At the youth camp in Dumaguete, I found myself face to face with this german national who has already made Dumagute his home. Two years ago, I saw him drunk and shirtless spewing away harassing words to our campers and staff.
So I was not exactly ecstatic when I saw him again drinking his big bottles of beer a couple of feet away from where I was conducting my Christian Living class.
One of the ladies told me later that this guy was making it difficult about the set up of the obstacle course , claiming the stakes for the web-crawl were on his property.
We took note of how to protect the female campers who were swimming at that time.
I was tired from the 4 classes I taught and I headed back to where I was staying.
But on my way back I noticed an awesome sight. A fishing vessel was beautifully docked nearby with the last few remaining rays of the sun poignantly illuminating the vessel.
I grabbed my camera and (ditching my initial desire to shower,) started making my way to the beach.
That’s when I heard a voice with a distinct German called for me. It was the un-wanted German national.
“are you interested in buying the house?” he pointed toward the house where we were staying and it had a House For Sale…
I approached him and noticed the alcohol smell on his body, and particularly his breath.
“I am not from here… And I dont have money to buy that house” hoping that it would be the end of the conversation.
“are you a priest?” he asked.
I thought, ok here it goes again… A foreigner asking this question to challenge my faith or put our culture down for having the christian faith…
“you may say that.. I said. But I am the marrying kind. I am a pastor.
He edged closer and I was more aware of the alcoholic stench coming from his mouth that clearly exposed the gums that were already missing a significant number of teeth.
“where is the garden of eden?”
Oh my, I thought to myself… I just want to take a snapshot of the last few remaining rays on the boat…
or we could be God’s rays of hope… To a man in the twillight of years…
He went on to ask me about the two rivers in ancient Iraq. I said “great! Now I am suddenly on a quiz show …”
Tigris and Euphrates – I said.
He was pleased that I knew. So he went on explaining some of the evidence pointing to the location of the Garden of Eden. I knew he was just telling about a Discovery documentary on that so I simply nodded and also shared what I knew.
From the corner of my eye, I saw one of our male staff about 50 meters away looking at our direction.
He started walking toward us when the German national put his arm on my shoulder motioning me to walk a couple of steps toward the beach.
He dropped the pieces of paper and coconut husks he was carrying and said ” you know, my wife died 14 days ago…”
How I looked at him changed in an instant.
Sure I can smell the alcohol in his breath. Sure I was taken aghast by his crude appearance – but more than that, a realization dawned on me – that despite all that, this German national who just lost his wife, needed to be heard.
He told me about the hospital experience.
He shared the amount and the process it took at the funeral.
And now he lives alone, accompanied by the helpers who help look after the property bought with his deceased wife.
“You know the other night, I heard my wife call my name… do you believe that? He asked me.
I simply nodded as I recalled the paper on dreams that was discussed in my Counseling class and how dreams can also be one of the means by which God could comfort people who are grieving.
“Really, I heard my wife call my name… and I recognized her voice. Been married to her for 25 years… he kept on speaking.
I simply listened and tried to understand what he was saying. And with the understanding, I sense a growing feeling of compassion toward him.
We talked for several more minutes and then he turned and said “thanks, thanks for listening” and walked away to take care of the small fire that he was about to start nearby.
I looked at that scenery that I wanted to take a picture of. It was gone. The lighting was already too dark for me. I missed the opportunity for a great picture.
But I was thankful to be able to stand and affirm an old man’s grieving heart over the loss of his wife of 25 years.
You will see your wife again, Manfred.
She is now safe in the arms of our Loving Father in Heaven.
Even without the accompanying picture to see the sight you wanted to capture but your words are enough to see God’s beautiful creation. Lucky for the German guy that you’re there to listen to his heartaches. Maybe he just wanted someone to listen to him and you’re an angel sent to him at that moment. Continue to be an angel in disguise Rex. We’re proud of you friend.
PI – thanks for the encouragement. Take care.