"I have so many stories to tell of the beautiful feedback I've been getting from the conference and the rest of your time here...Thank you so much for pointing us to the ABUNDANT LIFE!"
Benji Cruz, Director of Living Waters, Philippine.
"In God we trust."
By Jonathan Hunter
That's a declaration fast disappearing from our national lexicon. Just the other day the US Air Force allowed for dropping the phrase, "So help me God" in their enlistment oaths. It was just too odious for atheists to mouth. This is but another pathetic attempt to strip all references to our Christian Heritage and language by the word fascists; a deeply disturbing trend that is infecting ALL the Western countries.
Contrast that with what we discovered on our recent ministry trip to the Philippines. Dominated by Spanish, Catholic rule for over 350 years and American for 50, the Philippines persists in self-identify herself as a Catholic nation. Unabashedly, I might add. Imagine this in
your city: Encircling the top of a new, downtown Manila skyscraper proudly glows In God We Trust in big neon letters; a proclamation its owner deemed more important to illuminate than the company logo...which is absent. The nerve!
The Philippines delivered with wonderful signs of emerging life and newly discovered freedom in Christ [See the video above] for hundreds of lives to whom we ministered: Protestants and Catholics together,
worshiping, receiving, and hungry for more life! That unique, Filipino graciousness was present at every venue and in a special way at St. Luke's hospital, the largest medical facility in Manila. We were invited by a Christian medical group to speak and pray about the interplay between physical and emotional healing...in the hospital.
After praying over the healthy-sized group, we thanked the head physician for such a refreshing opportunity, noting how next to impossible it would be to pull off a similar event in a US hospital. To which he replied: "We won't let that happen here!" Amen brother.
It is important to note that there is a national identity transformation beginning to happen for Filipinos that only the Lord could bring about. It's clear that no change in government can transform the critically sick state of the Philippines - infrastructure collapse and corruption abounding. The national malaise and disappointment is palpable. No longer under the thumb of Western powers, but struggling to find their place in the family of nations it is clear that human leadership has failed them in a big way.
To wit, we found ourselves repeatedly praying for freedom from the default Filipino obligation of overseas employment, that Filipinos would instead become a worldwide deployment of ambassadors bringing the good news to the nations of the world: "Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." Is. 25:9. We are praying that the solid, healing transformational work the Lord is doing in the resilient Filipinos will lead them to become a witness to the nations of what the LORD can do for a national identity.
Filipino Living Waters leaders Benjie and Hazel Cruz have experienced firsthand the new thing God is doing in the Philippines. Don't miss their interview in the "Something to Say" section in this Journal.
