Lice and Mainit

The village of Bontoc.

Sunday morning Pastor John from Christ to the Orient Mission Church said he felt he had a word from the Lord for me. He said that he felt I was to return that evening and present the message for the youth group that meets at his church. When Ruth Ellen and I arrived that night Pastor John said his prayers were answered. Ruth Ellen and I both gave testimonies, as did a few others. Then I taught about living as the church of Christ. Juggling has become a regular part of my teaching in the Philippines and I again used it as an illustration for living as members of one body. Then we did a group exercise about unity and teamwork. I think it was very well received. One of the local YWAMers that was at the meeting said the teaching was very appropriate for the church.

The worship team at Christ of the Orient, me, Pastor John, and Ruth Ellen.
Monday morning I went with several other men from our group to the Philippine National Police barracks to encourage and pray for the officers during their morning meeting. We led them in a couple of team building exercises. They all seemed to enjoy the activities. The man who generally leads the Moral Recovery Program felt that the officers would be thinking about the teaching for quite a while. Our hope is that over the next two Monday mornings we can build on what we have presented and share more of the gospel with them. Today was a day off. We took a Jeepney to Mainit Hot Springs. The drive there was incredibly beautiful. This is land of scenic views and overlooks. The walk through the village was also very interesting. Peeking around many buildings were small children. They would giggle and sometimes say, “Hi!” But if you dared to approach, they would run away squealing. The pleasant fellowship of our team made up for the disappointment of the bathing area itself. On the return trip to Bontoc I rode on top of the Jeepney. It isn’t the most plush mode of travel, but the views are spectacular! It was a lot of fun.

On the way to the hot springs I had intended to ride on top of the Jeepney as well. However, I was busy addressing the latest health crisis: lice. This morning when I woke Alayna, I noticed that she had a number of small bites on her neck. Upon closer inspection we found that she had lice. Kevin and I made a quick trip into town to find an appropriate shampoo. Several stores and pharmacies later we were heading back so I could wash her hair before we left for Mainit. During the ride to Mainit, I picked dead lice and eggs from Alayna’s scalp. (This is not an easy thing to do while bouncing around the back of a Jeepney on dirt roads.) Later we found Adriana has it too. As a preventive, everybody in our family is washing with the special shampoo.

As we rushed through town though, we did take a short detour to find Pastor John’s bakery in the market. Sunday he had said that his specialty was American cinnamon rolls. We bought enough for our whole team and it only cost us 70 pesos (about $1.50). The rolls were delicious!
Pastor John became a believer while he was in jail. A YWAMer told him about God’s love. He later joined YWAM, serving in the kitchen. He is no longer serving in YWAM but is certainly serving in the Kingdom of God.
Tomorrow we will head to Caneo to serve the people there. Plans are still forming, but currently the focus will be construction of furnishings for the church and building relationships with the residents there. I have a personal mission to see if I can find the uncle of one of the students I met while we were in Baguio. I have a letter to deliver to him.

Note the writing in blue - "skin tax".

Kids in the village of Mainit.

Some of the scenery along the way.