TMP: July 2016 Discipleship Post 2

It’s now the middle of our second day in the Philippines, and two phrases stand out the most.
“Will your God feed me?” “Can we eat that gospel of yours?” Here’s the background to those two statements. Over the past two days, Dylan and I, along with two of our TMP Philippines staff members, Danica and Mike, have visited two of our partner pastors who work in trash dump communities. I came with a series of questions hoping to clarify some plans for TMP’s discipleship efforts. On the first day, Pastor Stanley told me the story of a person in his community saying something along the lines of “Can we eat that gospel of yours?” On the second day, Pastor Joemar described sharing the message of Jesus with people and hearing as a reply “Will your God feed me?” I’m not sure about you, but I think God has my attention.

The irony of this is that I teach in the area of social justice. I’ve read statements and seen statistics that support this reality. I know that hunger and poverty are real life issues with real life victims. But, to look in the eyes of my Filipino brothers in faith, men who are pastors just like I have been, and know that they encounter this daily brings the issue home to me.

Can we say to another person, “Go in peace, be warm and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that” (James 2:16, ESV). God I hear you!