Around the same time that the Anabaptist movement was beginning in Europe, the Philippine islands once had a civilization of its own. It was later discovered by Spain, which explored the earth to expand its territory. Since then, Christianity came to the Philippines, with the cross being used as a symbol of power and authority. Protestantism later came to the Philippines when America acquired the country from Spain in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The Philippine history has then been about foreign conquests, battles fought and won, and an ongoing struggle for independence and self identity.
Anabaptism, which originated in Europe, only came to the Philippine shores in recent years. After the World War II, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) sent volunteers to assist war victims in the northern islands of the country. It was the first recorded entrance of Anabaptists in the Philippines. A hospital was founded by MCC in 1948, and is still existing up to this day, owned by Protestant doctors.
In the 1950s, several Filipino pastors were convicted to serve people not only spiritually, but also to provide for their physical needs. They used their own resources to provide livelihood assistance to the communities they serve. This was then organized as Missions Now, Inc. In the 1970s, one of the Filipino pastors went to the United States to share the ministry that he was doing in the Philippines. He met some Mennonites and was attracted to their conviction of peace and holistic ministry. Later, the Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) formerly the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (EMBC) sent missionaries to the Philippines to plant churches and provide educational and livelihood assistance, especially to the poorest among Filipino society.
In the 1990s, the church suffered some conflict and division after the death of the pastor who started Missions Now, Inc. His son continued the leadership of the organization, but did not embrace the Mennonite doctrine. Thus, the Integrated Mennonite Church (IMC) was born in 1991 out of the rest of the members who still embraced the Anabaptist Mennonite conviction.
Today, the Integrated Mennonite Church of the Philippines still strive to be faithful in its calling. There are 21 small congregations affiliated to the IMC, majority located in the Northern Provinces of Luzon, in the far-flung areas of the mountains. There are also existing Church of God in Christ Churches around the country, and also conservative plain fellowships of Mennonites but there is no existing communication lines between the IMC and the other Anabaptist-embracing churches present in the country.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
LESSONS IN LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS (2013 overview)
God brings people along our way to teach us life lessons we need to learn, and to prepare us for the next stages of our journey. At age 23, the year 2013 has taught me so much about love, life, relationship, humility, courage, and joy. It has not been an easy year, yet it was full of essential lessons I need to learn before I face another chapter of my life.
Years of spending time with people from different walks of life, different ages, cultures, and worldview, has made me share love with people easily. I remember that I used to easily get attached to people I work with, that it becomes hard for me to say goodbye once I have to leave and move on to my next destination. Through time, I have learned how to completely share love with people, without being too emotionally attached to the point of crying every time I had to say goodbye. This year, I have learned to express love and care without the emotional attachment and painful goodbyes. I learned it the hard way.
Building relationships with people also taught me very important lessons on love and relationship. It is easy to build relationships with people who have similar mind set as ours, but it is challenging and very difficult to build relationships, much more maintain one, with people who have totally different perspectives! Genuine love is tested when you have relationships with people who may at times have conflicting ideas and personalities, and that is the beauty of love that God has taught me this year.
Genuine relationships are built on genuine love. Genuine love brings genuine relationships. These two are inseparable. If a relationship is built on other motives outside of genuine love for the person, it usually does not work, or may not last very long. Genuine love is manifested in genuine care, protection, respect, understanding, humility, honesty, and transparency with one another. The mutuality of these manifestations create a beautiful illustration of genuine love and relationship. There are times, however, that genuine love and its manifestations are not mutually shared. That is the lesson God allowed me to learn from the previous year.
In the past, I have been loved by someone whose love I cannot reciprocate. This love did not last, leading the other person to look for a love that will reciprocate his. This experience hurt my pride more than anything else. This experience, I thought, would be the greatest lesson in love that I will learn, and yet there are still so many things I have not known until 2013. One day I woke up to a painful realization that there are people I've learned to love but does not share that same love with me. It is a challenge God has led my way to understand the essence of love.
Loving someone who shares the same love with you is a perfect illustration of love. God has created humanity to share His love with us, in the first place. It hurts, however, if we love someone who totally doesn't care and rejects the love we offer. I can't imagine how much hurt God could be when His own creation chooses to set apart from Him. It is the lesson I am learning. The art of love, risking love, and getting hurt when this love is not reciprocated.
Love is the foundation of genuine relationships. You should never expect to be loved mutually, but the beauty of it is that "you can never go wrong with love." Love, when shared mutually, is a very beautiful thing. But loving freely and unconditionally - even people who are hard to love, is the greatest gift we could offer to humanity, and an even greater gift we allow ourselves to receive.
Give love, share love, receive love. :)
Happy and Lovely 2014!
Years of spending time with people from different walks of life, different ages, cultures, and worldview, has made me share love with people easily. I remember that I used to easily get attached to people I work with, that it becomes hard for me to say goodbye once I have to leave and move on to my next destination. Through time, I have learned how to completely share love with people, without being too emotionally attached to the point of crying every time I had to say goodbye. This year, I have learned to express love and care without the emotional attachment and painful goodbyes. I learned it the hard way.
Building relationships with people also taught me very important lessons on love and relationship. It is easy to build relationships with people who have similar mind set as ours, but it is challenging and very difficult to build relationships, much more maintain one, with people who have totally different perspectives! Genuine love is tested when you have relationships with people who may at times have conflicting ideas and personalities, and that is the beauty of love that God has taught me this year.
Genuine relationships are built on genuine love. Genuine love brings genuine relationships. These two are inseparable. If a relationship is built on other motives outside of genuine love for the person, it usually does not work, or may not last very long. Genuine love is manifested in genuine care, protection, respect, understanding, humility, honesty, and transparency with one another. The mutuality of these manifestations create a beautiful illustration of genuine love and relationship. There are times, however, that genuine love and its manifestations are not mutually shared. That is the lesson God allowed me to learn from the previous year.
In the past, I have been loved by someone whose love I cannot reciprocate. This love did not last, leading the other person to look for a love that will reciprocate his. This experience hurt my pride more than anything else. This experience, I thought, would be the greatest lesson in love that I will learn, and yet there are still so many things I have not known until 2013. One day I woke up to a painful realization that there are people I've learned to love but does not share that same love with me. It is a challenge God has led my way to understand the essence of love.
Loving someone who shares the same love with you is a perfect illustration of love. God has created humanity to share His love with us, in the first place. It hurts, however, if we love someone who totally doesn't care and rejects the love we offer. I can't imagine how much hurt God could be when His own creation chooses to set apart from Him. It is the lesson I am learning. The art of love, risking love, and getting hurt when this love is not reciprocated.
Love is the foundation of genuine relationships. You should never expect to be loved mutually, but the beauty of it is that "you can never go wrong with love." Love, when shared mutually, is a very beautiful thing. But loving freely and unconditionally - even people who are hard to love, is the greatest gift we could offer to humanity, and an even greater gift we allow ourselves to receive.
Give love, share love, receive love. :)
Happy and Lovely 2014!
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