Message
Philippines Visiting Report by Isaac H. Kim
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues…” Mark 9:35
“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” Titus 1:5
After the Asian Directors' conference in Bangkok, I visited the Philippines. The conference finished at noon Saturday, January 22, 2011. That evening around 9:00 p.m., along with Dr. William Altobar, Missionary John Jung and Shepherd Timothy Ipapo, I left Bangkok for Manila via Philippines Air. It was an overnight flight. Timothy and I were on the 11:30 p.m. flight, whereas William and John Jung flew in one hour later. At the airport in Manila, both Timothy and I waited for William and John to arrive. It was humid. We waited for two hours at Terminal 1. Then John Jung, who had parked his car at Terminal 1, arrived. Around 7 a.m., after giving a ride to both Dr. William and Timothy to their own bus depots, John Jung dropped me at Dr. Paul Koh's house. We knocked on the door. He and brother Janemar came out and greeted me. I slept in a room upstairs for an hour.
At 8:00 a.m. Paul and Jenemar served breakfast. Paul asked me about the title of the Sunday worship message. Originally, I planned to serve a message on Psalm 19. But after further prayer I changed my mind. I decided to serve a message on John 1:35. The worship began at 2:30 p.m., so I prepared a message during the morning hours.
The worship took place at 2:30 p.m. in the downstairs living area. The unit has two stories: upstairs there are two rooms. The rent is about $300 per month. Brother Robin Tinta (Manila Central University - nursing) occupies one room upstairs. He pays 3,600 Pesos as monthly rent (about $80). Paul uses the second room where I stayed. The upper room has a sink and toilet, but the manager shut off the water service. I don't know why. The first floor has an open space that is used as a worship place. Towards the back there is a small corner where Brother Janemar (Science and Tech Inst. 1 - 24 years old) stays. He got a security job near the Bible center earning about $100 a month. Dr. Paul Koh feels secure because a security guard is staying at the Bible center. This Sunday Janemar shared a testimony. On Monday I saw him practicing a Korean Hymn Song entitled, "Jesus Shed His Blood For Me," in Korean. He almost memorized the Korean hymn song.
At the worship service were John Jung, his wife Missionary Sarah and his two daughters Sarah and Hannah, Missionary Monica Kim of Bagio (who came to Manila via a seven hour bus ride), and two students from John Jung's ministry.
The worship began with Natsu (UCC 3) presiding. Four students came out and sang a special song. Three persons shared testimonies on “a light for the gentiles”: Natsu, Janemar, and Christen (PNU 2). Of all the students who wrote testimonies only three were chosen. Their testimonies reveal a common problem students face, that is, a ‘father-problem’. Natsu hated his step-father. Janemar used to be an alcoholic. Christen wanted to kill her father who abused her mother. Through their testimonies they shared how through the Bible studies they met Jesus and received healing. All of them have great spiritual desire, especially Christen. From the Bible center to PNU it takes almost two hours by jeepney. In addition, since PNU students are mostly (about 80%) girls, Missionary Grace Koh advised Paul to give up the campus. So although more than a dozen students kept coming to the Bible studies they stopped going to the PNU. Still however Christen faithfully attends the worship service. She writes testimonies and she comes to the center by bus.
After the testimonies I served the Sunday message. The room temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We were short on chairs, so Paul listened to the message standing up in the corner. Though the room was stuffy, all students remained alert. During the message students said Amen's.
While the worship service was going on several students were waiting outside, for Paul Koh instructed Janemar to close the door to the late comers. After the message they were allowed to come in.
After singing one hymn, the following students came out and received recognition (and each of them were given a special gift).
* Testimony speakers (Natsu, Janemar, and Cristen): Natsu and Janemar received a T-shirt (with the RHR logo sign), and sister Christen received a towel which Missionary Philip gave.
* Shallea (UCC 3, English) - she (19 years) brought the most number of sheep. She was awarded gifts consisting of candies and a notebook.
* Grace Anne B. Lusoria (UCC 3, English) - for her birthday celebration (She was given a few gifts consisting of candies, etc.) A birthday cake was cut. We sang "Happy Birthday".
After the worship we took a group picture. Missionary Monica Kim of Bagio invited us (John Jung, Sarah, Paul and me) to a dinner fellowship at a Korean restaurant. Since Monica had a long way to go back home, and since she has two children waiting for her at Bagio, I asked her to go back home. So around 9:30 p.m. we parted company. John Jung gave me a ride back to the Bible center.
I asked Paul, "Is your wife going to come back to Manila?" He said, "Yes." I said, "When?" He said, "This March, but by the time she comes back the temperature will go up; it will be really hot." While staying at the center, I realized that in order for Missionary Grace Koh to come back to the center and serve the ministry, the room upstairs needs an air-conditioning unit. So I asked Paul, "The room upstairs could have come with an air-conditioning unit. What do you think?" He said, "There was one, but the previous tenant took it away." So I came upstairs, took a look at the place where there used to be a cooling unit. We went to a store, bought a tape measure and measured of the hole. [Pictures]
It was very hot during the night. Although a fan was working hard, I could not sleep well upstairs. Paul and Janemar slept downstairs. Since the bathroom did not work upstairs, I had to go down and up several times, making it sure not to disturb them sleeping on the floor.
Monday morning, I had a Bible study with Paul based on Ezekiel 1. Ezekiel shepherded over the members of the so-called "Diaspora" church. He showed the visions of God who is all seeing and all caring, still speaking to his children (Ezekiel 1:1,28). After the Bible study I asked Paul whether or not it is a good idea for him to have a car. He said, "That is what we planned." Then I realized that although the plan was there, they were not able to buy one, for obvious reasons. So I said, "Do you have a driver license?" He said, "Yes." "Does your wife drive?" I asked. He said, "No." If you had your own transportation, would it help commute to the PNU better?" He said, "That is right. If we have our own car, it will not take that much time to visit the campus. But by jeepney it will take more than two hours. Plus, she can rest while driving." I asked him, "Why don't you find a decent car, not a rundown one, but something that is working?" He said, "I think John Jung can do a better job in finding a car." So I called John Jung to find a car by the end of February. We then prayed for the Bible Philippines and world campus mission.
It was then around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Brother Janemar fixed lunch and brought it upstairs. [Picture] After lunch Paul and I headed for a train station to meet Pastor Paul Yongdol Lee who runs a school at Batangas. The city of Batangas is located 120 km to the south of Manila. On the way there is a place called Laguna where Dr. William Altorbar plans to host the next Asian Directors' Conference.
Paul Koh and I took a bus and went to a mall at the northern part of Manila where we were supposed to meet Pastor Lee at 1:00 p.m. At 1:30 p.m. we met him at a Dunkin Donut shop at a mall. On seeing me in short pants wearing sandals, he felt uncomfortable with my attire. I asked him what was wrong with my attire. He said he planned to invite me to a worship service at Batangas’ local church where a dozen pastors from different church organizations meet. It was part of the ecumenical movement.
I realized that Pastor Lee is a “well-dresser” who believes in wearing clothes “decently”. But I did not bring my formal suit. Through his suggestion we went to a men’s store where I bought black pants and white shirt (called Saron?). I also bought socks and a pair of leather shoes (one pair for me another pair for Pastor Lee as a gift). Then we headed for Batangas in Paul Lee’s car. It took about two and half hours to get there. On the way I listened to the life-story of Pastor Lee as well as how he as a single man went there as a missionary.
At Batangas we first went to the ecumenical worship service held at a local church. The worship began at 5:00 p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. The program was in Tagalog. But I could figure out that the sermon was on the Lord’s Prayer. After the worship, they served a soup made of chicken and rice. After the meeting, Paul Lee took us to his church and school. He checked us at his private residence (a rented house) where Paul Koh and I spent the night.
The next morning, at 7:00 a.m., Pastor Lee invited us to a morning devotion hour where about a dozen school teachers and a dean were gathered. The daily bread passage was on the priestly blessing based on Numbers 6:24-27. After breakfast Pastor Lee gave us a tour through his church and school (K-12). He also took us to two out-reach posts (one Sunday school for pre-schoolers, one for a place of worship for the people in a poor area.
Around 10 a.m. Pastor Lee gave us a ride back to Laguna (which is about a half way to the north from Batangas to Manila). At Laguna he took us to a possible conference site called Splash Resort. Facilities were poor but acceptable for our purposes. I saw a manager, identified the need we have (Asian directors’ conf. during the third weekend of January next year about 50 people attending), and asked him to give us a quotation. He said he could come back to me with a written quotation via email.
After lunch at a Chow-king Chinese fast-food store, we parted company. Paul Koh and I took a local bus and came back to Caloocan UBF. It took about two hours to come back to Paul Koh’s place. Later I read the news that at 2 p.m. of that day there was a bomb explosion planted underneath a bus in Manila, killing two persons injuring 16 people. It was a close call for us because the explosion took place while our bus was nearby.
After arrival at the center, Paul and I went to a store nearby, bought an air-conditioner (LG brand – 1.5 horse power) and installed it on the window of the second floor.
That evening John Jung invited us to a dinner fellowship. After the dinner, John Jung and Paul saw me off at the airport, as I headed for Cebu. At first I did not plan to visit Cebu. But on further prayer I found the need to visit it for several reasons: first, there are no more work for me to do in manila for the next one and a half day; Cebu is the second largest city in Philippines; and Paul Koh shared the prayer topic to reach out to Mindanao, and Cebu is the door to Mindanao.
John Jung assisted me to organize the trip. I arrived at Cebu close to midnight when I checked in a hotel close to the airport. The hotel had a lot of problems. The lock to the door was loose; the bed had no blanket; there was no internet access; the breakfast was terrible; and power outlets were not properly grounded. But next day the Lord was gracious enough to provide me with a taxi driver named Junjie who gave me a half day city tour for 2,000 pesos (about $45). He is a Christian from Mindanao. He speaks three languages (English, Tagalog, and Maktan language). Through the visit I could see the following: 1) UP (Univ. of the Philippines) has a branch campus at CEBU about one hour from the airport; 2) There are more than a dozen pioneer-able campuses, esp. the medical school located close to down town CEBU where a lot of IT companies are operating; 3) a lot of greedy Koreans are developing their businesses such as hotels, tour companies, money exchangers, schools, or auto-sales offices; 4) Chinese people dominating in major key businesses such as manufacturing (food processing in particular), airline (Cebu Pacific), real estates, shopping centers (such as SM which is the largest and most prevalent shopping mall throughout the Philippines); and 5) secular religions such as Taoist temples, the church of Ignatio, Jehova’s witnesses, are visible occupying important spots of the land.
In conclusion: I could see that the strategy to pioneer the Philippine college campuses should be to follow Jesus’ pattern that is to visit villages and towns, look for committed disciples, and then build a center based operation. Likewise, efforts need to be made to build cell groups on each college campus, look for students with spiritual desire, and work towards building a center based operation from among the committed students. Concurrently with these efforts, it is necessary to build a carefully organized annual Bible conference inviting students to meet Jesus as the Lord and Savior. In the meantime other chapters such as Downey UBF send coworkers beginning with short terms to assist leaders such as Paul Koh and students. Downey UBF is required to pray for and provide Philippine missionaries with opportunities to spruce up their English. [While students could fully understand my Sunday message, Paul Koh said he could not understand my message fully.] Dr. Paul Koh is looking for a way support himself and the ministry. In the meantime it is recommended that other chapters such as Chongno UBF and Downey UBF keep supporting the ministry financially.