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June 23, 2002

Cebu Mission Report 

 This is a report on my trip to Christian missions on the island of Cebu, [1] Maktan, and Bohol in the Republic of Philippines focusing on Cebu Bible Seminary. I left Baltimore on February 13th of this year, and after a beautifully scenic 6-hour flight over New England, Canada, the Arctic Ocean, North Pole, Siberia, Mongolia and China, I arrived in Hong Kong on February 14th. After a 23-hour layover in Hong Kong, I arrived on Cebu on February 15th. I was in-country for 20 days, and then returned the way I came arriving in Baltimore on March 8th. [2] 

There were four major purposes for this trip:

First, and most important, To continue and strengthen the bonds of Christian fellowship between Westminster Church of Christ and Joe and Andrea Randall.  (See note below) This was, and is, more important and necessary than might be first apparent.

Second, and next in importance, to photo-document the work of the Randall's at Cebu Bible Seminary in order to raise awareness, prayer, and financial support for that work. The presentation you are about to see is the first draft of that effort.[3] 

Third, to teach at CBS and in local churches.

Fourth, to lay the initial groundwork for a High-school youth trip to Cebu in 2004.

  [comments only relevant at the initial delivery deleted] 

Cebu is one of the smaller islands of the Philippines, and is in the southern region of the country, where the Visayan language predominates over the official national language of Tagalog. [4] It is not, however, so far south as to be embroiled in the Muslim insurgency. Cebu City is the second-largest city in the Philippines, and metropolitan Cebu City has a larger population than metropolitan Baltimore or metropolitan Washington, in a much smaller area. [5] 

In 1941, Ray and Imogene Carlson, with their infant son, Robbie, began a mission work in Cebu, having been diverted from Tibet by the Japanese war with China. Their son Larry was born while they were fleeing from the invading Japanese Troops in early 1942. [6] After being rescued from prison by MacArthur's troops in 1945, they founded Cebu Bible Seminary. [7]
 

 In order to describe what it is like to be a CBS student, I have focused on one,  [Grace,] although the photographic record here in a few cases is a composite of several.

CBS [8] has 48 students this year, [9] and is rapidly increasing again toward its design capacity of 80 students. [10] [At the time of my visit the school offered] two Bachelors degrees, [11] one in Bible, and one in Christian Ministry. [12] [Now a single degree, Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is offerred.]

Because Philippine high school graduates are typically 16 years old, [13] many students are younger than would be found on many U.S. college campuses. [14] However, because many students work for a year or more after high school and before going to college, and because some seminary students already have a secular degree, there are older students as well. [15]

The living conditions for students are primitive by our standards, [16] with 2-4 students packed in a room less than half the size of an American dorm room.  [17]

Classes have been, till now, [18] strictly lecture with few or no questions from students.   [19]  As in most of the Third World, students are expected to repeat back verbatim on their tests what they heard in class. [20]

The students are, for the most part, zealous for Jesus, and enthusiastic participants in worship. [21] Most of the students travel to other churches each weekend, some as far as a hundred miles, as part of the mission outreach of the school. [22] 

About half of the students were brought up in Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, [23] with the other half brought up at least nominally Roman Catholic. [24] Most of the students who have not been immersed into Christ when they enter CBS decide to put on Christ in baptism within their first semester. [25]

Until this year, students were expected to cook their own meals in the dormitory kitchens. However, as most of the students chose to purchase food off campus at "sari-sari" stores, [26] the local variety of Mom-and-Pop convenience stores, the students nutrition was [less than desirable] and their expenditures high.  

This year, [27] the school began serving three meals a day six days a week. [28] The meals are prepared in the cottage kitchen, and eaten outdoors. 

Rice is the main staple food in the Philippines, [29] but the chopstick culture of the rest of orient never caught on there. There is a strong Spanish (but not Latin American) influence. 

Fish and seafood, especially squid, [30] are the main sources of protein, followed by pork and chicken. 

Many students come from nearby islands. [31] In order to go home for the weekend, Grace must first get a taxi to the inter-island ferry. [32] Usually this would be a motorcycle with enclosed sidecar, or "trike," which is made to hold three passengers plus the driver, but may hold up to a dozen. [33] 

The ferry is cheap but crowded and takes from 2 to 4 hours to Bohol, [34] the next island south. Bohol is both less rugged and less densely populated than coastal Cebu. [35] 

The economy on Bohol is centered on rice farming and fishing. [36] Grace's father was once a fisherman and is now [a worker on a rice farm]. [37] 

However, meeting every ferry and those even lower on the ladder, Muslim beggars from Mindanao. [38] 

From the ferry pier in Tagbilaran Grace must take public transportation to the interior district of Sierra Bullones where her parents live. [39]  The usual vehicle is the " jeepney," a 4-passenger jeep stretched to carry 14 on two inward facing benches, [40] and an unlimited number on the roof and between the benches. [41]

For the first few miles, [42] the road follows a river through swampy coastal lowlands, where a major crop is the Nipa Palm, [43] For the first few miles, the road follows a river through swampy coastal lowlands, where a major crop is the Nipa Palm, which is the source of the thatching that covers the roof of a traditional Philippine house. [44] The houses are framed with wood or bamboo, and raised on low stilts. [45] 

Soon, however, the road begins climbing into the hills, which were once covered with triple-canopy rainforest. [46] In some designated conservation areas this rainforest is returning. [47] 

The island of Bohol is renowned for its rice, and for a unique geological feature, [48]  the Chocolate Hills of Carmen. [49]  While they appear almost man-made, [50] they are actually the eroded remnants of a limestone plateau formed from a coral reef the hills themselves are rocky and dry and unsuitable for agriculture, [51] but they are surrounded by flat lands of rich soil and abundant water.  [52]

The streams of the area have been tapped for irrigation, [53] with small canals running in all directions, so that virtually every plot of flat ground has been converted to rice paddies. [54] The area of Sierra Bullones, where Grace lives, is a particularly fertile rice-growing region. [55]  Roads are few and far between in the area, [56] and so narrow footpaths and the banks of the irrigation canals are the main means of access for many farms. [57]

In the midst of this farmland is the tiny village of Salvador, [58] consisting of a bus stop, [59] a sari-sari stove, and a church. [60] The bus stop is the major social attraction; [61] here Grace can surprise her friends that she is home from college, and the neighborhood.   [62]

From the bus stop it is more than a mile to Grace's house, [63] and the entire way is passable only by foot or by water buffalo or perhaps by bicycle. [64]  About half of the way the trail is concrete rim of an irrigation channel. [65]  Because the rice fields are usually under water,  [66] cutting across the fields is not a good alternative. [67] 

The rice paddies are worked by hand with the aid of the water buffalo, or caraboa, [68] and tractors are virtually unknown. A farm laborer who can supply his own caraboa has a better chance of being hired and getting a better rate than one who uses the landlord's buffalo, but many laborers cannot afford to own one.  [69] 

For most of Grace's life, she lived in a small house of woven bamboo strips with a nipa-thached roof. [70] Many of her neighbors and relatives still live in such houses. It is not unusual for ten or more people to live in a house only about eight by twelve feet in size.  [71] 

Recently, Grace's parents were able to build a cinder block house, [72] but even that has neither the comfort nor the permanence that we in America take for granted.  [73] 

What Grace does have, [74] that we in America generally lack, [75] is a large extended family living near at hand. [76]  So when Grace arrives unexpectedly, [77] in addition to her parents there is a throng of siblings and cousins to greet her. [78] Other brothers and sisters are not here because they have moved to big cities such as Manila to find work.

[79] 

As I said, [80] this presentation is intended to inform you about what Joe Randall is doing in Cebu, [81] and why we should support his efforts. [82]  So, what exactly is he doing, besides getting his picture taken in lots of scenic locales? [83]

When Joe joined the staff in October, his title was Financial Administrator, but his duties were much broader than that title.(See note below)  [84]  Under President Larry Carlson, Joe was responsible for virtually everything not directly academic, [85]  academic affairs having been delegated to academic Dean Dr. Titus Bantilles.(See note below)  [86] Under the previous administration (before Larry Carlson's presidency) the buildings, [87] grounds, furnishings and equipment had deteriorated to a profound state of disrepair. [88]  Joe's first responsibility was to remedy this situation, [89] and to do so on a budget that did not allow for replacements of most items. [90]   So over a period of about six months, every building and virtually every piece of furniture was repaired and re-painted. [91] Then came the typhoon, and it had to be done again. While I was there, the major building project was the refurbishing of the chapel. [92] Then next on the list was the dormitories. [93]  [94]  [95]  [96]  [97]  [98]  [99] 

In addition to his administrative responsibilities, [100] Joe teaches at CBS.  This year, [101] a new course in Church Administration has been added to the curriculum, taught by Joe. [102] 

Joe is involved in the community outreach program of the seminary. [103]  Students and staff scatter to churches all over Cebu and the neighboring islands every weekend [104] to supply preachers and teachers to churches which do not have enough trained leaders. [105]  Some churches meet on Sunday afternoon so one preacher can serve two congregations. [106]  Some congregations are so far away it takes all day Saturday to get there and all day Monday to return.  [107] 

One of the major community outreaches of the collage is medical outreach, [108] under the academic dean of Cebu Bible Seminary.  Joe and Andrea are both active participants in this program. [109] Dr. Bantilles has trained many of the students to be his medical assistants, taking vital signs, performing blood test and keeping records. [110] These one day community clinics are held several times each month in various communities on Cebu and neighboring islands.  At each clinic, as many as two hundred patients may be seen in one day. [111]  Tuberculosis is the most common serious illness seen at these clinics. The contribution from Westminster Church of Christ to the work in Cebu has been designated to this work. [112]
Andrea is very busy supporting the programs of CBS, [113] especially those involving food. [114]  The medical outreach clinics usually have a free meal for the patients, [115] many of whom have very marginal diets. [116]  Last year Andrea Randall and Yola Carlson put together a program of providing several hot meals a week for the students at CBS, [117] which this year has been expanded into a full cafeteria. [118]  [119]  [120] 

My own purpose for visiting Cebu was to encourage the Randall's, to promote their work, and to assist in whatever way possible. [121]  The two talents which God has giving me for such work are the ability to cross cultural barriers, to be a "cultural broker," and the ability to teach. The first step to crossing a cultural barrier is to learn the local food. [122]   The second step for me is to get to know the children.[123] 

For me, some of the most compatible places in the world are these squatter barrios, [124] where the poor have built their homes of salvaged materials on land they hold only by adverse possession.

On campus my assignment was to teach three courses: six lectures on the history of the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, [125] six lectures on the Minor Prophets, [126] and one all-day seminar for seniors on the Book of Titus. [127]  This seminar was groundbreaking in that introduced the American academic practice of having the students prepare presentations on the subject material and then defend their presentation.
 

......

  [128] 

.....

The CBS campus is small, [129] only a couple of acres. [130] As is usual in the urban, tropical third world [131], the campus is surrounded with a high wall, [132] with only one gate. [133]  A few of the buildings have air-conditioning in one room, [134] but most rely on open-air ventilation. [135]  Many of the windows are unglazed grills or louvers. [136]  [137] 

  [138]

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Kenneth A. Grimm
01 October 2009

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