Shopping in Old Manila

I spent seven hours shopping yesterday with my good friend Michelle in a part of the old city of Manila called Divisoria! It was a wonderful day, mostly because we just enjoy spending time together. Divisoria is such an amazing place. I think you could buy ANYTHING there, from auto parts to fresh fish to wedding dresses.

And no trip to Divisoria is complete without buying a giant shopping bag to bring home your purchases. We didn't buy these fancy ones with Winnie the Pooh, though. We settled for the plain ten peso kind.

We bought fabric, beads, clothes, jewelry, house decor, Chinese medicine, batteries, buttons, gifts, and several other things I can't remember. Oh, yes, fresh lychees!

A Giant Bowl of Ice Cold Soup

We were invited out for dinner the other night by some of our students from Korea. There are hundreds of Korean restaurants in Manila, but this couple loves us dearly and wanted to treat us to the best. So we went to an outstanding restaurant specializing in grilled beef. It was wonderful . . . although I found myself laughing inside at the whole issue of "cultural adjustment" which has followed us daily for the last 28 years. The beef was cooked at the table on a grill. Then you pick up a few slices with your chopsticks, dip them in sauce, wrap them in a big lettuce leaf and pop it all in your mouth. The first time around, I put half of the beef in my mouth. Our friends admonished me that the proper thing to do was not to bite it in half, but to put ALL of it in my mouth. So the next time around, I did it correctly, and as I struggled to find a way to chew it, they smiled approvingly. The thought went through my mind, "My mother would be horrified if she saw me eating like this!" I guess that is what culture shock is all about -- doing things your mother taught you that you should never do. After all, the real storehouse of culture is not found in museums . . . it's taught by moms and dads (mostly moms) who tell their kids, "This is the way to do it, this is how it should be, stop doing that, what were you thinking?!"

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After we were totally stuffed with the beef, the waitress brought giant bowls of ice cold noodle soup. And the only way to really get those noodles into your mouth was to slurp them. Sorry, Mom. I had to.

And after that we went to Starbucks for coffee. Our unique lives at IGSL are a blend of many cultures, so it seemed perfectly normal to follow the ice cold noodles with a steaming hot cappucino. We sat and talked for a long time, and had a very precious time of fellowship. We felt so loved . . . and perfectly cared for.

A New Name

Chris, along with his wife and two small children, stands before an immigration officer in his home country. They are returning home for ministry after three years of leadership training at ISOT-Asia. His books are not travelling back with them. He has shipped them separately so as not to openly identify himself as a Christian worker. In fact, he has had several of his books recovered so that their Christian content will be less obvious. Chris and countless others have been praying for weeks for this encounter with the immigration officer. We have been praying that the officer will not ask details of what Chris has been studying and what Chris will be doing. Chris is one of our many graduates ministering to the persecuted church.

How can we help people like Chris? Celebrate with us some unusual but significant steps in moving forward to assist people like this and to impact the world. Does a name change make any real difference? Is it important at all? And why should I care?

We believe that a name change can be important. Recently our school has begun the process of changing both our name and our structure. For the last 26 years, we have been proudly known as the International School of Theology – Asia. Over that time, we have trained over 600 Christian workers for Asia and the world with over 95% of our graduates continue to minister full-time in Asia, providing servant-steward leadership to the cause of Jesus Christ.

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But the name has caused significant problems because the word “theology” is associated with Christianity. Most of our students coming for graduate level training in Christian ministry are coming from and returning to countries where having a degree in “theology” causes major problems. Christians are persecuted in these countries due to the political system or the predominant religion or both. Showing up with a Master’s degree in theology is a great way to get your name on the list of the secret police or to be restricted in where you can travel. It can also land you in jail immediately. In the words of the Monopoly game, “Go directly to jail. Do not pass ‘Go.’”

So the new name is International Graduate School of Leadership or IGSL. And how do you pronounce it? We pronounce it as one word, sounding like "IG-sell." In many countries, people with Master’s level training in leadership are seen as an asset to nation-building. So now, our graduates will be able to show their diplomas and find that not only will it not hinder their ministry but it may even open doors for effective ministry for them.

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In a future post, we will tell you about some exciting new developments with the school which will enable us to train a greater number of people.