Hello from the Philippines!

Well, here I am, after months of prayer and preparation, in my new home in the Philippines! It has been quite a journey to get here (both literally and figuratively), and I am so happy to have you along for the ride on this new adventure!

I want to try to bring you in to this experience of mission with me, so I’ll be providing monthly updates with stories, pictures, reflections, and prayer intentions. I hope this in some way can help you to find the ways that God wants you to be a missionary in your own life. So, here we go!

A Culture of Welcome

Filipinos have a gift for making one feel welcomed. From the time I got off the plane until I picked up my luggage, I think at least 10 people had already welcomed me to the Philippines! Not to mention the welcome I received from Bulay (my fellow Pure Heart missionary) and the other Pure Heart servers: they pulled up with balloons and a big sign that read, “Welcome home Eric”! I was especially moved by that word “home.” They were not welcoming me as a random stranger or as someone visiting their country. They were really welcoming me as one of their own, as one who would share in their lives, as part of their family.

Becoming Filipino

Speaking of becoming one of them, I wasted no time in becoming Filipino-ized! We went straight from the airport to each lechon, the famous Filipino pig-roast. From there we went to get Filipino coffee, and for dinner we had Jollibee, the Filipino version of McDonalds. And to really top it off, that evening we got belut, a duck egg that is already semi-developed, which they assured me would make me a true Filipino citizen. My 21-day-old duck, which I expected surely to make me nauseous, was actually quite enjoyable! I guess I had some Filipino in me all along…

Learning to Un-Learn: We Cannot Earn

As excited as I was to come, and as happy as I am to be here, moving half-way across the world is never an easy thing. But, as always, God has assured me of His constant presence and guiding Hand with me always.

Each year on my birthday, I choose a new “Word” from the Bible that will be my guide for the year, to give me focus and to shed light on the experiences that I live. This year, I chose Romans 8:15-39. This passage deals mainly with God’s love, which has made us His children:

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship…We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him…He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things?…Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution…..? I am sure that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What a bold claim St. Paul is making! Nothing can separate us from God’s Love for us! Nothing! No amount of failure or weakness, no wound or inability, no sin or betrayal, no person or circumstance, can separate us from His love. We just have to accept the fact that we cannot escape His love, cannot flee from it, cannot change it, and cannot earn it. More on this in a moment.

So, this “Word” from Romans 8…what does this have to do with the Philippines? Great question! I left for the Philippines on Tuesday, October 31. On Monday, October 30, my very last day in the States, the reading at Mass was from Romans 8:15. I was very struck by this; but it doesn’t end there. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go to Mass on the 31st or Nov. 1 (my total travel time was 46 hours), I looked ahead at the readings for the next few days. Lo and behold, the reading on the 31st continued through Romans 8. The reading on Nov. 1st continued through Romans 8. And the reading on Nov. 2, my very first day here in the Philippines, finished up Romans 8 and my “Word” for the year, ending with those words: “I am sure that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God was speaking to me this Word of great hope and comfort, and showing me that He was with me through this whole journey, from my last day in the US, during my long journey, through to my first day in the Philippines. This has been a great consolation for me through the ups and downs of transition and adjusting - resting assured that, whatever happens, through all these changes, the Love of God is here with me, unchanging.

So often we approach life, even in very subtle ways, by trying to earn love. We seek the approval and the affirmation of others; we try desperately to prove to others, to the world, to ourselves, that we are good, that we are worth loving! “If only I had this talent; if only I looked like this; if only I didn’t have this weakness; if only I could find a spouse; if only…..then I would be happy!” Why? Because then I would fit in; then I wouldn’t feel so alone; then others would love me more. If I was like that others would love me more. Not as I am now.

Why this explosion of social media, especially among young people? Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re all seeking that affirmation, that recognition. We put forth an image of ourselves that we want the world to see, an image that is usually much more neat and tidy than the reality of our lives. And since everyone else is doing the same, we go around comparing ourselves to these fake versions of all our “friends,”convincing ourselves that we don’t measure up. “They look like they have it all together! Look at them, they’re always smiling, always so happy!”

Thankfully, God doesn’t work that way. Our idea, our concept of love, is so twisted, so scewed, that we usually make it more about ourselves than about the other. We believe that we have to prove ourselves, to win love. I was sitting in the chapel the other day (I’m living with the Community of St. John, a religious order of Brothers and Sisters), imagining myself as some “super missionary,” coming in to save the day, helping hundreds, nay, thousands of people….As I walk down the street in my day-dream, everybody knows me and says hi. I am the one who knows everyone, who helps everyone. And because of that, they love me.

I sat there, comparing my current self, which is not so impressive, with this glorious future-me…and I felt terrible. Terribly inadequate, terribly alone, terribly unloved. And then the words came to me:

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things?”

Yes! This is what it’s about! It’s not about trying to be some super-missionary, proving to others, to myself, and to God by my amazing feats and accomplishments that I am worthy, that I am lovable. “In this is love,” says St. John, “Not that we first loved God, but that He loved us, and sent us His only Son…” We cannot prove to God that we deserve His love. In fact, we don’t deserve it! We cannot earn it. He gives it freely! He does not love us because we are worthy, or because we are good. He loves us because He is good! Now, of course it’s not bad to go out and help people. But if we’re doing it as a way to prove to others, ourselves, and God that we are good and worthy of love, then it really becomes all (or mostly all) about us. But, if we enter in to prayer, in to that space of encounter with God, and truly meet His great Love, then we are so filled with zeal and fire, that we spontaneously want to go out and love others, serve others, for we see them as beautiful and glorious creations that are so worthy of love, so worthy to know that they are loved by Love Himself.

So, no more being a super-missionary for me. I want to be only a humble man who seeks to encounter the Love of God, and then let His Love overflow out from me in whatever way He chooses.

Becoming Like a Child

Kids already know all of that. It’s instinctive. They already know that life is good, that people are good, that they are good (unless this is robbed from them by trauma or lack of love). That is why they run around without a care in the world! They know that they are loved, and so they run out to meet the world with a sense of joy and wonder.

I see that in the kids I meet here. There is such an innocence, a trust. They immediately welcome me in to their little gangs to play basketball, or to play soccer using a sandal (they didn’t have a ball). Or they laugh and laugh as the teach me all the names of the animals in their native tongue, and we make animal noises together.

Can we regain some of that childlike approach to life? I think we can. Not to be child-ish, but child-like. I think one of the best ways to do this practically is to give thanks. “Give thanks in all circumstances” says 1 Thessalonians 5:18. When we give thanks, it changes our hearts, purifies our hearts. The more and more we do it, the more we are able to see that life is good. It becomes a state of life, a choice of life, a daily decision. Even if everything is not as I wish it would be, I can give thanks to God for the things that I have received, even very small things (which usually aren’t so small, once we really think about them). If we do this every day, choosing to live in an attitude of thanksgiving, we will see in the end that our hearts are full.

Well, that's all for now! Thank you for all of your encouragement support, and prayers that have made it possible for me to respond to the Lord's call to come here! I could not be here without your help. Please pray for me as I continue to make this transition and begin my life in mission here in the Philippines. Know that I keep you in my prayers every day. I'm sure I will have many new stories to share with you next month!

Until then, may God keep and bless you,

Eric