It looks like I picked a perfect time to take a little break from civilization and the internet, but I assure you guys I am fine. I actually took a vacation week this past week and was in Manila part time and then went to visit a few tribal areas in the mountains for the past couple of days. I can tell you that I was no where near the hostage situation in Manila, I wasn’t even on the same island. But please do pray for this country and the families of those that were involved.
On a different note, I have several blogs to catch up with today, but plenty to write about with my last few days in the mountains. First, I made a fun connection the other day when I showed up and met our driver. I knew this man from somewhere, but it took me a few minutes to make the connection. A couple of weeks ago, our first “minor, success story” was released from the jail and into the custody of both of his grandfathers. This man that would be our driver was one of those men. This minor has been spending pretty much every day with me for the past several weeks, so I was very excited to spend a few days with his grandfather.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect from his personality, but I knew Remi was a pastor to the tribal people so I was excited to hear his story. Pastor Remi doesn’t speak much english, but with the little he did know, he was cracking jokes and laughing the whole time. He had a great time introducing me to a true Filipino shower which involves a bar of soap, a natural spring, and a Filipino bathing suit (which every Filipino man has on at all times, just think about it…). I just had a blast hiking through the mountains with this man and laughing constantly.
Eventually, I was able to hear about his burden for the tribal people, a group of people that remains mostly untouched and unreached. With the help of a few other key players, Pastor Remi is setting up literacy centers all throughout the mountains to teach the children how to read and write. It was a great experience to walk up on one of the centers and hear the kids sounding out all the vowels, and even see most of the parents joining in. The plan is keep teaching literacy to these people and slowing introduce different teachings and eventually the Gospel. Most of these tribes can get a little violent with outside teachings and traditions, so they will have to tread lightly at least for these initial stages.
As far as this program goes, it is in extreme need. Most of the building are halfway built and the teachers work for nothing most of the time. The teachers will hike hours and spend 5 days of the week with the tribes. They were initially promised 1000 pesos a month (about $20), but due to a lack of funding, haven’t received a paycheck since June. However, because they believe in the program, all eight teachers have hung on and continue to do their job.
It was such a blessing to walk up to these children and shake their hands and hear them ask, “What’s your name?”. I’d give them my response and then pick them up for a huge hug. I can’t wait to visit again and hear the progress.
