It is almost Christmas. It sounds hard to believe that Dan and I are never big on celebrating anything. Yes, we put up Christmas trees and put some lights out in the bushes in front of our house before, give each other a few gifts, that's about it. Having Kioni makes a bit of a difference. Since we didn't bring the 7-foot Christmas tree to Cebu, we spent $2.5 USD to buy a 3-foot Christmas tree, a single string of lights and some angel ornaments. Kioni drew a couple of paper angels. On top of that, we received wonderful gifts from Dan's family. I think Kioni got the idea, though there still is no snow, no matter how much she asks for it.
We are anticipating a loud Christmas night firework display, 'smoke from the firework will come into your house', the old-timers said to us. This will be a new experience for us. We thought we will try it once, if we can't take it, we will go hide somewhere on an island next Christmas.
This is the hottest Christmas I have ever had, even in Hong Kong, the weather is nice and cool. And in the past 10 years, living mostly in the North American mid-west, Christmases were always cold. It is a bit hard to believe that it is Christmas, but the Good News does not come with how low the temperature gets, it does not come with the inches of snow that falls, it does not come with the many Christmas gifts, it does not come with festive foods, cookies, pies, etc., it does not come with Christmas tree, it does not even come with families and friends being together sharing our love.
The Good News comes with the fact that Jesus indeed was born as a true human being while he is still true God, and He came for one purpose and one purpose only -- to bring salvation to a bunch of 'losers' who cannot possibly save themselves. That is something quite fascinating, quite spectacular, quite difficult to fathom. More fascinating and spectacular than all the firework displays and 30-foot Christmas tree, more difficult to fathom than the love of families and friends. Snow or no snow, cold or hot, Jesus' birth is the only truth that matters during Christmas.
Friday, December 22, 2006
A sad day
We were awaken by a text message on Dan's cell phone this morning:
"Eric resigned. We are leaving Sunday. Please stop by."
Eric and Susan Rosenberg are the American friends we met in Bo's Coffee two months ago, they had just arrived in Cebu for two weeks at the time we met. The two families just spend a weekend vacationing in Bantayan island. Eric resigned from the organization he was working with last night because of complicated personnel issues.
We were surprised by the news, to say the least. I was unable to fall back asleep. We always knew the situation at Eric's work was bad, but didn't know it was so bad. He wrote a three-page memo and send it to the "top" before we went on vacation, someone in the leadership did not like what he wrote, Eric felt that he had to resign, and they accepted his resignation.
We dropped by their house this morning. It was a saddness filled the air. While we were there, their helper Dolor whom they love dearly arrived. Susan broke the news to her, both Susan and Dolor were in tears.
They gave us some wonderful books from their twin girls' collection, and some clothes. We left after an hour or so because Kioni had to eat lunch and take a nap.
When we arrived home, I checked my email. My sister Annie couldn't find plane tickets to come. So the anticipated family visit is not going to happen.
We will surely miss the Rosenbergs. It will be hard to help Kioni understand that the Rosenberg girls, Alex and Isabelle are not going to be around anymore.
What a sad day.
"Eric resigned. We are leaving Sunday. Please stop by."
Eric and Susan Rosenberg are the American friends we met in Bo's Coffee two months ago, they had just arrived in Cebu for two weeks at the time we met. The two families just spend a weekend vacationing in Bantayan island. Eric resigned from the organization he was working with last night because of complicated personnel issues.
We were surprised by the news, to say the least. I was unable to fall back asleep. We always knew the situation at Eric's work was bad, but didn't know it was so bad. He wrote a three-page memo and send it to the "top" before we went on vacation, someone in the leadership did not like what he wrote, Eric felt that he had to resign, and they accepted his resignation.
We dropped by their house this morning. It was a saddness filled the air. While we were there, their helper Dolor whom they love dearly arrived. Susan broke the news to her, both Susan and Dolor were in tears.
They gave us some wonderful books from their twin girls' collection, and some clothes. We left after an hour or so because Kioni had to eat lunch and take a nap.
When we arrived home, I checked my email. My sister Annie couldn't find plane tickets to come. So the anticipated family visit is not going to happen.
We will surely miss the Rosenbergs. It will be hard to help Kioni understand that the Rosenberg girls, Alex and Isabelle are not going to be around anymore.
What a sad day.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
The beach
We finally get to touch the ocean and white sandy beachs. Our trip to Bantayan island was wonderful. The beach is almost magical. The sea breeze, the white sand, the salty sea water, all contributed to a great vacation.
We stayed at Santa Fe Beach Club and visited Ogtong Cave Resort (as seen in photos), and since the people whom run these places go to our church, we received a 50% discount! Plus a VIP treatment by not having to pay transportation to go use the factilities in Ogtong Cave Resort, and we got to use the "registered guest only" pool in the resort. We were also provided with a room where we can all change and took showers. Kioni even took a two hour nap in that room. Then we were invited to dinner back in Santa Fe Beach Club, it was the best Chinese food that I have had so far in Cebu, and the quantity was huge.
We don't expect to have the same kind of treatment next time around, but it was good to be treated in such a special way. Dan thought it was because one of the owners Peter invited him to talk, and eventually telling Dan quite a bit about his dreams about the end times. Daniel and Dreams, eh?
Anyway, we had a great time. The beach and the water is so theraputic.
Friday, December 15, 2006
What happens when your last name is Bush?
Having the last name Bush is quite an interesting thing, especially in the past 8 years or so. In the 3 years or so when we lived in Washington, D.C., George W. Bush has just won his first term as the president. Dan and I were asked many times when we were meeting people for the first time if we were related to the president, it is a normal question provided we were living in D.C. and have this last name. However, I find it strange when it was just me and people still ask me if I am related to President Bush, I always said to them, "Do I LOOK like I am related to him?" Maybe next time I should say, "I am his adopted sister from China whom nobody knows of."
Let me tell you a few incidents that we encounter having the last name Bush:
A few months after I became a U.S. citizen, I went to the voting booth to vote for the president of the United States, that was voting for either George Bush or Al Gore . When I presented my driver's license, the lady at the voting center looked at me with disbelief, " Your last name is Bush?" "Yes," I replied. I was grumbbling inside, thinking, "I know I don't look like George Bush, but what's wrong with that?" "You won't believe this," the lady continued while pointing towards a voting booth on the side, "the gentleman in front of you who just went into the voting booth, his last name is Gore."
Two days ago we went to the dentist here in Cebu. When she heard us walked in, she came out to the reception counter and held her hand out to shake our hands. "Mr. Bush, Mrs. Bush, nice to meet you." "That's quite a reception," I thought. Dan said to her, "You came highly recommended." The dentist was beaming, smiling from ear to ear. She then asked, "Are you two related to eh... President Bush." "No, we just have the same last name." She said, "When the receptionist told me you are coming, I thought she was joking. I said to myself could she be someone related to President Bush, you know, it would not be too far-fetched, with the Asian Summits being held here in Cebu and all."
The third incident is the FedEx/Customs asking for sky high tax and tariff incident. I am pretty sure the last name Bush has something to do with it.
We always know this last name will generate curiosity, but never thought it would also make people greedy. What a name!
Let me tell you a few incidents that we encounter having the last name Bush:
A few months after I became a U.S. citizen, I went to the voting booth to vote for the president of the United States, that was voting for either George Bush or Al Gore . When I presented my driver's license, the lady at the voting center looked at me with disbelief, " Your last name is Bush?" "Yes," I replied. I was grumbbling inside, thinking, "I know I don't look like George Bush, but what's wrong with that?" "You won't believe this," the lady continued while pointing towards a voting booth on the side, "the gentleman in front of you who just went into the voting booth, his last name is Gore."
Two days ago we went to the dentist here in Cebu. When she heard us walked in, she came out to the reception counter and held her hand out to shake our hands. "Mr. Bush, Mrs. Bush, nice to meet you." "That's quite a reception," I thought. Dan said to her, "You came highly recommended." The dentist was beaming, smiling from ear to ear. She then asked, "Are you two related to eh... President Bush." "No, we just have the same last name." She said, "When the receptionist told me you are coming, I thought she was joking. I said to myself could she be someone related to President Bush, you know, it would not be too far-fetched, with the Asian Summits being held here in Cebu and all."
The third incident is the FedEx/Customs asking for sky high tax and tariff incident. I am pretty sure the last name Bush has something to do with it.
We always know this last name will generate curiosity, but never thought it would also make people greedy. What a name!
To lie or not to lie
I have been wanting to write this down, but found myself too emotional to do so. We encounter bribery first hand this past week. Dan's mother sent us a Christmas gift package through US postal priority mail, and the carrier is FedEx. It was supposed to arrive in just a few days. However, the package got sent back to Dan's mother by the U.S. post office, stating she must complete a form for "commercial" goods. Dan's mother explained the things inside are just Christmas gifts, they were not for sale.
About a week later, we got a call from FedEx in Lapu-Lapu city (a city next to us) stating that our package has arrived. When Dan asked why it was not delivered, they said we needed to pay tariff and tax on it, and the amount is 6500 peso ($130 USD!) Dan didn't understand what that was at first, then FedEx people explained that a large chunk of it was "freight charges". Freight charges? Why do we have to pay that? Didn't my mother-in-law pay for that already back in the US postal office? And it was not cheap either, it was $200 USD.
Dan told them this was ridiculous, they explained that the tax and tariff were calculated using a certain formula. Dan refused to pay and the FedEx people said Dan could sign an affidavit stating that the true value of the gifts were actually much lesser, the amount that Dan's mother put down ($150 US) was for insurance purpose only. Then hopefully, the Customs Office would recalculate the tax and tariff. The affidavit cost 50 peso ($1 USD). The FedEx guy said, "We'll see if the Customs Office will give you a discount." A discount?!!! from tax and tariff, which they calculated out with a formula?
After Dan signed the affidavit, we waited for a couple more days so that the FedEx people could talk with the Customs Office. A few days later, FedEx showed up with a piece of paper itemizing each charge, claiming that was from the Customs Office. However, next to the charges, were just an alphabet, like F, P, L, things like that, without clearly showing what those charges were. Dan looked at the paper and was perplexed by what they shadiness of it. The FedEx people said it is the Customs Office that was charging us, not FedEx, they in fact had went to them and ask them to recalculate, the Custom Office gave them a negative answer. No recalculating. The FedEx people called again, "Mr. Bush, if you would sign another affidavit, stating that ...." (I forgot what it was for, Dan's not around as I write this, I will ask him and complete this.) Dan signed another affidavit, another 50 peso. Still no package.
Our helper Maris was very helpful to us the whole time, she would talk in Cebuano with the FedEx people, she actually said to them, "That is corruption, isn't it. You see that my boss is an American and he lives in a nice area, and he also happened to have the last name Bush, you are taking advantage of him, aren't you?" Maris was clearly upset about the whole situation. She couldn't believe her friend, Dolor, whom has a sister living in Florida, received packages delivered by FedEx to her home without paying anything at all.
Upon knowing we didn't have any choice, we were going to pay the sky high $130 USD tax and tariff, get the package and considered a lesson learned.
Then Maris happened to be at a 'fiesta' (party) in the Guadalupe barangay (district) she lives in. There in the fiesta, she saw a long time family friend, they haven't seen each other for a long time. When that friend asked about how Maris was lately, she mentioned the fact that she was working for us. She then proceeded to tell this family friend our encounter with the Customs Office and FedEx. Her friend said, "I'll call the manager of FedEx tomorrow, and see what I can do."
The next morning, our home phone rang, it was FedEx, "Mr. Bush, we are ready to deliever your package, the tax and tariff will be $3000 peso."
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Dan telling me about the "discount" price. We got the package, finally!
This FedEx guy whom delivered the package gave us a few tips:
1) Make sure you write down the value of the things inside the box is lower than $100 USD, regardless what the true value is.
2) Make sure you write old, used items on the box. Christmas gifts mean new things, and they are subject to high taxes.
I added afterwards to this list:
3) Make sure you don't send it to our address, rather, our helper Maris' address. Since they know those who live in this address can't pay them the sky high tax and tariff, there will not be one imposed.
4) Make sure the name on the address is not Bush. Well, that's another story for another entry.
OK, what that say is that whoever send us packages will have to hmmmm...... LIE! If not, we will have to pay whatever amount of money the Customs Office and the FedEx people want.
Or simply don't send us any packages.
So what do you think? To lie or not to lie?
About a week later, we got a call from FedEx in Lapu-Lapu city (a city next to us) stating that our package has arrived. When Dan asked why it was not delivered, they said we needed to pay tariff and tax on it, and the amount is 6500 peso ($130 USD!) Dan didn't understand what that was at first, then FedEx people explained that a large chunk of it was "freight charges". Freight charges? Why do we have to pay that? Didn't my mother-in-law pay for that already back in the US postal office? And it was not cheap either, it was $200 USD.
Dan told them this was ridiculous, they explained that the tax and tariff were calculated using a certain formula. Dan refused to pay and the FedEx people said Dan could sign an affidavit stating that the true value of the gifts were actually much lesser, the amount that Dan's mother put down ($150 US) was for insurance purpose only. Then hopefully, the Customs Office would recalculate the tax and tariff. The affidavit cost 50 peso ($1 USD). The FedEx guy said, "We'll see if the Customs Office will give you a discount." A discount?!!! from tax and tariff, which they calculated out with a formula?
After Dan signed the affidavit, we waited for a couple more days so that the FedEx people could talk with the Customs Office. A few days later, FedEx showed up with a piece of paper itemizing each charge, claiming that was from the Customs Office. However, next to the charges, were just an alphabet, like F, P, L, things like that, without clearly showing what those charges were. Dan looked at the paper and was perplexed by what they shadiness of it. The FedEx people said it is the Customs Office that was charging us, not FedEx, they in fact had went to them and ask them to recalculate, the Custom Office gave them a negative answer. No recalculating. The FedEx people called again, "Mr. Bush, if you would sign another affidavit, stating that ...." (I forgot what it was for, Dan's not around as I write this, I will ask him and complete this.) Dan signed another affidavit, another 50 peso. Still no package.
Our helper Maris was very helpful to us the whole time, she would talk in Cebuano with the FedEx people, she actually said to them, "That is corruption, isn't it. You see that my boss is an American and he lives in a nice area, and he also happened to have the last name Bush, you are taking advantage of him, aren't you?" Maris was clearly upset about the whole situation. She couldn't believe her friend, Dolor, whom has a sister living in Florida, received packages delivered by FedEx to her home without paying anything at all.
Upon knowing we didn't have any choice, we were going to pay the sky high $130 USD tax and tariff, get the package and considered a lesson learned.
Then Maris happened to be at a 'fiesta' (party) in the Guadalupe barangay (district) she lives in. There in the fiesta, she saw a long time family friend, they haven't seen each other for a long time. When that friend asked about how Maris was lately, she mentioned the fact that she was working for us. She then proceeded to tell this family friend our encounter with the Customs Office and FedEx. Her friend said, "I'll call the manager of FedEx tomorrow, and see what I can do."
The next morning, our home phone rang, it was FedEx, "Mr. Bush, we are ready to deliever your package, the tax and tariff will be $3000 peso."
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Dan telling me about the "discount" price. We got the package, finally!
This FedEx guy whom delivered the package gave us a few tips:
1) Make sure you write down the value of the things inside the box is lower than $100 USD, regardless what the true value is.
2) Make sure you write old, used items on the box. Christmas gifts mean new things, and they are subject to high taxes.
I added afterwards to this list:
3) Make sure you don't send it to our address, rather, our helper Maris' address. Since they know those who live in this address can't pay them the sky high tax and tariff, there will not be one imposed.
4) Make sure the name on the address is not Bush. Well, that's another story for another entry.
OK, what that say is that whoever send us packages will have to hmmmm...... LIE! If not, we will have to pay whatever amount of money the Customs Office and the FedEx people want.
Or simply don't send us any packages.
So what do you think? To lie or not to lie?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Usual hangouts of the Bushes
Leona is our lifeline, a Chinese Christian owned bakery, it sells authentic banana nut bread, blueberry crumples, a varieties of cakes (not that authentic), and pastries.
Banilad Town Center is my favourite little escape from the crowd and dirt of Cebu. We go to the Bo's Coffee Club every Friday morning to have pancake breakfast.
Robinsons Supermarket is where we go and get imported groceries, it is also in Banilad Town Center, we usually get our supplies after our Bo's Coffee stop.
Banilad Town Center is my favourite little escape from the crowd and dirt of Cebu. We go to the Bo's Coffee Club every Friday morning to have pancake breakfast.
Robinsons Supermarket is where we go and get imported groceries, it is also in Banilad Town Center, we usually get our supplies after our Bo's Coffee stop.
Upcoming trips
We will have a busy few months ahead of us:
January 3-9 Chiang Mai - EFCA-IM conference
Feburary 15-? Hong Kong - Chinese New Year, i.e., good food
April 16-27 Xiamen, China - Dan teaching (still pending, hope it will work since April is the hottest month of the year in Cebu.)
We hope to make it through all these travelling without too much trouble, mainly, having Kioni losing pounds on us. Each time she travels to a new place, she simply won't eat. This is quite difficult for me to handle, since I feel responsible for her physical well-being. She will always sleep well though.
January 3-9 Chiang Mai - EFCA-IM conference
Feburary 15-? Hong Kong - Chinese New Year, i.e., good food
April 16-27 Xiamen, China - Dan teaching (still pending, hope it will work since April is the hottest month of the year in Cebu.)
We hope to make it through all these travelling without too much trouble, mainly, having Kioni losing pounds on us. Each time she travels to a new place, she simply won't eat. This is quite difficult for me to handle, since I feel responsible for her physical well-being. She will always sleep well though.
Terrorists? Typhoon?
The Filipino government yesterday (December 8th) decided single-handedly to postpone the Asean Summits due to the threat of a tropical typhoon. As a resident in Cebu, I found it ridiculous. It did start to get cloudy last night, and it did start raining in the middle of the night. The rain continued on all day today. But it has no wind, yep, no wind at all, other than a much needed breeze that is, in fact, quite refreshing after weeks of brutal heat.
Our helper Maris said Cebu rarely is affected by strong typhoons. As someone whom has lived in a typhoon affected area for 33 years, I know what it is like when an area is hit by a strong typhoon, but what we have experienced here in the past 24 hours has none of those characteristics, i.e., pouring rain, strong, gusty wind, and black clouds. If you know anything about typhoon at all, you will know that typhoon cannot survive without feeding on water. Cebu is in the middle of a bunch of islands, there is practically nothing for the typhoon to feed on. I can see how northern Cebu island could be affected, but the Asean Summits are going to be held in Cebu city, which is located in the middle lower part of Cebu island, well shelter by neighbouring islands, how is it possible that the weather will be so bad that they have to postponed the summits?
So the only other reason will be terrorists threats, which is a lot more probable than the typhoon threat. Anytime when there are heads of states gathering, there always will be terrorists threatening to do something, thankfully, those threats rarely come into fruitation. Maybe it is due to the terrorists not carrying it through, or the prevention measures are carried out so good that they were able to stop it from happening. Either way, it is good that terrorists threats rarely affect any major meetings.
I suspect that the Filipino government, i.e., the president, Arroyo, made this decision because she knows full well that her military is unable to provide this kind of protection to the heads of states who are coming to the summits. Even after only live here for about three months, I can already tell corruption in this country has penetrated to the smallest sect of the society. I will not be surprised if I see a coup during the time of the Asean Summit, this is how unstable the government is.
Strangely, the citizens seem not to be affected by any of the above. Coup or a change of government does not seem to affect their daily life. Politicians who are not corrupt seldom get elected, because those who are corrupt will pay the poor to vote for them, and the poor is happy to receive the money and vote for these guys. It is a vicious cycle, yet, it continues on.
Anyway, those who don't live here might see that we are in in big trouble, terrorist threats, typhoon so severe that make the government has to postpone the summits. In fact, we feel quite calm and normal here, typhoon, terrorists, don't feel a thing at all.
Our helper Maris said Cebu rarely is affected by strong typhoons. As someone whom has lived in a typhoon affected area for 33 years, I know what it is like when an area is hit by a strong typhoon, but what we have experienced here in the past 24 hours has none of those characteristics, i.e., pouring rain, strong, gusty wind, and black clouds. If you know anything about typhoon at all, you will know that typhoon cannot survive without feeding on water. Cebu is in the middle of a bunch of islands, there is practically nothing for the typhoon to feed on. I can see how northern Cebu island could be affected, but the Asean Summits are going to be held in Cebu city, which is located in the middle lower part of Cebu island, well shelter by neighbouring islands, how is it possible that the weather will be so bad that they have to postponed the summits?
So the only other reason will be terrorists threats, which is a lot more probable than the typhoon threat. Anytime when there are heads of states gathering, there always will be terrorists threatening to do something, thankfully, those threats rarely come into fruitation. Maybe it is due to the terrorists not carrying it through, or the prevention measures are carried out so good that they were able to stop it from happening. Either way, it is good that terrorists threats rarely affect any major meetings.
I suspect that the Filipino government, i.e., the president, Arroyo, made this decision because she knows full well that her military is unable to provide this kind of protection to the heads of states who are coming to the summits. Even after only live here for about three months, I can already tell corruption in this country has penetrated to the smallest sect of the society. I will not be surprised if I see a coup during the time of the Asean Summit, this is how unstable the government is.
Strangely, the citizens seem not to be affected by any of the above. Coup or a change of government does not seem to affect their daily life. Politicians who are not corrupt seldom get elected, because those who are corrupt will pay the poor to vote for them, and the poor is happy to receive the money and vote for these guys. It is a vicious cycle, yet, it continues on.
Anyway, those who don't live here might see that we are in in big trouble, terrorist threats, typhoon so severe that make the government has to postpone the summits. In fact, we feel quite calm and normal here, typhoon, terrorists, don't feel a thing at all.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Another cultural learning trip
We are planning another cultural learning trip with another missionary family, the Rosenbergs. They are Americans and came only a few weeks after our arrival. We call it a cultural learning trip because though we are going to a beach resort (Santa Fe Beach Club), things we will experience during our travel and our stay in the resort will be a lot for us to learn.Both families are bringing our helpers, since we are relatively new to the area, with someone who is native will help us out a lot if we need anything on the road. Especially if there is any unforseen things that need to be dealt with. Our helper, Mariss and their helper are childhood friends, so it will be a nice get away for the two ladies also, though they will be 'working', so to speak.
Our trip will be from December 16th to December 18 (Saturday to Monday), but we have not planned anything concrete yet. The Rosenbergs have two 6 year old girls, so hopefully, we will all have some fun even though the driving could be stressful.
Friday, December 01, 2006
A call to suffer
Just received the December 2006 Asia Harvest newsletter, it titles "A Biblical View of Persecution', there are a few things in there written by Glenn Penner that I would like to share.
1) Many believers have been falsely taught that following Jesus only brings blessings and happiness.
2) To be called to follow Christ was to receive a call to suffer.
"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Acts 9:16)
"strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)
"so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them." (1Thessalonians 3:3)
"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (1Peter 2:21)
3) It was this understanding that sacrifice, suffering, and even death were the normal cost of discipleship that fueled the evangelistic efforsts of the first century church.
4) They knew that in order to bring life to others, they must die; to see others experience peace with God, they would have to suffer the violence of the world; to bring the love of God to a dying world, they would have to face the hatred of those whom they were seeking to reach. It is in this context that they described spiritual warfare; not freedom over bad habits or psychological problems, but the brutal reality of witnessing.
5) Yes, there may be fear, but by God's grace it need not control us. Yes, there may be terrible suffering, but suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to the child of God; disobedience to the Father is.
6) We might be justified in saying that from the world's perspective, those who endure persecution are heroic, but from God's perspective they are recipients of grace. Peter stresses that enduring suffering is evidence that God is at work in one's life.
7) There is no glory for the sufferer. No hero worship. No merit for those who are able to endure hardship, no boasting of one's achievements. It is evidence of God's grace. It is all a work of God, from beginning to end.
It makes me feels as small as a pea after I read this. What are all those talks about the heat and filth in Cebu? We might have sacrificed some, but we are far from suffering. We have so much here, though much less in comparison to what most Americans have, we are blessed beyond compare. Or you can say, we are not blessed, because we are not in fact suffering, if you look at it from God's perspective.
However, I also recognize that God does not send every single one of his followers to be a martyr, there are some who, like us, would be training church leaders through teaching. We do have to be ready to say
YES', if God puts us in places that are uncomfortable, where sacrifices are needed, we have to be obedient and pick up our tents and go.
1) Many believers have been falsely taught that following Jesus only brings blessings and happiness.
2) To be called to follow Christ was to receive a call to suffer.
"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Acts 9:16)
"strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)
"so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them." (1Thessalonians 3:3)
"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (1Peter 2:21)
3) It was this understanding that sacrifice, suffering, and even death were the normal cost of discipleship that fueled the evangelistic efforsts of the first century church.
4) They knew that in order to bring life to others, they must die; to see others experience peace with God, they would have to suffer the violence of the world; to bring the love of God to a dying world, they would have to face the hatred of those whom they were seeking to reach. It is in this context that they described spiritual warfare; not freedom over bad habits or psychological problems, but the brutal reality of witnessing.
5) Yes, there may be fear, but by God's grace it need not control us. Yes, there may be terrible suffering, but suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to the child of God; disobedience to the Father is.
6) We might be justified in saying that from the world's perspective, those who endure persecution are heroic, but from God's perspective they are recipients of grace. Peter stresses that enduring suffering is evidence that God is at work in one's life.
7) There is no glory for the sufferer. No hero worship. No merit for those who are able to endure hardship, no boasting of one's achievements. It is evidence of God's grace. It is all a work of God, from beginning to end.
It makes me feels as small as a pea after I read this. What are all those talks about the heat and filth in Cebu? We might have sacrificed some, but we are far from suffering. We have so much here, though much less in comparison to what most Americans have, we are blessed beyond compare. Or you can say, we are not blessed, because we are not in fact suffering, if you look at it from God's perspective.
However, I also recognize that God does not send every single one of his followers to be a martyr, there are some who, like us, would be training church leaders through teaching. We do have to be ready to say
YES', if God puts us in places that are uncomfortable, where sacrifices are needed, we have to be obedient and pick up our tents and go.
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