RadicalHapa is Joseph Santos-Lyons

UU Sri Lankan Minister Coming to America!

I am so excited to report that one of my mentors and good friends from my student ministry with the UU Church of the Philippines received his Visa to travel to America this summer.  He will be at GA, and will be visiting several UU congregations across the states.  We'll hopefully have him in Portland for a spell.

Rev. Nihal Attanayake is a former Anglican Priest from Sri Lanka, and new President of the UU Church of the Philippines.  He has been staff director of the Faith in Action Department for nearly a decade, leading church building, partner church, and very innovative social enterprise efforts including microfinance.

Getting a Visa to America from the Philippines, or anywhere in SE Asia for that matter, is so Freakin Hard.  I'm so excited and a little surprised.

Travel to the Philippines by the Numbers

We're making our last major family trip to the Philippines for the foreseeable future given the high cost of travel.  It will be a big reunion for all of us after spending last year there, me as a student minister with the UU Church of the Philippines.  I did go back in February briefly, and was impressed to see the growing numbers of the Metro Manila/Quezon City UU group that I helped ground, and the urban poor fellowship of Bicutan.

Here are some of the numbers that we've  been pondering in preparation for the trip:

Moonrise Film Festival Kicks Off

Aimee and I went to the Holladay Park Plaza by Lloyd Center this evening for a special banquet and screening of Batad, a Filipino Cinemalayan film.  One of Aimee's old friends Erwin had a cool cameo in the beginning...a story of belonging to an indigenous tribe told from the point of view of a youth.  A little slow at times, there was good comedy as he seeks his first pair of shoes.
   

UUPhilippines to Wikipedia: Put Us Back In

A UU Philippine leader who is also a Wikipedia contributor added uuphilippines.org to the references for Unitarian Universalism after seeing references to other UU sites internationally listed.

A week later, it was gone.  Mysterious. 

I went to the site today, and note that the UUA and CUC are listed, along with the ICUU, however listing for several other country UU sites such as UK and Mexico are also now gone.  Are they being taken down because ICUU (International Council of UU's) is there?  If so, why keep UUA and CUC?  Because they are larger?  Perhaps the UU Church of the Philippines is better listed on the Universalist site as that is more in tune with the origins?

Manila: Why Are Choppers Flying Overhead (Update2)

Woke this morning to a steady stream of military choppers flying overhead, most likely from Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.  Every 2-3 minutes, one is passing by, very low, very loud.  Nothing in the media yet, however there is a lot of news about a sense of impeachment for embattled President Gloria Magapacal Arroyo, and even an EDSA III.

UU Cost of Living in the Philippines

Your UU ministers and other professional staff make about as much per month as I spend gassing up my 1998 VW Jetta - about $40/month.  Some make more, wage scales top out at about $200/month for the President of the UUCP.  Before you think, "its the exchange rate", or "everything is cheaper in the Philippines," know this -

Philippine UU Update

I am preparing to spend a few weeks in the Philippines and will be preaching at the new congregation in Bicutan (in Metro Manila), the Quezon City Group (a more middle class group which meets at the University of the Philippines) and visiting colleagues in Dumaguete at the UU Church of the Philippine Headquarters.

I'm working on a homily on anger, and will be doing some fun question and answer with new UU's in Bicutan.  Bob Guerrero continues to be an extraordinary lay leader here in Metro Manila.  Lenna came back from representing UUCP at the ICUU conference in Germany with new vision.  While there has been significant staff and funding changes, the UUCP has a positive and grounded feel.  I look forward to my time with them nearly a year after I completed my internship here.

Lee Boeke Burke of the Partner Church Council is leading a pilgrimage trip here in early March, right after I leave.  She will continue a growing trend of foreigner UU visiting and preaching at the UU Churches in the Philippines.  An exciting development is the stronger possibility that Filipino (and a Sri Lankan UU Minister mentor of mine) may soon be travelling the USA to share the good news as well.

Exploding Volcano

Mt Bulusan in the Philippines errupts!

BUMMER! GMA in RP Strengthens Grip

Link: Eleksyon 2007 - INQUIRER.net.

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Wednesday said her allies have increased their majority in the House of Representatives and in local elective posts and predicted political stability after the mid-term elections last Monday.

“I believe we will have an even bigger majority in the House and an almost complete sweep of the local chief executives,” Ms Arroyo said in an interview Wednesday with the Wall Street Journal Asia newspaper.

AARRRRGGGGG - joseph's soul

You Know You've Left When

I finally deleted cel phone numbers from the Philippines that I can't call from the same cel I'm going to use in the USA.  It was like saying goodbye all over again!