Dangerous in the Philippines

It is dangerous in the Philippines...

Within a short span of time, I have encountered 4 different dangerous situations regarding church members and their families:

1. A young man has a motorcycle accident, the other person involved died. It was in front of a large famous (non-Christian) church known for their solidarity. The victim was a part of this church. They take the victim to the hospital, and then beat the young man. He could have died. He must pass this way daily to and from work, and the hunger for vengeance has at times caused the police to release a guilty party, knowing the family of the victim will track them down and kill them. There is no literal “City of refuge”, no safe place to go.

2. A young man coming back from a late evening was stabbed, this is the second time he has been stabbed. The last time he almost lost his hearing since the knife passed into his skull near his ear. He is recovering in the hospital, the blood draining from his lungs.

3. Another young man walking down the street, when a stabbing takes place across the street, the group involved flees in his direction, and those pursuing mistake him as the culprit and beat him.

4. An older man who works in the local barrangay (town office) goes to the federal government to protest a land seizure in his area. Shortly after that, armed goons arrive and there are threats made on his life. The owner of the land didn't like the fact he was fighting for the occupants. He hasn't slept at home for a long time now, and tries to move from place to place, not staying in one place for more than an hour or two. Is his fear justified? Another barrangay leader was shot to death just the week before. I asked, do you have anything to protect yourself? He said “If I carry weapons, God can't be my protection. The other man that was killed, carried a gun and had two body guards, but they killed him before he could draw his weapon!”

God alone can keep us safe. We do have a “City of refuge” to flee from our enemies. In Christ.

Keep us and the church members and their families in your prayers.

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Doing our Part

 
I read a post here about how God was blessing a pioneer work and it made me think about how many times we have spent time inviting the multitudes but only that one came, but that one brought multitudes.

I can not give everything and meet every need, but I can do my part and maybe that will help inspire someone else to do theirs, or I can point them to the God that can meet every need!

I can not do all the praying, but I can do my part and maybe others will jump in and help.

I heard recently about how one church had a group that prayed through the night, each volunteer offering to pray one hour, and the next one taking over for an hour, until the morning time and that way their was someone praying all night for the services Sunday morning. I thought it was a good idea and started doing it here and was pleasantly surprised how the brothers and sisters began to realize their responsibility in prayer, and we sensed the difference on Sunday mornings.

Thank God for the privilege to do our part!

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