The Banner Pic is of our last residence and is located in Southern Cebu.

Temporary Stay in the U.S.A.

It is our intent to return to the Philippines to live out the rest of our lives after we attend to my mother’s needs at the end of her life. The Philippines has become my home, my heart is there. I like the climate, the food, the people, the culture and pray for the country to solve the problem of poverty as they move forward as a people.

After six years of life in the Philippines filled with love, adventure, and travel, we have arrived in Nashville. It is our hope that we will be able to participate in the city, in the church, in the body of Christ, and I as a spokesperson, a teacher, and an educator. I offer an array of interpretive readings that can assist in lifting Christian thought from the binding powers of nationalism, misogyny, racism, and biblical literalism.

My reading of the female characters in Judges is a call to understand that it is the voice of women that aids in balancing the aggressive nature of men and reduces violence in society. My reading of Exodus is that God's self-revelation is key to grasping the events and that finding God in the text is accomplished through the mercy almost hidden amidst the acts of power. I read Job as a voice for all of humanity, an effort to bring God into the court of human understanding. Job is one of the richest pieces of literature ever written and contains thoughts that foreshadow both incarnation and resurrection.

Although there are many good books in the arena of biblical studies and theology, the following writers have left an indelible mark in the rings of growth that form the theological tree that is my life: John E. Hartley, Soren Kierkegaard, Rene Girard, Jacques Ellul, Gerald H. Wilson, Charles Bellinger, Martin Luther King Jr., Ignacio Ellacuria, Jon Sobrino, just to name a few.

It is my prayer that a door of opportunity will be opened for sharing my life of learning and experience. I've spent a decade of life abroad, primarily in the Philippines where I have worked with an array of needy communities, including the poor at dumpsites, trafficked women, incarcerated persons, tribal peoples, bible colleges, and local churches.

We will miss the Philippines and all the beautiful people who live in the midst of wondrous beauty. The photo above is where we lived for nearly two years and enjoyed the beach everyday! In God’s grace and time we hope to return.