MISSION LINK Dr. David Upp, January 2018

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1 MISSION LINK Dr. David Upp, January 2018 SITIO ANGEL UMC and a Cooperative founded by United Methodists near Malaybalay in a Umayamnon Manobo township & its 80-y-o Retired UM Elder! Angel-Site UM Church The Philippines are divided into 18 Regions & 81 Provinces, then further divided into Municipalities (a city PLUS a large area around it), sub-divided into Barangays/Villages, then Parok/ Parishes, and finally into the smallest of units: Sitios/Sites. 30 minutes from Bishop Han Theological Seminary is a tiny bit of farmland in an isolated valley I heard called /Sichuan-Hell/. Not till I saw the UMC Sign did I learn it is actually Sitio Angel [ The Site of an Angel ]. There isn t even a village there, but it s in the extreme South West of the Umayamnon Manobo Tribe (named for Umayam River in Agusan del Sur Province). I have been on three Missions to the Umajamnon Manobo with Caleb Byerly, and we have been furthering the Ministry of MaBCAM [MAnobo Bible Church Association of Mindanao], founded by Overseas Missionary Fellowship {once China-Inland-Mission of Hudson Taylor} a Good Partnership that s now Breaking Apart. Under the leadership of an 80-year-old retired Pastor & a former Deaconess, there is a growing UMC for these Umayamnon (see the construction to double the size of this Church Building), actively encouraged by BHTS Dean Arnaldo Estrella (seen with the timbers & concrete columns) to serve Manobo Protestants!

2 BHTS Worship and Fellowship It s a Great Joy to Guide/Encourage Seminarians as they Step into New Roles of Leadership for the Worshipping Community Here you can see Photos of Allan Dexter Raras, 1 st Year M.Div. student, at his First Time in the Pulpit (left), (right) & Senior Elvie Bangon Men Celebrating Communion. Both come from unusual backgrounds to become some of our top students They give generously to our whole campus from their Time, Talents and Gifts. The center picture is of our Missionary from South Korea, Rev. Lee Chang Sun with his Family (Living in Davao City) sharing a meal with the Faculty/Staff of BHTS (and of World Bridge a care-center for Abandoned children of Korean Fathers by Philippine Mothers) while we were on a Retreat together in late September. I have been Teaching Homiletics both 2017 Semesters (Advanced for the Middlers & Beginning for the Pix-Sermon: Cockroach Trapped in a Bucket Juniors now) skill-building in a very prominent aspect of Pastoral Ministry. WE begin with John Knox Thesis Sermons [which can t be rambling, irrelevant or unbiblical] proceed through tools of Exegesis, then Evangelism, & finally Story-Telling. The Great 21 st Century Challenge for Sermons is to be Biblical in both Content AND in Form/Genre/ Mode of Homiletic Delivery! Every bathroom in The Philippines includes a bucket & dipper. One day I was surprised to see a Cockroach trapped in such a place. It couldn t climb out up the smooth metal sides of the dipper. I often see Ants trapped in that dipper, which can climb up to its rim but circle it endlessly, too small to get back outside to freedom. But Cockroaches have WINGS! It has become so habituated to scurrying around on its feet, that it has forgotten that it can FLY! I see here a parallel to Many Christians who Feel trapped or overwhelmed by their circumstances. Attention: IF you have forgotten to tap the Resources Jesus Christ provides, you cannot succeed. Please, recall that you CAN rise above & FLY! 2

3 COULD my daughter Hannah Survive both Hurricanes? Here are photographs of the Damage caused at her Academy on Saint Thomas, USVI. Living Under Martial Law on Mindanao, The Philippines President Duterte is taking a "Hard- Line" to insure that the Rebels in The Philippines must yield to the Laws of that Nation. Leftists, Terrorists, and Narco- Politicians are being FORCED to submit to the National Authority. Yes, he is winning this conflict. Aren't you glad we don't have such Rebels in the USA? Oh wait, we DO! California & Colorado Pro-Drug-Politicians now claim drug-use is Legal in their States although it is illegal by Federal Law. Oregon says it is OK to kill people feeling suicidal, though depression is a symptom of Mental Illness & such acts are murder by our other Laws. 29 States still know that people are either male or female, but 21 think Sex is an "assigned Idea (although every single cell of a person's body disagrees with them). The damning summary in the Book of Judges [21:25] fits: "Everyone did whatever was right in their own eyes." That destroys Liberty! I hope that President Trump can continue to squelch USA's rebels & return our Nation to traditional respect/practice of Law & Liberty. And that Rebels within the United Methodist Church will see the error of their ungodly ways OR simply Walk Away from our Church. I am glad they admit that they HAVE LOST THEIR WAY, but they cannot be allowed to "LEAD" against God s Holy Laws. The Laws of God always proscribe the Most Loving Paths! 3

4 Mission Link Feature: Are The Filipinos Pacific Islanders? Since neither the Filipinos nor their ancestors EVER lived on the Continent of Asia, let's explore their Identity as Pacific Islanders. The Philippines is frequently described as the only Christian Country in Asia, but fit-in perfectly as a Pacific Island nation: since every Pacific Island Nation & Colony has a Christian Majority. Linguistically, the Austronesian Language Family is absent from Continental Asia [except Vietnam s Cham], but every Pacific Island Nation has their own Austronesian Language/ Cluster of-tongues which have been spoken on them for thousands of years... EVERY Filipino Language belongs to this Language Family [except Immigrants & Colonial tongues]. In diet, Filipinos like yam/root crops like Taro/Gabi which are rarer on Asian- & non-pacific Island Menus. Filipinos eat with Fingers, not Asian Chop-sticks. Filipinos have cafe-au-lait colored skin [vs. Asian "Yellow"/"Grey"/ "Dark"]. They share with other Pacific Islanders History of Spanish & American colonization [Guam/Marianas/ Micronesia, American Samoa, Hawaii]. 4

5 A New Book Review: CODE GIRLS - Liza Mundy, 2017 December Trivia Question: Borneo is the #3 island in the World by area, Mindano is #19. Which Island has more people? Answer: Borneo ranks #9 in Population, but Mindanao wins at #8! It was a shock to drop from Mindanao's 586 per square mile, down to Borneo's 68 per square mile population density. It felt so empty! [10-11/2017] January TQ: How Much Colder is Kansas than Mindanao? I ll compare forecast Temperatures and Wind Chills in late December 2017! Long-time Readers may recall a mention of my Mother s WWII Service in the WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service]. From , Mom worked in cryptanalysis through the US Navy. Now Liza Mundy has published a whole book on the dynamics of this essential work which cut the War short & saved countless lives in both major war theaters! At least ten thousand Women, Civilian/Military, Navy/Army) poured themselves in such jobs, Mom did this during her last two years of college as well as a Commissioned Navy Officer. Here s an excerpt from P. 50: The operation also included rooms where women worked at machines tabulating machines, punch-card machines, strange sorts of typewriters. There were small machines huge machines, noisy machines hooked up to other machines through thick nests of cables. [She] didn t know this, but she had found her way into the largest clandestine message center in the world. [ ] Everywhere women were attacking enemy messages pouring in via airmail, cable, and teletype. The messages originated in Nazi Germany, Japan, Italy, occupied Vichy France, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, even neutral countries like Switzerland, sent between top political leaders and military commanders. At the Allied listening stations where the messages were secretly intercepted, American operators further encrypted them using their own encoding machines. Once they got to Arlington Hall [HQ near Washington, D.C.], the messages had to be stripped of the American encryption before they could be stripped of the underlying enemy encryption. The whole thing was insanely complex. This 416-page volume draws upon recently declassified documents and interviews with Code Girls and their Families. There were enough specific examples of the complexities & wonderful stories of the tiny breakthroughs which would unravel entire Code Systems. JN-25 & Enigma were only two of hundreds of such ciphers and substitutions. The 1940 s Patterns of Male Dominance, pre-computer-age, inter-service rivalries, and more, surprised this Baby-Boomer! Some women were actively recruited: especially women in Women s Colleges (like Mom). Others joined up because few other jobs were available, OR to gets the boys back home from War. For most of them, it was the most exciting & intense work they ever did. Yet they d been told they would be shot if they ever spoke about it. That is what has made this an astounding eyeopener for readers. They never did get Credit for their Service! 5