Life as Soulcraft

2012-01-19T12:36:00.001-08:00

Hey,

I was killing some time this afternoon and found a bunch of movies that have had their copyright runout or something so their legally downloadable. Among them I found this Gem:

The real story of how Gilligan and his friends got off the island. :)

Shop Class as Soulcraft - John 3

2011-07-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

The article "shop class as soulcraft" was so valuable for me. The jist of the article was that working with my hands is of less "value" and intellectual than theoretical thinking jobs. Ie. The example of working in a think tank and being paid way more than a labourer. The authors thesis defends that the value of craftsmanship, doing something well for its own sake, and makes a good point that craftsmanship opposes consumerism and the throwaway mentality something very prevalent in our culture.

Crawford articulates the feelings and values that I've felt most of my life as I would work on my truck or bike with pride. Hands on work is all intellectually stimulating, tactile and fulfilling in its own way.

Article:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5GEyN-fhA6WZWExYTM0YTItNDZlNS00YjlmLTkyOWUtMDFkNzlmZjIwY2U1

E*TRADE Golf Baby updated 2/19/10

2010-10-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Evangelism and Social Action

2010-07-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

This is a reflection from my last year at CBC that Christina thought I should post. Does it spark any thoughts?

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians, who acknowledges with their lip and walk out the door and get on with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Remember this?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

(Luke 4:18–19 NIV)

What characterizes a disciple?

As I sat down to reflect and draw my thoughts to the front of my mind, I thought about the transparency that we have enjoyed in this classroom and the relationship that has developed between us. When my mind found rest the theological bubble that rose to the top was obvious. As a boy trained up in modern categorical thinking I spoke my question into existence, “did Jesus come to preach or to live the good news of the Kingdom of God?” This question carries a lot of baggage for me so please forgive me if you’ve heard this from me before, but this is my story.

I grew up with a theological foundation that prioritized preaching, prayer and holiness with the hope that if people are saved one-at-a-time then we will have a transformed world. I think I was taught that my role was to walk hand in had with nonChristians toward Jesus and after he takes their hand I can let go and find another person to bring or drag toward him. My assumption was that Jesus would transform them once they became Christians.

Then I got married and marriage brings many different things, including new theological perspectives and personal stories that give life to how God leads people to what they believe.

My wife’s family is very Anabaptist, meaning they fit into Harold Bender’s definition of the Anabaptist Vision. They believe life in Christ is about committed discipleship, which was different than my understanding that life in Christ is about a moment of salvation and transformation. Secondly, they understand that a person is a follower of Christ rather than a believer in Christ, meaning, we choose to follow Jesus daily we do not passively wait for him to change us. Finally, they believe that a follower of Jesus must live a life of peace (Shalom) and nonviolence and that didn’t seem relevant to me.

One year after Christina and I were married we left for the Philippines on my ICS internship where we witnessed bombing, military checkpoints, internally displaced people and “stupid poverty” as Bono put it. I started to see the gospels in the context they were written. They were written to a nation oppressed by Rome and waiting for a savior who would lead them to military victory. But, when He came He demonstrated his love for all by living and teaching justice and mercy for the “other.” He lived shalom with all people. I saw Jesus through the eyes of the oppressed and I understood the liberation theology of Oscar Romero, Dom Helder Camera and Mother Theresa. His image is in the other and as followers of Jesus we must lift up the poor paralytic, the roman soldier, the widows son, the sinful woman, the Samaritan and Zacchaeus the Tax collector just as He did. All of these people in the gospel of Luke were examples outsiders to the Jewish system and Jesus brought them all shalom in different ways.

My assumption that someone needs to be preached at to receive the good news was challenged by this experience. “What is following Christ if someone does not really follow him in action? Can there be a Christian believer and not a do-er?” In my passion, fueled by the stupid poverty and by systems of injustice that I am part of, I came back to Canada screaming, “No! You cannot just believe, you must follow in obedience!”

The scripture I read, Luke 4:18-19, became a call to action for me this last year. Bring good news to the poor, bring freedom to the prisoners, and release the oppressed. The gospel must be lived in order to change the world and bring the evidence of the Kingdom of God. Now I see in hindsight, I tried to leave much of what I grew up with as I reacted to the injustice I saw and in this reaction I lost my balance and changed from a caricature of a soapbox preacher at YWAM to a liberator with the passion and fervor of Che’ Guevara.

For the past few months, I have been in the gap of living my faith recklessly and preaching the faith recklessly because both of the Mennonite perspectives I’ve described symbolize the different families that I represent. Through this reflection exercise I have decided that I have struggled long enough between the two. I am wrong when I think that I have to pick a side. “When faced with two options, choose the third,” says an old Hebrew proverb and so I have chosen to lead my family a different way. We will live our faith and testify about the goodness of our God in bold actions and words.

He does give us breath and that is something a hurting the world should know I am thankful for. He does call me to obediently sacrifice myself for a single parent or an addict and live my life obediently as a disciple of Christ. The important thing enmesh in my thinking is that these two perspectives, speaking and actions, were not exclusive in Jesus, they were always integrated.

This may not be new for some of you, but the conclusion was for me. Jesus commanded me to live as an obedient disciple that sacrifices time, money and comfort for the literal and figurative oppressed, blind, prisoner and poor. And because this is good news I am going to testify why.

Exposing the Israeli Occupation Industry @ whoprofits.org

2010-01-01T21:58:00.001-08:00

Israeli and international corporations are directly involved in the occupation: in the construction of Israeli colonies and infrastructure in the occupied territories, in the settlements’ economy, in building walls and checkpoints, in the supply of specific equipment used in the control and repression of the civilian population under occupation.

The information on this website is to educate every consumer about the companies that are benefitting from the illegal occupation of Palestine. This information enables us to act in unison with the a global community who condemn the injustice and abuse that Palestinians suffer daily.

I hope and pray that the occupation will end.

Your kingdom come You will be done.

They are Jesus

2009-12-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

"They" and "them" are divisive words that open a chasm that grows wider every time they're spoken. I've been hearing them often as I coordinate Abbotsford's Extreme Weather Shelter at Emmanuel Mennonite in January.

They, in this case, are the people who live without homes, and they are the people we think have problems. "What do they like?" "How do I talk to them?" I'm often asked. All this talk have been rubbing me the wrong way, some hting doesn't seem right. I don't think Jesus is OK with us seeing other people as "them." The good news of the bible is that Jesus' disciples (that's us) draw people together in unity and mutual love the opposite of an us/them division.

I think that for many of us the problem is a vision issue, we don't know how to see people who are different than us.

At one point Jesus had some people gathered around him and told them a story about helping him out. "Many of you guys have been blessed by my father and are blessing others because of it. You had water and gave me something to drink, you had food and gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was a stranger and you invited me in. You people who've loved me are the ones who understand that my disciples have upside-down values compared to the values of society. We spend time with the poor and invite the rich to come along. We love our enemies and we stand with the people that are unpopular to stand with.

This is a definition of biblical righteousness= living every day the same way Jesus did by loving people we as "them." (Anyone who's different)

So, back to "us" and "them." When we see them over there, and us over here the devision in our mind is so great that we don't know how to cross it. Jesus is addressing this vision issue in Matt 25. He says, "Remember that's me that your serving." He's cold and wet, been abandoned and possibly needs a friend. Do you see him?

This winter some of us will have to live in righteousness by deciding that it's OK to be friends with Jesus when he wants to come in from the cold or go out for a smoke at the Extreme Weather Shelter.

Next time you see someone very different from yourself, poor or rich, and you stay away because they're different, remember, you see Jesus.

Mindanews

2009-11-26T08:58:00.001-08:00

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Raise your voice, for spiritual care in our hospitals

2009-11-17T23:28:00.004-08:00

Recently the Fraser Health Authority removed the position of spiritual care from all hospitals between Chilliwack and Surrey. There are no longer chaplains in these hospitals to provide spiritual guidance for the ill and vulnerable in their times of deep need.

We must speak out. As followers of Christ and believers in the biblical worldview we believe that physical and spiritual needs are interwoven and should not be separated. The position's that have been eliminated need to be refilled. I ask you to speak up by reading the short informational attachment and editing the letter I've sent. Then mail it to your Member of the Legislative Assembly(MLA) and your Member of Parliament(MP).

We must speak up because the chaplains cannot. If they do, it's most likely that their message will twisted and they will sound like their primary concern is their Job not the spiritual care of the patients. (This is what happened in the interior during a similar situation a few years ago.) Their jobs are important but, the holistic health of patients is what they've expressed as their primary concern.

Speak up because few of the people they've helped can. Many have passed away after receiving care.

The informational attachment was sent to me by a chaplain in the Vancouver Costal Heath Authority and is very reliable.

"By removing the spiritual care co-ordinator from the hospital, Fraser Health authorities are discounting the role of spiritual care in the overall health and wellness of a patient, not to mention the support given to families and staff." - Arlene Kropp (Nov 11/09, AbbyNews)

Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows Times:

http://www2.canada.com/mapleridgetimes/news/story.html?id=ba7ca34c-ab27-40ea-96e6-e31e7cc9053d

MLA's addresses:

John Van Dongen (MLA Abbotsford South)

101 - 2285 Queen Street Abbotsford, BC V2T 6J3

Randy Hawes (MLA Abbotsford-Mission)

33058 1st Avenue, Mission, BC V2V 1G3

Michael De Jong (MLA Abbotsford West)

103 – 32660 George Ferguson Way Abbotsford, BC V2T 4V6

Ed Fast (He is well connected and an important voice)

205 - 2825 Clearbrook Rd.

Abbotsford, BC V2T 6S3

The irony is that hospitals originated as physical actions by the spiritually faithful for the weak. The original spiritual values that brought about the first hospitals are being removed from the FHA's hospitals very structure.

Thank you for your time commitment and action.

Spiritual care in the FVHA (informational)

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZGEyN-fhA6WZGg0NzZrZl8xMTlmY25ycWJoZA&hl=en

My letter:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZGEyN-fhA6WZGg0NzZrZl8xMTg0dDdoZnhnNw&hl=en

In Shalom,

Darnell

Gang violence across Canada

2009-11-08T10:58:00.002-08:00

This is a responce to a Macleans article: “A lot of Ontario gangsters are moving to Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver—a sort of ‘Go West, Young Man’ movement of gangsters.” An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We talk about stopping the problem and getting more cops on the street to do it but the reality is stopping gang violence is a long process. Since it's about money and the people involved aren't interested in the law the way that we can help is raise our kids right. Parents who don't know what's going on in their kids lives, aren't at their sports events and are more concerned about the Canucks than the interests of their kids are part of the gang problem across Canada. I know that many gang member are from immigrant ethnic groups and the reasons for their involvement are often separate and complex. But, as citizens our initial responsibility at the community level must be to take care of our own kids, their friends and the neighborhood around us. When kids are going to gangs for money, power and acceptance our best community solutions are providing kids jobs, genuine mentorship by adults and opportunities to succeeded in other areas, ie. sports, business, social programs, traveling, writing and anything else that empowers a youth and gives him/her self-assurance and the conviction that someone believes in him/her. As citizens, we can be involved in preventing kids from entering organized crime but it will need to be intentional because our society does not enforce the value of close knit families and this is the root reason kids go to gangs. They lack close and meaningful relationships.

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize?

2009-10-09T08:46:00.008-07:00

We need to be very careful about how seriously we take this news. Take it with a grain of salt. Obama is doing some great things for Americans by working for socialized healthcare. A nobel peace prize around the globe seems like a little much though. We need to keep in mind that all of the endorsements in the news paper are coming from governments and top level officials. Men and women who need to be on the good side of the United States for their own prosperity's sake. This is a reality of international politics. Maybe President Obama deserves this award, maybe not. My point is that we can't trust the opinions of other national leaders that Obama's work is making a major impact where it's needed most, with the starving, oppressed masses. When the dust settles and the parades are over, whatever policies were created to shape a better global future must be faithfully implemented. Congratulations Pres. Obama for making some policy change, please faithfully hold you own country, my county and all the nations of the world accountable to implement the changes you've initiated. The world does not need another set of unmet Millennium Development Goals.

Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa said the award "speaks to the promise of President Obama's message of hope."

Hope is good, but the realization of hope is better. I pray that Pres. Obama's life will usher in the realization of hope.

The Church in the Philippines

2009-08-15T08:40:00.003-07:00

This is a paper I wrote this last year about the armed conflicts in the Philippines and the lack of involvement from the local church and global church. I believe that the Followers of Jesus need to do a better job of caring about all of Gods creation rather than trying to get people into the church building or heaven as a final goal. I'm not convinced that these are biblical ideals.

Click on the title to read my paper.

The Anabaptist Vision

2009-05-26T22:15:00.006-07:00

This statement by the leaders of the anabaptist movement in the 1500's has taken the feeling of my heart and put it to words.

After living in Abbotsford, part of the the "bible belt" of canada, and then living in Jamaica the country with the most churches per-capita of any in the world I ask myself - Why aren't these places different? Why is Abby the center of gang violence? Why is Jamaica brimming with murder and violence of every kind?

The bible I read and the Jesus I see described a community that effect the world around them...this author describes my vision for the future as a vision from the past. How will we start? One step at a time... I was once told, "Darnell this 5 year business plan is great, but your loosing the original vision. We want to provide clean water for one village in Mindanao. We must start one step at a time and let things grow as our vision and community grows. For God's glory, in Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit - we will act as you lead us into all truth...I was always told you can't steer a car that isn't moving.

This statement was written in 1538, after fourteen years of persecution, by an Anabaptist leader who spoke on behalf on his group in the great colloquy at Berne with the leaders of the Reformed Church:

While yet in the national church, we obtained much instruction from the writings of Luther, Zwingli, and others, concerning the mass and other papal ceremonies, that they are vain. Yet we recognized a great lack as regards repentance, conversion, and the true Christian life. Upon these things my mind was bent. I waited and hoped for a year or two, since the minister had much to say of amendment of life, of giving to the poor, loving one another, and abstaining from evil. But I could not close my eyes to the fact that the doctrine which was preached and which was based on the Word of God, was not carried out. No beginning was made toward true Christian living, and there was no unison in the teaching concerning the things that were necessary. And although the mass and the images were finally abolished, true repentance and Christian love were not in evidence. Changes were made only as concerned external things. This gave me occasion to inquire further into these matters. Then God sent His messengers, Conrad Grebel and others, with whom I conferred about the fundamental teachings of the apostles and the Christian life and practice. I found them men who had surrendered themselves to the doctrine of Christ by " Bussfertigkeit" [repentance evidenced by fruits] . With their assistance we established a congregation in which repentance was in evidence by newness of life in Christ. (Taken from an unpublished manuscript in the Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern, (Unnütze Papiere, Bd. 80), entitled Acta des Gesprächs zwüschenn predicannten und Touffbrüderenn (1538), Copy in the Mennonite Historical Library at Goshen College.)

The Reformation emphasis on faith was good but inadequate, for without newness of life, they held, faith is hypocritical.(Harold S. Bender)

Quote

2009-05-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

The teaching of the church is, basically, the church herself, as the
sign and the beginning of this renewed community. The verbal
proclamation of the message is merely the articulation of the
communities self-conscious.

Nicholas Lash "His Presence in the World"

New Food for thought

2009-04-16T22:41:00.002-07:00

"An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted." – Arthur Miller

This is again a new beginning, I'm taking another deliberate step towards the challenges of change and growth. God help me. I have no Idea what I'm getting myself into.

Ready to Come Home

2009-03-21T02:01:00.001-07:00

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Now, I feel, is the time to come home. We've been away for for over a year, we've seen the diversity all over Asia, we've laughed and cried with people who've lived in the midst of war their whole lives and now I'm looking forward to the fermiliarity of perogies and farmer-sausage.

We've seen the sights, we've got the t-shirts and we've met people from all over the world who've spiced up our days time and again. But, now I'm ready to get back to Meddowwoods. I'm looking forward to drinking a cold beer on my brown couch with Russ...hiking all over chiliwack with Mike...and playing Bball with Jayco.

Tina and I look forward to coming back home.

Posted this on sojo.net

2009-01-20T01:00:00.002-08:00

Posted this as a reaction to this article (http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/2008/12/02/buy-nothing-day-as-advent-activism-against-the-demon-mammon/) My wife and I have been in the Philippines studying conflict transformation and peace theology...this christmas and these stories caught us totally off guard. Christmas in the Philippines is about family and friends...we've adapted over 10 months and that's what our christmas was about. Filipino family and friends. When I saw this news online, my heart broke. It makes me think of being self-controlled and alert, the enemy prowls around like a lion waiting to devour. Chomp! As a Christian in North-America, it kills be to see people die b/c of shopping. I have dreams of the kingdom of God and I'm having my hopes of the kingdom destroyed by shopping murder...I cry. In our pain and sorrow and desire to see the kingdom come, I need to remember something. Not to react! When I react and start criticizing the world and the church I do very little for the kingdom of God. My Opa (grandfather in German) taught me something, he said that in our love for the kingdom of God, lets not be militant to the church or the world. We need to be faithful to the kingdom in our servanthood, and in our self-sacrifice and willingness to give ourselves for the kingdom. God will do the miracles and the holy spirit will fuel the transformation, we are only called to be faithful in our own understanding. We dream big, and act small. God is the one who brings the manifestations of his Kingdom. In the mean time...I cry when I hear stories like this.

Pictures which illustrate the crazy inflation in Zimbabwe

2009-01-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

Settle my being, so that my doing will be through peace.

2009-01-12T18:38:00.003-08:00

As I quite my mind and slow down my thoughts, Lord, please guide my goals and my passion to honor you. I pray that your Kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In the life that you have given me and my quest for biblical transformation teach me the way of shalom, the life Jesus came and lived. My prayer today is for peace of mind as I do school work. A shallow feeling prayer while I see the world going to hell and my being calls for action! Mindanao conflict, people starving and dying in evacuation centers, Gaza being destroyed, Thailand going up in revolt, Burma steadily being oppressed, North America sinking into our apathy. In our world with so much communication, we have so little understanding of the lives lead by the majority global population who can't afford the internet or a TV. Psalm 37 But, Lord you are the Lord. "...the power of the oppressors will be broken, but the lord upholds the righteous." "consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off." The salvation of the righteous [those who live for justice, equality, fair distribution of power, fair distribution of resources, and follow the ways of the Lord] comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. Jesus, our global hope is in you and your church. Please make me a leader with the energy and wisdom to help the poorest and helpless, the widows and orphans and refugee of our world. And disciple others to do the same, multiply your good news through understanding of Jesus example and lives of action. No successor, no success.

Helping with surgery

2009-01-09T03:13:00.000-08:00

I finally read Menno: Lessons from reading Menno Simons

2009-01-07T22:02:00.002-08:00

by Lawrence E. Ressler

I had never read any of Menno Simon’s writings, though I grew up in a Mennonite home and have been an active member of a Mennonite church for 40 years. I even graduated from a Mennonite high school and a Mennonite college. And when I asked Mennonite friends and colleagues if they had ever read anything written by Menno Simons, few had. Curiosity got the best of me. I decided to read everything written by Menno. I went to the Complete Works of Menno Simons(Herald Press, 1986), which contains everything Menno wrote in one volume of roughly 1,000 pages. As it turned out, I did not read the works of Menno just once but again and again. I found myself drawn into the world of the man who has influenced hundreds of thousands of followers who now call themselves Mennonites. I reread some of the writings because they were so inspirational, others because they were so confusing. Here is a bit of what I found. Important facts and dates: Menno was born in 1496 in Holland and ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1524. Four years after the Anabaptist movement began, at the age of 32, Menno studied the Bible to see if the Anabaptists’ claims about errors in Catholic teachings were correct. He gradually conceded they were. Menno did not give up his comfortable life as a priest until shortly after his brother, who had joined a militaristic group of Anabaptists, was killed either in fighting or by execution. In 1536, at the age of 40, Menno left the Catholic Church and joined the Obbenites, a group of Anabaptists under the leadership of Obbe Philips. Soon Menno was pressed into a leadership role. He accepted the responsibility, albeit reluctantly, knowing he would have to live the stressful and dangerous life of an outcast Anabaptist. Menno gave himself to the work in spite of the dangers and the need to move from place to place to avoid arrest, torture and almost certain execution. Within eight years, public authorities referred to the Obbenite group as the “Menists” in recognition of Menno’s influence. He served as the principal leader and spokesperson of this Anabaptist group for 25 years until he died of natural causes in 1561. What Menno wrote about: There are 42 known writings attributed to Menno. This is more than any other Anabaptist. Twenty-five of his writings are classified in the Complete Works as books and tracts. Seventeen are letters, meditations, prayers and other writings. Among them are two hymns, one that was to be sung to the tune “Where May She Be, This Darling Mine.” Menno’s writings are varied, have a strongly practical purpose and always focus on the problems the young Anabaptist church faced. The Anabaptist movement was only 11 years old when Menno joined the Obbenite group. Menno’s early writings articulated theological beliefs for both church members and those who had questions about the group, for example, the short pamphlet “The New Birth” (my favorite) and “The Foundation of Christian Doctrine,” both published within several years after he joined the group. But Menno’s world was turbulent. The Anabaptist movement had spawned heretics who led the state churches to denounce Anabaptists of all kinds. Some writings were direct challenges to these heretical Anabaptist movements. “The Blasphemy of John of Leiden,” for example, attempted to discredit the Münsterites, a revolutionary Anabaptist group that attracted hundreds of followers, including Menno’s brother. Several writings challenged another Anabaptist heretic named David Joris, who claimed to be a prophet in the lineage of David and espoused polygamy. As spokesperson for the Obbenites, Menno also corresponded with government officials and the theological leaders of other groups. Four of Menno’s writings are efforts to get the government leaders to stop their persecution. One of the most moving pieces is “A Pathetic Supplication to All Magistrates,” in which Menno writes, “And so we beg your Noble Excellences again, for Jesus’ sake, to lay aside thoroughly all hostile thoughts against your poor orphans.” Four of his writings are debates with other theologians in which Menno clarifies what the Obbenite Anabaptists believe and challenges false accusations. They include a reply to Gellius Faber, a Lutheran minister who had written an attack on Anabaptists. The largest group of Menno’s writings relate to his work as an elder in the young church. Some were words of concern about developments in the church; others were letters of encouragement to church members, including his “Pastoral Letter to the Amsterdam Church,” which was suffering from a plague, and a “Letter of Consolation to a Sick Saint” who was struggling with doubt. Eight of the writings deal with excommunication, an issue Menno and the church struggled with during almost all of Menno’s 24 years of leadership. The last thing he wrote, “Reply to Sylis and Lemke,” was a strongly worded response to an attack on the official church position supporting excommunication by two church leaders. Four prominent themes became evident to me as I read the works of Menno. Give heed to the Word of God: Scripture was foundational for Menno. The tone is set in his first book, “The Blasphemy of John of Leiden,” where he writes, “Let all give heed to the Word of God.” Menno was well read and a man of careful reason. But the Bible, especially the New Testament, is central to what he believed and was authoritative in what he did. However, Menno’s passion for Scripture was a late development. He confesses that he did not read the Bible until two years after he became a priest. In part due to the execution of Sicke Snijder, a local Anabaptist who was beheaded for being rebaptized, Menno read the Bible. He devoured the Scriptures, and he peppers all his writings with Scriptural references. Menno does not claim to be perfect in his understanding of the Scriptures. Repeatedly he invites readers to correct him if he is in error. The basis of the correction, however, must come from the Scriptures. In “Reply to Gellius Faber,” for example, Menno writes: “If I cannot maintain my doctrine and faith with Scriptures and if I cannot prove their doctrine and faith to be deceiving, that is, in those matters that keep us apart, then I will not refuse to acknowledge my fault before the whole world, to retract my doctrine and with my books to enter into the fire.” Godly walk: Menno emphasized that Christian faith transforms behavior. The full text of the statement quoted earlier is, “Let all give heed to the Word of God and abide by it.” In “The Spiritual Resurrection,” Menno writes, “The Scriptures admonish the truly regenerated and resurrected ones that they should take heed to their calling and continue perfect in a new, godly walk.” Throughout his writings, Menno encourages, challenges, scolds and pleads with all who read his writings to turn from their evil ways and walk in a godly manner. In “The New Birth,” Menno writes: “I tell you again, they want to be the Christian church, though it is evident that in all their actions they are not Christians but carnal, proud, avaricious, gluttonous, lewd, drunken, idolatrous, blind heathen. And what is worse, some of them are unmerciful, murderous, cruel and bloody devils, for many of their works are done according to the will of the devil.” One aspect of Menno’s call for godly walk was his support for the ban and excommunication. Not only was this emphasis based on Scriptures but was consistent with Menno’s call to the Catholic, Lutheran and Zwinglian church leaders to have their members live lives that demonstrated Christ-like behavior. Furthermore, Menno and the church had to deal with Anabaptist heretics who were causing significant problems inside and outside the church. The practical problems associated with the ban and excommunication emerged almost immediately and caused Menno and the church considerable grief for the entire time he was a leader. Menno wrote more frequently about this topic than any other, on eight occasions. An Evangelical: Menno was evangelical. His call to faith was not the toned-down “friendship evangelism” I had become comfortable with. Menno called himself an evangelical preacher and presented himself as one for whom I had developed some theological resistance. He states, for example, in “The New Birth”: “My dearly beloved reader, take heed to the Word of the Lord and learn to know the true God. I warn you faithfully to take it, if you please. He will not save you nor forgive your sins nor show you his mercy and grace except according to his Word; namely, if you repent and if you believe, if you are born of him, if you do what he has commanded and walk as he walks.” In one of Menno’s most popular writings, “The Foundation of Christian Doctrine,” even while pleading for mercy and an end to the persecution he calls government leaders to repentance using language that seems to have fallen in disfavor in recent years: “Dear sirs, wake up, it is yet today. Do not boast that you are of royal blood and are called gracious lords, for it is but smoke, dust and pride. But boast in this and rejoice if so be you are born of God or have become a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people: that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 1:9. Repent sincerely with a repentance acceptable to God, wail and weep.” Christ-centered theology: Menno draws from both the Old and New Testaments in his writings. But the life and teachings of Christ was the lens through which the rest of Scripture must be viewed. All his writings were prefaced with his favorite verse, 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” In “I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing,” Menno offers this challenge: “Whosoever does not believe that our doctrine is the pure, undefiled and saving doctrine of Jesus Christ may piously examine the extant Scriptures of the New Testament and he will notice and acknowledge that our doctrine is the pure doctrine, testimony and Scripture of Christ Jesus, however much his reluctant, lazy, rebellious, refractory, selfish and disobedient flesh may oppose, become affrighted, tremble and be owed thereat.” One of my big surprises was the lack of overt attention Menno gave to many of the attributes that have been associated with being Mennonite. I had to search to find statements about nonconformity, simple living and peace. I found support for these attributes, but they were embedded in writings about other topics. It is Menno’s Christ-centered theology that is paramount. As Menno appeals to the New Testament and the life and teachings of Christ, he embraces a peace position and affirms simple living. But he also defends the role of the government to control evil using force and supports a much harsher form of the ban and excommunication than many are comfortable with. All these positions are susceptible to change if, based on Scriptural evidence, a better case can be made than what Menno believed was the case. The nonnegotiable was the authority of Scripture, especially the New Testament and the example of Christ. So what: Reading everything Menno wrote is not for everyone. Much of what he wrote is not meaningful without becoming familiar with the characters involved and understanding the context in which he wrote. But every Mennonite should read some of the writings of Menno. If I were to point to one reading, it would be the 14-page piece called “The New Birth,” which contains the essence of what being a Christian was for Menno. A second piece worth reading is his personal apology, “I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing.” Here one sees the passion Menno had for following Christ at all cost, even to the point of death. A third piece worth reading is “The Cross of the Saints,” which consoles a church suffering from persecution. Menno writes: “O soldiers of God, prepare yourselves and fear not. This winepress you must tread. This narrow way you must walk, and through this narrow gate you must enter into life. The Lord is your strength, your comfort and refuge. He sits with you in prisons and dungeons; he flies with you to foreign lands; he accompanies you through fire and water; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Reading Menno’s writing has helped me understand what he believed and why he believed it. It has also increased my appreciation for his strength of character as he struggled to live out his faith under the most trying and dangerous circumstances. Most importantly, it inspired my faith. Lawrence E. Ressler is provost at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., and a member of First Mennonite Church in Hillsboro. He will offer an online course on Menno Simons this summer. Anyone interested should contact him at lawrencer@tabor.edu.

The link to Tina's most recent article.

2009-01-06T23:29:00.001-08:00

This is the link to the most recent update about the expansion of training an army of nonviolent Peacebuilders!

SECOND PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TEAM UNDERWAY

Christmas Dinner

2009-01-05T21:23:00.003-08:00

Since we're away from home, eating nothing but rice, one of the best christmas presents I could give Tina this year was turkey dinner. Sadly, it wasn't anything compared to Grandma's turkey and it was actually chicken with gravy imported from KFC. Gong!

From Christmas 2008

Zeitgeist: an exercise in critical thinking.

2008-12-02T02:33:00.004-08:00

Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist Addendum Zeitgeist is an incredibly shocking film if the audience isn't very aware of the current global situation. But, if the audience is willing to be curious, and carefully analyze some of the points especially about globalization, they'll find many similar stories coming from all around the globe.

The first bit of the first movie brings Jesus down from the christian belief that he is God incarnated (emanuel - God with us) to the level of many myths and philosophers. If research is done about the historical Jesus a person will find that there is more support for Jesus existing on earth that there is for many other things in history that we would not dream of second guessing. (For more info Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel)

The money analysis? I don't know where to start or end with this topic. They have some great animation and seem to think that the central bank is made to create more debt? If this is the case I think that someone would have figured it out sooner than now. But, maybe not or maybe this part of the film is out to lunch. I believe this stuff could be true, I'm just not going to the bank on it....I don't understand it. It kinda freaks me out that Abraham Lincoln could have forced the closure of the central bank during his presidency because of the evil cycle that it could be.

Now as far as globalization, 9-11 (911 Mysteries, very interesting Documentary. I'm told it's popular thought in France that 9-11 was a set up.), and the current ruling global empire. I believe that a lot of their analysis is true. Naomi Klein makes an interesting analysis of global capitalism in Shock Doctrine (an analysis of Milton Friedman's extreme capitalism theories) her analysis of economic assassination are similar to examples in Zeitgeist Addendum. The Shock Doctrine says that in in order to create fast change, create or take advantage of a disaster. While civilians are distracted trying to find food for 3 meals a day the government should make large legislative changes to privatize sectors for capitalist gain. Examples of this: privatizing schools in New Orleans after Katrina or private companies purchasing beach-front land in post-tsunami Thailand, at unjustly cheap prices, to build resorts. The example that I've been reading about the most lately is Iran, and their oil situation in the last 100 years. The possibility of the CIA creating a coup' like zeitgeist presents, along with other sources, is consistent with what we've seen in Mindanao:

The war in Mindanao is all about land, and the political actions we are seeing here by the United State are identical to the accusations that we are hearing about Iraq.

The USA is trying to create a permanent military presents.

The USA owned the Philippines up until 1946. in 1946 they released her as her own independent republic and she's been the USA's lap dog ever since. Presidents have have come and gone all ruling in the shadows of US influence. Then the VFA or Visiting Forces Act was created. The VFA allows the United States to stay in Mindanao for as long as they are asked to train Philippines army soldiers. If they're only training troops why do I have pictures of US troops carrying side arms and M-16's in public places?

The conflict is about control over oil rights and profits.

Many islands in Mindanao are not floating on the ocean, they're floating on oil.

The label terrorist is thrown around to take away rights and privileges and create fear in society.

The Muslim rebels are real people fighting for real rights to ownership of their historical land. This historical ownership, plus years of desired vengeance from having relatives killed by the Gov't of the Phil troops will keep the war on going until real talks address the core historical issues and initiate a lasting sustainable peace. (PS. the confllict is in a very small area, its not just a bunch of crazy people shooting anyone they see for no reason. This would not forward any political or social agenda, which most "terrorists" have, like Natzi propaganda in WW2 the creation of the faceless terrorist is a way of controling socity by fear. What is the responce demanded by Christ? Love your enemy.)

Zeitgeist has a lot of interesting theories and I think that some of them should be entertained and researched. The thing I took from the film, aside from a lot of laughs about the idea that technology will solve all of our problems, was the striking reality that Jesus' call for justice and the values of the Kingdom of God are the outcomes that the producers are looking for. The Kingdom of God, justice, peace, equality and love are the values that they would love to see manifest in their technological society. but we, biblical christians, know that it can only happen by the Spirit of God and will only come when Christ returns. Until then it's the churches role to manifest those values in society and transform society through active love.

It's The Blowback, Stupid! Coup in

2008-11-27T00:45:00.003-08:00

The 1953 coup is widely seen as having set the conditions for the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is a consequence the US and Iran are still dealing with today. * Cecil Jones * | 02 Jul 2008 * | 9 comments * Iranian Revolution * Iran * CIA * 1953 Iranian coup d'état On the verge of abandoning his seven-year exploration for oil in Iran, British socialite William Knox D’Arcy struck black gold in 1908. D’Arcy’s fortuitous find meant incredible wealth for the British government, but set off the series of cataclysmic events over the next century that are at the core of why the United States is on the brink of invading Iran today. After the discovery of oil, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now know as BP) was created, and for the next four decades Iranian oil fueled the British Empire. Since England didn’t have another oil-producing colony, Iran’s oil kept every British factory, home and car up and running. For its part, Iran received a mere 16 percent of the revenue. When the British government refused to renegotiate a fair deal with Iran, Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized the oilfields in 1951. But Britain would not let the loss of its most important resource go unanswered. By convincing the US government that an encroaching Soviet Empire was inching into Iran, the British got the Central Intelligence Agency to orchestrate a coup d’état. Two years after Iran took back its oil, the democratically elected Mossadegh was removed and replaced by the pro-western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Over the course of his 25 years in power, the Shah terrorized his people, imprisoning and torturing tens of thousands of political opponents, while blowing millions on extravagant celebrations as his people lived in abject poverty. Although the Shah protected British and America’s oil supplies, the CIA realized that its meddling could have some repercussions. After the coup, the CIA coined the term “blowback” to describe the possible “unintended consequences” of its covert action. The 1953 coup is widely seen as having set the conditions for the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is a consequence the US and Iran are still dealing with today. 11 Dignitaries of Shah's Regime Photo: The corpses of 11 dignitaries of the Shah’s regime lie on the floor of a Tehran morgue in April 1979. Among them are Khalatbari, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and General Hassan Pakhravan, first chief of the Savak, the brutal and much-despised political police. (Abbas/Magnum) New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer explores the history of America’s involvement in Iran with his book, All The Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. Notably, he shows how the CIA-led coup of the nationalist Iranian government in 1953 created the roots of virulent anti-western sentiment in the Middle East. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman. Quotations Begin I was recently on a panel in the National Cathedral in Washington, and one of the other panelists – we were talking about Iran – was Bruce Laingen, who had been the chief American diplomat in Iran and was the most prominent figure among the hostages that were held there for 444 days. And I knew that Laingen had become an advocate of reconciliation with Iran, which I consider quite remarkable, considering the ordeal that he suffered, so I wanted to talk to him. He told me an amazing story. He said, “I had been sitting in my solitary cell as a hostage for about a year, when one day the cell door opens, and there is standing one of the hostage takers, one of my jailers. And all of my rage and my fury built up over one year sitting in that cell just burst out, and I started screaming at him, and I was telling him, ‘You have no right to do this! This is cruel, this is inhumane! These people have done nothing! This is a violation of every law of god and man! You cannot take innocent people hostage!’” He said, “I went on like this for several minutes. When I was finally out of breath, the hostage taker paused for a moment, and then he leaned into my cell and said, in very good English, ‘You have no right to complain, because you took our whole country hostage in 1953.’” That story really reinforced to me the connection and the fact that those hostage takers took those hostages not out of nihilistic rage, but for a very specific reason that seemed to make very good sense to them. In 1953, the Iranian people had chased the Shah out, but CIA agents working inside the American embassy in Tehran organized a coup and brought him back. So flash forward to 1979, people of Iran have chased the Shah out again. He has been admitted into the United States. Quotations End People in Iran are thinking, “It’s all happening again. CIA agents working in the basement of the American embassy are going to organize a coup, and they’re going to bring the Shah back. We have to prevent 1953 from happening again.” That was the motivation for the hostage taking, although I don’t think any of us really understood that at the time.

One electric car makes the difference? This is one example of legislation needed to make the real change.

2008-11-27T00:18:00.002-08:00

He is what he does.....

2008-11-22T01:13:00.005-08:00

As Pedro found himself, walking down the street, numb, beat by depressing and unchangeing reality. It would change who he is and what he thinks of himself for the entire next stage.

"I am what I do, no more no less," was like a pallet of bricks settling on his soul.

He walked away. It was painful. It killed him to know that his belief was not fervent enough to changed who he was.

Walked away knowing that he may be the most qualified to help, never found out.

He saw the boy face down on the ground, obviously fallen from heights. His body was limp, he needed first aid.

Quietly, he thought, "I hope someone knows first aid! I've had some training, maybe I should go over and take control, they're all just standing around and looking at him. Woooooh, they shouldn't be moving his neck like that, he cringed.

I should have helped...

Spreading the Kingdom of God

2008-11-20T22:55:00.002-08:00

I believe that all people are created by God with equal dignity and value. All people are created in the image of God and are worthy of the right to the essential resources needed to survive and flourish as free and productive human beings.

I believe Jesus Christ, God incarnate, came to bring shalom to all people. Shalom is the positive presence of harmony, wholeness, health, prosperity and balance. The biblical shalom is God's original design for harmony in his creation and as followers of Jesus we are committed to living with the objective of bringing creation back to shalom. This shalom is what Jesus came back to instill: Reconciliation with God, Reconciliation between people, Harmony with ourselves and sustainable just stewardship of Gods creation. I believe this is God's intention for the re-creation of all creation and is and act with his guidance. Shalom is the central value of the Kingdom of God. Justice, peace (Shalom), forgiveness and truth all come together and define love. Biblical Love cannot exist without these four elements and biblical love is the command that directs the members of the Kingdom of God. The passport of God's the Kingdom, is indiscriminate love.

Jesus' life is the example we follow as he broke social norms and spiritual barriers to lift the oppressed out of their social-spiritual prison and back to the place of God-given dignity. Examples of this: Jesus speaking with the woman at the well, Jesus telling his believers not to return evil for evil but choose the "creative third option" (Matt 5:26-42), Jesus living among tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners, freeing the demon possessed, calling the sinless man to cast the first stone. Jesus calls me to aid the oppressed out of their oppression and towards holistic harmony in their lives, or shalom. To become active members of the Kingdom of God.

What Would Jesus Buy Documentary/Comedy?

2008-11-14T01:38:00.005-08:00

Watch the trailer. If you like it I'm sure the movie will share an interesting perspective.

Consumerism. Like drugs, porn, alcohol, polishing a prized vehicle, watching tv and many other things can become an addiction - SOMETHING THAT CONTROLS A PERSON.

What would Jesus Buy contrasts the church and the mall as areas of worship, worshiping self indulgence, or worshiping Jesus Christ.

The people in the film are social/religious activists and call North America to take an honest look at what we need to buy and what is ridiculous excess?

As yourself, as a follower of Jesus what does my life revolve around? Look at your week, what activities do you spend most time doing?

Are these activities building relationships and spreading love or are they hopelessly self indulgent, like many of our lives turn out to be?

Take time to sit and evaluate: Are you running your life? Or is your life running you? Where are you going? If God is in control where is he taking you? If this is hard maybe you need to take some time to be honest with yourself and write down your thoughts. This could be a beginning to searching for where God wants to guide you.

This is the trailer:

This is the full version of the movie:

Sorry about all of the poor versions of this video. Here is the smooth PBCI Promo.

2008-11-13T23:50:00.004-08:00

Once again Sorry for all of the crappy links. I've has some real issues with youtube. Enjoy

Siegfried Bartel - Remembrance Day 2004 at Columbia Bible College

2008-11-12T04:18:00.002-08:00

We're proud that our lives are the fruit of your boldness Opa. We love you, Darnell and Christina

My Medical Mission with Reach International Healthcare and Training

2008-11-12T01:02:00.003-08:00

From Nov. 3rd to Nov 7th I attended a two day First Aid/Healthcare worker seminar put on by Reach International Healthcare and Training. Tina, I and 21 students from a High School in Midsayap we are partnered with learned about First Aid as well as how to check vital signs, bandage a serious wound (ie. gunshot, knife wound) and perform stitches. We saw how much we know about healthcare that we take for granted. Taping ankles or cleaning and bandaging a wound securely, for example is something basic to Tina and I that many Filipinos wouldn't even know how to start. Aside from the practical First Aid training, Reach International provides much needed healthcare education for the general population. The Mindanao population has many "medical myths" that have been floating around for so long that people believe they're true. For example: The majority of Filipinos in Mindanao believe that all dogs are born with rabies and if a person is bitten by a dog the cure is to rub garlic on the wound. If you’re reading this in Canada, and laughing, this is true! We were sitting in class with 21 student's dressed in Levi's jeans, Roxy T-shirts and American Eagle hats and half of these kids still believe that garlic would help heal a dog bite. This is an example of the rural Philippines need for healthcare knowledge and trained healthcare workers who can multiply themselves. An example of exploitation due to medical ignorance Rabies: Contrary to popular thoughts about dogs in the Philippines, all dogs don't have rabies. In fact 1 in 1000 might have it. Next fact: If a dog has Rabies, it will die within 7 days. Dogs with rabies are all afraid of water, if they drink water it causes them excruciating pain. Therefore, all dogs with rabies die of dehydration within 7 days. And finally: On average if a person is bit by a dog, said person will become rabid after......2 days?........1 week?........3 weeks? No, on average 6 weeks. So..... walk with me in this. If a dog bites me, I should watch that dog, if it dies within 7 days, I know I may get rabies and should do something about it. But, if I've had a rabies shot I'd have no problems, rabid dog or not. The ignorance of the general population allows medical professionals to add in the Philippines title as The Most Corrupt Nation in South East Asia. (This was confirmed by a number of sources, including the Philippines Daily Inquirer and the World Bank. If you've read many independent opinions on the World Bank this is pretty ironic.) Doctors here make money on shots. Tetanus and Rabies shots are big money makers and public ignorance is the money making doctor's best friend. When anyone comes to a doctor with a dog bite the doctor often convinces the person they need a shot; same with tetanus. If a person has had their shot every 10 years they're safe from Tetanus, but doctors tell their patient they need the shot in order to be safe, contrary to standard medical knowledge. The point of my story? Praise the Lord that organizations like Reach International Healthcare and Training, which are committed to sharing evidence based medical theories with Filipinos in practical terms. Dr. Sam Evans has logged 16,000 hours in North American ER Rooms as a surgeon and 15 years as a medical technologist (the guy who wears the lab coat and mixes different concoctions in petrie dishes trying to find things us uneducated folks can't understand). And he has committed his next 15 years to serving the Philippines as a doctor and surgeon and reproducing himself through the locals. Dr. Sam and his wife have lived here for 6 years and are committed to loving the Philippines through medical mission. Their funding is dropping off because people in the States are giving less during recession. So, the pressure is on. I had never thought about how a recession affects missionaries like Dr. Sam who rely on the extra funds of North Americans who donate. And when the extra money disappears, so do the donations. I pray that Dr. Sam stays faithful to his conviction that he is acting in God's will and that God does provide funding for the few that step out in extreme ways such as he has. I hope that after this recession Dr. Sam will stand up and tell a story about funding for his mission parallel to Peter walking on the water because he knows Jesus is with him in his work.

Peacebuilders community Promotional Video

2008-11-09T19:56:00.002-08:00

This video gives a small picture into the work that we are doing in Mindanao.

Quick Video Summary of Our Recent Medical Mission with Reach International

2008-11-08T17:57:00.001-08:00

Prayer Request: UN Involvement

2008-10-29T19:50:00.004-07:00

Mindanews: MILF urges UN to set up observer post

Please pray that if the international community involves themselves it will be in order to administer justice, and monitor human rights violations. The international community, especially the G8, have major stakes in the Philippines because of the very large untapped oil reserves in the central mindanao conflict area.

I believe that many areas USAID and CIDA are investing are strategic locations in order to build relationships and win over the local people in oil rich areas. Through water wells and other relief the US and Canuck reps. would use these relationships to export oil and send the profits overseas rather then benefiting national markets. We have seen this in the way Multinational companies have moved into the local rubber market, palm oil market and coffee market.

The US's hand has been in Mindanao for the last 100 years, under the radar. And the US has a lot of pull in the UN, this makes me worry that if the UN comes to Mindanao their bias will be towards suppressing conflict for the development of global capitalism rather than biased towards justice and prosecuting human rights violators.

Please pray for Gods justice, peace and conviction in the policy makers and mediators of Mindanao and the nation of the Philippines.

Faithful Muslims and Faithful Christians are needed for the Redemption of Mindanao

2008-10-27T00:59:00.005-07:00

Jesus called us to love our neighbors as the central part of our witness. He said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Aren’t even the tax collectors and pagans doing that? But love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you then you will be sons of your father in heaven.” Jesus lived it when he ate with sinners, talked with the Samaritan woman and told the Roman centurion that he had more faith than any of the Jews Jesus had met including church leaders and priests. Mindanao is calling for followers of Jesus who are willing to break the same barriers that Jesus broke when he loved indiscriminately. We need to be men and women who will reach out to the oppressed Muslims, Christians and Lumads (Indigenous People) in our communities as neighbors. We can only really reach them through loving genuine concerne for their well-being. This was Jesus example with the outcasts of his time.

We also need faithful Muslims from the poorest areas of Mindanao to struggle and strive to bring the love and peace of Allah to the violent oppressors hovering over them. I have often questioned the meaning of the freedom of Christ. Jesus has given us freedom but how does this apply to this context? It means that we now have freedom to see all people equal under God rather than “in” and who is “out” as our culture tells us? The Mennonites in Canada did an amazing thing during WW2 by standing up to the Canadian government as conscientious objectors. There major message was they are followers of Jesus before followers of the state.

Siegfried Bartel, a former German army captain who returned to a pacifist stance in faithfulness to Christ, encapsulated the message of the conscientious objector’s when he said, “What right does the state have to tell me who my enemy is?” We must ask ourselves the same question when our faithfulness to living as Christ lived is confronted by our culture. What right does my culture have to tell me who I should love and who I shouldn’t? My creator showed that he loves all people equally. It is written: the truth will set us free. I think that freedom is the Spiritual, emotional, and physical peace of Christ in our lives and the lives of the people we know? How will I live that freedom so that it is attractive to the world and is relevant to its the needs? I believe this is the question that the North American church must answer to have an honest relevant impact on the people of my generation. The truth will only set the world free bit by bit if followers of Christ have the courage to live in the freedom we have been given.

Analysis on the Government of the Philippines position in the peace process. Written in August.

2008-10-26T23:48:00.003-07:00

In the last month we have seen a whirlwind of armed conflict and corrupt personal political interest revealed in the media every week. We’ve been warned with threats of an all out war that would send the peace talks back 3 years and we have seen outside media manipulate the public for third party interests. It seems that in the end, it all comes down to money. The rich and powerful want more of it and the poor are almost willing to do anything to get it. We have also been encouraged as the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels agreed to meet in Kuala Lumpur to talk achieving sustainable peace. I believe it showed that the government was partly sensitive to the Filipinos living in towns which have become battlefields. Though only partly because we know from the war in Iraq that global investors will not put their money in a country which is at war, the economy is too unstable. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) politicians know that if they do not pacify the conflict in central Mindanao they will not be able to maximize on the international benefits which come from global investors. The struggle for peace is a noble goal, but my personal hope for peace often feels dashed when I remember that every player in the peace process does not want justice. People want peace for many different reasons and after the armed conflict is over and investors come, it’s likely that global capitalism will bring other forms of systematic injustice against the marginalized people of central Mindanao. In moments of discouragement I have learned that my only sustainable hope for peace comes from my confidence in the fulfillment of scripture. Jesus came preaching that the reign of God would bring redemption of society and justice for all. He promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth and that the truth will set us free. I pray that the followers of Christ would see Jesus’ message of economic jubilee and justice as a central part of our lives and we as peacebuilders and disciples of Christ can demonstrate to the world the blessing the church can be.

Don't just follow the pastor, follow the person he is following. Jesus.

2008-10-26T23:30:00.002-07:00

After reading a lot of the Gospels, I have a big foundational question and a hole in my theology. Jesus called us to take up our cross and follow Him and to be his disciples, but it seems that at times in my life, I've lost sight of discipleship. I've been told that I need to be saved from an eternity in hell and that without knowing Jesus I am a lost soul that is destined to go to hell. If I have said a prayer and attend a church weekly can I demonstrate that I believe how Jesus instructs us to grow according to scripture? I don't think that the sinners prayer and church attendance is a confirmation of belief in what Jesus said. When Jesus called people to take up their cross and follow Him, he called them to reprioritize their lives and reevaluate their allegiance. The rich young ruler, for example, was looking for eternal life and Jesus said, "Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor then you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Jesus point was the rich young man needed to change his values from material goods to Jesus example of the kingdom values. This young man was looking for eternal life by following the law, just as he’d been called to. He was a faithful Jew just like Jesus, but he knew that there was more to eternal life than following Jewish laws. No doubt he had heard about Jesus and was amazed by his spiritual power and his wisdom, so this rich young man asked Jesus the question that has plagued many wealthy young men and women throughout the generations: What must I do to inherit eternal life? ( eternal life: A full life, Shalom, Peace, Satisfaction) This young man, in his own relationship with Jesus was beyond our concept of "accepting" him, he had a relationship with Jesus. He was now looking to understand what kind of transformation Jesus was going to call him to. The rich young man was invited to follow and see what Jesus sees as important; to see who Jesus was willing to stand up for. Jesus invited him to see how He followed His father in heaven. I venture to say If we want to experience Eternal life as described by the OT and NT scriptures, we must know Jesus and understand how his values are different than the values of this world. Jesus said, do like I do. Follow me. In any other area of life, aside from spiritual, if we declare we belief in something, action would be required to prove that we really believe. If I love my wife, she can tell by my action. I think that this makes sense to most. If a person is really their life on teachings, those teaching will show in their life. But how will it show? What would Jesus have shown the rich young man as he followed? What attributes were consistent in the lives of the disciples? What attributes were then consistent in the apostles after Jesus left? The disciple’s 3 year mentorship with Jesus trained them into a world changing generation...

We just got an awesome package from our pastorate!

2008-10-22T22:25:00.001-07:00

A HUGE thank you to everyone in our pastorate for sending us the great package! It had so many exciting things, as you can tell from Christina's expressions.

Thank you for your prayer support and other expressions of love! We are looking forward to coming back to you, sharing our experience, and enjoying your good company again!

AND,

Kudos to whoever put in the effort to dig up that Babar book!

NEW MEDIA EQUIPMENT!!

2008-10-13T01:19:00.002-07:00

Thank you to my parents who very generously donated a terabyte drive. Now we can archive all of our media in one central location and share all of our media within the office. It'll have a great impact on the future publicity of our community. Ps. I also hope that all of my filming and pictures can be used to make a documentary on the Mindanao Problem and the Anabaptist church in the future.

Ordinary Radicals - Movie Trailer

2008-10-13T00:45:00.004-07:00

The Ordinary Radicals - Trailer from Jamie Moffett on Vimeo. I'm excited about this movie. It's about people who are taking Jesus words litteraly and applying them to their everyday lives. Jesus taught his disciples to be a revolutionary community who would reach out with active love and change the world around them. As JH Yoder said, “There are thus about the community of disciples those sociological traits most characteristic of those who set out to change society: A visible structured fellowship, a sober decision guaranteeing that the costs of commitment to the fellowship have been consciously accepted, and a clearly defined life-style distinct from that of the crowd….The distinctness is not a cultic or ritual separation, but rather a nonconformed quality of (“secular”) involvement in the life of the world. It thereby constitutes an unavoidable challenge to the powers that be and the beginning of a new set of social alternatives” (Politics of Jesus p.39) I'm interested to see how the ordinary radicals movie interprets the life of these people who might say that they are just disciples of Jesus.

Choppers fly over head... Are they Christian birds of prey?

2008-10-09T01:56:00.009-07:00

Today I sit in our Peacebuilders Community Inc. office analyzing the history of Christian missions in Mindanao. Since my arrival I've seen the effects of the church's presence in Mindanao for the last 400 years and as it turns out, the church in Mindanao hasn't had the effect that Jesus said it should. When the Spanish colonized the Philippines, the founding Spanish commander wrote in his journal, "The only reason the Spaniards had come to the islands was to bring the Filipino's the knowledge of the Catholic faith..." Today, an article was published in asianews.it (http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13401&size=A) that said the World Bank reported the Philippines as the most corrupt nation in Southeast Asia. Eighty-three percent of the nation's population are members of the Catholic church and 63% attend mass every week. Where is the manifestation of the Kingdom of God after 400 years of Catholicism? Spain's political intention in taking Mindanao was to create a Spanish colony in Southeast Asia in order to transport spices and goods from Japan and China. The most frustrating part of the Spanish perspective was their honest belief that God needed them to advance Spain and the Catholic church simultaneously because God did not want to waste wealth on pagan people. They believed wealth should be handled by the chosen people of God, only those part of the Catholic Church. Currently, a similar attitude of God-given authority is coming from the USA. George Bush's ideology that the USA is God's chosen nation to purge the world of evil is politically paralleled to the Spanish attitude of the 16th century. The American attitude that the bad guys are in the Middle East and the good guys are on US soil is the kind of oppressive colonial attitude that has brought devastation to the Philippines for 400 years. In 1898 the USA purchased the Philippines from Spain for $20 Million. Mindanao's residents resisted the colonizing forces of the Spanish and were not under spanish rule when the USA purchased the Philippines. The American solution to claiming the land was to start a migration and missions movement to Mindanao from the colonized North. The strategy was to overwhelm the island with pro-government Christians and convert the remainder of indigenous people (IP's) to Chistianity. The government provided land for the migrants, money for missionaries and propaganda about the pagan people in dire need of Jesus. Mindanao's current conflict between the Republic of the Philippines and the Bangsamoro stems from this political move. The Bangsamoro people resisted the attempts to take their land by the USA and Republic of the Philippines and are still fighting for their right to self-determination. The most maddening part of this story is that the church was a pawn in the hands of the politicians and some missionaries cooperated by manipulating scripture. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13-25 in particular were used to force new converts to sacrifice their God-given desire for justice and self-determination in order to be "faithful to Christ." They were told that God instituted all authorities and therefor all people should submit to any authority without question in order to honor God. Jesus didn't even do that! His example of opposing the unjust Roman and Jewish authorities of his time are part of what made Jewish leaders want to kill him. Secondly, passages in the KJV, which were originally misinterpreted to keep King James' subjects passive under his unjust leadership, were reintroduced to passify the new Christians of Mindanao. For example, "Do not Resist an evil one." (Matt 5:39) People were told that this means they should be a submissive (like a doormat) citizen for Jesus. If this is the true interpretation of Jesus' intended meaning in Matt 5:39, then even he did not act accordingly. Matt 5:39 has been reinterpreted by many scholars as "do not retaliate with evil someone who does evil to you." [transforming Nonresistance: From Lex Talionis to "Do not resist and evil one"] Jesus' instructions were not to be a doormat, but rather, not to retaliate in kind. The examples used in Jesus' original context were methods of nonviolent resistance. The victim should implement these methods to turn the table on the oppressor and redeem their God-given human dignity. Is the Biblical message manifested in Mindanao today? The evangelical church in Mindanao tends to be an inward-looking, spiritually focused church. In my research I have not seen much emphasis on living a spiritually and practically transformed life in Christ. I was surprised to learn that the word "Lord" means power, authority and influence. Claiming that Jesus is Lord is making Him the sole authority and giving him all power and influence in all areas of our lives. Jesus said, "You are truly my disciple if you do what I say" (Luke 6:46-49), James called believers to read the bible and then implement it's teaching in their lives (James 1:22) and the end of the great commission says, "Go and make disciples of all people groups, baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." The transformative power of the gospel is realized in a life of discipleship but this total lordship seems to have been pushed to the periphery of the church in the Philippines. The church and missionaries in Mindanao need to analyze our output. We must observe the disciples in our churches and see if their lives are growing toward being founded on Christ Jesus' action and His word (Luke 6:47-48). The apostle Paul wrote, "What ever you have learned or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice," and Mindanao cries for church members who are active in reaching out to other people groups and building relationships for the sake of the realization of the kingdom of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit as described in John 14 and Paul's words that God is transforming us from glory to glory is no excuse to be passive disciples. John 14:15 starts with the command, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" and followers of Jesus need to take this command to discipleship and act on it. My prayer is that the memebers of the church in Mindanao will be full of scripture and committed to acting out the commands of Jesus. I pray that we will live lives of active, countercultural, indiscriminate love for all people of all ethnicity, religion and age. All of the laws, all of the prophets and all of the New Testament hang on the command to love all people. I pray that the church would understand our Lords commands, and read the gospels so that we will be an educated and active church representing the values of the Kingdom of God: justice, peace, mercy and love. I pray that we can live in peace and harmony with one another as brothers and sisters in God's creation. As I sit in our office, and pray this prayer. I see 3 military helicopters fly over head on their way into the battlefield. Two are armed with machine guns on each side designed to rip a person apart in the blink of an eye and the third chopper is armed with the same rockets that went stray a few weeks ago and killed 4 innocent children. The men operating those helicopters are most likely Christians; it breaks my heart to see them fly into the battle field...God help us. God's peace to all of you, Darnell.

My Passion for Discipleship

2008-10-07T20:48:00.001-07:00

Discipleship was a value that I took form my days at MEI and buried deep inside. I could never grasp my understanding of discipleship in words but I knew deep inside we need to read the word and apply it. I found this definition online an doctored it a bit to make it current. I feel relieved that I have a conceptualization of my understanding of the essence of discipleship.

"First and fundamental in the Anabaptist vision was the conception of the essence of Christianity as discipleship."

Discipleship is a concept which means the transformation of the entire life of the individual believer and of society so that it should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ.

The Anabaptists can not understand a Christianity which makes regeneration, holiness, and love primarily a matter of intellect, of doctrinal belief, or of subjective "experience," rather than one of the transformation of life. Repentance must be "evidenced" by newness of behavior. "In evidence" is the keynote which rings through the testimonies and challenges of the early Swiss Brethren when they are called to give an account of themselves. The whole life was to be brought literally under the Lordship of Christ in a covenant of discipleship. The focus of the Christian life not to be so much the inward experience of the grace of God, as it was for Luther, but the outward application of that grace to all human conduct and the consequent Christianization of all human relationships. The true test of the Christian, we hold, is discipleship.

The essence of the Christian life, as the Anabaptist understand it, is being a disciple. This, in turn, means multiplication of that very life by making disciples who enjoy the privileges and share the responsibilities that such a life entails.

Taken from: Hans Kasdorf's Anabaptists and the Great Commission in the Reformation.

Prof. Kasdorf teaches languages and missions at Pacific College, Fresno, California

Tina riding a motorcycle and Me feeding the fish...

2008-09-29T21:03:00.002-07:00

3 on a Motorcycle in Camiguin

2008-09-29T03:50:00.001-07:00

Darnell + Christina: It’s important to take time together on our own

2008-09-29T00:40:00.003-07:00

Christina’s cousin, Mikki, has been visiting us for the last 2 weeks and it’s been a blast. We’ve just came back from a 2 week vacation to two northern islands known for their beauty, volcano’s and surfing. It was incredibly refreshing. Tina and I both know her cousin Mikki very well. She was Tina’s roommate during the year we were dating, so she knows all of our deepest ups and downs during that year. We both love Mikki very much and are thankful that she could come and spend this time with us, and remind us of some of the things that we left behind in the Fraser Valley. Mikki’s an amazing girl. She has lots of energy, she loves to meet people, she loves to surf, and she loves to laugh. She’s also very refreshing to be around because she asks a lot of questions, deeper questions. She asks the questions about the christian system of creation, similar to ones I tend to ask, like, who is saved and what is the key factor in determining our salvation? Or what does being saved imply, in the bible? All three of us have enjoyed these talks about theology. During our time with Mikki, Tina and I have relearned that it is important for us to take time apart from the people around us and reconnect emotionally on our own. We need to go on a date! In reflection, we see that we became tense and frustrated with one another after too many days without sitting down to connect. We need to let each other know what has been going on in our head and see if we are on the same page with the events we’ve been through. Tina needs to talk with me, share how she is feeling and feel that I understand her and how she’s feeling. I on the other hand need to do something with her, something like go for a hike or for a massage or watch a movie and talk about it after were finished. I love to talk about stuff with her, but I would rather talk with her about big issues and the stuff that I’ve been thinking about than about how I’m feeling within our relationship. I’m getting better at telling her how I feel on a more consistent basis. We’ve grown together this year. Our goals, our dreams and our visions for the future have developed into outline and we look to our future together with eager anticipation! ☺

A small break is key to reflection...

2008-09-18T04:35:00.003-07:00

Tina, Mikki and I have been blessed to have a week and a half break to checkout some of the sites here in Mindanao. We're traveling on Camiguin and soon will be heading to Siargao to watch an international surf comp. It's incredibly relaxing as well as helpful for my personal reflection and analysis of our action and growth while here in Mindanao. When we get back to Davao we'll post a few vids and pics of our trip. (3 of us on a motorcycle and me throwing up!!) Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and concerns. Darnell

Relief op Photos...

2008-09-12T02:44:00.001-07:00

Back From Lanao del Norte...(Text)

2008-09-12T02:41:00.003-07:00

We arrived in Davao late last night after eight hours of driving and 6 very efficient hours of relief work. Praise God for safe travel. Kriz, Elwyn and Mei did an amazing job organizing and coordinating us.

Tina and I were blessed to be able to go into the field and lend a hand to our expert field workers! We help distribute goods to many of the children, as well as document the trip for further analysis. Our skin color was useful to the task of distribution as all the children tend to watch us no matter what were doing anyways. :) Thank-you for all of your prayers and support.

Darnell

P.S. Tina will be writing a more detailed article in the future.

Troop Movements in the Afternoon...

2008-09-12T02:38:00.001-07:00

Back From Lanao...

2008-09-12T02:35:00.000-07:00

Mindanao War, The Battle For Propaganda

2008-09-11T22:46:00.002-07:00

Mindanao War, The Battle For Propaganda Wednesday, September 10, 2008 02:01:41 PM ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 10, 2008) – Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines has become a battle ground, not only of skirmishes between Filipino troops and Moro rebels, but of their propaganda. Militant groups and political activists, including leftist organizations opposed to President Gloria Arroyo’s rule, have also joined in the propaganda war. Communist rebels too, are now calling the Filipinos to topple the US-backed democratic, but scandals-laden Arroyo government. Politicians who wanted publicity also are issuing statements about the situation in Mindanao. And civilians are paying a high price for the senseless wars in the restive region. Since fighting broke out last month, more than 200 people had died and over half a million more are in temporary shelters put up for war refugees in Mindanao and the hostilities continue. Seven mostly Muslim civilians, including children and a pregnant woman, who died Monday from a military air strike Maguindanao’s Datu Piang town added to the long list of war victims in the southern Philippines. And the latest casualties had been used both by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine military in their propaganda. The rebels accused the government forces of killing innocent civilians and the military insisted those killed were either MILF members or had been used as shield by guerrillas fleeing the offensive. And this happened during Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month. Militant groups and other allied organizations were quick to condemn the killings and at the same time pursued calls for Arroyo to step down. And those calling for Arroyo’s ouster were tagged by police and military as communist rebels and if they are members of any Muslim militant groups, authorities would tag them as terrorists and listed as enemy of the state. The Kawagib Moro Human Rights Organization on Wednesday said the attacks launched by the military troops were no longer against the MILF, but an attack to Muslim civilians and communities. It said the military initially denied the incident, but later admitted that the air strike had killed the civilians. Security officials had insisted government plane used machine guns and rockets to put down the rebels and not bombs as reported by residents. “Their statements contradict to what they are doing, and we are used to these lies of the military whenever they committed human rights violations. They denied they used bombs but later admitted they dropped rockets to scare MILF. They said those killed were rebels, but photos and reports showed that all the victims are minors and civilians,” Bai Ali Indayla, Kawagib’s spokesperson said. “The government and its troops are again showing its military might and it seems that there is an undeclared Martial Law here. What the military committed is a big violation to the International Humanitarian Law, the Protocols of War and Human Rights and the military officials in command should be held accountable and for disrespecting the rights of the Muslim civilians to peacefully observe the holy month of Ramadan,” Indayla said. The Philippine Army in Maguindanao province branded the slain children as “child warriors” of the MILF. The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC), a non-government organization helping children in armed conflict cope with trauma, also deplored the military’s aerial attack on the civilians. “It is doubly appalling that the military persistently use the ruse of branding children as child warriors whenever they are made to account for their human rights violations. How can these young kids mistaken for children warriors?” asked Maria Esmeralda Macaspac, CRC executive director. Macaspac scored the military’s penchant for branding children they had killed in their operations as “child warriors.” “The women and children were already fleeing from the military operations in their barangay (village) when they were hit. Would their lives be considered as mere collateral damage?” She said that it is already inexcusable that the military continues to fail to draw the line between civilians and combatants in their military operations. “Many civilians have already been killed and hundreds of thousands more have been forcibly displaced by the military operations. Every time the government declares war, the civilians are the first to be killed and be displaced rather than be the first to be put to safety,” Macaspac said. The Maoist-inspired Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization also urged citizens to rise up against Arroyo. “The Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization urges the Moro people to live out the spirit and call of the Qur'an to pursue peace and justice and fight against oppression and tyranny by intensifying the struggle for the self-determination and frustrating the attacks of the US-Arroyo regime.” “The MRLO urges the MILF to continue to pursue the path of revolutionary armed struggle and to unite with other revolutionary forces to fight the fascist US-Arroyo regime. The struggle for the right to ancestral domain must continue and commanders who are engaged in tactical offensives against the AFP and the interventionist US troops must be fully supported,” Omar Mukhtar, the group’s leader said. The outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines also condemned the killings of the civilians in the air strike and put the blamed on the Arroyo government and the US military for the fighting in Mindanao. “The people must concentrate their anger and condemnation on the US-Arroyo regime as directly responsible on the deaths and damages of the people in Mindanao caused by the escalation of the armed clashes between the AFP and the MILF.” “The problem can be rooted to the US-dictated two pronged militarist policy of the regime which is the all-out war against the revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) while neutralizing the Moro secessionist movement of the MILF thru a deceptive and bogus peace process to finish the revolutionary movement in 2010,” rebel spokesman Frank Fernandez said. The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, but talks had been suspended after a series of rebel attacks led by Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar killed dozens of civilians in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, including the Organization of the Islamic Conference have expressed grave concern over the fighting and the humanitarian crisis in Mindanao. Arroyo has ordered security forces to pursue Kato and Macapaar, but at the same said that “violence must stop, order must be restored, and peace must be our goal. There is no room for wanton violence against innocent civilians.” “It is in the best interest of all Filipinos, Muslims and Christians, to end the violence that has held that part of our country back,” she said. “Continued fighting and war is no alternative to a lasting peace. The government is on the side of peace and needs the support of all Filipinos, Christian and Muslim alike, if this opportunity for peace is to be realized and if the country is to prosper.” “We must now secure peace, order and stability in the region and then reassure all the people that we can then move ahead with any broad-based discussion on the peace process – this includes bringing relief to affected refugees and victims and bringing to justice those purveyors of violence,” Arroyo said, but for political activists the statement was just another government propaganda aimed at masking the real situation in Mindanao, where over half a million hungry war refugees are housed in temporary shelters. (Mindanao Examiner) http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20080910010141

Global Reform and Motorcycle Design

2008-09-08T00:00:00.006-07:00

Some days I am searching for myself. I sit down and evaluate what I truly believe, what I want, what I expect and what my role is in the life that I have been given. Sometimes the different answers I get seem to conflict. Daily I see and hear the poverty of the masses and my conscious, or the spirit of God, pricks me to ask what can be done? What must be done? Through this internal struggle against injustice I see that part of me wants to change the world. I want to spend myself for the good of humanity, knowing that my heavenly father love’s His creation and calls me to demonstrate His love. Growing up in a conservative modern church taught me that there is a tidy answer to life’s questions and this thinking has brought my to a very tense mental state. Religion taught me that life is two-dimensional and that there are only two ways things can go, the right way or the wrong way. Decisions are black or white. There is little room in God’s perspective for many shades of grey. God has one divine perfect will and if I miss it, I’m in trouble. Well, I don’t believe it. I love riding motorcycles. I love the feeling, I love the challenge of working on them and trying to figure things out. I would love to have the freedom to be able to design and sell bikes. Machines are pieces of artwork, gifts from God similar to a beautiful painting or a gifted soloist. Think about the creativity it would take to design all of the specific systems of a motorcycle: Breaks, Carbs, Cylinders, Gears, suspension…and it all works togther for a single purpose. Beautiful. Since I was young I loved to explore and tinker and thoughts of designing a vehicle and putting it into production were my dream for a long time. These thoughts about bikes seem selfish in light of the suffering that is going on worldwide. Yet, they are genuine desires I don’t want to ignore. How can I balance the desire to create and enjoy artwork and riding when I see much of the world falling apart and thinking that something must be done? These questions lead me bigger questions…how do my desires fit into Christ’s plan for cosmic redemption? And the arrival of the Kingdom of God...? I read an interesting thought in God’s Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It by Jim Wallis: “Our most difficult and darkest moments are precisely the time to embrace the nurturing relationships that remind us how precious and sacred the gift of life really is. It is those relationships (often with children), along with other renewing practices and spiritual disciplines we keep, that will remind us of what is truly important. The special divine activity of affirming life (especially new life) helps us to recall at the deepest level why we care about issues of war and peace, justice and injustice.” (46) He suggested that the tension I feel between what I love and seems selfish to enjoy in the face of the disenfranchised (riding, time with friends and family, relaxing rather than doing something, etc.) can be fuel for my internal fire for justice and peace/equality worldwide. When I truly appreciate the freedom and life that God has given me, I can recognize that he has given it to all people and see that some of us stand in the way of His life (John 10:10) reaching all people. How can I facilitate change without being alienated from myself? How can I be a prophet to my own generation?

Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches: The Mindanao Issue

2008-08-31T22:17:00.001-07:00

PCEC STATEMENT ON MINDANAO ISSUE We, the Evangelical community, are deeply saddened at the violent turn of events in parts of Mindanao for reasons related to the failed signing of the draft Memorandum of Agreement—Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The alarming situation Since the aborted signing of the MOA-AD, which was scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, armed MILF groups have gone on a rampage in North Cotabato and Lanao Del Norte killing scores of innocent civilians, including women and children. As response to the atrocities Government forces have launched punitive military action against the MILF elements responsible for the attacks. In the meantime, the media have reported the formation of Christian vigilante groups, which have issued grave warnings of retaliatory action to any future atrocities against the Christian community. The National Disaster Coordinating Council and other governmental agencies have reported that around 70 civilians have been killed and some 360,000 people dislocated since violation erupted three weeks ago. The deterioration of the peace and order situation in Mindanao has caused deep anxieties on various communities not only in the region but in the entire country. Many fear that if the escalating situation is not diffused Mindanao might again be mired in internecine conflict that engulfed the region in the '70s. Let us pursue the path of peace As followers of Jesus Christ, we adhere to the truth that all authority in heaven and on earth falls under His kingship. His reign represents the true essence of peace, harmony, understanding and love. We believe that the situation in Mindanao grieves the heart of Christ. And so it does ours. We hold the truth that Christ only sees in all unsurpassable worth and thus bestows on all unsurpassable love. We condemn violence Violence, destruction and hatred dehumanize their victims and their perpetrators, their object and their subject. They despoil human dignity and sully God's image imbedded in every human being. As followers of Christ we seek to uphold the value that God sees on each individual irrespective of ethnicity and religion. The killings and violence in Mindanao are not pleasing to the God of love and reconciliation. Regardless of its complex genesis, we strongly believe that the only way to stop eroding the true worth of each human being is the path of peace. Violence begets violence. The only way to arrest its stranglehold is to halt its vicious cycle. It would take all sides to the conflict to accomplish this difficult but rewarding task. We implore all sides to commit to the path of peace that truly lasts. We also implore those that actively seek the way of violence in Mindanao to desist from their activities and recall Christ's words that those who live by the sword die by the sword. We ask for the rule of law to be applied to those guilty of recent atrocities and appeal to all sides to desist from any actions that escalate violence, endanger the lives of more innocent civilians, cause the separation and suffering of families, and result in dislocation of people from their communities. Let us promote greater understanding The Bible compares an untamed tongue to a small spark that can set forests afire. Careless words are dangerous, unhelpful and liable to conflagrate combustible situations. We are gravely concerned that the situation in Mindanao has not been helped by the grand standing and braggadocio of media-hungry politicians on all sides throwing out careless calls for all-out war that only further enflame emotions and escalate the situation. While the way of dialogue and understanding sounds as the most counter-intuitive of virtues in time of war, we believe that it is precisely what is most needed now to stem further violence. Empathy is the barrier to the slippery slope of internecine conflict. We are therefore unapologetic to urge all sides for greater understanding and empathy, which are the foundational virtues for any lasting peace in Mindanao. Let us continue to work and pray for peace We commend those that are working towards peace on the side of the Government, the MILF, the religious sector, community-based NGOs, civil society and other people's organizations. We encourage them to continue their noble and godly work. Our prayers are with them. We call on all, especially churches in the area that banner the lordship of Christ, to continue to pray for peace and lend all possible assistance to the dispossessed, the grieving and those that are suffering because of violence and conflict. It is in this time of darkness, confusion, animosity and despair where the love of Christ must shine forth and where the hope He offers must provide the comfort that many so desperately need. Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches Quezon City August 31, 2008

A round of 105 mm howitzer is more than the price of a core shelter

2008-08-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews Sunday, 31 August 2008 16:52 MAGUINDANAO (MindaNews/30 August) – At a firebase somewhere in Maguindanao last week, soldiers told Manila-based journalists that they fired around 200 rounds of 105 mm howitzers in 24 hours. Hajji Faisal, who accommodated some 30 families of displaced villagers from neighboring barangays in his compound along the highway to Datu Piang narrated how bombs were being dropped from planes and "bazooka kahit ala una ng umaga" (they were firing bazookas even at 1 am.). The cost of one round of 105-mm howitzer is P30,000, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon, who recently retired as Armed Forces Chief of Staff, told MindaNews Easily, government spent at least P6 million from that firebase alone on that day alone. The cost of government's core shelters for displaced families who lost or will lose their homes to war this year has remained at P25,000 each. In the 2000 war, the core shelter cost P15,000 each. In 2003, it was P25,000. In 2008, it's still P25,000, five thousand pesos less than one round of 105 mm howitzer,. The military has set up firebases in strategic areas in Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sarangani – areas where Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) elements clashed with government forces or attacked villages and are now being hunted. On August 14, at a firebase along the highway in North Cotabato, this reporter stopped counting at 100, from the pile of canisters that once contained the 105 mm howitzers. On August 22, MindaNews columnist Gail Ilagan stopped counting at 132. "It's expensive, basta expensive," Esperon said when asked for the cost of other ammunition. In his presentation before the 4th Mindanao Media Summit in Davao City on August 8, Esperon told reporters that in the "all-out war" waged by then president Joseph Estrada in 2000, "it was estimated that an average of 20 million pesos a day or a total of 1.133 billion pesos were eaten up during the whole period of the drive." "Aside from the huge military spending, the war still took the lives of 431 soldiers and wounded 624 more," he said. Damage to infrastructure was pegged at 202 million pesos while 125 million pesos worth of crops, livestock and fisheries were destroyed, Esperon said. In the 2003 war in Buliok – the base of the MILF after the fall of Camp Abubakar in 2000 – "47 million worth of agriculture produce were wasted and 130 million worth of infrastructure devastated, among others." While "only a score of soldiers perished during the said campaign," the military cost in terms of ammunition spent, Esperon said, "should remind us how expensive that month-long campaign had been." The ammunition consumption of just a single Army battalion during that period, he said, was P20.51 million. In the graph Esperon showed, the battalion spent 212,019 rounds of 556 mm (ball) worth P2.39 million; 53,667 rounds of 7.62 mm linked at P1.15 million; 26,821 rounds of 7.62 mm (ball) at P410,000; 2,407 rounds of 40 MM (M203) at P3.86 million; 126 hand grenades at P80,000; 356 rifle grenades at P80,000; 10,348 rounds of caliber 30 LMG at P590,000; 16,967 cal. 50 HMG linked at P100,000; 1,200 rounds of cal. 50 (ball) spotting at P2.96 million; 799 rounds of 81 mm mortar at P3.71 million; 448 rounds of 90 mm RR at P8,71 million and 300 rounds of 25 mm at P90,000. MindaNews computed the cost per ammunition based on these figures and this is how it looks: -one round of 556 mm (ball) is P11.27 each; -one round of 7.62 mm linked is P21.43; -one round of 7.62 mm (ball) is P15.28 each; -one round of 40 mm (M203) is P1,603.65; - a hand grenade costs P634.92 each; - a rifle grenade costs P224.72; - one round of Cal. 30 LMG is P57.01; - one round of caliber 50 HMG linked is P5.89; - one round of cal. 50 (ball) spotting costs P2,466.66 - one round of 81 mm mortar costs P4,643.304; - one round of 90-mm recoilless rifle costs P19,441.96 each; and - one round of 25 mm costs P300 each. From 1970 to 1996 an estimated 100,000 soldiers, rebels and civilians were killed in the conflict between the government and Moro rebels. Fifty-five thousand were wounded. In the 2000 war, 120 civilians died either in a crossfire or in the evacuation centers, in Pikit alone . In the 2003 war, 84 civilians died in Pikit alone. In 2000, nearly a million villagers were displaced by war; in 2003, a little over 400,000. In 2008, at least 100,000 persons have been displaced by the recent skirmishes and at least 40 civilians have been killed – 33 in Lanao del Norte, three in North Cotabato, seven in Maguindanao/Shariff Kabunsuan. Records on the 2000 war show that the amount needed to repair roads and irrigation systems destroyed by war was P556.32 million while P1.323 billion was needed for relief and rehabilitation,. In 2003, for relief alone, government spent P60 million and P50 million for rehabilitation – based on records of the Department of Social Welfare and Development alone (DSWD). But more than the visible costs of war – ammunition and other war materiel, the lives lost among combatants and civilians in the battlefields, hospitals and evacuation centers, the limbs lost and other injuries sustained, the invisible costs of war cannot be quantified. "Madali i-impelmenta yung physical rehabilitation pero yung hindi nakikita na epekto ng gyera, yung trauma on the part of the children, being uprooted from the homes, sa mga nanay, yung polarization nangyayari sa community – Christian, Muslim, Lumad, yung hatred, anger. Ito yung hindi mo ma-quantify at hindi mo pwedeng tugunin lang sa pamamagitan ng pagtayo ng bahay, pagbigay ng seeds. Kailangan mo dito ay isang professional na approach, tulad ng psychosocial intervention, trauma healing, debriefing, sa mga bata at mga traumatized women. Nakita ko rin sa implementasyong ng rehabilitasyon ng gobyerno, ito ay hindi binibigyan ng importansya" (It's easy to implement physical rehabilitation but the invisible effects of war – trauma on the part of the children, being uprooted from the homes, mothers, the polarization fo communities – Christians, Muslims, Lumad – the hatred, anger. You can't quantify these and you can't respond to these by constructing shelter and giving seeds. What you need is professional approach, like psychosocial intervention, trauma healing, debriefing of children and traumatized women. In the implementation of rehabilitation by government, this is not given importance), Fr Roberto Layson, former parish priest of Pikit, said after the war in 2003. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

The Philippines Gov't is approving the distribution of 13,000 shotguns to the public in support of the local army.

2008-08-26T19:26:00.005-07:00

The philippines Gov't is approving the distribution of 13,000 shotguns to the public in support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Please pray that wisdom will overrule the current state of this decision. STATEMENT OF THE MINDANAO PEOPLES CAUCUS (MPC) 26 August 2008 More to Worry About 13,000 Shotguns for Civilians in Mindanao AMID growing insecurity and communal violence in conflict areas in Mindanao, the government is now unleashing another stealth move by allowing Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to arm conflict-weary civilians with 13,000 shotguns. The reason for this, Sec. Puno says, is to repel Muslim rebels in the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao as a result of the frenzy last August 18 which killed 35 people according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Another reason, says Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is there's a need to address the hostilities committed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) base commands led by Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato and Abdulrahman Macaapar in the war-affected municipalities. As of August 23, one thousand fully-loaded shotguns were already distributed to 'auxiliary police units' in Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Northern Mindanao, and Socksargen regions. However, the PNP admits that this new unit of civilian volunteers will still have to undergo a selection process and rigid training. We, members of the Mindanao People's Caucus (MPC), see this as a desperate move, and a very dangerous move given the anger, fury, and rage of the people affected by the conflict after the stalled signing of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). Arming the civilians is like pouring more gasoline to a blazing house, fueling more animosity between Christians and Muslims, and 'Balkanizing' Mindanao. This move is highly divisive and deceptive and could only fan Christian-Muslim conflict. Arming civilians is also localizing conflict and thus encouraging communal violence. If at all there is any legal basis to funnel more arms to Mindanao, it should be on the notion that the weapons will be given to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP and not to civilians. Shotguns for civilians is like pawning them in the war front and sacrificing their lives in the war zones. Is government already relinquishing its constitutional and moral mandate to protect its citizens? Is the AFP and PNP already saying we could not protect the civilians anymore and that is why each one should now carry his/her own shotgun? Where is the rule of law given the obfuscating hostilities at the heart of the Bangsamoro Homeland? War histories are full of gory lessons about utilizing civilians to beef up military forces. Such strategy is a brutal military and police campaign in Mindanao—a region that has become a war laboratory in the Philippines. We denounce distributing more guns to Mindanao, we denounce violence, and we condemn the escalating conflicts. While there is a need to pursue the peace process, we appeal for sobriety and sanity on both government and MILF in trying to address a political problem. We smell blood in arming civilians, we smell the rise of animosity, prejudice and hatred. Arming the civilians with 13,000 shotguns is another layer of collateral damage in Mindanao and opens up a dim alley for human rights violations. We need to stop the reemergence of Ilaga and Barakuda, fanatical groups of armed Christians and Muslims, who claimed thousands of lives during the 70s due to the successful hate campaign and divide and rule tactic of the martial law regime. We call on our religious leaders for them to help bring down the violence. We urge them to be vigilant on moves that tend to capitalize on faith to sow division and mistrust among believers. MPC, as a tripeople network which has been espousing dialogue among the peoples of Mindanao, will never allow a recurrence of animosity amongst Muslims and Christians. We shall double our efforts to save the gains of the peace process and preserve the unity and solidarity that we have developed among Christians, Muslims, and Lumads. Let the rule of law prevail, not the rule of the gun.

Politics and Hope for renewal through the Holy Spirit.

2008-08-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

In the last month we have seen a whirlwind of armed conflict and corrupt personal political interest revealed in the media every week. We’ve been warned with threats of an all out war that would send the peace talks back 3 years and seen outsiders manipulate the public through the media for their own personal interests. It seems that in the end, it all comes down to money. The rich and powerful want more of it and the poor are almost willing to do anything to get it. We have also been encouraged as the Philippines Government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels agreed to meet in Kuala Lumpur to talk about avenues to reach sustainable peace. I believe it showed that the government was partly sensitive to filipino living in the towns which double as battlefields though only partly because we know from the war in Iraq global investors will not put there money in a country which is at war. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) politicians know that if they do not pacify the conflict in central Mindanao they will not be able to maximize on the international benefits which come with global investors. The struggle for peace is a noble goal, but my personal hope for peace often feels dashed when I remember that every player in the peace process does not want justice. People want peace for many different reasons and after the armed conflict is over and investors come, it’s likely that global capitalism will bring other forms of systematic injustice against the marginalized people of central Mindanao. In moments of discouragement I have learned that my only sustainable hope for peace comes from my confidence in the fulfillment of scripture. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven and that in the reign of God redemption of society and justice for all would come. He promised that the holy spirit would lead us into all truth and that the truth will set us free. I pray that the followers of Christ would see Jesus message of economic jubilee and justice as a central part of our lives as followers of him.

Mindanao Politics

2008-08-11T21:24:00.002-07:00

We're going through some pretty crazy stuff right now because peacebuilders is quickly becoming a relief organization due to the fighting that Just started. The Gov. and MILF are working on a peace process and there are a few "spoilers of peace" who are afraid that if the deal goes through they will have to be more tolerant of muslims. Unfortunately these people are rich and influential (one of them vice-governor of a province) and are spreading lies among the ignorant majority to stir the people up and mobilize them to take up arms...against the muslim population. I believe the vice governor is worried because if the peace process continues on its current track he would be a religiously intolerant christian living in a Islamic province. Secondly, he may not be voted back in if the GRP give the Bangsamoro's a self governed province within the Philippines. So, in order to protect his personal interests he stirred up the Christian population by telling them that they would lose their land if the Memorandum or Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was made official. He also was reported saying that he believes that every mindanao citizen should have their own gun...he's an arms dealer. This is only a small segment of the bigger more complicated politics of this conflict war. Right now we're putting a medical team together to help the refugees who mostly have foot injuries and shock related medical needs. As well we are putting together food packets for the refugees second week. They have immediate aid from world vision and the World food program but after the initial pictures are taken (first week) their will not be much aid in the area, that's when we'll come in. Please pray for these people they need hope, their is no telling how long the fighting will last and many of them don't know where their food will come from if they remain displaced. Please pray for these Christian and Muslim children, mothers, fathers, and husbands. They need Gods intervention and to know the love of Christ. Now is that time that the parable of the good samaritan should be applied on a large scale... Click here for a Summary of the MOA-AD

Why We Fight. by Eugene Jarecki Documentary

2008-08-06T01:14:00.007-07:00

Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell challenged the USA not to let the Military Industrial Complex run the USA as the military power of the states grew. Eisenhower warned: "Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

Watch it critically, every man has his bias.

We have seen the fruit of this military industrial complex first hand here in the Philippines.

Dwight Eisenhower's full farewell address in text

MILF praises PGMA’s SONA on Mindanao

2008-07-28T21:34:00.003-07:00

MILF praises PGMA’s SONA on Mindanao Date: Monday, July 28 @ Malay Peninsula Standard Time Topic: News July 29, 2008 The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has praised President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on her statement about the GRP-MILF Peace Talks in her State of Nation Address (SONA) before the Second Regular Session of the 14th Congress on July 28, 2008. MILF Secretariat chairperson Muhammad Ameen told Luwaran that Madame Arroyo’s remarks on the peace process is reflective of her growing commitment and determination to finish the negotiations during her term of office in addressing the centuries-old Moro Problem in Mindanao. Arroyo’s term of office will end in about the middle of 2010. Ameen said that Arroyo’s reference to the peace process, though brief, still carries significant meaning in many ways, citing the priority of dialogue over the use of force in her speech. “In our 2006 SONA, our food baskets were identified as North Luzon and Mindanao. The sad irony of Mindanao as food basket is that it has some of the highest hunger in our nation. It has large fields of high productivity, yet also six of our ten poorest provinces.” “The prime reason is the endless Mindanao conflict. A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.” “The demands of decency and compassion urge dialogue. Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost. Dialogue has achieved more than confrontation in many parts of the world. This was the message of the recent World Conference in Madrid organized by the King of Saudi Arabia, and the universal message of the Pope in Sydney.” Asked why the MILF praised President Arroyo for her statement on the Mindanao peace process when other criticized her bitterly for citing unfounded statistics especially on the economy of the country, Ameen said, “We give credit where credit is due.” The current peace talks between the government and the MILF “collapsed” Friday night, July 25, when the MILF walked out in protest over the “changing positions” of the government over the timeline of the conduct of the plebiscite to determine which of the areas adjacent to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would accede to join the future Bangsamoro state or sub-state. The MILF accepted the first position of the government, which stipulated that it will conduct the plebiscite twelve months after the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD), but later on it changed position. This irked the MILF and walked out of the session hall saying: “Under the present circumstances, it is illogical or unreasonable to continue the talks.” To salvage the talks, Arroyo sent Secretary Hermogenes Esperon and Secretary Norberto Gonzales, along with Secretary Rodolfo Garcia, government chief peace negotiator, to find ways to engage and proceed with the talks and sign or initial the MOA-AD. The MILF credited Datuk Othman bin Abdulrazak, Malaysian chief facilitator, and Secretary Esperon as mainly responsible for the success, after the collapse, of the talks and initialing of the MOA-AD Sunday evening. Also playing important roles were members of the Malaysian secretariat which included Dato Fauzi Mohammad bin Daud, who heads the Research Department of the Prime Minister, Dato Zamzamin bin Hashim, Madame Hasanah binti Abdulhamid, Hamzah Tuan Mat, and Ahmad Faris Ahmad.

Meeting the Official Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)

2008-07-28T20:27:00.006-07:00

At the end of the video a reporter asks Esperon, "What is being done to ensure that skirmishes do not break out again?" After thinking for a moment Esperon defers the question to Rexal Kaalin, the leader of an NGO 600 people strong called Bantay Ceasefire (Ceasefire Watch). They act as messengers between the MILF and GRP as well as monitoring the movements of all troops and rebels in order to record accurate information about any breakage in the ceasefire agreement.

It was cool to see the Government recognize that an NGO has a better grasp of how to maintain a peaceful ground situation than the Armed Forces of the Philippines does.

On July fifteenth I was fortunate enough to go to a meeting held by the Official Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Hermogenes Esperon Jr. The OPAPP called the Mindanao Peace Weavers (our local peace network) together at the Western Mindanao Command Davao Army base. When we arrived we were ushered into a large board room full of Military officers being briefed by Espeson in regards to future peace processes and questioned in regards to their actions in the field in the last two weeks of skirmishes. I was expecting some prepared speeches and a statement regarding the current stall in the peace talks which angered some MILF commanders into breaking their agreed ceasefire and engaging with AFP troops. But, instead Esperon immediately asked the peace network what we we can tell them about what is happening on the ground. What a surprise! He genuinely wanted to know what was happening in the grassroots and deliberately coordinated himself with us. We reported to him what we knew from our civilian battlefield reconnaissance organization Bantay Ceasefire. After we updated him on the state of the grassroots and the events of the delegation of Davao business people and pastors that we had previously sent into the field, he thanked us for our efforts and said that we are a key player in the process from the government's perspective.

Since this meeting we have seen the Government take convincing actions towards achieving peace in Mindanao. Yesterday during the State of the Nation Address the president affirmed "her administration is committed to pursue 'just and lasting peace during our term in office." (2008.July.28 Mindanao Times)

The events of the last weeks have encouraged me as I've seen the effect of the our peacebuilding process and how the policy-makers have acknowledged that we play a significant role.

Transportation

2008-07-28T06:47:00.007-07:00

We spend lots of time every day on different kinds of transportation...breathing diesel fumes! This how we get around every day, and some of the different things that we see everyday.

J.H. Yoder - On Luke 14:26

2008-07-24T21:15:00.003-07:00

"Modern psychologizing interpretation of Jesus has been bothered largely with whether the word hate here should be taken seriously or not (Luke 14:26)…The point is rather that in a society characterized by very stable, religiously undergirded family ties, Jesus is here calling into being a community of voluntary commitment, willing for the sake of its calling to take upon itself the hostility of the given society…What matters is the quality of the life to that which the disciple is called. The answer is that to be a disciple is to share in that style of life of which the cross is the culmination….The same warning is still more clear in the reprimand to the disciples in their concern about privilege in the coming kingdom, which Luke incorporates in the last supper accounts… 'The kings of the earth lord it over their subjects; but it shall not be so among you…for I am among you as one who serves.' In none of the accounts where this word is reported does Jesus reprimand his disciples for expecting to establish some new social order, as he would have had to do if the thesis was of the only-spiritual kingdom were to prevail. He rather reprimands them for having misunderstood the character of that new social order which he does intend to set up…The alternative to how the kings of he earth rule is not [only] 'spiritually' but servant hood" (p.38).

PEACEBUILDING AND TRANSFORMATION: Being a Christian Witness in a Conflicted land. By Dann Pantoja

2008-07-24T20:42:00.009-07:00

These are the roots of Peacebuilders Community and the basic theology that we are sharing with local churches.

PEACEBUILDING AND TRANSFORMATION: BEING A CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN A CONFLICTED LAND By Dann Pantoja Christian witness is about telling the truth—the Truth we experienced in Christ. Our witness ought to be authenticated with our lives. It means loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.It means loving our enemies, reconciling with them, and respecting them as friends. It involves living in their midst in justice and in peace. It involves being transformed in all aspects of our lives in accordance to the character of Jesus—the Prince of Peace. Christian witness is submitting our whole life, our whole being, to the Almighty God. It is acknowledging God’s sovereignty over our most valued priorities. When we acknowledge the God of the Bible, such acknowledgment "requires the reordering of everything else."1

Three years ago, I lived in the Municipality of Sultan Kudarat, in the Province of Shariff Kabungsuan (formerly a part of Maguindanao Province), for six months. The house where I lived was just a few kilometers away from Camp Darapanan, the Central Headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). I stayed in a neighborhood called Nuling, the traditional residence of a respected clan who are the descendants of Sultan Kudarat. I introduced myself just as I am—a Tagalog Christian who wants to build peaceful relationship among the Maguindanao Muslims. I told them that I was a pastor and a student of Theology and that I was preparing to be a peacebuilding worker among the tri-people of Mindanao—the Lumad (Indigenous Peoples), the Bangsamoros2 (mostly Muslims), and the Migrants (mostly Christians). They learned about my family, my religious background, my political background, and my dual citizenship as a Filipino and as a Canadian. Though I was scared at first, I determined to be completely transparent with them. Today, my family had been adopted by a respected datu (a traditional community leader) and his extended family. My wife is like a sister to a bai (a lady belonging to the datu clan). My 23-year old son who was raised in Canada is so at home with his Bangsamoro Muslim friends in Sultan Kudarat. During the wedding of a prominent young datu, my son was chosen to be the young datu’s best man. In that wedding, my wife and I served as the only Christian sponsors among the business and political leaders in Muslim Mindanao. I love my adopted Muslim family! Our small peacebuilding community is also working in partnership with Muslim organizations like the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA). We work together with BDA in the area of Values Enhancement Program among Muslims and Christians around the Ligawasan marsh.

As a community, we are completely transparent with all the people of Mindanao as witnesses for Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Peacebuilding starts with Salam-Shalom. The Arabic word salam, and the Hebrew word shalom basically means "completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace." Completeness has the idea of being whole—that is, all the parts are connected with each other. Soundness can be understood also as safety of the body and clarity of mind. Welfare can be viewed as wellnes — that is, holistic health and prosperity. Peace can be read as tranquility, contentment, and healthy relationships with God and other human beings, and thus, the absence of any hostility or war. Salam-Shalom can be summarized as the quality of life characterized by harmonious relationship with God, with the Other, with the Self, and with the Creation. Salam-Shalom is a vision of life where spirituality, community, identity, and economy-ecology are harmoniously connected with each other. I’m using the term peacebuilding here as "a strategy that seeks to prevent, reduce, transform, and help people recover from violence in all forms, even structural violence that has not yet led to massive civil unrest. At the same time, it empowers people to foster relationships at all levels that sustain them and their environment."3

Strategic peacebuilding has many components. Among them are: conflict transformation, military intervention and conversion, governance and policymaking, restorative and transitional justice, environmental protection, human rights, civilian and military peacekeeping, peace education, activism and advocacy, trauma healing, and social-economic development. Peacebuilding is a practical form of being a martyr-witness. This idea is from a New Testament term, martyría. This is not about having a messianic complex. This is not about mere adventurism in a conflict zone. This is not a search for an extreme missionary experience. Being martyr-witnesses, first of all, means that we will love all people unconditionally and we will practice selfless love to the point of offering our lives to the people with whom we are called to live and to serve. This is exemplified in the humble life of Jesus of Nazareth whom we follow in response to His sacrificial love. Secondly, it means that, by God's grace, we will not lie. As witnesses to the truth we have experienced in Jesus Christ, we will initiate transparent and honest interaction with all the people concerned as we relate with them and as we formulate and implement our policies. Thirdly, being martyr-witnesses affirm that justice is an attribute of God. Therefore, our tasks will be implemented in accordance with what is just and equitable among all people concerned. Fourthly, it means practicing genuine forgiveness. Using the energies available to us through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will absorb the violence committed against us so that our lives may be used as servants to stop the cycle of violence within us and around us. Finally, it means incarnating God’s peace in our lives. We will seek harmony and reconciliation with the Creator, with our Being, with Others, and with the Creation. We believe in solving problems through non-violence. By God's grace and mercy, we will not use weapons to hurt or to kill people as a means to accomplish our dreams, mission, and objectives. When we rediscover what it means to be a martyr-witness, we are ready to do the work of peacebuilding and transformation. Salam-Shalom is harmony with God. This is spiritual transformation. True peace starts with God. Christians believe this. Muslims believe this. We definitely have to delineate and have dialogue with Muslims on how peace with God can be experienced. For us Christians, it’s through faith in Jesus Christ. For our Muslim friends, it’s through following the Five Pillars of Islam.4 During those six months living in Sultan Kudarat, I was given various opportunities to engage in a heart-to-heart interaction with Bangsamoro Muslims. Every time they ask me what I was doing in their neighborhood, my usual reply was something like this: I am here as a follower of Jesus Christ. We are commanded to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I do not believe that Christians should use violence for whatever reason. I condemn the Crusades where the name of Jesus Christ was misused. Muslims are my neighbors. Would you give me a chance to love you in the name of Jesus Christ? Can we honestly engage in transparent dialogue without resorting to violence? Can we be both faithful with our respective faiths while learning to live together in peace? Can we be both honest as we testify and witness to what we know is truth? Those who were more educated in Islam—the imams (prayer leaders), ustadzes (Islamic teachers), and ulamas (Islamic scholars)—engaged me in theological discussions that enriched me as a person. They guided me as I read the English translation of the Qur’an during those months. They asked me about the doctrine of the Trinity, of Christ as the Son of God, of the Final Judgment, of the Second Coming of Jesus. They felt free to critique those Christian doctrines in an atmosphere of friendship and intellectual enhancement. I felt they listened to me as much I listened to them. Despite our doctrinal differences, we respected each other’s journey as we seek to be in-harmony with the God of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob. The ordinary people shared their struggles and victories as they seek to follow the Five Pillars of Islam. Every time I listened to them, they gave me equal time, if not more, to share my own struggles and victories as a follower of Jesus Christ. Those six months in Sultan Kudarat were one of the most meaningful and happiest times in my life. Despite some of my cross-cultural mistakes, my Bangsamoro friends have patiently embraced me as one of their family members. There were times when they even risked their lives for me. I was so vulnerable and yet I felt so safe and secure with them.

By walking with my Maguindanaoan friends in their spiritual journey, I was spiritually transformed as a witness for Jesus Christ among Muslims! Salam-Shalom is harmony with the Self. This is psycho-social transformation. This is about our identity and security as a person. In salam-shalom perspective, the harmonious Self—the wholeness of soul, life, personality, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion that characterize us as living beings—leads a person to live an Abundant Life. Abundant Life is a term used in the Gospel of John (10:10), which means living life in its fullness—spiritually, physically, socially, economically, and culturally—as exemplified by the life of Jesus. Abundant Life is not defined by what I have but by who I am, in the context of relationships. This reminds me of my lunch with a Maguindanaoan man I call bapa (uncle). He was a retired History teacher in a local high school. His dream is to see the self-determination of the Bangsamoro people as a juridical entity.

“Dann, I’m so glad I am a Muslim and not a Christian,” he told me while I was sharing his family’s lunch. My rice-filled right hand hanged between my plate and my mouth as I waited for his next sentence. “You see,” he continued, “you Christians from the North have lost your identity. You call yourselves Filipinos—those who have been defeated by the conquerors and were given as a gift to their ruler, King Philip of Spain. This is the reason why you Filipinos will never conquer us, Bangsamoros, even with your American-supplied weapons. We have our cultural identity and dignity intact under the Almighty Allah, while you have trampled yours with the name of a dead foreign king.” “But that’s just...” I tried to rebut to defend my tribal pride. “A name? A historical past? A part of your present historical reality?” he asked, with a mixture of compassion and anger showing on his face. “Whenever you say you are a Filipino, you are telling your historical defeat! You merely look at your historical identity after 1521. The Malay culture is way earlier and far richer than your limited historical memory. Perhaps you should consider re-discovering who you are, culturally and spiritually, while you’re here with us. Come home. Come back home to Islam.” I listened to my bapa. I rediscovered and embraced my Malay heritage through my immersion into the Maguindanaoan culture. I also experienced that, as a follower of Jesus, I can appreciate my cultural heritage in a redemptive way—that is, enjoying the God-glorifying and humanizing aspects of my newly rediscovered Malay culture, while submitting to the Creator those dehumanizing aspects of culture that need purification. In Maguindanao, I have been transformed. In Maguindanao, I rediscovered the Malay part of me that my Western upbringing has forgotten. In Maguindanao, God redeemed a part of my cultural identity and opened my eyes to a new understanding of our ultimate future—when the redeemed cultures and dignity of all ethnic groups will be brought before the holy presence of God (Rev. 21:26). And in Mindanao, I can start enjoying this ultimate future... right now! Today, my bapa refers to me as “an adopted Maguindanaoan who follows Jesus.” Salam-Shalom is harmony with Others. This is social-political transformation. In an unjust and oppressive system, human beings are seen as mere human resources or projects. The tendency is to thingify people. When this is the case, human beings who are created in the image of God are sacrificed to the altar of wealth and power. It becomes easy to oppress and exploit people when they are seen as things. Many times, well-meaning organizations and institutions—like governments, corporations, schools, military, churches, and even families— wittingly or unwittingly practice this, including institutions that claim to be Christian. The more I interact with the Bangsamoros, the more I become aware where Christians ought to sharpen our listening skills. We should listen to their stories of historical injustices committed against the Moros by the Filipinos5 who are usually labeled as ‘Christians.’ We should listen to their stories on how a series of land-grabbing laws6 in the past 100 years impoverished and displaced thousands of families. We should learn more about militarization7 and how the presence of thousands of government troops affects most Bangsamoro communities. We should hear their cry against the dehumanization of the Bangsamoro people. In Sultan Kudarat, my adopted ama (father), who is a retired lawyer and a community leader, emphasized to me that the conflict in Mindanao is not about religion. “Christianity and Islam,” he said, “are not the problem in Muslim Mindanao. The Bangsamoro people are not against Jesus. We actually respect Jesus whom we refer to as Nabi Isa. The Bangsamoros resist, instead, Western colonial powers that identify themselves as Christians, and brought with them dehumanizing acts of war and oppression against our people. We see the Government of the Republic of the Philippines perpetuating such actions.” In April 2005, a team of Mennonite pastors and peacebuilders travelled across Mindanao. They met with ulamas (Islamic scholars), ustadzes (Islamic teachers), datus, graduate students, professors, NGO executives, and other leaders in Muslim Mindanao. The intention was to establish a transparent dialogue between Muslims and Christians and to build bridges of trust and understanding. Dr. David Shenk, a Mennonite scholar who has been in dialogue with religious leaders in Iran and other Islamic leaders in the Middle East, was leading the team. I invited them to visit my neighborhood in Sultan Kudarat. They were received by a respected datu, his son, and other young Bangsamoro professionals. The Sultan Kudarat hosts gave us a brief on the Bangsamoro perspective of Philippine History.

Afterwards, we had a dialogue. Polite questions were answered politely. Then a young Bangsamoro youth leader whispered to me: "Kuya Dann, I really need to ask a question that I've been wanting to ask a Western Christian, but I'm afraid I might offend them."

"Ask them... just be honest with your question... it's okay... go for it," I whispered back,

trying to push him beyond his hesitation. Finally, he asked Dr. Shenk: "You know, every time I see white people in Mindanao, I immediately think of Christian religious imperialism and Western military expansionism. It has been our historical experience. Tell me, are you here to eventually convert us through your peace and development activities?" “We do our peace and development activities sincerely in the name of Jesus Christ,” David Shenk answered. “We do not come with the Bible on one hand and a sword on the other hand. We come in humility as Jesus is humble. We come with the Cross, not as a symbol of violence—as in the Crusades—but as a symbol of suffering and peace. We will be faithful in expressing unconditional love and service with honesty and transparency. But when one of you would approach us to know more about this peace in Jesus, we would not say ‘No, go away!’ That would be religious imperialism.” Luke Shrockhurst, one of the Mennonite pastors, affirmed Dr. Shenk and added: "As Americans who carry US passports, we ask for forgiveness for the violence our nation has brought to Mindanao. We apologize for the injustices our government has committed against your people... We are the kind of followers of Jesus who do not believe in war... We do not agree when our nation is regarded as a god, for that is idolatry." "Thank you for your honest and straight-forward answers,” the young Bangsamoro leader told us. “I sense that you really respect us. You are welcome anytime here in our neighborhood." Now, this young Bangsamoro youth leader and his family helps the work of Peacebuilders Community in his area. He travels with us throughout Mindanao as we advocate for peacebuilding and transformation among the tri-people of this beautiful land. Salam-Shalom is harmony with Creation. This is economic-ecological transformation. Creation, from salam-shalom perspective, is seen as an organic-relational world, not merely as a mechanical-utilitarian world. In a mechanical-utilitarian view of the world, the emphasis is exploitation. If one of the parts of the machine-world is not functioning, the tendency is to replace it. Hence, in an unjust system, the natural resources can be exploited for the present, and then later, it can be substituted with synthetic products and artificial solutions. In an organic-relational world, the emphasis is stewardship and loving care of creation. The biblical story of Creation tells us that "the Lord God formed the mortal (adam) from the dust of the ground (adamah) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the mortal became a living being" (Gen. 2:7). These are the dynamic imageries used to give us a grasp of the beginning of the human race. We all came from the ground. We were named after the ground. We are one with Creation. We are one humanity! We are all carbon-based material. We are all breathed with the same breath of God. That is the story of our Being Alive! When the Creator-God commanded us to subdue the Earth (Gen. 1:28), it has the idea of l'shamrah—to care for, to keep, to watch, and to preserve it (Gen. 2:15). Earth-destruction is listed by the Prophet John as a sin (Rev. 11:18). We are all called by the Creator-God to be stewards of Planet Earth! Christians must apply the salam-shalom lifestyle in the stewardship of their resources. The heart of the conflict in Mindanao is about Ancestral Domain.8 The complex debate surrounding the Ancestral Domain claims of the Lumads (Indigenous Peoples) and the Bangsamoros is a theological-ethical challenge as far as the Bible is concerned. For many Christians in the Philippines, this economic-ecological issue seems to be a stumbling block in their relationship with Muslims in Mindanao, mainly because it challenges our national loyalty and integrity. But we have to look at this issue beyond the lenses of nationalism. Consider the voice of a young intellectual Bangsamoro from the Mindanao State University in Marawi City: “We were a thriving state under the Sultanate of Maguindanao, especially under Sultan Kudarat—who was our political leader sometime between 1500 and 1600 CE. The Spaniards were able to conquer Luzon and Visayas; but they did not succeed in colonizing the Muslims in Mindanao. Then the Spanish Empire became weak. They lost to the Americans in Mexico and in the Philippines. To make a graceful exit, they sold the Philippines to the United States and they included Mindanao. We resisted American colonialism and hundreds of thousands of lives were lost... In the past 100 years, both governments of the United States and the Philippines sent millions of Christians to Mindanao. Many of our lands were taken by force or through unjust means. True, our datus sold many of our lands to you Christians. We see that as hospitality and generosity, for the absolute owner of the land is the Almighty Allah and our datus are entrusted owners. You saw the inexpensive sale of our lands to you as gullibility on our part. But the Almighty Allah knows our hearts. Now, all we seek is to keep the remaining parts of Mindanao where the majority of the Bangsamoros live. We want to manage the natural resources entrusted to us by the Almighty Allah. In these remaining lands, our people will practice and enjoy our rights to self-determination. Where Christians are the majority, you can keep the land for yourselves. Where Christians and Muslims live together, we need to negotiate peacefully based on truth and justice. That’s my understanding of what we’re fighting for. That’s my personal view of what ancestral domain is all about.” How do we, Evangelical Christians, deal with the issue of the Bangsamoro’s claim of Ancestral Domain? How do we apply the values of the Kingdom of God—such as justice and peace—as we think of the people and the land? What other biblical-theological lenses through which we can see the conflict in Mindanao and other land-based conflicts in our country?

Our answer to these questions depends on how we look at Creation as part of our ministry. The creation is the world that "God so loved..." (Jn. 3:16). This world (kosmos) can mean the sum total of everything here and now, all of humanity, or world-systems. The scope of God’s redemptive love is cosmic! Our salam-shalom, our experience of wholeness, necessarily includes God’s justice and peace in the whole of creation. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s statement before the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) general assembly in Makati on August 13 was very encouraging. She said she will “hold urgent talks with the MILF under the Malaysian auspices to contain and resolve the Basilan-Sulu situation.” I praised God when she made her announcement to undertake “a pilot implementation of the envisioned Muslim ancestral domain regime” to demonstrate her government’s sincerity to achieve peace. I applauded her view that since “we’ve declared an ancestral domain among indigenous peoples, I don’t see why anybody should be scared if there is ancestral domain with our Muslim people.” But I was so saddened that four days later, on Friday, August 17, the Cabinet Cluster on Security meeting with the President appeared to have overturned her announced security directive, apparently also with her concurrence. I pray that God’s Spirit would hover over our highest officials in Malacanang so that genuine justice and peace will prevail. The issue of Ancestral Domain for the Lumads and the Bangsamoros of Mindanao is a ministry-issue in the Church. Our presence as servants of the Prince of Peace must affirm the policies of our governments about creation-stewardship when they are consistent with biblical justice and peace. When the governments’ policies are against the biblical values of justice and peace, we must critique them as part of our prophetic ministry. As I conclude, let me reiterate that we are called to be martyr-witnesses (martyría) of the Good News (euangélion) of Jesus Christ. This is how each one of us can be an evangelical witness in a conflicted land. Some of you might say, “I’m not called to go to a peacebuilding work between Christians and Muslims. Perhaps that’s your calling. Not all Christians have the same calling.” True. Not all Christians are called to be peacebuilders between Muslims and Christians; the Muslim-Christian-factor here is the variable, the specific context. The constant, or the general principle, in this challenge is being a martyr-witness of the Evangel—the Good News. All of us are called to be martyr-witnesses of the Good News of the Prince of Peace! No exception.

Being a peacebuilder does not only apply to armed conflicts. There are many conflicts happening in our own individual lives, in our families, in our churches, in our communities, in our cities, in our provinces, in our nation, and in our world. The root is the spiritual conflict between the Creator-God and humanity. This root conflict spills over to our relationships; hence, we are faced with various relational conflicts between family members, friends, church members, political parties, ethnic groups, etc. I cannot think of a place where human beings interact without conflict. We are all called to be agents of peace and transformation in each of our particular contexts of conflict. We are called to exemplify harmony with God, with our Self, with Others, and with God’s Creation. May our lives as martyr-witnesses of Jesus Christ build peace and bring transformation in our conflicted land.

1 Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), p. 747. 2 The term Bangsamoro (lit. Nation of Moros) refers to the thirteen ethno-linguistic groups—namely, Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, Samal, Yakan, Sangil, Badjao, Kalibogan, Jama Mapun, Iranun, Palawanon, Kalagan, and Molbog—who embraced Islam. They are mainly found in Western and southern Mindanao Island, the Sulu Archipelago, and the coastal areas of southern Palawan. The Moros were once considered to be the most developed communities in the entire Philippines Archipelago. They reached the level of a centrally organized society. They had their own form of government antedating several hundreds of years the creation of the Philippine Republic. I interchange the terms Bangsamoros and Moros. 3 John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (USIP, Wash., DC, 1997, p. 20) 4 (a) Iman—faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad; (b) Salah— establishment of the daily prayers; (c) Zakah—concern for and almsgiving to the needy; (d) Sawm—self-purification through fasting; and, (e) Hajj—the pilgrimage to Makkah for those who are able. 5 For a more formal ethnographic study on this issue, see: Thomas M. McKenna, Muslim Rulers and Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separation in Southern Philippines (Manila: Anvil Publishing, 2002), pp. 269-289. 6 For a legal Moro perspective on these Acts, see: Salah Jubair, Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyrrany (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: IQ Marin SDN BHD, 1999), pp. 95-97. 7 See, Mathews George Chunakara, The Militarization of Politics and Society: Southeast Asian Experiences (Hongkong: DAGA Press, 1994). 8 For an in-depth understanding of the conflict in Mindanao, see Patricio P. Diaz, Understanding Mindanao Conflict, MindaNews Publications, 2003; Salamat Hashim, The Bangsamoro People’s Struggle Against Oppression and Colonialism, Mindanaw, Bangsamoro Darul Jihad, October 2001 / Rajab 1422H. PEACEBUILDING AND TRANSFORMATION: BEING A CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN A CONFLICTED LAND © 2007 L. Daniel Pantoja, Peacebuilders Community, Inc., Davao City, Philippines 8000

The Primacy of Love

2008-07-17T02:17:00.004-07:00

It seems obvious to say that love is the central element in any relationship. It also seems obvious that relationships are the central aspects of our lives. But for some reason these two messages can be easily forgotten. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church about the importance of love in their identity as Christians. He discusses the most amazing spiritual gifts, the greatest understanding of the universe and self-sacrificial giving to the poor and says that if all of these actions exist without love we are nothing and we gain nothing. The importance of this lies in the life of Christ. Christ's death on the cross signified God's love for us in his self-sacrifice, so in the same way we must "…bring good news to the afflicted, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoner" (Isaiah 61). If our actions come out of a sense of justice but are devoid of love for the people that we relate with, we are no more followers of Christ than social activists. When we act on the Messianic office out of love for the poor, the oppressed, the broken hearted and in our personal relationships with our spouse, children, friends and coworkers we authentically communicate the long term commitment of God's love. Paul addressed the church, saying that they could have all heavenly authority or all of the social action on earth but if they lack love it is all missing the reflection of the true deeper meaning.

Summary of our Stay after Four Months

2008-07-17T02:15:00.001-07:00

In reflection over the last three months, I see that Peacebuilders Community (PCI) has made some significant advances in the peace process and Christina and I have played an important role in this process. We have been building relationships with Mindanao's Indigenous People (the Lumads), and Muslim people (Bangsamoro). In the fifteenth century the Spanish came to Mindanao to colonize it, Christianize it, and extract its resources. They concurred the northern Philippines, named the island after the King of Spain and began creating another Christendom, with Christianity being seen as a colonizing force rather than a healing gospel. The church came converting and then swindling the converted by telling them they need to tithe their land to the church. This land was often used for the church's profit. Most recently, the west has come with troops and NGOs to help development in Mindanao. These NGOs often come like a North American land developer, with a vision for a piece of land and a proposal for its development. In this approach, the actual needs of the locals are not heard; therefore, the development organization gives them what the organization thinks they need but does not actually meet the local needs. In the worst-case scenarios, Multinational Corporations (MNC) work with and through the government in development projects to get resources for their own gain. In these cases the company will show that they are giving to the local community by building a school or funding a local church but the profits from this development leave the island and the impoverished locals see no growth relative to the wealth taken from their land. The history of the Philippines has given Filipino's a self-understanding of inferiority known as the "colonial mentality". For example, when foreigners come to the island Filipino's are unconsciously trained to subordinate themselves to the foreigner. Also, Filipinos often assume that if something is imported to the Philippines it must be a superior product. Our intentions to come to the Philippines to serve and to learn are characteristics most of the communities that we are in contact with have never seen from foreigners. Dann often says, "they don't have a filing system for the way you guys come to serve." Meaning, what they see in you is something new, and they are caught off guard by how you come with no strings attached. Historically, Filipinos are used to being directed, not empowered, and therefore in some cases they don't know how to react to us. On June 12 2008 PCI went to Ligawasen to inaugurate a Bangsamoro Values Enhancement Training seminar for female Bangsamoro teachers and community leaders. This training includes Christian and Islamic peace and reconciliation skills and PCI is a major sponsor. Upon our arrival and introduction, Datu Karis Baraguir, Kuya Dann, myself, and a few other Bangsamoro leaders gave speeches. Christina and I were the representative's of the real Mennonites from Canada, as validate Dann and Joji's Mennonite support from the Bangsamoro perspective (even though Dann and Joji are Mennonite believers, they are also Filipino and are often not credited for their Mennonite beliefs). After the trip we were told that only three years ago white people were not allowed in this area because of their historical selfish intentions in Mindanao; they were considered untrustworthy.

The first Caucasian man who was allowed in this area was an Anabaptist, Dr. David Shenk. He was on a farewell tour with MCC Philippines because they were closing up there Philippines office. Dr. Shenk had lived in Muslim communities for 30 years and spent innumerable hours dialoguing with Muslims about Anabaptist and Muslim perspectives on world issues. During his tour he left a very good impression with the Bangsamoro People and Christina and I are blessed to be able to walk with the Bangsamoro in a relationship that he helped create. During the seminar inauguration speech, Datu Karis Baraguir summed up his speech with "These are the kind of Christians that we are told in the Qur'an are our friends!" He was referring to followers of Christ who believe without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus' life and calling to his followers requires sacrificial love and standing in solidarity with the oppressed as they seek justice in there lives. We are very fortunate to have wise mentors here in the Philippines; they have been our biggest asset as we adapt to the challenge of living cross-cultural. We can see that our action will empower the people to think and work outside of the bounds of oppression that has been imposed upon them for generations. Christina and I hope that in the next ten years we will continue to see the fruit of the change that we envision.

An Outbreak of Skirmishes

2008-07-17T02:13:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago the ceasefire in Mindanao between the Moro-Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government Republic of the Philippines (GRP) was broken. On June twenty-fourth the 37th Infantry Division, at Barangay Tugaig, Barira, Maguindanao was harassed by the MILF. The MILF commander who attacked was communicating his frustration that the GRP seems to be intentionally delaying the peace talks. He demonstrated his willingness to resume armed action if the government would not take the political process seriously. The initial harassment sparked multiple skirmishes in Central Mindanao between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF; one casualty and multiple injuries were reported in these firefights. Peacebuilders Community was informed of these events through our larger network of peacebuilding civil organizations. We mobilized ourselves and gathered a team of church and business leaders whom we would send to the MILF headquarters and AFP Eastern Mindanao headquarters to demonstrate the primacy of the peace process to the civilians of Mindanao. We hoped that by sending influential representatives from Davao to the heart of the decision making powers, each side of the conflict would see that they are not alone in the peace process. The population of Mindanao is tired of war and the crippling residual effects that armed conflict leaves in its path and are willing to enter the conflict area to show that they are supportive of the peace process and will not tolerate the return to violence or the political games of delay. Working through this process opened my eyes to the importance of understanding political and organizational systems. I was taking care of inter peace network communications and this posed challenging dynamics since I was the only foreigner working closely with multiple organizations to address a complex political conflict issue. I needed to work hard to understand people during meetings because meetings are often facilitated in two to three different languages. I've learned to pick out the English and find the other Tagalog and Visyan words I know. Our plan to send the delegation went smoothly and we ended up sending 18 people into the field. Among them was Bishop Effraim Tendaro (Director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches), who flew to Mindanao from Manila on short notice to represent the national body of Evangelical Churches and their support of the peace process to achieve justice for the natives of Mindanao.The delegation was well received and our objectives were accomplished. The MILF and the GRP both expressed their gratitude for the actions we took and for the grassroots peace movement that we are a major part of. Our peace network plays a major role in the lives of the troops, the rebels and the civilians on this island as we send support for displaced people, facilitate meetings like the delegation of church and business leaders, and communicate informally between opposition leaders to find peaceful resolutions to this complex conflict. The Mindanao Peace networks including Mindanao People Caucus and Mindanao Peace Weavers are thankful to see that we are having a positive and recognized impact on the state of peace in Mindanao.

Be Free! The Kingdom is Here. You were Once Slaves but Now You are Free!

2008-06-23T22:49:00.003-07:00

Since my arrival in the Philippines and exposure to many social issues to do with oppression and injustice I have been focusing on how Jesus directed us to address these issues. I see how Jesus’ life was full of the temptation to accept rule over the Jewish population and be the violent political leader that would lead the people to freedom from the tyranny of Rome (John 6:15). Jesus kept perfect perspective of his mission on earth as well as complete submission to the will of His Father in heaven. He obeyed, knowing he should suffer and redeem us sinners through his death rather than through powerful display of military might and heavenly authority (Matt 26: 52-54). In contrast to the temptation to use military might, Jesus’ life culminates with the last supper and the example of suffering servant-hood in washing the disciples’ feet and giving them the rich symbolism of communion. Jesus’ example of humble service personifies the attitude of self-sacrifice that we must have because of his example. Jesus tells us that “No servant is greater that his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16). Since Jesus rejected the use of force in opposing his unjust arrest and persecution, then as His followers so should we. Since Jesus lay down his life in service to the sick, so should we. Since Jesus humbled himself and took on the very nature of a servant and did not consider equality with God something to take hold of considering his role on earth, a sacrifice, (Phil 2:6-7) so should we. Through thinking about the social aspects of the gospel and nonviolent methods of addressing an oppressive regime I have found a different lens for reading scripture. Jesus’ address of Isaiah 61 and later description of the focus of his gospel message, the kingdom of God/Heaven, was “borrowed extensively from the prophetic understanding of the jubilee year” (Yoder, 30). So what are the attributes of the call to jubilee? In summary, the function of jubilee was to rebalance the economy every 50 years. Every household was to free its slaves, cancel all debts, let the land lay fallow and the wealth (land or goods that symbolize the access to livelihood) of the household is to be redistributed to its original holders (God the economist, Meeks, M. Douglas). This pattern was established so that the people of Israel would remember their slavery in Egypt and maintain their freedom as well as the freedom of their brothers. The mercy of God must be shown to brothers, rich and poor, by a just redistribution of wealth. The jubilee and the Kingdom of God remind us that we were once in bondage (Deut 24:18,22, Rom 6:6 ASV) and that by God’s actions in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are no longer in bondage and should celebrate humanity’s freedom by living our freedom the way Christ did; living justly and with humility to His creation. In our freedom we are called to treat everyone, if they know about the freedom or not, as brothers freed through Christ with love like a family! We must strive to encourage the rest of the body of Christ to do the same. Expand justice and equality on earth. Jesus taught us disciples to pray, “your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”(Matt 6:10). If we are disciples of Christ, we are called to learn what the kingdom looks like and bring that kingdom with our actions as well as our prayers. In action as citizens of His kingdom we testify that we have been forgiven, reconciled to God, the King, and are free from the bondage of sin and empowered as sons and daughters of the King (Matt 5:6, Gal 3:26-4:7) to live a life of love demonstrated by the person Jesus Christ. “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). Glory to God.

Food Cravings

2008-06-09T22:27:00.002-07:00

In the last few weeks Tina and I have been craving food from home and we found ourselves willing to spare no expense to get it. Thankfully, we’ve found some great places to get food from home to supplement these cravings.
It is standard for local Filipino’s to have a hot meal three times. After a month and a half of eating rice one or two times a day, we both snapped. We needed sandwiches, and lucky for us there is a sandwich stall in the mall that looks like a mini-Subway. We were overjoyed to find that they had everything that our hearts desired, and we indulged. A toasted sub with lettuce tomato, mayo, mustard, onion and roast beef hit the spot!
As we ate, we talked about how much we miss other foods like casseroles (we don’t have a stove), pasta, bacon, steak, and especially nachos with cheese (cheese is very expensive here).
It’s funny to see the menial parts of our Canadian life become more important here. Christina misses going shopping on her own after work. She often hated having to run errands while I was at work but it was part of her weekly routine and now she misses it. She misses her car and the freedom of being able to go to Starbucks or over to her sisters for an afternoon. Now, everyday tasks take much longer and can’t be done “on the way” because we need to use public transport.
Being away from home has clarified some of the things that make us Canadian and as we miss them. We crave these things or some times just sit around and talk about how funny they are in light of our new Filipino culture. We truly appreciate what we have at home.

Christina and I

2008-06-09T20:22:00.005-07:00

With our new jobs at Peacebuilders Community, Christina and I have learned to encourage one another and work much better as a team. Our lives in Abbotsford are fully integrated once we get home from our workday, but we never imagined the impact that spending an extra eight or nine hours a day together would have on us. This growth happened over many evenings spent figuring out how we could work together and it sometimes meant that just getting out of each other’s way and allowing room to grow and learn was the best move.
Initially, I had a full time job in my CBC schoolwork; weekly writings and twenty-five hundred pages to read in four months was a task that would require a lot of attention. It took two weeks for me to settle in to a routine of homework and writing. Meanwhile, Christina was not scheduled to start work for two months as the schools were on summer holidays.
In retrospect this has been a healthy process of development for our marriage. We have both been stretched trying to find how we fit into this culture and community, and we have grown together immensely. Christina has been reading many of the same books as I have been and we have had many good discussions about our perspectives, which have become more compatible than ever before. We have grown much closer in our convictions and vision for how to invest the time that the Lord has given us together.
After the initial shock of being together non-stop, we have discovered the power of working together as a team rather than living independently. We compliment each other much more when we coordinate ourselves together, but we need to give one another room to work and be humble enough to accept that each of us has individual strengths and weaknesses. We focus on supporting one another’s weaknesses while leaving room for each of us to excel individually in our strengths and learn from one another. I’m glad that I am not alone in this experience; my life here in the Philippines is immeasurably richer because of Christina’s input.

The Cross of Christ

2008-05-23T02:18:00.002-07:00

I've been doing a lot of reading here for school and one of the questions that has been on my mind lately is the definition of the cross of Christ, which we are called to. What did Jesus mean when he said, "take up your cross and follow me?" What is the believers cross? I've been reading John Howard Yoder's, Politics of Jesus, and his understanding of the believers cross makes sense to me: "The believer's cross is, like that of Jesus, the price of social nonconformity. It is not, like sickness or catastrophe, an inexplicable, unpredictable suffering; it is the end of a path freely chosen after counting the cost. It is not, like Luther's or Thomas Muntzer's or Zinzendorf's or Kierkegaard's cross or Anfechtung, an inward wrestling of the sensitive soul with self and sin; it is the social reality of representing in an unwilling world the Order to come" [Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven]. (p.96) In historical context, Jesus died because he was showing that the local religious system wasn't bringing the Kingdom of God. The Jews were called by God, through the prophets, to act justly (bring justice in an unjust world), to serve the poor and the widow (the marginalized that had no one to provide for them) but they weren't. I think that taking up our cross means looking into the world and showing God's hands and feet. What do you think about all this? My question about what the cross is has plagued me for a long time. What is the cost of Discipleship? Jesus talked about, loving our enemies, loving our neighbors, but to be a disciple we must hate our family and our own life? This must be a hyperbole, but what was his point? What do you think?

Daily Transportation

2008-05-22T23:32:00.005-07:00

The most basic daily activity that we had to learn once we arrived was daily transportation and it has posed some funny situations. The most common transportation in Davao is the jeepney. A jeepney is a stretched US army Jeep, always with tons of different colours and ornaments all over. Another type of jeepney on the road are flat nosed vans that look similar to many Suzukis and are very small compared to the other design. The jeepney has been a bit of a problem for me especially because of my size. It is safe to say that the average Filipino is somewhere between half to three quarters of my size. So when I get into a jeepney I often bang my head. Then, when I sit down, I need to tilt my head to the side because it is pressed against the roof. Thirdly, Filipinos sit very close together inside of these. When a full jeepney pulls up and the passengers squish together to make room for one more passenger, the room that they have created is enough for one of my butt-cheeks. Most rides I take on a jeepney are short, and every 8th or 9th time I find a jeepney that is big enough to fit me sitting normally; however, most of the time I am squished like a sardine with my head tilted sideways against the roof and my backpack on my lap. I am looking forward to the independence of riding my own motorcycle again. A second popular form of transportation is the motorcycle because they are cheap and people can afford them. At home many people have 110cc pocket bikes and the scooters here have the same motors the toy pocket bikes do at home. Often when stopped at a light, all of the scooters will weave between the cars and make their way to the front and take-off when the light changes colour. Transportation on the road in the Philippines is very fluid compared to Canada. When there is a spot to pass but someone is in the way, the cars slow down and move around the obstacle. Traffic here is almost never stopped as there is always a constant crawl, but the average speed here is much lower than at home. In comparison, Canadian traffic is linear rather than fluid. We stay between the lines, we follow the rules of the road and we travel at much higher speeds because our system is more efficient. Transportation has provided us with many laughs as well as stretching our patience as we wait for every jeepney driver to decide when he wants to leave (there is no schedule). We are happy to report that our daily travels have been smooth and safe over all and we are fitting into the local system with relative ease.

Dann Pantoja

2008-05-22T23:31:00.001-07:00

My experience here in the Philippines has been enhanced a great deal because of the competency and forethought of my mentor, Dann Pantoja. Dann’s personal growth and commitment to seeking Jesus with integrity and passion has been an inspiration to me as well as an encouragement in my journey of discipleship. Our mentorship is based on the understanding that quality personal growth is not based on gaining knowledge, but rather by growing through experience. These experiences challenge the presuppositions of the individual and through personal evaluation and reflection leads him or her to a period of decision-making and eventually growth and transformation. This process is guided by the wisdom and personal experience of my mentor and leader who has grown and transformed throughout his life’s story by applying this same process. So far this process has been exercised informally, over conversation while traveling, as well as formally during the directed debriefing of events in the field. The relaxed relationship we share combined with the extent of his study often awakens in me a desire to understand ideas on a deeper level. Dann’s life experience as a pastor, leadership consultant, missions director and now a missionary in the field, as well as years of research, have guided him to deeper convictions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and I am grateful that he has been willing to share his personal growth, excruciating struggles and glorious victories with me.

Elwyn Neri

2008-05-08T02:24:00.001-07:00

The friendships that I have made here in the Philippines are the greatest factor in how smooth our transition into Filipino culture has been. We have both made significant connections with the people that we work with every day and constantly look forward to going to work. Filipinos love basketball. I love basketball. This has turned out to be one of the greatest connections that I have made since we arrived. In our travels, no matter how rural we get, we can see a basketball court right near the road every 10 miles at least. I have seen every kind of court imaginable: Cement full court with glass backboards, cement half court with a plywood backboard, full courts of dirt and half courts of dirt with a makeshift rim screwed into a tree. So when I wanted to build some friendships here my first thought was to find out who I can play basketball with. One of my closest friends here is a national named Elwyn Neri. He is 30 years old, very boisterous and friendly and loves to meet people and nurture relationships. His motto is, “peace building is relationship building” and it describes his personality perfectly. Every time I meet Elwyn outside of the office he is introducing me to new people. Elwyn and I first connected through basketball. The first time I played the sweaty 35°C heat pushed me to almost passing out. And, to make matters worse, Filipinos eat supper 2 hours later than I’m used to. I almost passed out after one game. My head was swimming and I needed to sit out after one game, now I can play six or seven games at a time. After they were finished playing Elwyn and I went to an all you can eat rice and BBQ resterant. We ordered BBQ chicken and Catfish and I am proud to say that my performance that night highly impressed Elwyn. Today he said that he was very impressed that I just kept asking for more rice, I had 4 plates that day. I don’t think he understood that I was eating over three hours later than I normally would by that time and I was starving after basketball. In my cultural adaptation Elwyn has been a great resource as well as a great friend in his constant teasing me. I have connected well with him and built a very strong foundation, on basketball initially and now on our theologies of peace. I’m looking forward to the experiences that we will share over the next eight months as I venture deeper into the challenge of becoming a bicultural Canadian in a conflicted land.

My 2nd trip to the B'laan

2008-05-08T01:19:00.006-07:00

Challenging Experience in Mt. Matutum I have just come back from a research trip to one of the rural tribal villages that we buy coffee from. This trip turned out to be a mentally challenging experience that I did not expect. I went to the B’laan tribe to research the process of preparation and planting they use for planting Arabica coffee. I will be using this information to adapt the process with my experience planting trees in northern British Columbia. Using all this experience, I will design a seminar about planting coffee in high production for local tribal groups in Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines. The research went well. A local agriculturalist, who has been helping the B’laan for the last twenty years, took me into the jungle where the coffee is and showed me the process. We talked about pricing, land quality, ideal climate and future partnership. This took about 2 hours out of our second day of a 2 day trip; the rest of the trip was free time for me while the other member of my team ran a seminar on the principals of fair trade. I spent some time observing the seminar, but it felt useless since it was in the local language. I did not have a strong enough grasp of the language to participate so I spent much of my time near the hut that the locals had built for visitors. The children played nearby while watching me read or watching me just look around and they were laughing among themselves. Finally, I initiated a conversation. Once I started a conversation I was able to talk with them about their name and family, but that was all. That was frustrating for me, especially because these children were the least intimidating to approach. Now I would have to approach some teenagers. So I did. I spent some time talking with a group of guys in their early twenties. This went much better because of their larger vocabulary and because we were talking in the middle of the village and many people gathered around to teach me their language. This was a positive connecting experience because we could laugh together as I tried to sound out some very difficult words. I could feel our bond really growing during this experience and it turned out to be the highlight of my trip. Aside from my research and teaching fair trade principals our goal was to build relationships. When I reflected on the events of the trip I think that the B’laan people and I connected where we could. But I left feeling tension within myself because I wanted more. I wanted to be able to chat with people about their lives in the mountains and their personal stories the way I would have been able to had they spoken English (I should say, “Had I spoken Visayan”). Unfortunately this will never happen and I need to accept it. This trip and my reflection have been an exercise in letting go of expectations and becoming more flexible with my personal goals. It is not realistic for me to expect to connect with people the same way I would if we had the same language. I did not meet my standard for connecting with someone that I just met, but I can see that this standard must change. I’m not in Kansas anymore. And if I keep thinking like I am I will encounter this kind of emotional tension in many other areas as well.

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Personal Discipline

2008-04-22T04:28:00.001-07:00

Personal discipline. I’ve set goals in personal discipline that, if I follow through, I will achieve some feats that I’ve desired for 3-4 years. My goals are to type 40 words per minute, do a handstand pushup and clearly articulate my worldview and value system. I have put in place action plans to achieve each of these goals and I am looking forward to being able to report the achievement of these goals in the next 6 months. I have been using a computer for the last ten years but I have never spent the time to learn to type properly. As I spend time away from my family and friends the easy communication that the Internet provides torments me because it is such a chore for me to sit down to write an email. The same problem has applied to my school-work, as it is a challenge to have the patience to sit down and complete a project well. To improve, I’m focusing an hour a day to learn to type properly and quickly within four months. I’ve already seen the fruit of this discipline because I’m five words per minute faster now than I was last week when I started. So I hope I reach my goal sooner than planned. Here I am focused on planting coffee, a physically demanding job, and I need to be strong enough to work on the first day. At my current fitness level I would be entering in to the task with the physical challenge as a hurdle that I need to leap. As well, I have the challenge of teaching five to ten people how to plant trees very fast. I do not want another mental strain in a few months when I start training people to plant a lot of coffee; I want to be confident that my body will be up for any physical challenge that I throw at it. The ability to do a handstand pushup is just a symbol of a physical feat that I used to think was unachievable but now is attainable. My final formal discipline has to do with becoming more aware of my personal worldview so that I can articulate it and cognitively address challenges that I might encounter. Someone said that you’ve got to know where you are to know where you are going and I think that it is true. I’m looking for a framework for my personal worldview and my mentor said that he has one so I’m hoping that this will help me layout my worldview and values system on paper. I am a visual and experiential learner; I hope that producing my structured worldview on paper will equip me to articulate it clearly in conversation. The proverb says, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.” These achievements will be a few big steps in my journey towards deeper personal discipline.

Reflection: Interfaith Dialogue

2008-04-17T21:55:00.006-07:00

Interfaith dialogue. I’ve learned that transparent and meaningful interfaith dialogue begins and ends with mutual trust. Interfaith dialogue is when two groups or individuals engage in discussion to further their understanding of one another, specifically not to try and synchronize their beliefs (a temptation when just starting to build a relationship) but to gain a greater understanding of one another.I have seen that diluting the faith for the sake of the relationship is actually frustrating the goal of interfaith discussion, and the relationship, to understand one another better. In the Philippines I have started to see the importance of transparent interfaith dialogue as I work daily with people who have a different worldview and understanding of who God is and our role in his creation. Because our theological understanding is the hub of our activity as peacebuilders transparent relationships are a key to action at peacebuilders community. I currently work with an indigenous person who worships the creator in his traditional indigenous ways and is committed to serving the creator with his life. His life purpose and interpretation of his motivation for justice is fueled by his view of who God is and what he wants for his creation. It has been amazing to learn that God has revealed his character to my friend’s tribe in a way that is consistent with the character of Christ. His tribe is known for initiating reconciliation between tribal groups and peacebuilding in a way consistent with shalom theology.1 ( That is working to achieve holistic peace addressing all aspects of life: peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with our neighbor and peace with the environment.) I have been encouraged and affirmed in my understanding of who God when I see that other cultures see God revealing himself. I think that the western missionaries idea of spreading our perspective of the gospel and our specific revelation in order to fulfill Gods will for creation is far too self-centered. We must share the specific revelation of Christ with people all over the world, but only after spending the time to learn what God has been saying to them through their own culture first. What happens when their own theological understanding encounters a biblical theological world-view? This is the first question that I think should be asked before we attempt to evangelize a new culture with our specific revelation from God.

THE VISION OF SHALOM AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR THE CHURCH IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION. (p.26)

The B'laan

2008-04-08T22:51:00.003-07:00

We’ve just come back from a half-day of driving on rural Philippine roads to visit with a clan of the B’laan tribal group. This tribe has been planting coffee on Mt. Matutum, part of the agricultural land reserve that they occupy, for the last 20 years. Their coffee farming helps them achieve economic stability and gain a voice in leveraging the government for land that was taken from them in the last 200 years. The B’lann lived at the foot of Mt Matutum for hundreds of years until fifteen sixty-five when the Spanish invaded the island and took control. The Spanish created paper titles for the land so that king Phillip, who the island was named after, would have authority over the land. The B’laan had no knowledge of the system that the Spanish were imposing on their land and because of the hostility of the Spanish the B’laan were forced up the mountains. During the next five hundred years the B’laan were pushed off the land over and over again. They have been pushed by missionaries seeking the riches and prestige of owning land and they were pushed by Dole Inc. for their soil. In the name of peace the B’laan often moved away from the struggle, because the opposition was often heavily armed, so they forfeited their right to self-determination. In the last twenty years their awareness of the rights they have as Indigenous People to determine there own destiny has been illuminated by acts of a local leader, Suya Buan.

In the early 1990s, he was convinced by big business people and powerful politicians to allow logging within the Ancestral Land of the B’laan people around Mt. Matutum in the province of South Cotabato. He sincerely believed it was a path to alleviate his people from poverty. At first, he enjoyed the rewards of logging in terms of wealth and power among his people. But such rewards were short lived. Soon, Suya Buan realized that while the owners of the logging companies and the politicians were getting extremely rich, his people’s economic life was not improving and their Ancestral Land was being desecrated and destroyed. Through community consultations and spiritual discernment processes, he decided it was time to stop logging within the B’laan land.1

The political leaders and logging bosses applied as much pressure to Suya Buan using lies and violence to try to scare him into passivity. These actions did nothing to hamper Suya’s efforts, and he stood firm, confident that justice would be achieved. On October 28, 2000, a group of armed men came to his house and knocked on his door. When he answered the door he was shot in the chest at point blank range with an m14 rifle and died instantly. Although, when questioned later, the armed men hoped that these terrorist tactics would scare the people away and allow them to continue to rape the land of its resources uninhibited, in the memory of Suya’s vision for the B’laan the young men of the community gathered. A group of activists would stand as the Bantaygubat or Wilderness-watch. They would study the laws concerning their land and continue to be actively aware of what is happening on their land. It is the BantayGubat’s job to report illegal action within the conservation area, and pursue the prosecution of people who would exploit the natural resources of the Mt. Matutum reserve. These men are honoring Suya’s memory by crediting his vision for an economically stable B’laan tribe in their pursuit of economic stability through coffee farming on Mt. Matutum.. Along with a local agriculturalist they are learning about the full potential of their land through planting coffee within the the forest and adding to the ecosystem rather than taking from it. .They are also taking advantage of a well balanced ecosystem that will feed the coffee and guard it from the threats of pestilence that come with mono-cropping or even intercropping. In the last twenty years the B’laan have planted an estimated two-hundred hectares of forest in patches all over Mt. Matutum, and in the last 2 years they have been selling their coffee the same agriculturalist who is also a local distributor. The B’laan people are beginning to see the fruit of Suya Buan’s vision and struggle for self-determination for their people.. Our vision as peacebuilders is to support the B’laan as brothers and sisters. We hope to learn from their struggle for self-determination and their new agricultural endeavor, and hopefully empower them in how to price their coffee justly through exposing them to fair trade principles. We also hope to give them the skills to hone their planting technique so that it will be as productive as possible. We also want them to be able to reproduce this teaching within their tribe and other tribes. The vision is very hopeful for the B’laan, as they are starting to see the fruit of their labour and gain economic stability and expertise in coffee farming. I hope that as they grow to determine their own future they can give hope and skills to the other tribes of the Philippines who are in a similar struggle.

http://www.peacebuilderscommunity.org/2007.4q.htm

On a Sunday Bloody Sunday

2007-11-01T01:20:00.003-07:00

U2 - Sunday, Bloody Sunday Lyrics
I can't believe the news today
I can't close my eyes and make it go away

How long
How long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
Tonight we can be as one
Tonight

Broken bottles under children's feet
And bodies strewn across a dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up against the wall

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost
But tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

Sunday, bloody sunday
Tonight

Wipe your tears away
Wipe your tears away
Wipe your bloodshot eyes
Sunday, bloody sunday

And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV is reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
The real battle just begun
To claim the victory Jesus won
On a sunday, bloody sunday

War creates more war. A Brother kills a Father, the Son kills the Brother, His Brother kills the Son... What will the Fathers other son do? What will you do? "There's many lost, but tell me who has one?"