Dear Friends in Jesus Christ!

Greetings!

Now the heat of summer is beginning in the U.S. while here it is almost ending. However, the ending of summer does not mean the coming autumn. In the Philippines it is always summer, and the hottest period is from April to May.

I went to school (Silliman University) this morning and had to go to different offices in order to prepare for the new semester. I sweat profusely, and my shirt was so wet with perspiration that finally it turned white. Do you know why my shirt became white? It’s because of the saltiness of sweat. The waist of my pants also turned white. You may assume how hot it gets in this place.

The Philippines consists of 7,100 islands. Filipino people say that the number of islands is different whether the sea is in neap tide or springtide. As far as I know, there are no hydroelectric plants in the Philippines. Since electricity must be produced by fossil fuel, electric charges are expensive. I often have no electric power here in Dumaguete City: outages occur once a week or sometimes twice a week. Blackouts usually last anywhere from an hour to half a day. A few days ago, there was an all-day blackout. My refrigerator stopped working, of course, and the melted ice wet the floor of my kitchen. The problem was not the wet floor, but the food in the refrigerator that spoiled. Another problem is when blackouts happen in the daytime. Due to the hot and humid weather, it is unbearable without an electric fan. A few days ago, there was no electric power at night. People complained that they could not stand the heat of that evening. It reminds me of the old days when we did not have enough electricity. This is a reality of this place.

Yesterday, there was no electric light in my parsonage. I called the buildings and grounds office this morning and requested they send an electrician. The office said that all electricians were already out, but they would send the next available one to my parsonage. A couple of hours later, an electrician came and examined a fuse box and an electrical wire. He told me that it seemed there was a problem on an electric pole and he could not repair it. He suggested I call an electric company. I called an electric company. A couple of hours later, an electrician came and examined an electrical wire. He said that the electrical wire was too old. He finally repaired it. Last time, an electrician repaired an electrical wire because a rat nibbled it.

A complex election of senators ended in May, but the jubilation was short-lived. A bandit group stormed a beach resort on the southern island of Mindanao. On May 27, however, a second assault on the Dos Palmas beach resout on the southern island of Palawan proved tragic. Twenty persons, including three U.S. citizens, were abducted and taken hostage. The group claiming responsibility was a resurrected Abu Sayyaf. The Abu Sayyaf have declared that they are fighting for self-determination for Muslim people in Mindanao, but their actions have destroyed any credibility they might have had, even among potentially sympathetic Islamic organizations. Today, the Abu Sayyaf are seen as dangerous bandits who have learned that it is easy to recruit from an impoverished neglected population and possible to make money on kidnapping for ransom. Their actions have caused the loss of lives and the death of tourism, which has been an important source of livelihood for the Philippines. Our prayers are needed for the enlightening of minds to the senselessness of abducting innocent civilians and using their lives as leverage for profit.

School is busy as we begin a new semester this month. There was a divinity school faculty retreat on June 1 and 2 at Camp Sea Site. Twenty faculty members and staff gathered to prepare for a new semester and discuss the centennial ceremony of Silliman University, the 80th anniversary celebration of the divinity school, and the church workers convocation on Founder’s Day in August.

This week (June 4 to 8) is a registration period. Students who went home between semesters come back to school to register. The noise of returning students infuses life into the quiet campus, and the noises of motorbikes and peddy-cabs enlivens Dumaguete City as well.

I will teach one mission class ("Church, Mission and Evangelism") and one church history course, as usual. The mission class has 15 students (including those studying for their master’s of divinity and bachelor’s of theology) and the church history course has 18 students. I continue to guide a student from Myanmar, helping him particularly with his thesis this semester. I will take care of five students as a theological reflection group, meeting with them bi-weekly individually and in a group to take counsel with them.

I am a faculty of Southeast Graduate School of Theology; a member of departments of history, theology, and ethics and of the Research and Publication Program; chair of the community life committee; and vice-chair of the library and computer system committee this year.

This semester begins June 13 and continues until the middle of October. I would like to ask your continual prayer for my health and my friendship with Filipino colleagues and students.

Thanks for your prayer and concern. May the grace and peace of God be with you always!

Sincerely,

John E Cho

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 188