Well, I'm back from my trip to the Philippines. Time to try and gather together some observations and lessons. These are slightly random and are obviously drawn from my experience chiefly of Manila and mainly among Christians.
1. Manila is pretty monocultural. It would seem being made up of around 99% Filipinos. I hardly saw any people of another ethnic background.
2. Having said that, Filipinos themselves are pretty diverse. They can look quite different - some more Chinese or more Indian, some more Malay or even African or Polynesian.
3. Although (Americanised) English and Tagalog are widely spoken many, many have a third or even a fourth language as there are over 150 other languages and 13 major languages are spoken by 90% of the country. This means that communication is a more of a problem than appears at first.
4. Although the people are Asian they seem to have a unique mixture of American get up and go (and southern politeness), Spanish lording it over and various other elements in their make up.
5. In Manila there is wide diversity between the very rich and the very poor.
6. People seem generally to be keen on hygiene, especially oral hygiene, but things can look quite run down due to neglect.
7. I need to send more time consulting maps. There is a lot to be learned from such sources.
8. The Philippines is a land where a little bit can go a long, long way.
9. One must constantly resist the temptation to make snap judgements with regard to people and situations.
10. False doctrine, immorality, party spirit and a general tendency to drift apart make themselves known the world over.
11. There is something to be said for being quite consciously and overtly Reformed in doctrine.
12. It is quite striking to see what God can do with a church that is committed to the truth adn to God's glory.
13. The more the people and the more a work grows the more likely problems of various sorts are.
14. Face to face is always going to beat a written report or photos
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