Dr. David Capes interviewed Dr. Federico Villanueva, regional commissioning editor for Langham Publishing and scholar care coordinator for current Langham Scholars in Asia. He teaches at the Asia Graduate School of Theology and Loyola School of Theology in Manila, Philippines, and is known for his focus on the church knowing the importance of lament as in the Psalms, Lamentations, and other areas of the Bible.

Dr. Villanueva grew up in the Philippines. He is married with two children.

He shared that lament comes from experiencing difficult situations and rises out of an intimate relationship and need for God. Without expressing lament, we risk losing our faith unless God steps in. The church needs both praises and laments / cries of the people. One should never become used to suffering in the world.

During life, we experience a cycle of three seasons: orientation - when life is generally good, disorientation - when experiencing a tragedy, and then new orientation - thanksgiving.

Listen to Dr. Federico Villanueva share his heart on how we are to bring our laments to God as prayers for help. There is room to be not-OK in our relationship with God. If we don’t express our lament to God and trusted others, we can stifle our growth and intimacy with God and others.