Grasshopper Mentality

On Sunday, the General Director of Servant Partners, Derek Engdahl, came to talk to our class about "The Facts of Poverty". It was a great opportunity to hear from someone with extensive experience working with and for the poor, in L.A. and all over the world. It was also cool to hear that Servant Partners was born out of a bunch of college students, who were moved by the scriptures about living for justice... asking the question, "What does it mean to follow Jesus? With poverty in our backyard?"

We spent several minutes brainstorming the various contributors to urban poverty: Lack of education, employment injustices, financial near-sightedness, addition - alcohol, drugs, and gambling, generational sin, violence, abuse, lack of health care, governmental injustices, inefficient justice systems, destruction of slum communities, HUGE influxes into major city centers, lack of jobs, racism, classism, gender issues, presence of the occult - spiritual darkness and oppression. The list could go on and on. Poverty, especially urban poverty, is complex and cannot be described or solved in simple terms.

Derek brought up another interesting contributor to poverty - the grasshopper mentality. The term is coined from chapter 13 of the book of Numbers in which the 12 Israelite spies are sent into Canaan - the promise land - to scope out the land and the enemies that they would have to defeat in order to occupy it. One spy is chosen from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and they spend 40 days exploring the land in order to bring back a report to the people.

When the 12 reported back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community, they shared fruit that they had collected from Canaan and shared their report. The land was incredible and all they ever imagined, but they also relayed frightening news of huge, fortified cities, strong and powerful inhabitants, and huge giants. In regards to the giants, the men told the community, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Only Caleb and Joshua encouraged the community to believe in the Lord's promise to give them this land. They pleaded with the assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

But their decision was already made. The Lord was disgusted by their fear and unbelief. He killed off all of the spies that had come back with a bad report and sent the Israelites into the desert to wander for 40 years, until every man over 20 years old was dead. Only Caleb and Joshua were spared and allowed to see the promise land.

At the end of the 40 years, Joshua sent 2 spies into the land. They met a prostitute named Rahab in Jericho who took them in and protected them from the guards. Rahab relayed some very surprising news, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."

Not only did the "powerful enemies" NOT see them as grasshoppers, but they were utterly terrified by their incredible power and amazing successes with the Lord on their side. The first set of spies had simply projected their own perceptions onto the giants, without considering the promises and faithfulness of their God.

Many people in poverty have this same perception - the grasshopper mentality. While there are some obvious obstacles and strongholds for those in poverty, the Lord desires to set them free from oppression and give them victory over their enemies. Anything is possible with the Lord and doubting his strength and ability to save is sin. Part of the work of urban ministry as well as community organizing and advocacy is encouraging the people to step out in power, with confidence. You are NOT grasshoppers and the world does not think you are grasshoppers! Change the mindset, get rid of the fear. YOU are worthy of God's power.

New Life

During our last full day in Manila, we got to attend the first ever baptism service of the young church in Botocan. What an honor. The church has been around for about a year now. They started off with only a sunday school for the kids until they launched their full service a little over a year ago. The church now has a sunday service, a youth service, a boys and girls fellowship, and small groups. The congregation is still very young, but so vibrant! On baptism Sunday, 6 young men (13-23 years old) stepped up to share their testimony. While my Tagalog is not quite up to speed enough to understand what they were saying, it was clear through their expressions and emotions that Jesus has really transformed their lives. Almost all of the young men cried through their testimony... which of course made me tear up and praise God for their new life! It's clear that God is raising up some incredible young leaders in the church and I am so excited to see how they will transform their community!

After the testimonies at the church we all gathered up with our pool supplies and walked about 30 minutes to a private pool in a nearby neighborhood that the church had rented for the day. The six young men were invited into the water and Pastor Aaron baptized each of them as an outward display of their decision to follow Christ and leave their old lives behind. Praise God! (I'm sure it was a really emotional and exciting baptism... unfortunately, I happened to be in the bathroom when all of the baptisms were done. I came out right when everyone was applauding and cheering. Oops... )

We spent the rest of the day eating delicious food and playing in the pool! So many of the youth were there and it was so fun to play with everyone! Toward the end of the day, one of the youth leaders, Cherice, gathered everyone up at one end of the pool and all of the kids proceeded to dedicate and sing a song to all of us Americans. It was really beautiful and a moment that I won't soon forget. She then asked for Filipinos and Americans to share what this experience has meant to them. Some really nice words and lots of tears were shared. I really will miss the community there in Botocan. They received us with so much love and really taught us what it means to accept and encourage each other and really live with passion for the gospel. I am confident that God with work in and through each of them to bring amazing redemption to their small community. We love you, Botocan Bible Christian Fellowship!

Jennifer

On Thursday night, half of our intern team had the opportunity to prayer walk through the red light district in downtown Manila. I was a little nervous and scared about what I might see and experience down there. One of the SP staff here, Cora, guided us through the crowded streets. We took a jeepney and then walked for about 30 minutes. We walked up and down a few streets that were dotted with clubs and hotels. Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines. But there are several clubs where women dance around in bikinis and then get to know their guests. The clubs are often 'conveniently' located next door to an hourly hotel. This gives the girls an opportunity to make arrangements and get some more money on the side. I guess it's not unusual for one of these hourly hotels to rake in around $25,000 per night! A very lucrative business opportunity.
I really didn't see anything out of the ordinary walking up and down the streets. The clubs just looked like innocent karaoke bars from the street. We then walked up and over some of the pedestrian walkways in the area where a lot of the girls and their pimps hang out to find customers. We tried to talk to a couple of the girls, but they were not really interested in sharing their lives with a random group of Christians. But then we walked up to Jennifer. It seemed pretty awkward at first... all 7 of us nervously crowding around her, not really sure what to do next. She seemed a bit confused and overwhelmed, but nice and open to talking. Cora asked her a bunch of questions in Tagalog about her life and her job as a prostitute. She shared with us that she was 20 years old and had a young son that lived with his grandparents out in the country. She would like to have a real job, but doesn't know how or what to do to make more money than she does in her current arrangement. She tells us that she usually has about 1 to 3 clients each night, each paying around 300 pesos (about $7). She's out here every night, trying to make enough money to get by and send to her son. She dreams of a day when she can return to see him. We each ask her a question or two... she's starting to seem a little more comfortable with us. We ask if we can pray for her and then surround her right there on the overpass to lift up her prayers to God. It feels overwhelming and a little scary... but I feel honored to be able to pray for our new friend.
She seems so young. As we say goodbye and walk away to find a jeepney home, I am completely overwhelmed with sadness and anger and confusion. I wish I could just save her! Why does she have to feel forced to earn money this way? Why does this 'profession' even have to exist? Why, God? Please save Jennifer, Lord... pull her from the darkness! I feel completely helpless. All I can do is pray. Lord, I trust that you will bring redemption to this broken world. Thanks for letting me meet your precious daughter, Jennifer.

Outbreak!

Last week one of my roommates, Stephanie, threw out some very dangerous words. After talking and praying about all of our teams various sicknesses and pains, Stephanie had the audacity to say, "I'm feeling very lucky that I'm not sick or anything!" I told her not to worry, there was still plenty of time... Well, she definitely should have been knocking on any one of the many wooden surfaces in our little room. The very next morning when she woke up... her eyes were swollen shut! PINK EYE! aka - Sore Eyes here in Manila. Since Thursday morning, the nasty 'sore eyes' have spread to another one of our roommates, Janelle... then 2 days later to ME! Thankfully, I was able to start administering the eye drop drugs pretty immediately, so the redness in my eyes hasn't gotten out of control, but they still sting and I've pulled out some pretty gnarly eye boogers! EW.
I am grateful to be in a country where the eye drops can be found in any drug store, for about $6. I might try to stock up here... cuz there's no doubt the drops are at least 10 times that much in the States! I really hope to beat this nasty sickness quick! PLEASE pray that the outbreak would stop at me. Pray for the health and safely of our team. We are feeling super blessed to be here... I can't believe there's only one more week until we board a plane back to L.A.