negotiating the bamboo bridges, we made our way into the homes of several Badjao families. We were received very warmly for the most part, but I had a persistent suspicion that they understood only a fraction of what I was saying through my interpreter. I decided to share with the families a paraphrased version of the parable of the great banquet which seemed appropriate in that context speaking to the despised and the outcasts. Then we would pray. The Badjao are very nominally Muslim, and their Islam is mixed with a large dose of superstition and animism. In fact, one of the other groups that day was informed by their hosts that they already had a god – while pointing to a ceramic bowl and plate resting on a table in the corner of the shack. Breakable things are so rare for the Badjao that this family, led by their father, had begun to worship these objects.
I remember that we were pretty quiet on the way home that day. What more could you say? These are people that we usually only have to see from behind the protection of a television screen. I had (and have) a lot of different feelings swirling around. It was strange, while I was there, I was happy. It was one of those moments where you really got the sense that this was exactly where a follower of Christ should be. It was also more than a little overwhelming. My sister, who is sixteen and a Filipina was there with one of her friends. On the way home they decided that once home they would yell “Badjao” at each other the moment that either one of them began to get carried away by the meaningless drama that often accompanies being an American teenage girl. Spending a morning with a group like the Badjao changes you.
Between the jails and the Badjao, I also began to appreciate more and more the approach of CH. In the face of a culture of abject poverty and corruption which is so typical in the Philippines, it is easy to lose hope. But CH has adopted the only constructive position possible – that we can change the Philippines one child at a time.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Philippines 6: Jail
(Sorry for the lack of personal pictures here. Unfortunately, I failed to bring a camera with me, and my sister was the official photographer on the trip.)
One of the things that really impressed me about CH’s ministry is that they insist that their kids also serve in the community. The kids on the main campus are regularly given opportunities to serve others, and in order to get their scholarships for college, the students must be involved with regular Christian service.
While there, we went out three times with different groups of kids to do Christian service. The first two trips were taken with the high school aged students – they were both to jails. I don’t know what comes to your mind when you think of prison, but I can almost guarantee that it has very little resemblance to prisons in the Philippines. There is no cable TV, air conditioning, or privacy of any sort. Prisoners must even rely on outsiders to provide their food and clothing. The first jail that we went to was for adult male offenders. They were housed in this prison for crimes ranging from petty theft to rape and murder – most of them waiting either for their transfer or trial. I would estimate that there were between 60 and 80 men housed in this one tiny jail. The yard (if you want to call it that) was an area of about 20 by 30 feet. The jail itself was not much larger consisting of (from what I could tell) one small common room.
While at the jail, the CH kids passed out food and led the prisoners in some worship songs. Then we had the opportunity to share our testimony with the prisoners – first the kids and then their American guests. If you have never been on the mission field, you learn pretty quickly that being able to explain the basic gospel message and share your own personal story at a moment’s notice is critical and expected. The prisoners for the most part seemed grateful and inviting to everything that we said. It makes you realize that the gospel is for no one if it isn’t for prisoners in a tiny prison in Cagayan de Oro.
The next day was even more heartbreaking as we once again went with the CH kids to visit a local prison – but this one was not for adults, at least for the most part. This was a prison for children – children not altogether different from our CH kids. These were mostly street kids who had been arrested and put away for petty crimes like stealing. Some of the kids (there were about 40-50) were as young as seven years old. They are housed in much the same way as the adults, in a single room much too small for the number of “inmates” with a dirt yard (although their yard was quite a bit bigger than the adults’ even including the type of makeshift basketball hoop that you see all over the islands). At the children’s prison, we also handed out food, led some songs, and shared our testimonies. This was such a gut wrenching experience – especially for anyone who has young children of their own. What’s worse is that we met one boy who had been in the jail for several months after his sentence had expired (he was supposed to be released at the beginning of the year) simply because his family lived in a squatter village and the conditions in the prison were better than conditions at home. I’m quite sure that his story is not unique. Believe it or not, the children of the prison were not even the worst story of the day. Children are overall much more resilient than most of us. Many of the boys in this jail just seemed like regular boys – cutting up, wrestling, having a good time.
The most tragic (and infuriating) part of our visit came when we took notice of a group of small buildings that surrounded the perimeter of the yard. The buildings were nothing more than cement lean-tos with bars over the front. From a distance they looked almost like outhouses, but these tiny buildings were actually for housing people. Each cell was about 5 feet by 8 feet, and they were occupied by adults – the elderly and infirm and the mentally handicapped. You see these people had been abandoned by their families whether it was because of inconvenience, lack of funds, or embarrassment, and without the ability or will to care for such people the government houses them in prisons. So these people are left to live out their days without much hope for care or love. (This, I guess, is the fulfilled promise of nationalized health care in the Philippines. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) There was one woman there – no older than I am, whom we were shocked to hear was speaking in perfect English from her jail cell. She was excited to see a group of Americans with whom she could practice her English. It turns out that she was the educated daughter of a prominent local politician. When she started demonstrating signs of schizophrenia, rather than offer her treatment or suffer the potential embarrassment of mental illness (mental illness in much of the third world comes along with a significant social stigma tied to both religious superstition and a heightened sensitivity to public honor/shame) she was institutionalized and abandoned by her family. As the father of a son with special needs, it made me particularly irate to see several young boys at the jail with obvious developmental and mental disabilities who had just been abandoned to the system.
I didn’t know at the time, that what I saw the last two days would pail in comparison to where we were going the next day.
One of the things that really impressed me about CH’s ministry is that they insist that their kids also serve in the community. The kids on the main campus are regularly given opportunities to serve others, and in order to get their scholarships for college, the students must be involved with regular Christian service.
While there, we went out three times with different groups of kids to do Christian service. The first two trips were taken with the high school aged students – they were both to jails. I don’t know what comes to your mind when you think of prison, but I can almost guarantee that it has very little resemblance to prisons in the Philippines. There is no cable TV, air conditioning, or privacy of any sort. Prisoners must even rely on outsiders to provide their food and clothing. The first jail that we went to was for adult male offenders. They were housed in this prison for crimes ranging from petty theft to rape and murder – most of them waiting either for their transfer or trial. I would estimate that there were between 60 and 80 men housed in this one tiny jail. The yard (if you want to call it that) was an area of about 20 by 30 feet. The jail itself was not much larger consisting of (from what I could tell) one small common room.
While at the jail, the CH kids passed out food and led the prisoners in some worship songs. Then we had the opportunity to share our testimony with the prisoners – first the kids and then their American guests. If you have never been on the mission field, you learn pretty quickly that being able to explain the basic gospel message and share your own personal story at a moment’s notice is critical and expected. The prisoners for the most part seemed grateful and inviting to everything that we said. It makes you realize that the gospel is for no one if it isn’t for prisoners in a tiny prison in Cagayan de Oro.
The next day was even more heartbreaking as we once again went with the CH kids to visit a local prison – but this one was not for adults, at least for the most part. This was a prison for children – children not altogether different from our CH kids. These were mostly street kids who had been arrested and put away for petty crimes like stealing. Some of the kids (there were about 40-50) were as young as seven years old. They are housed in much the same way as the adults, in a single room much too small for the number of “inmates” with a dirt yard (although their yard was quite a bit bigger than the adults’ even including the type of makeshift basketball hoop that you see all over the islands). At the children’s prison, we also handed out food, led some songs, and shared our testimonies. This was such a gut wrenching experience – especially for anyone who has young children of their own. What’s worse is that we met one boy who had been in the jail for several months after his sentence had expired (he was supposed to be released at the beginning of the year) simply because his family lived in a squatter village and the conditions in the prison were better than conditions at home. I’m quite sure that his story is not unique. Believe it or not, the children of the prison were not even the worst story of the day. Children are overall much more resilient than most of us. Many of the boys in this jail just seemed like regular boys – cutting up, wrestling, having a good time.
The most tragic (and infuriating) part of our visit came when we took notice of a group of small buildings that surrounded the perimeter of the yard. The buildings were nothing more than cement lean-tos with bars over the front. From a distance they looked almost like outhouses, but these tiny buildings were actually for housing people. Each cell was about 5 feet by 8 feet, and they were occupied by adults – the elderly and infirm and the mentally handicapped. You see these people had been abandoned by their families whether it was because of inconvenience, lack of funds, or embarrassment, and without the ability or will to care for such people the government houses them in prisons. So these people are left to live out their days without much hope for care or love. (This, I guess, is the fulfilled promise of nationalized health care in the Philippines. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) There was one woman there – no older than I am, whom we were shocked to hear was speaking in perfect English from her jail cell. She was excited to see a group of Americans with whom she could practice her English. It turns out that she was the educated daughter of a prominent local politician. When she started demonstrating signs of schizophrenia, rather than offer her treatment or suffer the potential embarrassment of mental illness (mental illness in much of the third world comes along with a significant social stigma tied to both religious superstition and a heightened sensitivity to public honor/shame) she was institutionalized and abandoned by her family. As the father of a son with special needs, it made me particularly irate to see several young boys at the jail with obvious developmental and mental disabilities who had just been abandoned to the system.
I didn’t know at the time, that what I saw the last two days would pail in comparison to where we were going the next day.
Philippines 5: Contextualization
The people at CH really spoiled us with their hospitality – especially when it came to food! Every meal we enjoyed fresh (by “fresh” I mean that it had literally just been pulled off the tree that morning) pineapple, mango (my dad’s all-time favorite), watermelon, and bananas. We also enjoyed my personal favorites: pancit, lumpia, and pork adobo. It’s funny. The only time I’ve ever gotten sick while in country was after eating American fast food (I’m looking at you Wendy – Get that silly smile off your face!). I love Filipino food, and I am always frustrated by the fact that you can’t find any good Filipino food in this country. Of course, I’ve also never had the pleasure of eating ballute (a fertilized, boiled duck egg considered a delicacy by some).
My primary role while at CH was to spend about an hour each morning in Bible study with the entire CH staff. I choose to study Philippians with them just because it’s sufficiently short and it’s my favorite Pauline letter and, let’s be honest, it sounds a lot like Philippines. I got several lessons on contextualization while I was teaching there. I got an interesting lesson on contextualization as I was going through Philippians 2 with them. (As an aside, I also got a lesson in contextualization the following Sunday when I was preaching on Rahab and learned too late that there is no polite and churchy word for prostitute in the native language – which is appropriate if you think about it. How much should you really attempt to sanitize a word like prostitute? As soon as I said the word, a majority in the congregation who knew English actually started laughing! I also learned after a lengthy, professorial discussion on the difference between happiness and joy that in the native language happiness and joy are the exact same word! What a dufus.) Anyway, I was trying to explain to them the connection that Paul is making between doctrine and lifestyle in this chapter. Not only do we believe certain fundamental things about Christ, but we who would claim to be disciples also must strive to live Christ-shaped lives. Tragically there is often a serious disconnect between doctrine and lifestyle in the church. In the context of that discussion, I led them in a brief word study of kenosis which basically means “an emptying.” I made the rather obvious observation that this was the shape of our savior’s life, and it should also be the shape of ours. We must empty ourselves for the sake of loving and serving others.
The next morning I was on a hike with Ruel who is one of the directors of the home and is one of the most insightful and learned Filipinos I’ve met. He asked my the question – How do instruct a people to empty themselves when they live in a culture without a clearly defined sense of self and the locus of authority has always been external? In other words, Filipinos (and I should say a great many other cultures around the world) do not think of the self in the same way that Americans do. They do not think of the self outside of the context of a community. For instance, Ruel is getting his PhD in counseling but has been frustrated because all of the counseling models in his training have been from a Western individualistic mindset. But when a marriage is in trouble in a Filipino village, they don’t go in private to a marriage counselor. Oftentimes the problems of the marriage are arbitrated in a public setting by a village elder or elders. How well would that go over in our culture? Ruel also made the observation that Filipinos have for decades and centuries been a rather powerless people – they have been ruled by foreign powers and are now ruled by a corrupt and inept Filipino government. They feel like a people who has been beaten down already.
It was a really good observation, but then I realized that the Filipinos are actually a lot closer to the Philippians than I am. What we know about the Philippian church is that they also were poor and rather marginalized. They also lived in a communal and often fatalistic culture with an external locus of authority (Rome). Yet Paul does not hesitate to call them to kenotic lives. In fact, he is quite insistent on it. There is no thought given to the notion that since you have already been sufficiently beaten down and oppressed you have nothing left to empty. The cult of the self is powerfully seductive no matter the culture you happen to inhabit. Filipinos and Americans both must learn to follow Jesus’ example of self-emptying although this will most definitely be lived out and contextualized in different ways from community to community and individual to individual.
My primary role while at CH was to spend about an hour each morning in Bible study with the entire CH staff. I choose to study Philippians with them just because it’s sufficiently short and it’s my favorite Pauline letter and, let’s be honest, it sounds a lot like Philippines. I got several lessons on contextualization while I was teaching there. I got an interesting lesson on contextualization as I was going through Philippians 2 with them. (As an aside, I also got a lesson in contextualization the following Sunday when I was preaching on Rahab and learned too late that there is no polite and churchy word for prostitute in the native language – which is appropriate if you think about it. How much should you really attempt to sanitize a word like prostitute? As soon as I said the word, a majority in the congregation who knew English actually started laughing! I also learned after a lengthy, professorial discussion on the difference between happiness and joy that in the native language happiness and joy are the exact same word! What a dufus.) Anyway, I was trying to explain to them the connection that Paul is making between doctrine and lifestyle in this chapter. Not only do we believe certain fundamental things about Christ, but we who would claim to be disciples also must strive to live Christ-shaped lives. Tragically there is often a serious disconnect between doctrine and lifestyle in the church. In the context of that discussion, I led them in a brief word study of kenosis which basically means “an emptying.” I made the rather obvious observation that this was the shape of our savior’s life, and it should also be the shape of ours. We must empty ourselves for the sake of loving and serving others.
The next morning I was on a hike with Ruel who is one of the directors of the home and is one of the most insightful and learned Filipinos I’ve met. He asked my the question – How do instruct a people to empty themselves when they live in a culture without a clearly defined sense of self and the locus of authority has always been external? In other words, Filipinos (and I should say a great many other cultures around the world) do not think of the self in the same way that Americans do. They do not think of the self outside of the context of a community. For instance, Ruel is getting his PhD in counseling but has been frustrated because all of the counseling models in his training have been from a Western individualistic mindset. But when a marriage is in trouble in a Filipino village, they don’t go in private to a marriage counselor. Oftentimes the problems of the marriage are arbitrated in a public setting by a village elder or elders. How well would that go over in our culture? Ruel also made the observation that Filipinos have for decades and centuries been a rather powerless people – they have been ruled by foreign powers and are now ruled by a corrupt and inept Filipino government. They feel like a people who has been beaten down already.
It was a really good observation, but then I realized that the Filipinos are actually a lot closer to the Philippians than I am. What we know about the Philippian church is that they also were poor and rather marginalized. They also lived in a communal and often fatalistic culture with an external locus of authority (Rome). Yet Paul does not hesitate to call them to kenotic lives. In fact, he is quite insistent on it. There is no thought given to the notion that since you have already been sufficiently beaten down and oppressed you have nothing left to empty. The cult of the self is powerfully seductive no matter the culture you happen to inhabit. Filipinos and Americans both must learn to follow Jesus’ example of self-emptying although this will most definitely be lived out and contextualized in different ways from community to community and individual to individual.
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