Category: My Journey

Witnessing in my Underwear


I normally get a massage about once a month at a place called Massage King. I spend a lot of time walking around with a backpack, sitting on concrete, and working out with weights so I consider this a good investment for my health.* For all my readers, let me assure you that this is a legitimate, very professional massage place (just don’t want anyone’s imagination to run wild).

I’m amazed at the strength that is in the hands of a 90 lb Filipina masseuse. They can really dig into the muscles. Sometimes I feel like I need to “tap out,” as if I were being submitted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. So far I’ve never had to stop a massage or tell her to take it easy. I know that the discomfort is therapeutic (necessary, actually), and my male ego compels me to hide any pain.

I had an interesting conversation during my last massage a couple of days ago. Olive (my masseuse this particular time) was convinced that I had gotten whiter since my last visit (is that possible?). Clients only wear a gown and a small pair of boxer shorts, so I basically felt like I was in my underwear (even though the boxers are worn over one’s own underwear). She could indeed see most of my skin, but of course, I wasn’t convinced that my skin color had changed. Ganitong kaputi ako dati (I was this white before), I insisted to her and others in the room. The conversation was light-hearted—typical of interactions with fun-loving Filipinos.

I’m still surprised at what people remember. Olive brought up topics from past conversations—things that I didn’t even remember telling her. At one point she asked if I was still teaching at seminary. I think I brought in a Christian History textbook back when I was teaching that subject. The gentleman on the table beside me eventually chimed in on the discussion (the massage rooms usually have two or three clients in at one time). He asked me a few questions about where I was from and what I was doing here.

I decided to give away a few gospel tracts to Olive before I left. I stood up and started looking through my bag. There I was, wearing the equivalent of a hospital gown and boxer shorts while looking for gospel tracks. I smiled to myself as I thought about this unusual opportunity to share the good news.

*You can learn more about how to lose fat and gain muscle at my fitness blog (strongandfit.net).

A Man with Two Homes

I have previously mentioned my status as a walking contradiction. Below is a journal entry that I wrote back in 2005 during a Christmas vacation to the States. I think about these types of things every time I visit here in the States:

Living in the Philippines has changed me—as if I am no longer fully American, but not Filipino either. I feel completely at ease in both places, but completely at home in neither. When I’m in the States I think about the relationships I have left on the other side of the globe. The same is true for my time spent in the Philippines. My emotional ties stretch across the globe, stretching me in the process.

I laugh at Filipinos when they use the word “cold,” and laugh at Americans when they use the word “traffic.”

I enjoy the ease at which I can drive down the country roads of my home town. I enjoy the ease at which I can make new friends in my beloved Philippines.

I do not understand how some Filipinos can buy a tiny packet of shampoo that has only one or two day’s use. I do not understand some Americans’ obsession with acquiring excess material wealth.

I am admirer, lover, and critic of both cultures. I am a man with two homes. It is both a blessing and a predicament.