16 hours, 16 hours of sitting uncomfortably next to new strangers, breathing in the same air, watching movie after movie, but filled with excitement, anticipation, but also angst. Thailand, Orientation, then Manila. As soon as I stepped out of the cabin I was hit with the familiar smell of, cigarette smoke, pollution, food, home. I always joke about how I wish I could take a bottle of air from the Philippines and breathe it in whenever I want to reminisce. Everything was so familiar, yet this time it was different, this time I wasn’t with my family, I wasn’t going to be island hopping, relaxing on beaches, or visiting relatives, I was looking at my country with a new lens, a kingdom lens, God show me the brokenness, injustice, show me what is breaking your heart, where your spirit is moving, the suffering but also the joy. Quezon City, A minefield of skyscrapers and people, a densely packed city of 3,179,536 and 62.21 Square Miles, for reference Merced is 23.32 mi² with a population of 81,102, so quezon city is less than 3 times the size of Merced but with about 40 times the population. The streets of Quezon city is littered with street vendors, food, pirated DVD’s, fake purses, whatever your heart desires, but if you avert your gaze from the consumerism you’ll see trash, broken concrete, children, whole families without homes, the sun kissed faces of people who have known no other life than poverty. This is so different from the Philippines we hear about or see on TV, the Filipinos with fair almost white skin, the pearly white beaches, the financial districts with polished apartments. The juxtaposition of excess and poverty is heart wrenching, one minute you could go from Beverly hills to the tenderloin.
Slumification is a relatively new phenomena we’ve seen in the past century. One billion people or one third of the world’s population is estimated to be living in either slum or squatter settlements. But what is a slum? Urban slums are settlements, neighborhoods, or city regions that cannot provide the basic living conditions necessary for its inhabitants, or slum dwellers, to live in a safe and healthy environment. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) defines a slum settlement as a household that cannot provide one of the following basic living characteristics: Durable housing of a permanent nature that protects against extreme climate conditions. Sufficient living space, which means not more than three people sharing the same room. Easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price. Access to adequate sanitation in the form of a private or public toilet shared by a reasonable number of people. Security of tenure that prevents forced evictions.
On my usual visits I would see these places say “oh that’s sad” then move on. This time, instead of letting these places be a speck on my radar, this is where I lived, this is where I shared life with some of the most on fire, passionate, giving, welcoming, loving, kingdom minded, people I have come to know. These people who I would normally disqualify and say they have nothing for me, I should be giving them handouts, I should be caring for them, I have something for them. But when I did that I failed to see them in the light that God had made them, I failed to see them in the same way God saw them, as his precious image bearers who also had dreams, longings, and something to give to the world. I can confidently say that yes the Phillipines is broken, there is evidence of deep sin and injustice that plague the country, yes there is nothing we can do to fix it, but there is joy, a deep joy that I couldn’t understand, a deep joy and love that comes from the total reliance on God to provide, worship from a tender place that I was lacking, and that I wanted. The holy spirit is moving in the slums, the holy spirit is restoring shalom. I used to think of the slums I saw the sad faces of those with nothing, people who had nothing to offer, now I see joy, I see love, I see the smiling faces of my Nanay and Tatay who despite living in desperate conditions, got up every morning in worship to the God who sustained them. When I see slums I see life.
A call to pray.
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