Monday, October 22, 2012

ON CONSUMERISM

Living in the city where you are offered every good thing everyone would want to have is a big challenge. One, with the meager resources that I have, it is impossible to acquire every single thing my eyes would desire. Two, at the end of the day, what really matters is only the things you NEED, not all the things you WANT.

I grew up in a simple family with a very simple lifestyle. My parents would make sure we only spend what fits on our "budget" - a very tight budget for our whole family. Being raised that way makes me appreciate the things I have, and it made me be contented with what I already have, not craving for something that looks better, or costs higher, when I already own something that serves the same purpose. That made me live with the principle, "if you can live without it, you don't need to die for it."

Right now, I live in an environment where consumerism bugs me all the time. There are offers on buying things I don't necessarily need, or desiring things I can actually live without. There is also one culture of consumerism that begins to annoy me. There is a trend (at least among people my age), of treating your friends out for dinner or snack. Usually, my friends would do that. At first, I liked it because then I get to save a bit on my budget. However, they get back on you sometimes by forcing you to treat them with some things that costs even more than the amount they gave you for free. It keeps on happening and I am totally hating that fact.

Why? Of course there is nothing wrong in treating your friends. But sometimes it just becomes dragging when you are forced to spend money on things that would sacrifice your budget for your savings, or on my case my budget for some other things like helping out with ministry activities.

There is completely nothing wrong with the idea of buying the things you want, as long as you can afford it. But right now I am disliking the fact that people sometimes (consciously or unconsciously) force you to spend money on things you don't actually plan to spend on.

Personally, I have very strict rules on budgeting. Not that I am thrifty, I actually love treating people! But I want to make sure that I save a bulk of my budget for meaningful things. It becomes hard when people around you gets you out of control.

Truly, this is just a minor issue, but this is a big part of the challenge that I know God is putting me to test. May the Lord give me strength as I endure the temptations of consumerism around me.

I need prayers for more strength on this matter.

Friday, October 12, 2012

WHEN THE JOURNEY GETS TOUGH, THE RADICAL JOURNEYIST CONTINUES PRAYING

I feel like it's been a while since I last updated you about my journey. Or probably, a lot has just happened that I feel so overwhelmed at this moment. I should recall that a few months ago, I shared about the beginning of my journey with several people: the Peace Church, the Evangelical Youth for Social Action, my Barkman family, and I haven't told you yet about my new job (for almost four months now), with a very welcoming NGO called Sulong CARHRIHL. I am in a roller coaster of emotions the past month, and the only energy that sustains me is that coming from the Great Comforter.

The past month has been busy both for my work and my ministry. During the first week of the month, Peace Church started gathering its first community members as we learn and share together with our visitors -Dr. Jack and his wife, Irene Suderman. We learned about the 96 Images of the Church in the New Testament. We shared various dreams, experiences, and hopes for a church that will be a presence of Jesus in this conflicted society. We also organized two different lectures on the "Gospel of Peace and Social Transformation," and "A Biblical Survey of Peace and the Gospel," in partnership with the Asian Theological Seminary.

Meanwhile, September is also celebrated as the National Peace Consciousness Month. Therefore, working in an organization that promotes peace means that this month is a busy month. We organized several activities, and I even traveled to Mindanao for a week to conduct activities that are in line with the peace month and the UN declared International Day of Peace (September 21). I went to Davao City to speak on a School Forum about the "Youth as Catalysts of an Inclusive Peace." I also traveled to North Cotabato for the launching of a CARHRIHL Monitoring team in the Municipality of Makilala. CARHRIHL, I must say, stands for Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

So, work-wise and ministry-wise, the past month has been busy and exhausting for me. Behind the exhaustion, however, is the inner joy I felt with the new learning experiences, new people I met, new places I visited, new food I tasted, and most especially, my reunion with old friends and family at Peacebuilders Community and Coffee for Peace. It was such a blessing to be able to reunite with the people I used to work with.

Anyway, this month was supposed to be a more relaxing month, but I was proven wrong. October is celebrated as the National Indigenous People's Month. So, next week I'll be traveling again to celebrate the IP festival with different Indigenous People groups. It gives me so much excitement and thrill to once again listen to the journeys of our IP brothers and sisters. After that, I'd still have to travel to several other places until the end of the month.

I also anticipate another Peace Church gathering by the end of the month. We just had our first  "service" last Sunday, and it was a blessing to be able to reflect on the Scripture as a community where everyone is free to share insights and reflections.

Lately, I've also been going through journeys of the people I grew up with. I was able to reunite and share with someone I used to see as a mentor- and to hear his journey, and to hear stories of conflict in the church I grew up in... helped me realize that the people who have once been part of my journey, would always be part of me, no matter how long we do not see each other. Every person I share my life and journey with, would always have an impact on me. And that alone, makes me appreciate more the people that I am currently journeying with.

When everything gets tough, there a few important things a journeyist must NEVER forget: to kneel down and pray, and to share your journey with someone. Now my greatest realization is that, a radical journeyist's guide to a fulfilling journey, is PEOPLE. When my journey gets tough, it's the people around me, and their prayers...that keeps me going!