Here I am in the Philippines. It has been just less than a week since I have arrived and there are so many of you that I want to share my life with, the things that I have seen, the things that I have heard, the things that I believe God has led me concerning. I don’t know if I will write all of you every time, there are several dozen of you (including my own family), but I did want to at least mail this first letter or two just to share with you a few of the things that I have experienced, how my life is changing, and a few of the things that I am thinking. There are many ways to contact me, all of which are at http://tinyurl.com/contact-tim
For those of you that are not really interested in things that have to do with God or the Christ, you might want to skip down to the ninth paragraph or else you’re only in for a large dose of things that might offend you or make you feel judged; some of you know that this does not apply to you, some of you just have a chip on your shoulder, some of you will take it for the encouragement and exhortation that it is intended. I am glad that I have the opportunity to write this letter to several dozen people or else one of you might get mad because of half a dozen reasons I have no desire to expand on right now.
Please understand it is not my intention that you feel judged, but this is only who I naturally am; or rather what God is changing me into as the years progress and I focus everything on can on ‘him’. All of you have gotten a certain dose of my speaking this way from knowing me however for those of you that haven’t ever heard me speak ‘this’ much on these sorts of topics, please understand it was because I did not think you would want to hear this much about these sorts of things from me. If I was wrong I apologize and understand that it was due my own error that we missed out on some great conversations about God’s will and what Christ has done in our respective lives.
I am encouraged by so many of the things that I remember from my last trip to the Philippines. Most of which are available on my blog (including lots of pictures). Just email me at timothy.gott@gmail.com if you want the link. However regarding this trip, it is still too soon to have experienced much of which I would consider out of the ordinary, that is things that God has shown me which are different than the things that he has so often shown me on a daily basis even in the U.S.. Although there were a couple of very inspiring encounters. Encounters with a brother in the faith that I met on the plane coming here who is working with others to stop prostitution in poorer countries, and an encounter with a another brother who is struggling with the idea of giving up his own desires for prosperity and family as to instead pursue what God has planned and desires for his life.
I know that at least half a dozen of you that I am writing this letter to, know about this. You know what it is like to give up everything that you had once wanted; even things that seem so innocent as a house, a job, friends, a car, a hobby; for the pursuit of what God wants instead of the things that you once pursued. However, I also know there are those of you that don’t understand this. And instead you will not accept what I or anyone says regarding their pursuits of God’s desires instead of their own.
I am quite saddened by the latter of you. It makes me sad because I know that you can not be reached by so many of the incredible things that God has to share with you. For as Jesus was quoted in saying, it is not until a kernel of wheat falls dead to the ground that it can live again and multiply a hundred times over. And it is not just regarding himself that he has taught this principle. For in other places he has told those that follow him that unless they die to their own desires every day (pick up your cross daily) they can not be his followers; reference Matthew 10:38. To use modern American terminology; unless you die to your own wants and desires you can not be a Christian and are only lying to yourself in calling yourself a Christian if you can not cast aside your own wants and desires like the rubbish that they are. And if you are offended by what I am saying here I already warned you to skip to the ninth paragraph :-)
You can tell by the way I am writing what is most important to me. Jesus gave his life for me, for each of us. Sure there are less substantial things that are going on in my life; where I am living, some of the challenges that I am going through, what it is like to live in the Philippines, etc. And I will talk about these for a moment only in the proper context. However before I begin that context I have this to say. For those of you that have studied a little history; do you recall what you have read about the way people spoke “back then”? Do you recall how even the date could not be spoken about without reference to the highest power known as God?
In regard to the date someone might say “In the year of our Lord sixteen hundred and seventy eight” And even in saying goodbye to someone they would say “Go with God.”. I only mention this because I want to draw each of your attentions to how natural the recognition of God was in every day life just a few hundred years ago. For those of you that believe in God and Christ, I would like to coax you to speak about what you already know is paramount. I believe there are few things (but some) that are more important than giving God recognition in your every day speech. Sure others will think that you sound like you are from another planet when you speak, or they might think you are “religious”, but so what! :-) I don’t think God cares what others think of you. And I think more importantly God is flattered (if that is the right term) that you are willing to disregard what other people think for the purpose of recognizing him even in your everyday speech. Remember the scripture that says “if you are ashamed of me before men, I will be ashamed of you when I return” (loosely quoted but accurate enough), reference Mark 8:38.
Ok, now for the general overview of what has happened since I have gotten here. I am now living in a small house in San Mateo Rizal just about 45 minutes outside of Manila. Life is more difficult here but I am grateful for everything God has provided. I spent the day today trying to sort through a few of my things from my luggage and two of the balikbayan boxes that have already arrived. Adjusting to this more difficult lifestyle will take a little while. I remember having done it almost three years ago, but that was quite some time ago. It will again take some time for me to adjust from my softer American lifestyle.
My current challenge is to catch the water delivery truck when it climbs into the hills of Tierre Monte. I have two water barrels to keep water in. They will hold about sixty gallons of water each (I believe) and I am probably down to about ten to fifteen gallons of water. This includes the water that I have to use to take a bath in and to manually flush the toilet, so I am being very careful to ration these things right now. It is also quite a challenge that with the little water that I have left I have to take a bath two to three times a day because it is so hot (Ma’init in Tagalog).
For the first four days that I stayed here, I stayed in a two bedroom house in Marikina with my friend Malu’s family which consists of eight people; Nanay (Tagalog for mother), Apin, Ate Nitz, Malu, Mark, Herbert, Gizelle, and Adrian (listed by age). Life was a good bit easier there because the family works together to support the needs of everyone else. And not to mention the extreme hospitable nature of Filipinos. However I knew that my time there would be short because, as a man that does my best (of course failing at times) to do what I believe God wants me to do, I seek God’s will in how I should live and conduct myself.
And “in the spirit” of how I should conduct myself I, through prayer, have believed that it was good for me to put a certain amount of separation between Malu and myself. Nothing artificial mind you, but a natural separation that is good for two people who are trying to keep their minds and hearts on what God desires; I am grateful that she supports me in this. Just that last statement could give me need to elaborate for several pages; however for now I will just leave you with a few thoughts regarding some of the scriptures that I believe that God has given us to help us learn what he asks of us. One thought is that throughout the scriptures that I have read there are only four types of relationships that I see regarding how I should treat women. Their are Older Women that I should treat as mothers, their are younger women that I should treat as sisters, then there are also fiancés and wives.
So, how should I treat a woman who I have known for three years and that I believe God has put in my life to help me and to live a life for Him. If I was not a Christian then that thought wouldn’t come up in my mind at all. I would only have thoughts of what ‘I’ think of her and how she meets some sort of criteria that I was looking for to make me happy. More elaboration needed here also I know. However as I am someone that follows Christ’s teachings then I have only one way to treat her if I believe the scripture is there for me to learn from, and that is to treat her as a sister with absolute purity; reference I Timothy 5:2. And since I could never imagine kissing my sister on the mouth or “cuddling” with her while watching a movie, then I am going to simply trust that God has some better things in mind for us in the context of marriage and I should keep myself away from situations that would have me treating her as a wife before that time would present itself.
Ok, so now everyone knows why I don’t live in the same house as she does. Although I still plan on visiting on the weekends as I spend time with both her and her family, and I am also sure that she will join me from time to time as I join a group of people on Saturdays to feed one to two hundred street kids and I do other things that God leads me to do. Yes yes, I know for those of you that have not completely surrendered yourselves to doing God’s will this might seems strange to you. And I am glad that I have the opportunity to write this letter to several dozen people or else one of you might get mad because you think I am talking to you :-) … For those of you that are encouraged by the things I believe God is leading me to do, I am grateful that you are encouraged. For those of you that are upset by the life that God leads me to live I have only to say that you should read the scriptures and pray unceasingly. There is only one idea that it a good idea to follow; God’s. And if you don’t read the scriptures ever day for yourself then you are in no position to tell me what is or is not in the scriptures. And listening to some other preacher on Sunday morning and not reading for yourself doesn’t count :-)
Take care. And may God give you all of the great things that he has planned for you. Things that neither of us can hardly imagine.
Love (which I am learning more about),
Timothy
tinyurl.com/contact-tim
