Culture of the Philippines

Here is a little bit about life in the Philippines!

Religion

The main religion here is Roman Catholic, though most people do not even understand what it means to be Catholic or to know God. Since the Priest is the only one who can read and interpret the bible, many people have never read a bible for themselves. Prayer in their religion is always done through prayer books they are given to pray to different saints when problems arise, or prayers they will read in church.  As a result many people have never said a prayer of their own, talked to God in their own words. When a person sins in Catholicism they then must go to the Preist and confess, pay money for indulgences for themselves or the dead, and do good works in order for their sin to be covered. People believe that if they are good enough and do enough good works to cover their sin they will eventually go to heaven. Catholicism here is also full of witch doctors and fortunetellers that the people when go to when they are sick or want to hear from God. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not by your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Transportation

Very few people in the Philippines have cars, and if you do have a car you are seen as extremely wealthy. Though there is a lot of public transportation. If you need to go somewhere you can either take a jeepney or a trike.

 A jeepney is the typical bus transportation, there are many jeepneys that have different routes and you have to find the jeepney you need to get to your destination. When you ride a jeepney you just pile onto the benches in the back with all the other riders and have no sense of personal space.

 A trike is the typical taxi transportation; trikes take you to specific places. A trike is a motorcycle with an attached cage for the rider. The driver can charge whatever price they choose and you can bargain with them for a price. As a foreigner riding trikes can be difficult as they will try to charge you way too much assuming you are rich and do not know what the price should be. 

Time

Here in the Philippines the way that people live is much different than the U.S. First of all time American time and Filipino time mean to 2 completely different things. In America if you are suppose to meet someone at 3pm they would typically show up at 2:50? In the Philippines if you ask someone to meet you at 3pm they could show up anywhere between 3:30 and 5, and if it is raining they may not show up at all.

Money

Money here is a huge issue, the economy is terrible forcing many people to work overseas. Here 1 dollar = 50 pesos and a typical person makes 150-200 pesos a day. Meaning they only make 3-4 dollars a day to support their family.

Family

Family structures are much different here, and broken families are typically due to the struggling economy. Most of the students either live with 1 parent or often times an extended family member. Since the economy is so bad at least one parent is typically forced to work in another country typically Saudi Arabia, to support their family.  Some of the students I have met in my classes have not even met their father because he is trying to give their family enough money to get by. It seems the families have the choice to either live in extreme poverty or to be split in different countries. As a result of the money issues and split families there is much prostitution throughout the country. Families will usually only have enough money to get one child through college, therefore after one child is through college they then have the responsibility to get their younger sibling through college. 

Praises

Our team here in Batangas has grown so much stronger together in the Lord.

We have started a bible study with 8 students from CLB who are curious about having a relationship with the Lord.

God is at work and moving within the hearts of the students in our classes!

Prayer Requests:

I pray that the people here can come to know God for themselves rather than knowing of a religion. I pray that they would realize their is nothing they can do on their own to get to God but rather it is believing and surrendering their lives to the Lord. I pray the people would know that it is not by good works that they are saved, but that Jesus paid the price for their sins and it is by grace that they have been saved through faith. 

Prayer for the classes we are teaching at Lyceum of the Philippines and CLB, that we would be able to share Christ with our students in our classes as well as students at the schools.

If you want to send me mail... I learned what my address should actually look like when it's written out. Sorry I apparently was not writing it correctly. If you want to write me a letter I'd love it! Sending packages is really expensive so please don't feel like you should :)

Joy Ashton

#4 GME Apartment

Delta Road Villa Jose Subdivision 

Kumintang Ibada Batangas City

Philippines 4200