The BBC is carrying the following story about a peace deal in the Southern Philippines between the government and the largest rebel group seeking an independent Muslim state. In broad terms this looks like a good thing, any peace deal which results in the an end to armed conflict has to be supported, plus this region should have a greater share in the disposal of it’s natural resources. However, there are elements to deal which at first glance give some pause for thought.

Firstly, although this is a majority Muslim area it is not a completely Muslim one, there are a number of Christian villages, and communities here. Are there safeguards in place for them? Secondly, whilst it is good that the MILF is seeking to negotiate as opposed to engage in armed struggle what of other Muslim rebel groups also active in this area? International Christian Concern is reporting threats made against churches, Catholic priests and bishops in Mindanao, as well as the extrotion and kidnapping of Christian villagers in the Sulu Archipelago.

Philippine government negotiators say they have reached a deal with
a Muslim rebel group to expand an autonomous region in the south of the
country.

Villagers affected by the plans will be asked to vote within 12 months on whether they want to join the new area.

A larger autonomous region is something the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has sought for decades.

The Philippine president’s peace adviser said a framework agreement could be expected early next month.

“A breakthrough has been achieved in the issue of ancestral domain…
tonight, with the signing of a joint communique,” said Hermogenes
Esperon.

The BBC correspondent in Manila, Michael Barker, says Monday’s announcement is being seen as a major step forward.

Earlier this month both sides agreed to an expansion of the
region, but the deal appeared in doubt as they could not agree on a
timeframe.

Just last Saturday, there were reports that the Malaysian-brokered talks had collapsed.

But negotiators now say these differences have been ironed out.

Fragile truce

The long-running Islamic insurgency in the south of the country has cost some 100,000 lives.

The MILF is the largest of several Muslim separatist groups battling the government in the predominantly Catholic country.

Formal talks between the government and MILF began in 2003,
after the rebel group, which is thought to have around 11,000 members,
signed a fragile truce with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s
government.

The new agreement envisages the extension of the present autonomous region in Mindanao to include a further 712 villages.

The proposed homeland will be entitled to a large share of the resources in the area.

The new region would expand on an autonomous territory that was
originally created in a deal with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF).

At long last I’ve managed to make it back onto the Blog!

Since leaving the Philippines it has been a little crazy. We left Cebu mid-May and had a few days in Bristol. Then we had a holiday, and then we moved up to West Bridgford. A couple of weeks settling into the new house, and then I started work last week as the vicar of St Giles. It has been busy but it has also been great. A concern was how well the children would take to the moves, and we are relieved that they’ve made the adjustment as well as we hoped they could. Our eldest has started at school, and made some good friends. One thing that has really helped that is that a couple children in his class are from church families, which is great.  

I was licensed by the Bishop of Sherwood on Tuesday 1st July, and then we were off! The last week, as you might expect has been about meeting with leaders in the church and getting a feel for them, and their vision for St Giles. i’m encouraged to find a lot of enthusiasm and creative ideas to move forward. The church has seen significant growth over the last few years, particularly among young families and through Alpha, and the challenge is to keep that momentum going. Thankfully there is a strong sense that this is a challenge we need to face together.

I’m looking forward to seeing where God will lead us in the future.

This will be my final post from Cebu, but God willing not the last one ever, I’m hoping to keep the Blog going back in Jolly England. The suitcases are packed, the kids are saying their last goodbyes, the car has been sold, and in a few hours friends from church will come and take us to the airport for our flight back to the UK. 3 years have gone so fast, and yet at times so slowly. I’ve been trying to write a reflective post for over the last week or so, but the words wouldn’t come, I guess you need some time and space to do that kind of thing properly. At the moment all I can think to say is that we are glad we came; God definately called us here, and now it is time for us to move on, but we will never forget this place. We plan to come back when we can, and are gratefully to all who have shared their lives with us here.

The plan is back to the UK overnight, a few days with family, and then a holiday and then a move upto our new home in Nottingham where I will be Priest in Charge – St Giles West Bridgford. Looking forward to it.

Don’t expect any more blogging for a while!

Quite a few years ago I remember stumbling across a radio programme in the UK about UFO’s and Aliens. Unlike most of these kind of programmes it didn’t go for the jokey ‘close encounters folks are all weirdo’s approach’ rather it was all rather serious, and to be honest quite chilling. The main interviewee as I recall was Nick Pope an insider who looked into UFO sightings for the MOD. Serious, and sober, he didn’t reveal any secrets, but he said enough to freak me out. The long and the short of it was that there is enough evidence for UFO’s (in the sense of aliens flying around), and that government policy would need to change in the future from a ‘theres no evidence for this kind of stuff’ line to a ‘there is evidence for this kind of stuff’ line. Preparing the way for a full disclosure to the public along the lines of ‘not only is there evidence for alien life but we know for sure we are not alone’.

Nick predicted that in coming years there would be a slow but steady drip drip in the media of credible alien/ufo sightings, coupled with a gradual opening up of Government archives to reveal what those ‘in the know’, already know:

They are here, and they haven’t come for some shopping.

Thus I can’t help but get a slight chill when I read on the same day that ‘The Vatican says aliens could exist’. And also that the MOD is declassifying some of it’s X-Files.

As a final aside, check out the Rendlesham Forest Incident – spooky.

I’ve been a bit quiet on the Blogfront recently.

The reason? This is the week that we move back to the UK (we fly on Friday), and so it has been all hands to the deck, packing boxes and saying goodbyes.

So far, it has all gone really well. I aim to do one more post before we go reflecting on our last couple of weeks here. In the meantime, there is a short feature about us on the CMS website.

“Where are all those uniformed people who are always ready to beat up civilians?”

Trishaw driver in Rangon, Burma, criticizing the government for not deploying personnel to clean up after a cyclone hit the country on May 4, killing more than 20,000 people.

Time

Interesting interview available for download here.The interviewee is Philip Dean of Sydney and the brother of the Archbishop of Sydney. Both Jensons are significant figures in the ‘Global South’ coalition of Conservative Anglicans drawn from the southern hemisphere, and this interview gives an insight into the thinking of one of them at this time.

Refreshingly candid (no Anglican fudge and obfuscation here), Philip talks about Sydney cathedral prior to his arrival – ‘a basket case’, Ecclesiastical politics – ‘nasty’, plus Evangelicalism and Anglicanism – ‘we thought about leaving’.

9 Marks the site hosting the interview has been added to the blogroll. It offers a Reformed perspective on church life, and is worth browsing, their e-journal is worth subscribing to for the book reviews alone. I seldom agree with everything, but it is always thought provoking and well written, with a keen awareness of the issues of the day.

Preparing for preaching on the Ascension this Sunday I dug out my ‘Calvin’s Institutes’ which I shipped all the way from England and am about to ship all the way back, and which I have opened about three times in the last three years. Non-the-less, it’s good stuff:

Christ in whom the Father wills to be exalted and through whose hand he wills to reign, was received at God’s right hand. This is as if it were said that Christ was invested with Lordship over heaven and earth, and solemnly entered into possession of the government entrusted to him -and that he not only entered into possession once and for all, but continues in it, until he shall come down on judgement day… both heavenly and earthly creatures may look with admiration upon his majesty, be ruled by his hand, obey his nod, and submit to his power.

Institutes of the Christian Religion Book II Ch XVI 15

Interesting article in Christianity Today.

The gist of it is that a small but growing movement is emerging among US Quakers of those who self identify as Pagans. With it’s emphasis upon subjective religious experience, its non-hierachical structure and it’s lack of creedal confessions of faith Quakerism is proving to be a ready ’second home’ for those who once were Christians, or are sympathetic to the person of Christ but have now become pagan. It is difficult to see how such a ‘blending’ of faiths could continue for long and the Quakers remain in any sense Christian; a tension those quoted in the article acknowledge.

Witnessing about Jesus in Olive’s meeting has become infrequent. “People here come from so many different places, spiritually,” he says. “Meetings can be very quiet, as many people are afraid to voice views that others might not hold to be true. We talk about God, but we don’t really put a name to him or her.”

In an effort to reinforce his connection to Jesus, Olive holds a monthly Christian prayer group at his house after his Quaker meeting.

Morgan-Appel says that such fears are common. She has seen tensions flare between the two groups, from pagan-influenced Quaker weddings to unfair fees charged to use meeting halls for Quaker-pagan gatherings.

“I think there’s a myth that it’s only Christians who feel like it makes people uncomfortable when they talk about Jesus,” she said. “There are definitely times when I see that there are still knee-jerk reactions from people within the Society of Friends who don’t know what paganism is.”

I’d be interested to hear if there is anything similar occurring among the UK’s Quakers.

From AsiaNews – Suspected Islamic militants from Abu Sayyaf, al-Qaeda’s Filipino branch, placed a bomb in the compound of Zamboanga’s Roman Catholic cathedral and in a building housing a government office yesterday. No one was injured in the ensuing blasts.

No one was hurt in the explosion but a wall and windows were damaged.

Regional police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said a mortar round was hidden in a box under a car in the parking lot of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral.

A church caretaker saw three men fleeing the scene on a motorcycle shortly before the blast. He said the men were overheard talking in Tausug, a dialect spoken by Muslims in Mindanao.

For Caringal the men were Islamic militants.

Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo Valles called for prayers and described the attack as a work of evil that must be condemned.

“We are saddened by this bombing attack. It’s a symbolic place and it is Sunday and there’s a lot of churchgoers, but it’s a great comfort for us to know that no one was hurt or killed,” he said.