Banquet in the Sky

There is still the small matter of the result of the Banquet in The Sky competition induced by KLM Royal Dutch guess-the-grub Airlines. The results will be in no particular order- much like the meals- and will be posted to your inbox - that's if I survive the "salad"; spicy beef and olive rice dinner with "vegetables"; and iced cake with a dewy piece if pineapple on it! So watch out - you might be the lucky winner!
Oh but before I go, two hours before landing I had the following conversation with the stewardess:
Stewardess: Would you like a snack before we land, Sir?
Graham: Why not?
Stewardess: I could give you several reasons - the healthiest people are those who never say yes
Graham: I'm running a competition on my blog of "Guess the dish"
Stewardess: Someone deserves a prize for guessing what this one is - I have NO idea!
Out of the mouths....

So what?

So a great trip to a far away land, meeting far away people and entering their far away world for two short weeks. For sure messages have been preached, meals shared, tears cried and laughter enjoyed. God has opened eyes and ears to what He is doing, but my question to John and myself is the title of today's post - so what? God sent us on this trip - has all he intended been fulfilled? Have the obvious and the hidden purposes and desires of God, Cesar and us been woven together, the warp and woof of a beautiful new fabric? In a few hours we will be back home, back to safe, secure,comfortable life, ministry and church - so what? We can share the story more fully than in a blog. We can be used of God to stir fresh prayer and support of what he is doing in Zamboanga. All that is good. But are we different men for having been here? In what ways have we been changed forever? In what ways will our lives and ministries take on a differnet hue? What are we bringing back in our bags which will need to be unpacked, examined, meditated and acted upon? If these questions are not addressed then we will just have been spiritual tourists seeing amazing things, capturing souvenir photos and coming home with the feeling of having "had a great time".
It would be wonderful if as you read these thoughts, you could reflect on these questions with us and for us. We invite your thoughts, perceptions and insights. Write, speak, however is good for you, we actually need your help on this.
But as a reader, you have been on a journey too. As the more or less daily email hit your inbox and you have clicked and read, has it just been an interesting journey to spectate, or are you too faced with a "so what?" deeper within? What has stirred in me as I have read? What radical thoughts have come in the moment? What fears or faith have burst forth and been quickly stifled? Are you any different from having been on the journey with us in reading, in praying?
So as we all take off our travel shoes and stand still and reflect, we are back where we started, on holy ground before God. What is he saying? The answer comes from the lips of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Fear God. Do what he tells you" - (The Message) - are you up for that?

Final Fling

Manila airport does not sleep and hence nor do I! The farewells are a flight away, the tears dried and the experiences God has allowed us to share have ceased to flow. They gather now in a pool of memories. To round off we gathered with the believers in Ayala for one last time to worship the Lord who is the One who has brought us together. It was my turn to preach and there seemed no better place to explore than the reality of heaven in the face of persecution, weakness and struggle, portrayed by John in Revelation 4. The open door; the throne of heaven; the fact that the throne is occupied; the dynamic of worship and the confidence of prayer. It's brilliant stuff although others will need to judge if the sermon was although its a start that I was gripped and moved by the Spirit - always good if the preacher is engaged! Suffice to say it felt and looked like the Lord was encouraging, strengthening and comforting his people.
What better way to celebrate than to sit down after all the formal farewells and photos to a whole barbecued tuna fish? Sorry to have to resort to an Americanism but it was AWESOME!
As the afternoon unfolded we were treated to some more moving stories of how the gospel is spreading underground right in the heart of Muslim strongholds; of a baptism in mud because the tide was out and one where a young man being baptised in a dirty river swam away underwater when he was dunked and popped up on the other side - so to speak!
In a bid to stave off the farewells - not to mention necessary diets - Cesar, Ludima and the girls took us for pizza and in order to get there John and I had to ride in a motorised tricycle - now that was an experience!
There is no doubt we have been treated to a whole spectrum of experiences of God, his people, moving stories and food. We are utterly grateful. Hope you've enjoyed what we've been able to share courtesy of email and this blog. To God be the Glory!

Daring to Imagine

Two older men, one bunch of yellow-tee-shirted young people and the Lord - a heady mix indeed! That was this morning's setting in Ayala. We need not have worried, because they were such a delightful group from several churches. As John explored David and Goliath and Christian warfare with them it became clear that God was indeed present and on the move. Hearts were being touched by the Spirit. It became very obvious to me as I spoke on the call of Jeremiah as could see visible impact in their lives. One of their leaders called them forward for prayer and we had the privilege of praying for them and blessing them as they grow up in Christ. There may be gum gnashing and hand wringing in many churches over the lack of young people or grumps and groans because they don't easily conform to the old ways but where young people are seen as living works of God's grace, all we can do is marvel and delight in seeing the next generation burn with love for Jesus, love for each other and a compassion for the world. The challenge the Lord set me is to stand up and encourage young people to be who God has made them to be and to personally nurture them in their faith, their struggles and triumphs so that they grow to bear the likeness to Christ more clearly than my generation has ever done. It was such a joy to pray over them and to sense that the call of God is on their lives for the flourishing of the Church of Jesus in this area in coming months and years. Fantastic! Or more spiritually, Hallelujah!

No church event is complete without food so we headed through the house to a feast set for the youth pastors and ourselves in Ludima's kitchen. Conversation came to an abrupt end as the corrugated steel roof was battered by deafening torrential rain - it just gave space to eat! Joking apart, it was so good just to have fellowship with these youth pastors and to know their hearts for their young people - very moving.
Equally moving was a short time with two of the Ayala elders. The one on the RHS is the first man in Ayala to become a Christian through Cesar's ministry. His whole family became believers a la Book of Acts and have been part of the church ever since. The one on the LHS is youth pastor. The "meeting" was more an opportunity to present John and I each with a ship in a bottle as a reminder of our visit. Those of you with sharp eyes will notice a couple of interesting photos on the wall behind, reminding of past and present bonds of love. These bonds have been strong over more than 16 years and in this visit have been strengthened all the more.
Going back to these young folk, Cesar has a real vision to see a Bible School established in Zamboanga as he senses that there is a time of real harvest coming and he wants leaders and pastors to be made ready for what God will do. I love that! What shape will it have? The potential is huge. I am daring to imagine God's future here...are you too?

Heaven's Delight

There is an ancient song which says " how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity". These lyrics reveal something much deeper than the words of a gifted songwriter, they expose the desires of the heart of God. It is good to God and pleasant to Him - a delight, a pleasure when his children get along. Well once more we were at Jollibee - different branch - for a gathering of city pastors and their wives. In many ways my heart was beating fast for this gathering as I had a sense of real anticipation about it. I was not disappointed.

About fifteen gathered from various churches and denominations, and clearly they were already in good relationship with each other. Pastor Cesar is this year's chair of this group who meet once a month in each other's churches for food and fellowship - so it was an exception being in Jollibee! John shared a little about the shape of church life in Aberdeen and in particular the weekly prayer time at our church. This really connected them into the idea that we actually participate in their life and ministry through prayer despite being separated by thousands of miles. Then I was asked to share a word. So I taught on the Trinity in a thoroughly interactive way, drawing out the implications of Trinity-Centred life for prayer and for mission. There were some fun moments in the midst of the magnitude of the subject.

Over lunch John and I had the opportunity to listen to some of the stories of grace in these pastors' lives.That is after one of them had shared that in July they had had a visit from and Indonesian preacher who had prophesied that two foreign men would come to Zamboanga and that their visit would be highly significant. There was no doubt in their minds that John and I were these two! No pressure - but rather humbling. So our prayer together was simply to ask the Lord to fulfil whatever that significance is in his heart through our time here.

I was chatting to one lady pastor who was brought up in a 90% Muslim community. Her family did not know Jesus, but she became a Christian and subsequently her family has been converted. She and her husband started a church in this community back in March 2011 in the little piece of ground at the side of their home. They have draped sheeting over a wooden frame to form a shelter from the sun and there a small but growing congregation gather every week for worship. Another tiny little church of a handful of people establishing a bulwark of praise and worship in this community which although Muslim, is friendly and accepting of them as believers. However she has a job in a very dangerous militant Muslim enclave which is controlled by crime syndicates where she teaches in the school. She has chosen to be there as a Christian and to show the love of Jesus to the Muslim children and to share her faith as appropriate.

Other pastors shared some deeply personal stories with me and I felt honoured to be entrusted with their stories. Here was I sitting on three years of theological education plus thirty years of ministry experience listening to a brother who had six months of Bible School and has been ministering wonderfully and fruitfully for twenty years - his wife being one of the early fruits of his ministry. Yet I felt he was teaching me and pointing me to the Lord far more than I to him.

One of Cesar's desires is to see a small Bible School established in Zamboanga which would help train young pastors for the growth of the church in this area. My heart chimes with that, but only God knows the how and the wherefore of it.

I believe by the time we moved from the side-room out into the bustle of the fast food restaurant, there was a good dose of heavenly delight going on - there certainly were new friendships and relationships formed and  now the question is where do we go from here?

Holy Ground

There are moments when the only thing to do is stand still, take your shoes off and take in what you see, let it soak into your very being. Yesterday was such a time. On the face of it is was a trip up country, an opportunity to get away from city and experience rural Philippines. It was all that, but even as we drove up through the hills on concrete roads with coconut and banana trees near, sheltering fragile coconut wood houses, often built on stilts, and coconut and bananas tree as far as the eye could see, we knew we were embarking on a day in another world. 

We were jolted back to corporate life when we stopped after almost three hours.A fast food lunch, courtesy of Jollibee. However as we drove through the bustling town of Ipil and out on to the road heading to Cesar's home village of Dawadawa we witnessed one of the many rapes of the land and its people by international business. There was a huge rubber plantation planted on cleared ground, employing many people for a pittance, but the rubber going to make the billions of Good Year tyres which are the shoes of our vehicles. Our minivan was treated to two motorbiked pastors acting as outriders as we wove over poor roads on to our destination.

Finally we arrived and were welcomed with great warmth and of course lovely snacks. The opportunity to drink coconut juice from a coconut picked as we talked was of course memorable but these are trivialities. Here in Dawadawa there is a church, a people of God who for decades have worshipped God in this place and given Jesus the honour of their lives and prayed for many, not least for our home church in Aberdeen. This is Cesar's home church,Gospel light Fellowship, and through Cesar and Ludima has become the "mother" church to so many small churches like it all over the Zamboangan Peninsula. There are two on a nearby island and we were honoured by the pastors joining us a for a few minutes. 

Pastor Ian is twenty one and yet has answered the call of God to minister on this difficult Island in a town called Florida! His bride-to-be is a Bible Woman on the Island and they will marry in January 2012. You can see that life is hard, eking it from coconuts and rice, yet these believers have it all. They have faith that is radiant, and quiet joy in the face of hardship and struggle. This my friends is the real McCoy! This is holy ground, because God has walked and is walking this land through the feet of these followers of Jesus, bringing his Gospel to the villages around. 

Tears of profound worship are welling up as I write, forgive me, but here I caught a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of his people. After going to send Ian and his colleague back to the Island, we headed to another village, and another little church before heading back up the road to Imelda. Our motorcycle outriders took us to their church which is  clearly well organised and has various levels of programmes charted on the wall. yet even this one has birthed another down the road in the town centre behind the bus station. 

Prayer, proclamation of the Word of God and the Spirit of God bringing new life in Christ leads to such expressions of missionary heart. There in that church we stood still, gave thanks to God, blessed the pastors and left clutching "barbecued" bananas - better known as deep fried bananas! Fine. That set s up for the long drive in the dark avoiding dogs, pigs, oxen, children, tricycles ,cars and buses, all the way back to our hotel. What a day, what an experience, what a genuine people of God, what a God! That warrants a Hallelujah! - do I hear an Amen?

Fruitful Plants

My Bananas

It's now Monday morning and I am sitting writing this and eating the most delicious small banana - quite different from our supermarket variety. These can be seen growing on the plants by the side of the road but this particular "hand" was a gift from a church we visited yesterday evening - clearly a very fruitful visit! Actually this was a fairly last minute addition to our programme for yesterday. Pastor Baya had been at the Church Leaders' Conference on Saturday and as Cesar is a great friend of his, he pressed him to allow us to come to his church. What a blessing it turned out to be. The church has the use of a middle floor in a building in downtown Zamboanga City. The ground floor is a funeral parlour; the first floor, where the church meets and the top floor is the home of the millionaire lady who owns the whole block. We joked that death is on the ground floor, life on the next floor and she is close to heaven on the top!

Worship was full of life; exuberant, whole-hearted and free - such a joy for us both to be able to participate in. I was preaching what God had laid on my heart; the naming of David and Bathsheba's second son and how they ignored the name by which he was known by God from before the dawn of time - Jedidiah - Beloved of God - and instead chose their own name for him by which we know him - Solomon.

I felt huge freedom and joy especially as this led to the scene of the Baptism of Jesus; the falling of the Spirit;  and the voice from heaven declaring " you are my beloved Son, in whom I delight". I won't treat you to the whole sermon but if you ever fancy exploring it with me, I am open!

Pastor Baya & his daughter

Worship was followed by food. About seventy families were there and everyone was fed a hot meal of rice, pork and chicken.This church clearly has some rich members, but the majority of the children looked poor and we suspect this might have been the best meal they would eat for a number of days.

What was most thrilling of all was to hear Pastor Baya share their plans to plant another three churches in the next two years. He is training three Assistant Pastors for this ministry and at the right time the church will split and multiply.Their vision is that the new churches will begin as house churches and grow to point when they too need to split and multiply. They could easily settle into a pattern of church life as they have it and they would be effective in building up the people of God, but their hearts are to reach more and more people for Jesus by daring to step out with God and plant new churches in other areas round about the city. He is a big man, with a big vision and a big view of what is possible as God leads and directs.

Having been involved in planting a church and having attended church planting conferences I recognise the beauty and simplicity of such a heart and purpose.It raises issues in my mind about comfortable church, intentional living in areas of the city as missional communities and dare I say it, what we in the west think of as church and what it could/might be. Oh dear something has stirred in me, something radical and disturbing. I wonder what that is about?