Am-Among 2008 Festivities

Wednesday the Am-Among Festival began here in Bontoc and will continue through the 16th. Am-Among means "gathering." The scope of the festival is a gathering of all of the municipalities that make up Bontoc. There will be games, seminars, dancing, parades, and vendors. (I doubt I will find an elephant ear or corn dog, though.)

We are looking forward to learning more about the culture of the people we now live among. We really enjoy seeing the dances and hearing the traditional music. But it was disturbing to read the first official activity listed in the program was,

7:00-8:00 - Butchering of the Sacrificial Chicken-c/o Francis Pel-ey

Not exactly what you might expect to find at the county fair at home. This is just another reminder of how much the people need to know Jesus. We hear more about the animistic and spiritist practices of the people here on a regular basis. Just yesterday in our staff meeting we learned of a man in the village of Can-eo that had sold his fields and his inheritance so he could purchase a pig to butcher as an offering in an effort to attain physical healing. When that didn't work, he was left with nothing.