Art vs. God

Yes, I will vote for Ron Paul.

Ron Paul has dropped out of the race for president of the USA, but I’m still voting for him.  I will write him in on my ballot.  My father told me when I was young that you can vote for anyone in America, they don’t have to be on the ballot, you just write them in and vote for them.  I got the impression that he held the concept in high regard. 

My position as a Christian was to cease voting.  I decided that the Republican and Democratic candidates basically stood for the same thing: the status quo.  I felt that there was no candidate worth voting for, and that meant I should not vote at all.  Otherwise, I reasoned, I would be endorsing the wrong candidate and lending my support to someone I did not support in doctrine, creed, spirit or truth.  Therefore I decided not to vote, and I was firm in my choice.

I think my sister was the first one to tell me about Ron Paul.  I had seen the signs on the highway walkways and bridges, “Google Ron Paul” but I didn’t really know his platform.  When my sister told me about Ron Paul I was reluctant and sceptical.  I let a few months go by, reading a few of Dr. Paul’s positions from his campaign website, but I still thought “He must have a flaw somewhere in his platform.”  I didn’t search far, because I was apathetic and disillusioned with American politics.  I had already made up my mind that any candidate for office was a stooge, just a pupet for the perpetuation of the same old lies, a perpetuater.  I even believed that all politicians were working into the hands of the devil himself and his ultimate plan of world domination of politics, currency and religion as prophecied in The Bible. 

Ron Paul has changed my viewpoint.  It did not happen all at once or based on some single event in which I was swayed to a different way of thinking.  But it was when Joshua Hurst put a little bug in my ear.  He said, “If Ron Paul marched on Washington and declared himself President of the United States I’d grab a gun and hit the streets right now.”  For whatever reason, there were suddenly enough motivators for me to listen to what Ron Paul has to say.

When you Google Ron Paul, don’t just type his name in the search bar.  When you Google Ron Paul, goto the little link at the top of the Google page labeled “more” … this is a drop down menu.  Select ‘Video’ and then enter Ron Paul on the search tab.  Listen to this man speak.  Take an hour or two out of your day and listen to what this man is saying about the Constitution of the United States and about the way the USA should go in the future.

That’s all I have to say about Ron Paul right now.  Go and investigate what he has to say, I cannot say it better myself.

There is certainly some stigma attached to the idea of American men marrying women from the third world.  That, however, is precisely my intention.  Her name is Janice and we met on a christian singles site, www.fusion101.com.  I didn’t expect, when I created my profile, to be contacted from anyone outside of the United States.  I expected to find some local Christian women whom I could chat with and get to know better.

I was a bit nervous at first when Janice asked me to visit her in the Philippines in her second email to me.  My family and friends had concerns for my safety and my heart in light of all the news about third world internet scams and sham weddings.  I understand their concerns and quite frankly I was also a bit troubled at the prospects.  There are myriad stories of scams that range from persons extorting money from multiple first world men on the pretense of a romantic relationship to women from third world countries actually marrying men they are not in love with, moving to the first world and seeking divorce as soon as her citizenship is secure.  That’s not to mention the stories of third world kidnappings of Americans and other first world or European citizens abroad.

I resolved to put my life in the hands of my God, something He’s growing me to be more and more capable of doing every day.  I knew about the news stories of Americans being kidnapped in the Philippines by Islamic extremists, and I resolved that if God chose to allow my life to fall into the hands of militant Islam, then He must consider me worthy of suffering for His glory.  After all, what better witness to the terrorists who brag of their ‘martyrs’ than to be an example of true Christian martyrdom?

I spent 2 months eating nothing but rice, chicken hind quarters, beans, peanut butter and jelly and balogna sandwiches in order to save for the trip.  In this experience of economic fasting I came to realize just how much money and power I had been throwing away on petty comforts and luxuries.  I realized that the true power of my money lied in responsible and constructive use of the income I have, not in seeking ever increasing income.  I’ll tell you some of the things I’ve found more valuable than luxuries a little later.

I traveled from JFK Airport in NYC to Narita in Tokyo on April 19th.  The flight was 14 hours to Japan.  I then had a 4 hour layover there, and then I boarded a 4 and a half hour Japan Airlines flight to Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila, Philippines.  When I arrived in Manila, I found the car from the Kabayan Hotel (www.kabayanhotel-pasay.com), prearranged to pick me up.  If you travel to Manila, you will find there are some very nice taxis lined up to take you anywhere in the metropolis.  These taxis are priced at American taxi rates, I highly recommend you arrange for other transportation before you go.  These airport taxis are an overpriced racket. 

When I arrived in Kabayan Hotel, the car driver carried my bags into the lobby and asked me to take a seat next to a receptionist.  The hotel paid the driver and arranged for me to be escorted to my room.  When I arrived in my hotel room, Janice was waiting for me there withone of her (many) aunts.  We smiled and laughed, but we didn’t talk much.  We were both far to shy to speak.  Even her aunt was uncomfortable.  That’s ok, Janice and I knew that we would be uncomfortable when we first met in person.

We had dinner in the lobby restaurant.  I paid about $10 for a large meal that more than fed the three of us and could have well fed another 3.  Over dinner I ran into a few Filipino cultural quirks.  For one, Janice would say ‘uhh uhh’ in answer to many of my questions.  I took this to mean ‘no’ as it means traditionally in America.  Uhh Uhh… turns out she was saying ‘oo’ which means ‘yes’ in the Philippines.  Another language barrier was that often I would ask her a question I felt was important and I thought she was rudely ignoring me.  I failed to notice what her eyebrows were doing.  In the Philippines, a slight upward movement of the eyebrows is considered a strong ‘yes’. 

The following day, Janice and I went to the SM Mall of Asia (www.smmallofasia.com).  This is reportedly only the 3rd largest mall in Manila, however its much larger than any mall I’ve ever been to.  In fact, the mall is so large that Janice and I literally got lost inside and were unable to find our way out until we consulted a security guard.  The mall has indoor, air conditioned sectors, and outdoor sectors.  The more prominent stores are indoor as I’m sure the rent is higher for those units.  In the mall one can find virtually anything one might find in America.  I came expecting low prices and bargains.  Instead I found that anything worth buying was imported from the first world and the price was usually higher or at least on par with American prices, with no sale prices.  I bought some sunblock for which I paid about $7 for a small (or at least smaller than American sizes) bottle, and which later failed to block the sun on my back and allowed me a sunburn.

Janice was not interested in doing anything in the mall.  Filipino culture is largely westernized, and the mega malls are the epitome of that culture.  Janice, however is not interested in such things.  We found ourselves quickly bored in this enormous mall, and made our way back to the hotel after making our booking with Philippine Airlines (www.philippineairlines.com) to fly to Butuan city where we would later take a van to Surigao, the city in which her family lives.  We spent the next two days totally bored, neither of us wanting anything to do with the Manila scene.  I found Manila to be polluted, filthy and overcrowded.  I’m told by a Filipino man who works with me that I did not get a chance to see the true Manila because I was in Pasay city, which is a poorer part of the metropolis.  Oh well.

Finally, on Wednesday, April 23rd Janice and I travelled to the province.  By the way, by this point we had broken all the ice and bonded closely.  Philippine Airlines was quite impressive.  They had their announcements in English, Tagalog (Filipino) and Visayan (the dialect of the region we were travelling to).  I found the jet to be clean and new looking.  The staff were professional and courteous, to a far higher degree, in fact, than American staff.  The flight was only about an hour and a half this time, however upon arriving in Butuan we also had a 2 hour drive to Surigao.  In other words, all told, it takes three full days of travelling to get from my home to Janice’s home.

When we arrived I had the great pleasure of meeting Leo, Janice’s eldest brother.  In Visayan, the term for an older brother is Manoy.  Manoy Leo negotiated a rate for the van for us and we were on our way.  I was thrilled to be out of Manila and into the province where everything was bright green and things were somewhat less crowded.  I took many pictures out the window of the van, though I still haven’t been able to develop them all.  Two hours later, having endured a bit of motion sickness, we pulled up to a small concrete house lined with children and adults.  One look out the window at this scene and I knew this was Janice’s home and the few dozen people filling it’s porch and living room were there to see Janice’s American boyfriend.  I knew I was in for another massively uncomfortable social experience.

When I walked in I spotted Janice’s parents.  The names for parents in the Philippines are ‘Nanay’ (mom) and ‘Tatay’ (dad).  After arguing with Janice at some length from the USA, over chat, I had resolved to calling her parents ‘Nanay’ and ‘Tatay’.  In America, if I walked into my girlfriend’s home and immediately greeted her parents as ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ they would be insulted, it would be seen as forward and presumptuous, downright rude.  In the Philippines however, it is considered a sign of deep respect, even on the first meeting.  I greeted Nanay and Tatay with the mano-po, a gesture of respect where the younger individual (usually by at least one generation) takes the hand of the elder, and places it on their forehead, while bowing slightly to bridge the gap.  Everyone laughed, my plan was working perfectly.  I thanked them for welcoming me into their home and they told me to take a seat and make myself at home.

I sat there with nothing to say to anyone for about an hour all told, and they all sat around with nothing to say to me.  We were all too shy, and the language barrier made it even more difficult to communicate on the first meeting.  After about 10 minutes, Tatay invited me to see the room he had prepared for me to sleep in.  This was a small, 6′X8′ chamber with a window, fan, closing and locking door, some wooden cabinets, a small desk, and a bed which was basically a wooden platform witha thin cushion on top, maybe 3″-4″ thick.  That being said, I actually found the bed more comfortable and better for my back pain than both my own bed at home in the states and the bed in the Kabayan Hotel (which was terrible by the way).  I thanked Tatay for having prepared the room for me and we patted each other on the shoulders.

After about an hour of my arrival, Janice relayed to me that people were asking if I would want to take a nap because I must be tired from travelling so far.  I was not tired in the least, particularly not from my brief travel from Manila, but I took the offer as an excellent chance to escape the attention of the dozen or so children (cousins), the half dozen aunts, half dozen uncles, and the handful of Lolos and Lolas (grandfathers and grandmothers respectively).  So I graciously accepted their invitation to nap, and beat a path for the bedroom.  Janice escorted me and reassured me, obviously aware of my discomfort.  She was, and is wonderful.  Looking back at the trip I’m totally astonished at how conscientious and caring she was for my needs and sensativities.  Please, if you want to pray for me, pray that I would be as good to Janice as she has been to me.

 That night we all sat down at the dinner table.  The family had killed and plucked a rooster for my first meal.  They also had a large fish which they roasted over an open wood fire and served on a palm leaf.  They asked me to lead the prayer and I did so.  There was no translation.  During the meal, Janice would put the food on my plate to serve me, a cultural custom in the Philippines.  After dinner I retired to be early.

The next day, Janice and I went to Surigao city to visit the net-cafe to contact my mother using Yahoo! Messenger.  Mom got the chance to see Janice for the first time, wave hello and have a little Q and A.  She was ecstatic. 

That afternoon, upon returning, Janice informed me that it was time for Tatay and I to discuss my reason for coming.  I had brought a gift on the advice of my Filipino friend at work, an American made product: a Buck knife.  Even many Buck knives are now no longer made in the USA, though the company is famous for being made in the USA.  Tatay, his eldest son, Leo, and I sat down to discuss the reason for my visit.  I related to Tatay the progression of my relationship with his daughter.  I told him that I had come to meed Janice in person, to get to know her and her family, and also to ask her hand in marriage.  Translated through Leo, Tatay said “This is no problem.” 

Wow!  That was easy!  No interrogation?  No scrupulous prodding and scrounging for insecurities and weaknesses?  No questions about my job or my salary?  Nope.  Tatay had been eagerly awaiting my visit and my question.  He had already prayed and made up his mind.  Janice later said “I’ve brought other boyfriends to Tatay in the past and the reaction was not good.”  Leo told me “We’ve been praying for a Christian husband for Janice.  We are glad that you will be her husband.”

I took Janice into a private room and proposed to her with the ring I had, a simple but antique gold ring with a garnet setting.  She accepted.  We’re engaged now.  Hooray!

The rest of the trip was spent resting in he beautiful tropics.  I went fishing with Tatay, I ate balot, I went swimming in the Surigao Strait, hunted for fish with a child’s harpoon toy, caught sea urchins, learned to ride a motorcycle, toured the countryside, led two Bible studies with the family, and attended the local Chruch, an Assembly of God Church.

Fishing with Tatay was fascinating.  The whole village economy is based on local fishermen in pumpboats with nets and lines.  Tatay is a professional fisherman who managed to send all four of his children to college.  We went out on the Surigao strait at dawn in a downpour.  We were out for about 5-6 hours.  A man in the back of the boat would let out a long line with about 300 small hooks.  Each hook on the line had a small string tied to it that attracts the fish.  The fist were about 3.5-6 inches long.  These were small fish, the kind that are fried or dried.  For lunch, Leo cut the flanks off the small fish and prepared them in vinegar and water with lime, ginger and mild peppers.  We had also brought some white rice.  We all grabbed these foods by the handful and ate.  It was wonderful.

It was the first night that I ate the balot.  Balot is a favorite food of Filipinos.  Each night just after sundown, the balot seller will ride their bikes up and down the streets calling out, “Balot! Balot!”  Balot is a chicken egg which has been fertilized and allowed to develop a fetus before it is cooked and eaten.  It is served hot, in the shell.  I bought my Balot for about 15 pesos.  Leo taught me how to eat the balot by cracking the top of the egg, putting salt and vinegar on the opening, and then sucking out the juice.  Next the whole egg is shelled, exposing the fetus and the rest of the egg matter.  Add more vinegar and salt, and eat whole or in a few bites.  I ate it whole.  Yes, you can see the beak, the developing feathers, the eyes etc.  It’s a little chicken in there and you eat it, bones and all.  No, the bones are not crunchy.  They are mostly soft and under developed.  Why Filipinos eat balot so readily, I do not know.  But I felt it was my duty as an American to show them that I could stomach anything.

In the Philippines the laws are much more loosely defined and enforced than in the USA.  Driving laws are no exception.  I leared to ride a motorcycle and with no license I was able to travel many miles through the countryside with Janice holding on behind me.  Driving through the various barangays, many people lining the roads would smile and wave, and shout “Hey Joe!”  Joe is a common term for American men in the Philippines because of our military history there from the Second World War when we ousted the Japanese from their occupation of the Philippines.  It seems that American-Filipino relations are very good.  Their governemnt seems to be modeled after our own, and it seems that they enjoy the same liberties (yet somehow without the same taxes.)  Their culture is highly influenced by Americans, and in general they seem very pro-American, despite the Muslim minority which is sometimes militant.

One night the family was watching TV.  Their’s is one of the few households with cable television in the barangay.  I watched along with them for a few minutes until I started seeing images of bikin-clad women and the likes.  My usual disgust was highlighted by the fact that I was on the other side of the world visiting my future wife.  I walked away and began to read my Bible quietly.  Only a few minutes later I saw Tatay get up, turn off the TV and say something in Visayan, the only part of which I understood was “Bible.”  Janice interpreted for me and told me “Tatay says we will have a Bible study and you will lead it.”  I was really happy to see a family leader turning off his television in trade for Bible study.

During our last Bible Study even one of Janice’s aunts showed up.  We all sang some Christian contemporary praise and worship music (gag me).  Then we prayed and I led the study (reluctantly).  I asked that we would all give our testimonies.  Tatay went first and told of his life prior to Christ Jesus.  He said “Before Jesus there were many vises, gambling, cock fights, alchohol etc.”  I can’t quote the rest verbatim, but he relayed how Jesus had revolutionized his life and his focus on his family.  He relayed that the others in the barangay wondered how he, a fisherman like them, was able to send all his children to college.  He would tell them it’s because of Jesus, he didn’t know how he was able to do it except that Jesus made it possible miraculously.

Leo’s testimony included how inspiring it was to have me visit.  He said that they would see me reading the Bible and it would remind them of how they aer supposed to be living their lives and running their family.  I knew that the image they were making of me was far beyond any credit I deserved.  Christ however, did enable me to be this example.  I told them, this is not the way I usually am.  I told them that I was only being inspired by the visit to the Philippines, that the leap of faith I had to make in coming to a foreign country based on God’s promies, had re-directed my focus to Christ.

The local Church is both an example of what Chrisitan Fellowship should be and the epitome of denominational division.  Within a walking distance were about 6 or more Christian churches of various denominations founded, no doubt by their respective denominational missionaries.  The great part of the Church was what I observed at worship service, preceeded by Sunday School Bible Study.  In the Bible Study I found that everyone or virtually everone participated.  Everyone had something to say about the Bible and their understanding of the passages being examined.  I’ve only rarely found this in the American Church.  But the sin of Church division was magnified.  This division is to me a sickening reminder of the foolishness and pride of the American Church(es) and the Church at large.

Since I’ve been back in the United States I’ve been pursuing the Visa process which is far more difficult and complex than I care to think about.  Ad nauseum, I’m delving into the very beureaucratic paperwork that I’ve hated deeply in my sould all my life, and which at one point I had burned in an effort to separate myself from.  Now of course, I realize that I am not part of these documents but part of Christ and it is His power that separates me from the systems of the world, not my little fire.

Please pray for my patience and for the spiritual growth of my future family. 

Greetings,

mebeli

To the few who read my blog, I apologize for my long hiatus.  I moved from my parent’s home and have been living in my own apartment since November.  I only had the internet turned on for a couple months now, and I’ve been too busy living life to write about it.  Well, I have a lot to say now.  Following this positing I plan to touch on 7 topics that have been standing out in my Christian walk since my last post.  Although they may not follow the order listed below, I expect that they will follow the outlined topics.

mebeli

Please pray for me also as I will be traveling to the Philippines from April 19^th to May 3^rd to meet a young woman I hope to one day marry.  That’s right, I’m an American man marrying a Filipina girl, laugh it up!  No, I’m not in the military, and no, I never have been.  Yes, we met on the internet.  No, it wasn’t a mail-order-bride site.  Any further questions I’d be happy to answer, just leave a comment on the blog!

????????While I’m there, I will also be visiting with two Churches, one a Baptist Church in Santa Rosa Laguna (outside Manila) and the other an Assembly of God Church in Surigao City on Mindanao Island (yes, that’s where the Muslims are, no I’m not worried.)  So I’d appreciate some extra prayer on this point, as I’m hoping to establish a missionary relationship with the Body in Surigao.

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