THE FILIPINOS: THE MODERN DAY WANDERING JEWS

DIASPORA- The dispersal of the Jews to various parts of the world after the states of Israel and Judah ceased to exist. The advent of this disappearance of the old Israel from the world map was after the death of Jesus Christ and started with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and culminated with the Fall of Masada, the last bastion of Jewish resistance against the great Roman siege. Thus, the world saw the phenomena of wandering Jews almost everywhere in the civilized world where eventually, millions of them were incarcerated, tortured and gassed to death by Hitler and his Nazi henchmen. After the Second World War, and by a decree of the United Nations, the modern day Israel was created in 1947 in the territories now being contested by the Palestinians. And millions of dispersed Jews all over the world trekked back to modern day Israel to begin a new life of nationhood.

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The second diaspora which occured in the modern times involved overseas Chinese. Many Chinese nationals fled mainland China during and after the great civil war between the Communist Reds of Chairman Mao Tse Tung (Mao Ze Dung) and the Kuomintang Party led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek (pardon me if my spelling is wrong). The remnant of the Kuomintang Party, which was supported by the United States of America, fled to Formosa which is now called Taiwan. Thus, we have now witnessed the phenomena of Little China Towns sprouting all over the world and which have blessed us with their distinctive ethnic culture and traditions. Thanks to them, almost all countries in the world have their own celebrations of Chinese New Years with firecrackers, dragon, lion and tiger dances, the Lunar Calendar with their twelve animal signs, fortune cookies, imposing Pagodas and Buddhist Temples, great Chinese delicacies including the mouth watering and ever present Chinese noodles, and so much more. Now the Sleeping Dragon has emerged and is now a world power.


THE FILIPINOS: THE MODERN DAY WANDERING JEWS


And now we see yet another phenomena of a race migrating and working overseas by the millions into almost every part of the world- the Filipinos. After the 2nd World War, the Philippines stood as the most advanced and prosperous country in Asia. Yes, she was ravaged too by the great war in Asia and the world like everybody else, but since the Philippines was still under the colonial rule of the United States of America, she stood head and shoulders above the other impoverished nations of Asia. Japan suffered the ignominy of a crushing defeat and was reduced to a mentored nation by the Americans. They started from scratch on the road to democracy and a severely reduced monarchy. China, as we mentioned above, was on the verge of civil war. The Koreas were struggling to become a nation and were also on the threshold on its own civil war- a would be product of an emerging Cold War. Hongkong was a British Protectorate, so was Malaysia and Singapore. India was a British colony and was also at the threshold of its own fatricidal split as two nations- India and Pakistan. Thailand was a secluded monarchy trying to emerge from its cocoon. Indonesia was under Dutch rule and Vietnam was under French rule. Of all the nations in Asia (except for Thailand which was never colonized), the Philippines was the first nation to gain its independence on July 4, 1946. Massive financial, logistical and foreign aids were poured by the United States to the infant republic. Japan paid reparations to the Philippines. Despite sporadic cases of graft and corruption and the passions of Filipinos for political gimmickries and the quest for individual glories instead of national glory,
the Philippines stood second to Japan in the 1960s.

All these changed on September of 1972 when the then president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, declared martial law and seized assets of big corporations and muzzled individual freedoms, including freedom of the press and peaceable assembly. He jailed his political opponents, his critics, even demonstrating religious nuns and priests, communist dissidents and everybody else who dared to oppose him. At the outset, he seemed to have hit the right formula by disciplining the citizenry and streamlining government bureaucracy. But absolute power took its toll and the Philippines was reduced into a state of a virtual banana republic where power and wealth were shared by few trusted henchmen.

Thus the world witnessed the birth of the Filipino migrant workers. After the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, anarchy reigned in the streets. There was massive capital
flight, industries fell by the wayside and the Filipinos lost its collective soul. Millions worked overseas as domestic helpers, entertainers, hired laborers, and what have you. Thousands fell victims to unscrupulous illegal recruiters, who swindled them of hard earned, even borrowed money from usurers and loan sharks, only to be left holding an empty bag and no gainful employment. Thousands also fell victims to degradable working conditions and forced slavery from soulless employers and gang members (such as the Yakuza in Japan) where female migrant workers were either bodily tortured and maltreated or raped and forced to work as prostitutes. The tales of deprivations are endless. There were those, however, who found gainful employment and the proverbial greener pastures in other countries, usually the developed ones. They became the doctors, nurses, engineers, caregivers, teachers, office workers, etc. that became a very dependable work force of their adopted countries. Most of them became total immigrants and attained citizenships of their host countries and sad to say, some even renounced their social and ethnic identities as Filipinos.

A modern day Christian prophetess by the name of Cindy Jacobs once prophesied that the Philippines will become the modern day center of Gospel evangelism to the world and that it was divine providence that millions of Filipinos are now all over the world. These modern day wandering Jews are scattered throughout almost all the nations of the world to bring the Good News of salvation to unredeemed humanity. But before this prophecy can unfold, they must first be evangelized themselves and brought to personal salvation, by first accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and by confessing their sins to Him, and letting His most precious blood wash away all their sins and iniquities. Then and only then can they be born again and be assured of salvation and eternal lives for themselves. Then, they can now become the modern day evangelists, spreading the Good News of Salvation and eternal life and destroying once and for all the BIG LIE of the devil that man is beyond redemption and he is his own master and lord of his soul. THE LORD JESUS SAID, "COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." (Matthew 11: 28)