The Parable of Religious Freedom

Two groups met to pray and worship. One group was composed of 2 pastors, some teachers and an ex-cop, and the other group was a bunch of young and carefree students.

The first group met at the Oliverio hall and they started praying: “Dear Lord in heaven we thank you for this opportunity that we can assemble for prayer and worship to you. We thank you for giving us this freedom, and for the democracy that we enjoy here in the Philippines. We pray for our Christian brothers who live in communist and Islam countries where they do not have the freedom to worship and where they are violently dispersed, persecuted and killed if caught in the act of doing so. Please bless them, oh Lord, and deliver them from the persecution of the devil.”

After their prayer meeting they notice the other group praying in the medical clinic, and so they send the ex-cop to stop the prayer meeting. The students are then told to report one at a time to the pastors office where they are warned that their grouping together for prayer and worship is not allowed because it is an act of “illegal assembly,” and that they will be blacklisted and given demerits, which will debar them from acceptance in the following semester.

Two groups went home that night after prayer. Who was justified? Which group received God’s mercy and grace?

“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, and the other a cheating tax collector. The proud Pharisee prayed this prayer: ‘Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t commit adultery, I go without food twice a week, and I give to God a tenth of everything I earn.’ But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven!” (Luke 18:10-14)

w4eo - watching out for each other

The fish was the symbol of the early christian church established by the disciples. 2 fishes signify a buddy system. the pointed borders represent MVC's oppressive and persecutive policies.

W4eo is an underground group of Christian students enrolled in Mountain View College, Philippines - a boarding school. This school outlaws any student organization that is not SDA in faith. It prohibits and punishes students [not SDA] who meet to worship or pray. All students enrolled are forced by policy to attend morning and evening worship in the dormitories and in church services on Saturdays. It doesnt matter whether you are Islam, Buddhist or Christian, you will be fined or forced to do unpaid labor for worship absences. [see blog article: God's Mountain Village]

This school has an excellent record with regards to national licensure exams for nursing students, hence many non-SDA parents prefer that their children study here notwithstanding the oppression and persecution. The non-SDA enrollee surrenders his basic human right to worship God as soon as he signs the contract upon acceptance. From then on through the 4 - 5 years that he is enrolled, the school holds his religious rights hostage, to be released only when he violates the contract and is expelled or when he finally graduates.

There is virtually no religious freedom here.

God's Mountain Village

Once upon a time there was a mountain village that they said was owned and governed by God. This place was seen by almost everybody as god-given and blessed, and some even said it was just a step away from heaven. People here seemed to be united and happy with each other. Crime was almost non-existent, and a good night’s sleep could be assured even with the doors and windows unlocked.

Residents of this village loved to worship God, and they did it twice a day on weekdays and three times during weekends. They liked to pray in public by pairs or by groups, hand in hand. The people here liked to sing, and they had many choirs that took turns singing in the church services. They also had groups that hiked or rode to other villages to bring the bible to their neighbors every weekend. “Christ-likeness” was the motto of this village. Such was the devotion to God in this place.

Many outsiders desired to live in this village and some ventured to apply. On applying they would be told that there were certain rules that everyone inside had to abide by. And to be sure that the applicant would obey the rules while living inside, he had to sign a contract that stated that he would accept punishment or be expelled if ever he disobeyed any rule.

To ensure peace and order in this village all activities were controlled by policies and “watchers.” Everybody was expected to be in the worship halls during the scheduled worships and in the prescribed attire and attitude. It did not matter if you were a Muslim, a Buddhist or a Christian; you had to be in your designated seat during worship, because attendance would be checked. If you missed the worships you had to pay a fine or do labor without pay.

Meeting in groups of religions other than that of the village is not permitted, and anyone who disobeyed this policy is charged with “illegal assembly” and is given demerits or expelled. It did not matter if your purpose for meeting was to worship God in the way that you saw fit as long as it was determined that you did not belong to the village church, you were punished.

Once it was found out that a resident there had modified his view of God and the bible from that of the village’s usual manner. This angered the village leaders and they met to discuss this ‘heretic.’ After some time of deliberation it was decided that he should be cut off from the group and expelled from the village. 

This all was done to ensure that the unity and peace be preserved. While doing this they said that the non-conformist was also deleted from the records in heaven, this is what they claimed:

     “‘Verily I say unto you, ‘Christ continued, ‘whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Verse 18

      “This statement holds its force in all ages. On the church has been conferred the power to act in Christ’s stead. It is God’s instrumentality for the preservation of order and discipline among His people. To it the Lord has delegated the power to settle all questions respecting its prosperity, purity and order. Upon it rests the responsibility of excluding from its fellowship those who are unworthy, who by their un-Christlike conduct would bring dishonor on the truth. Whatever the church does that is in accordance with the directions given in God’s word will be ratified in heaven.”—Testimonies, vol. 7, pp. 262, 263. (SDA Church Manual p. 187)

No one dared question this wisdom. The village authorities claimed that they had direct power to act as Jesus Christ on earth – Vicar of Christ, so to speak.

Their action was carried out and the infidel was stripped of his job and church membership, and expelled from the village. With this ugly incident receding in the past, the village regained its composure and resumed its efforts to serve God to the fullest. Never again would they allow a stain or blemish to mar the purity of their haven.

Pan de Sal in Bangkok

i'm a pan de sal eater. i can still hear the call of the vendors in Alaminos Pangasinan at night and in the early dawn... "pan de sal, napudot paaiiii" [that was when i was a kid]. i like my pan de sal every morning with a cup of coffee and i like it crispy - i mean the old time favorite recipe.

You can drive for blocks in Bangkok without seeing a bakery, and worse yet if you see one you wont find any pan de sal. breakfast bread here is deep fried and soggy, and cooked at the sidewalk.

How do you get your pan de sal here? first you buy a small sized electric oven, then you go to the Internet for a pinoy pan de sal recipe. Next is you shop for the ingredients at Lotus and then you bake the pan de sal yourself. And that's exactly what i did. here are the pictures to document my act. i wish i took a photo of the kitchen that i messed up while making the dough.