Balic Balic Up in Flames

I wasn't planning on writing another update from Manila, but a recent event has made such an impression on me that I can't help but share:

Around 5 pm on Sunday night a fire started in a house along the tracks in Balic Balic. I was opening the door to sweep out dirt and was surprised to find the sky filling with thick smoke! A rush of terror and action hit eveyone as they scrambled to find out where the fire was. I ran just 30 yards from our house to the tracks... I can't describe the scene that was there: people everywhere, running, yelling, kids crying, everyone close to the fire taking as much as possible out of their houses, flames and black smoke coming from the dense jumble of buildings along the tracks. What really touched me was the bucket line that had already formed from the river towards the fire. Jeoporadizing their safety and health, men jumped into the river/sewer and the buckets of blackish water were quickly passed all the way to the roof. My host family lived just a few houses down from the fire, so I joined them in running their belongings out of the house and dousing their walls with water. At one point I ran past Myline, 21 yr. old niece of my host family. She was standing on the sidewalk near a pile of their stuff watcing as the fire approached the house. I stopped and hugged her and we both cried and didn't say anything. It felt painful to not have any words of comfort for her. The fire trucks did eventually arrive, but even then, the fire lasted almost 2 hours. There aren't any fire hydrants in Balic Balic, so every other fire truck is a water tanker. Almost a dozen trucks attacked the fire from different angles.

After the fire was deemed "out" we went back to the Sears' house (my host family) and helped them clean up. It was surreal to be on hands and knees cleaning dirty water out of the kitchen where we had previously shared meals, laughter and life. While I was experiencing the pain of the situation, I was also struck by the fact that I would never really know what it was like to walk in their shoes. Many were displaced by the fire and or wet homes. We all painfully wondered where they would sleep and what they would eat that night as we went back to our own safe homes. Later that night and into today, a typhoon passed close enough to Manila to bring on constant and heavy rains. Monday the tracks were much more quiet than usual as the damage was assessed, the buildings gutted out and remains salvaged. Nobody was hurt or killed, but around 12 homes were completely destroyed.

Ironically, this has happened just a week before we go home... just when we were getting a little more used to the poverty. For me this has been deep and meaningful reminder that below the surface of poverty lies a very fine balance between life and death, stablity and chaos, enough and desperation as the poor live in a constant state of vulnerability. Perhaps even more than this realization, I have been touched by the pain of the poor that is both deep and wide. I truthfully ask God what comfort and what hope He has for those who live in this reality of vulnerability and pain. I have renewed my own hope in the truth found in Is 61:

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, [a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

Tonight I am thankful that Jesus came not only for our sins, but for our brokeness and pain also. Please keep the community of Balic Balic in your prayers.