Servant Partners: Manila

Immersion in Manila
An Interview with the Servant Partners International Internship leaders
October 2004

Aaron (AS) and Emma (ES) Smith lead the Servant Partners Manila Internship. Aaron, originally from Manassas, Virginia, holds degrees in Social Science from James Madison University, and in Missions from Asian Theological Seminary. Much to the concern of Filipino friends, Aaron lived in a Manila slum as a college student. He now serves as the Director of Manila Internships. Emma earned a degree in computer science from Central College of the Philippines. She makes a mean adobo (Filipino meat dish) and is originally from Manila. Emma serves as the Associate Director of Internships. Aaron and Emma married in October of 2001.

AS: We’re here to challenge people with various aspects of ministry among the urban poor. We guide them in site visits to ministries in Manila, and encourage them to be involved in the church here in this railway community, Balic-balic Christian Church. We want them to see ministry to squatters within the local church context. Our hope is that God will challenge them to consider serving in a specific facet of urban poor ministry.

ES: We hope the experience will affect their lives deeply even as they return home, and that if they feel called to serve, that they would go. And if not, that the experience will still affect how they live.

AS: Well, this last session site visits have included Welfareville, a huge slum community in south Manila, and a ministry there. Samaritana Ministries helps women get out of prostitution. We spent an evening at their offices and then shadowed their staff in outreach to prostitutes. These are just examples. Mostly we try to match visits with interns’ interests, though we also try to provide them with a broad spectrum of ministries all over the city. At the local church they help with vacation Bible school, prayer times and with whatever else the church is already doing. But the top priority is for them to build relationships with church members.

From what I’ve seen, the most challenging part of the internships is actually just adjusting to the slower pace of life and not having to have something done and accomplished. This is a much different view of ministry for many people. We’re not here to lead all these different programs and Bible studies, to teach local community members. Instead we’re walking alongside them, the urban poor, in their walk with God. We’re just sitting down on the train tracks and sharing our lives with

them and they share their lives with us. Through that we challenge them in their faith in God and they challenge us. Lots of one-on-one, informal discipleship. A lot of relationship building.

We also take prayer walks in different parts of the city, strategic prayer for Manila and to see how the city is inter-connected, that various areas of the city affect the squatters. As a group, we take turns leading devotionals. And then we discuss readings. For example, this month we’re reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, as well as Servants Among the Poor, by Jenni Craig. We’ll read and discuss these.

AS: Most people hear of the program by word of mouth or through the website. So far we’ve had undergraduate students. And they usually come for six weeks. I’d like to see youth pastors, assistant pastors or professionals coming for a couple of weeks as well. For example, instead of going on vacation, they can come here for a two-week exposure among squatters.

The Commute
in Balic-balic

Survival in railway communities such as Balic-balic can be fiercely difficult. Daily, people face real dangers of violence, disease and poverty. Yet struggle can also give birth to ingenuity.

The gauge of the railroad tracks that bisect Balic-balic is 42 inches. These tracks, and the informal communities that surround them, run the entirety of Metro Manila. So local community members have built table-like, wheeled carts to roll along the tracks.

Young men push them, much as one might push a scooter or skateboard, with one foot as the cart glides forward. Umbrellas provide protection from the sun. Riders simply motion to the “driver” when they wish to get off the cart, which holds about ten people who pay five pesos minimum ($.09 US dollars), seven pesos ($.12 US dollars) for about a twenty-minute ride. When trains appear in the distance, drivers scurry, along with riders and all other community members, away from the tracks, carrying their carts upon their backs. Once the train has passed, the ride resumes.

With a need to travel from community to community to visit friends and relatives, go to work and sell or purchase items, these young men are utilizing the few resources they have to create an efficient and useful means of transportation for Manila’s railway communities.

AS: Originally, we considered having interns live directly in the railway community. But the problem with renting right within the squatter community is availability. It’s often hard to find houses open for rent that work well for an internship, where there’s at least a bathroom or at least running water. We did find one apartment open, but after prayer we decided against it because it was surrounded by drug dealers and fights often break out in that area. It would be a much harder situation, so we opted for the middle-class community just a few homes away. The ideal is to live within walking distance to the community. But we’re actually in their backyard still, so to speak. The interns’ rooms share a wall with the squatter community.

ES: I help coordinate most of their meals and work on building relationships between them and community members, through the home stays and other ways. I also deal with travel concerns such as visas. Home stays are particularly helpful for the interns. They basically get to know a family in their everyday life as they work and cook and clean and go to church. So it’s about learning from the community by learning about how they live day to day. I also do the language learning drills with the interns, help them learn phrases or sentences they can use for their stay in the community.

AS: The cost of the internship depends on the length of time, but for a six week program it’s about $1,700. This covers food, housing, transportation, visas, ministry expenses, materials, orientation and debrief, but it doesn’t cover international travel and vaccinations. Still, the cost may vary from internship to internship.

ES: Individuals or groups of people over 18 years old who are interested in learning more about holistic urban ministry. But like Aaron has alluded to in terms of site visits and planning, it can be highly individualized. For example, if someone has a particular area of study that they want to research, we can help them do that. Or it can be a general introduction to urban ministry.

AS: At this point dates are set for each program session, but in the future we hope to have rolling enrollment so people can come year round. The internship is approximately six weeks depending upon the needs of the person or group. They may stay even up to 12 weeks if need be. The Servant Partners Los Angeles internship is two years, and that group spends two weeks in Manila as a kind of orientation, an introduction for them. This year we’ll have about 15 interns total, the LA internship will send more.

AS: That’s a good question. Mostly, when interns leave, we want them to be walking in a deeper relationship with God personally, to know Him more. We want them to have been challenged by some of the things they saw and experienced. Perhaps they’re still struggling with the issues when they leave and they’ll have to work that out when they return home. And whether they’re on the mission field or in business or law or pastoring or whatever they’re doing, that they have in mind issues related to the urban poor and that they seek to advance ministries and social justice among the urban poor. In whatever field they’re in, that they have a greater concern for the urban poor around the world.

MK: Now tell me a bit about your own spiritual journeys. I’m sure they’re integral to your ministry here. How have your own experiences and faith led you to Manila, to Balic-balic in particular?

ES: It was hard. Everyone lives day by day. They don’t know what might happen to them because the train company constantly threatens to move or demolish houses which are just a few meters from the tracks. Food is hard also. We didn’t get enough nutrition because sometimes it would just be rice and soy sauce or rice and salt or sugar. We trusted God for our every meal when I became a Christian. And God was always faithful to provide for us. Going to school was hard also because sometimes we didn’t have money for food and transportation. We simply walk to school and didn’t eat during lunch time.

I have one sister, Marie and one brother, Paploi. They’re both younger than me. I went to grade school nearby and then got a scholarship to go college at the Central College of the Philippines. I was so happy to get that. I studied computer science, which was hard of course because I didn’t have a computer. I had to borrow one and I never imagined I’d finish college. I liked school though and I did well. I think my Mom and Dad are proud of me and my younger sister, Marie. We were always in the top sections of our class. But my Mom worked a lot. She was a house girl in a guest house for a language school. She’d clean the house, assist families, cook, do laundry. So she kept busy. Then she worked for a community drugstore and would have to go to the provinces to teach people how to use the drugs. So she had to be gone a lot, for weeks or even a month.

ES: I became a Christian when I was eleven years-old. I’m now twenty-three, turning twenty-four. It was through missionaries that planted this church, Balic-balic Christian Church. A Japanese-American shared the Gospel with me. They did a puppet show. And my Mom became a Christian and her and Marie and I were all baptized.

AS: While I was an undergraduate God challenged me, through my own reading of the Bible and just through my own observations, to care for the poor and the oppressed. Then working on a project I stumbled upon a video on squatters in Brazil and God really spoke to me through that. Eventually I went on a short-term trip to Manila, not unlike the interns that we host. Then I attended Asian Theological Seminary here in Manila and was able to observe ministry here in Balic-balic and then I met Emma here at church.

ES: Yeah, and then Pastor and others were teasing us about liking each other. Eventually, we dated for a while and then married in the United States.

ES: I do what I do because I delight in doing what God wants me to do, to be used by God in His work in the urban poor of the Philippines. I enjoy helping and encouraging the local people in the community in their walk with God. I also enjoy helping Aaron in whatever ways I can be of help in the internship.

AS: Ultimately it’s the joy that God gives you when you know you’re walking where he wants you to be. I know personally that God has called me here and that this is the place that I feel content, even with the struggles, even with the hardships of life here, even while knowing that life is much more comfortable elsewhere. God is the only one that gives true joy. And it’s the excitement of seeing lives changed and transformed and even seeing communities transformed. And seeing interns respond to challenges, seeing them arrive in Manila, unsure of themselves or even why they came. They’re just seeking God and his work in their lives during this short time. It’s very exciting to see what will happen.

MK: Emma, is it awkward for you when American and other interns come and struggle culturally or with the poverty as they try to live in your neighborhood? Do people ever criticize these things openly with you?

ES: Yes, of course. It used to bother me, but now I’m more open to it. I think that much of what they say is right about the poverty, but when I think it is wrong, I’ll say so. But I’m glad when visitors, when interns, feel burdened by developing a love for the poor. I’m glad I can help in this way and be from this culture.

ES: Yes, two years. After we got married. I worked in a department store, in a mall, then in a bank before we came on staff with Servant Partners. It seems like in the States, you don’t need anything. Everything is right there in front of you. But honestly it made me forget to pray, for this or that, in thanks to God. You forget to ask God for something because so much is already there. I think that’s why the poor are really blessed because they always have a sense of need and of needing God. And God has provided so much, everything, for me. I find joy when I pray to God and he provides what we need. I feel close to him.

MK: Do the two of you mind living so simply? Is it difficult because people know you’ve been in the United States?

ES: Yeah, I think so. I think sometimes people see me or Aaron and they think we have lots of money. Some people will ask if they can borrow money. But we live as simple as possible so they wont think that of us. And it’s just not that way, we’re not wealthy like they think. Sometimes, honestly it would be easier not to live simply. But we keep each other going.

Generally, when I see a need, I always want to provide for that need and I really give myself to it. And we try to be free with our possessions. If we have something and someone needs it, we give it away.