We're going to need an army

This week, Jan. 6 to 10, was "Prayer & Fasting Week" for several Evangelical Christian churches all over the Philippines.

- CITO BELTRAN

As I write this article, I have managed to attend the first two nights of prayer at Victory Estancia, but I must confess that my fasting has been hit or miss.

Last Monday, my wife Karen, who is from the Netherlands, was asked by our pastors to lead in prayer for the Netherlands and the establishment of Every Nation Church there. Part of her prayer expressed that despite being a rich developed nation, there are so many lonely people suffering in isolation.

It was a sobering reminder that wealthy people and nations can be "so full and yet so empty." People often use currency and comfort as metrics to measure prosperity of a country but the "Happiness Index" is rarely thrown in the mix.

Aside from the very high cost of living and housing, loneliness is a real concern, especially for the elderly. This why more and more foreigners are coming to the Philippines and parts of Asia. Here, we have family, we have community and we still celebrate every chance we get.

Filipinos aspire to migrate to Spain, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, etc. purely for economic reasons, but in the growing global anti-migration reality, more than half will end up returning poorer if not depressed and defeated.

In the meantime, we scoff or scratch our heads when foreign digital nomads talk about how great the Philippines is. We don't just take it for granted, we even cast doubts on their motives and think it's all click bait.