Understand The Times Radio Transcripts

FROM GARBAGE TO GOD

I have traveled the world. Poverty exists everywhere. However in the Philippines the term poverty does not begin to describe the condition many people live in. The situation is not only hopeless it is a slam against the human race. Isn’t there something that can be done?

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While speaking at a conference near Antipolo City in the Philippine Islands, I met two pastors who told me about the conditions that people were living in nearby. Others had told me about this before. When they told me, I wanted to go and see with my own eyes.

Pastor Rusidel and Pastor Richard picked me up early one morning and we went to Pastor Rusidel’s home which also was where his church met. As I wanted to see the street children and the conditions they lived in, we set out by foot after having some Philippino dishes that had been specially prepared by Rose, Pastor R’s wife.

It only took us a few minutes walking until we arrived at a garbage dump. While I am familiar with the smell of garbage, I was not prepared for what I saw next. Children looking through the garbage for food. When I asked what they were doing, Pastor Richard said, “this is how many of them eat.”

From there, we moved on, but things actually got worse. I was told that many of the children did not have parents. Those who did were not a lot better off. I stopped to talk with one family. None of the children in that family who lived in a cardboard shack went to school. They did not have the $2.00 a month that was necessary. My heart ached.

In a few more minutes we arrived at a place where it seemed like a small town had been assembled, a gathering of shacks that were made from anything and everything from mud, sticks, scrap metal and palm trees. Water was running down the mud street. Later I found out that it was not water – it was human waste.

I had the pastors gather the people together who were staring at us. I was told that there were 30 families, the average was 8 children per family. My first question went like this: “Where do you attend church?” They responded: “Well we are supposed to be Roman Catholics, but we do not attend.”

“Why don’t you attend church”, I asked. One lady yelled out, “we can’t afford to go there, and if we did they would take from us – we’re too poor to attend church. This response shook me to my core. I blurted out. “We are Bible-believing Christians, not Catholics. What can we do to help?”

When I made this statement, I knew that every word that I had said was recorded in heaven. How can someone make a commitment to people who have been created by God, and not follow the commitment up. As I spoke, I knew that something had to be done. However, what, when and how?

First I asked if I could pray with the people. Pastor Rusidel translated. I prayed that Jesus Christ would help us to help them. I prayed that these people would be first delivered from spiritual darkness and come into the light of the gospel. I prayed that God would provide a way to show these dear people He loved them. Tomorrow, I will tell you what is being done.

I am Roger Oakland. This has been a biblical perspective to help understand the times.

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