Sir, —
Shakespeare said that ‘all the world’s a stage’; if he had been from the Philippines, he would have said that ‘all the world’s a washing line’! Our obsession here with good hygiene and a constant supply of clean clothes means that even someone sleeping on the sidewalk will have an improvised washing line nearby. So when someone shows up in a neighbourhood who does not fit this mould, dirty and dishevelled (and a bit scary), they are given a wide berth.
When we first moved here from the UK, some 17 years ago now, I saw a chap resting by the side of the road who was in that category. As the day wore on and I went about my business, I saw that he remained there the whole day. We decided to put part of our dinner aside for him and packaged it up, and I took it over to him. He had fallen asleep, so I left it by his side. The next morning, he was gone, and I thought no more about it.
When we left the UK, I had left my car behind, having been unable to sell it by the time we were due to leave. I left it with a local garage to sell and give me part of the proceeds later; it was winter and a recession, so it had not sold in the couple of months we had been waiting and praying for it. The next day, I received an email to say it had been sold. We rejoiced as the money was needed to help us get established here, and I felt that our rather small and insignificant almsgiving the evening before had taken our prayer over the line somehow.
A few days ago, just before Christmas, I was on my way out of the house on another errand and felt that I ought to bring a few things with me; some fresh pan de sal I had picked up from the bakery, a cool drink, and some biscuits. I followed the inspiration and, on my way, came across another ‘vagabond’, a chap I had seen in the neighbourhood for a few days, who was also standing by the roadside. I offered him the food items I had brought and carried on.
We were also praying for something at this time. My wife had a strange skin problem on her eyelids, which neither an ophthalmologist nor a dermatologist had been able to identify or treat successfully. This had been going on for months, and we had spent some time in prayer for this too. When I got home, she had visited the doctor’s office at her university and he had immediately identified the cause and given her medicine for it. The next day, it was already noticeably better, and now all but fully healed!
I cannot give definitive proof here, but my experience suggests that sometimes prayer is not enough on its own and we need to add almsgiving. And don’t be afraid of the unwashed; they may be angels in disguise after all.
Yours, etc., —
Mr Stephen Clark
(Manila, Philippines)
