The Times They Are A-Changin’

It was June, 2005. Jan’s cancer had returned and we were hurriedly packing our belongings, almost certain that we would never have the privilege of coming back to the Philippines.

“Kids, there’s something I want ya’ll to see before we leave.” I poured the kids into the truck and drove the short distance to Jaro plaza. There on a busy corner near the police station was the Telegraph Office. I led the kids through a small door into the tiny office where the old station manager sat in a squeaky swivel chair behind a splintered wooden desk, tapping out morse-code messages (dot.dot.dash.dash.) on a worned black-metal telegraph machine.

The office was slated to permanently close in a few weeks. Telephone lines now connected most major towns. In other areas, cell phone towers had replaced the out-dated, even antiquated telegraph lines. But there were still a few remote outposts in the interior of our island that catered to old-timers who hadn’t quite figured out how to use a cell phone. However, budget cuts and progress now required the century old system to be retired.

Yesterday we talked with Sara and Hannah half a world away, and saw their beautiful faces on our computer via Skype. We are in the habit of spending hours on the computer each week enjoying free, instant, visual communication with folks around the world. This morning I woke up my computer and logged on to my yahoo home page. In front of me were displayed breaking world headline news, major U.S. news, and a local weather report. Other information was just a click away.

I couldn’t help but remember how it was 24 years ago when we came to the Philippines. E-mail was still being invented. The only usable telephones in our city were at the telegraph office. Calls had to be scheduled and links frequently broke, often concluding our conversations in mid-sentence. Costs were high so even our talks to loved ones had to be timed. Letters to the States took 2 weeks to cross the Pacific. Although brief but expensive telegrams could be sent in just a few days.

Local newspapers cared little for international news. By the time the international edition of Time Magazine reached our island, the news articles were already several days old. My only source of current news came from VOA. Most mornings at exactly 7 a.m., I carefully positioned the antenna of my little short-wave radio, then fiddled with the dial, passing all the squeaking and hissing noises until I heard the familiar patriotic musical introduction, “This is Voice of America!”

Yep, times have changed. But the spiritual needs of people haven’t. For all our technological advances, folks still have trouble communicating with God, the One they need to talk to the most. That’s why I’m here, to help people open those lines. The equipment needed hasn’t changed for 2,000 years. No threat of God’s office closing, or His Holy Spirit becoming outdated. God hasn’t changed. He’s ready to talk if we will just answer His call.