United Methodist official visits Phillipines, decries killings there

From the United Methodist News Service:
The Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive of United Methodist Communications, was part of a denominational delegation on human rights that visited the Philippines Jan. 3-7 to investigate the killings of clergy, laity and human rights workers. Here is what Hollon wrote about the situation there:

MANILA - After hearing one story and then another of murder and mayhem, the mind shuts down. It can take in no more.

The stories are told with simplicity, and those telling them are disarmingly unassuming. A mother speaks of a son who wanted to make the world a better place; a spouse tells of a hard-working father whose "crime" was seeking better wages; a father recalls a daughter teaching poor women simple, legal rights under law; a sister tells of her brother clergyperson who taught people they are valuable in the embrace of God. Each has been gunned down in circumstances more than merely coincidental.

To read the rest of Hollon's reflection, visit his Weblog.