Letter from Rebecca Lawson in the Philippines
January 22, 2004
Dear Friends,
Greetings of shalom!
The first week of this month I met with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) ecumenical interns; this is one part of my current assignment. There are seven international, young women in the program, five of whom are Young Adult Volunteers from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). As we sat on the seashore for morning worship and under the shady trees for daily discussions, I realized again that God uses willing hands.
"Glimmers of authentic bridge-building between people, such as those modeled by the UCCP and their ecumenical interns, bolster my spirits, but there is so much work to be done if we are offering ourselves to God as willing hands"
Rebecca Lawson
These women are placed from north to south in the Philippines working in rural and urban local churches, in human rights organizations, in health programs, and in church preschools. The women know that their calling in the Philippines is to learn with their hosts. As one-year interns only in their fifth month, they are not people who come with answers or burst into action plans. Their hands are willing to touch the tools of another culture’s daily life while trying genuinely and respectfully to understand it. They busy themselves with activities like chopping vegetables, and some even cooking over an open fire, wash laundry using only a small brush, and toss their rubber thongs across the street as part of a children’s game. They are willing hands.
However, as I listen to the women speak, I realize that these are not the only hands God is using. The canvas of their experience is full of willing hands: UCCP members who have invited these young women into their families and prepared their meals, neighbors who drive them by motorcycle to the nearest town or a neighboring village, people who share stories on front porches and around kitchen tables, and local churches for whom passing the peace includes a handshake with a foreign young woman—these are also willing hands.
These young women with their Filipino colleagues teach art classes in a preschool, shuttle legal documents between human rights victims and lawyers, organize and participate in Christian youth fellowship activities, visit the sick, have Bible studies, and much more. God is using willing hands, but what strikes me most deeply is the importance of these willing hands working in service with and to each other.
The other part of my assignment—with the Union Theological Seminary in Dasmarinas, Cavite—has been extremely challenging. The seminary has been embroiled in complex conflict. A seminary is almost always a place of diverse views, but it has been a disheartening and confusing journey and seems to still be far from resolution. Much has to do with operating styles, leadership, and the relationship between the UCCP and the United Methodist Church, which sponsor the seminary. God uses willing hands, but is it possible that groups of people in the same place can all be God’s and not take each other’s hands? It is an interesting question.
In one of the seminary chapel worships, a group reflecting on the story of Jonah did a short skit. Someone answer a cellular phone in the back of the chapel. “Ah, good news,” she said. Another from across the hall asked, “What’s the good news?” Other group members chimed in with all kinds of responses as the second person repeated his question. Some said they were not sure what the good news is and got interested too. Some said that he would not understand, some said they know but they don’t have time, and some just smiled knowingly and said, “ah, the good news.” One woman across the way told him coldly that she knew and sat disinterested. As the clamor continued, the cold woman rose to her feet with great tension, and proclaimed, “I know the good news, but I am not going to tell you because I don’t even like you!”
It is hard to be in a place and time in seminary history where all these hands are not so sure they are willing to work together. I’ve been challenged to wonder if my own hands are really “willing hands.” It’s so easy to get caught up in the work of getting things done or just get lost in the controversy. The only way through it for me is to concentrate on experiences in the wider-UCCP that affirm that we are God’s willing hands. For instance, the UCCP national offices are in the process of going through a downsizing where about 50 percent of the staff will lose their jobs because of financial constraints and, somehow, people are still holding on together. Equally, I grasped hands in an interfaith peace rally calling for justice for the poor and liberation for the oppressed. I joined a Christmas party in the prison for political detainees and their families. And I played and sang with children and youth at a UCCP local church outreach until 1:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
The story of Jonah surely challenges me these days about what it means to try to be “God’s willing hands.” In this time in world history of the “war on terror,” I wonder if our international relationships don’t mirror the seminarians’ skit. As I listen to some of my Filipino colleagues’ frustration with the bullying of the United States and as I listen to some U.S. friends and church people assert the necessity of war and U.S. actions, I ask myself again: is it possible that groups of people on the same earth can all be God’s and not take each other’s hands?
For now, I find hope in the promise of God’s shalom. I am not sure how we can resolve all of our conflicts. Glimmers of authentic bridge-building between people, such as those modeled by the UCCP and their ecumenical interns, bolster my spirits, but there is so much work to be done if we are offering ourselves to God as willing hands. Please pray for God’s guidance for us all and please offer your own hands in your own place for the building of peace based on justice.
Yours in Christ,
Rebecca K. Lawson
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94
