God has purpose for OFWs, asserts top-selling author

DIASPORA - DIASPORA

July 25, 2006
Updated 12:29:12 (Mla time)
Blanche Rivera
Inquirer

THEY MIGHT be trapped in back-breaking work and caught up in the middle of turmoil abroad, but overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are at the center of God’s purpose for the Philippines, according to the author of the bestseller “The Purpose Driven Life.”

Rick Warren, who arrived in Manila on July 23 for the Philippine launch of the Global PEACE Plan, hailed OFWs as the modern “Josephs” who have been placed in strategic places to provide blessings for their families and the people of other countries.

“I don’t know a people so spread out all over the world as Filipinos,” Warren said in a press conference yesterday.

The biblical Joseph, son of Jacob, was sold as a slave to the home of the Egyptian pharaoh. Through diligence and faith, he was able to work his way up to become the most trusted and important leader of Egypt who was used by God to save his family and Israel from famine.

Like missionaries

“God has placed overseas Filipino workers in the homes of the most influential people in the world. They are like missionaries. God wants to use you to bless other nations,” Warren said.

Warren recounted the story of a Filipino baker who had been working for the leader of an Islamic nation for 13 years. The king, whom Warren did not name, came to the baker and offered to double his salary if he converted to Islam.

The Filipino declined, however, saying he already had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The king asked him why he was serving the Muslim leader so well, and the OFW answered: “Because of my love for the Lord. Jesus tells me to love my neighbor as myself, so I do, and I do everything with excellence.”

Despite being turned down, the king still doubled the baker’s salary.

Christ’s love

“That baker did what I in my capacity as a pastor cannot do officially, which is to speak about Christ’s love to a Muslim king,” Warren said.

“The message of God for the Philippines is not just for this country but for the world. When God touches this country, He’s also touching the whole world,” he said.

Government records show that the number of overseas employment contracts processed for land and sea-based OFWs last year reached 981,337, or an average of 2,711 contracts every day.

Warren and his wife Kay are in Manila for a two-day National Purpose-Driven Congress that will launch the Global PEACE Plan that, according to him, is a grassroots movement aimed at addressing spiritual emptiness, corruption, poverty, disease and illiteracy.

It was the first time Warren had been back to the Philippines since his book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” was released. The book, named by Publisher’s Weekly as the bestselling hardbound book in American history, has sold at least 25 million copies worldwide.

“I love this country. When I came back, I felt like I was coming home,” said Warren, who has been described by Time magazine as one of 15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004 and one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2005.

The Philippines’s year

“The fourth reason I am here is because I believe God wants to do a spiritual national transformation in the great nation of the Philippines, and I believe it could start this year,” he said.

The Purpose Driven network, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries, has trained more than 400,000 ministers and priests. Warren’s California-based Saddleback Church has more than 300 community outreach people touching base with prisoners, persons with HIV/AIDS, single parents, businessmen, addicts and homeless people.

“There’s more to life than work and success. Meaning does not come through possession or position or prosperity or power or prestige. It comes through purpose. And the more we know our purpose in life, the more fulfilled, the more meaningful life becomes,” Warren said.

Among the Warrens’ welcomers were showbiz celebrities Gary and Angeli Valenciano, Jericho Rosales, Jamie Rivera, as well as government and Church leaders.

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