Traveling Show

While we were on furlough in the US, friends answered a prayer of ours by providing the equipment we need to be able to take Gospel movies to the people to whom we minister.  The equipment is lightweight, portable, and battery powered.

This weekend I had the first opportunity to put it to use.  I traveled with Pastor Rudy to the village of Chapyosen to show the Jesus film.  In the picture below you can see the equipment that is lying at the turn-around in Can-eo which will bring electricity to Chapyosen in the months to come.  But as for now, it is a place without electricity.

Utility poles and cables staged to take electricity to Chapyosen

We drove from Bontoc to Can-eo which takes about 45 minutes when the road is good.  From Can-eo, the only way to Chapyosen is to hike down the valley along a narrow path.  (You can see more images or Chapyosen from other trips by clicking here.)  This time the trip was unique because it is the first time I made the hike after dark.  Thankfully, it did not rain as it has nearly everyday since our arrival in the country and we were able to make the trip in about an hour.

It was a moonless night, almost.  When we arrived in the village, several of the children were saying, "Look at the moon," or "See the moon."  It took me a minute to realize that there was no moon in the sky and that I was the only white thing out in the night.

Watching the movie; the projector and speakers are in the foreground.

We pushed aside the loom (the wooden frame in to the left of the screen), quickly set up the projector, and were soon watching the movie in the space below someone's house.  I counted more than 40 faces sitting in the darkness.  What was amazing was how quiet and still everyone was throughout the movie, especially the children.

Afterwards, Pastor Rudy and I shared how the events of the movie are true and give us hope of God's love and forgiveness.  Then it was time to hike back.  We were prepared to spend the night, but our guides wanted to get back to their families in Can-eo.

The next afternoon, Pastor Rudy had a meeting with the leadership of Can-eo Station Church.  He has been teaching the leadership about commitment and the purpose of the church.  By coincidence, I had a short video about the purpose of the church with me.  We showed that video in segments, translating and discussing the various ideas as we went along.  That was not a presentation we had planned on, but it was good to be able to help.

Church leadership meeting - there were more than shown in the picture

During the time for the Saturday night Bible study in Can-eo, we presented the Jesus movie to a group of 30 or so.

Just for fun, Sunday morning after service, we showed a video I had made about ice fishing and another about our ministry here which includes several scenes of Can-eo.  It was fun to hear people's excitement as they saw photos and video of them and their friends.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to bring the Gospel to people through various methods:  Bibles, Proclaimers, video, and teaching.  God's Word does not go out without effect.  Thank you to all who partner with us and make this possible.

Around Can-eo

It was a full day hiking to Chapyosen and back, but that was not the end of the day. When we made it back to Can-eo Station Church where we were staying, Bridget had fish cooking. Together with some rice, seyote, and the Rice Krispies treats we had brought, it was a tasty supper. After supper was a Bible study at the church.

Pastor Rudy asked if one of the girls would like to lead the Bible study for the evening. Adriana and Alexie coordinated a message and a dance that would compliment each other. Alexie presented the dance and then Adriana taught about God's power and loving presence in our lives.

Adriana teaching during Bible study at Can-eo Station Church

Pastor Rudy translating Adriana's illustration

After Bible study, several of the young ladies wanted to practice with Alexie so together they could all encourage the rest of the church in the morning.

Alexie teaching dance steps to the girls after Bible study

In the morning, I showed Pastor Rudy how to make a rocket stove.

Making a rocket stove with Pastor Rudy before church

While we were upstairs making the stove, Adriana, Alexie, Alayna, and Annalise were downstairs teaching Children's Church. The children listened as the girls read the translations of the Read Aloud Bible Stories and sang songs with them.

Reading stories

Singing songs

Weaving is a talent that the girls of Can-eo learn at a young age. So it was with much interest and skill that the children learned how to weave bracelets from our daughters. Throughout the day on Sunday, our girls were seemingly always teaching someone how to weave a certain pattern. It began as soon as Children's Church ended.

Adriana teaching bracelet weaving

During the service that followed, Alexie, Alayna, and the young ladies who had practiced the night before presented their dance for the congregation. They all did a great job, especially considering they had just began learning it late the night before.

Above All

I took advantage of the opportunity to use the Proclaimer in my teaching on Matthew 25. I enjoyed the interaction with the congregation as we discussed the stories Jesus told and their applications.

Thomas and Pastor Rudy following along as the Proclaimer recites Matthew 25

At the conclusion of the service, we introduced the rocket stove and invited everyone interested to join us at Honnak's house after lunch where we would install a solar bottle-light.

Explaining the rocket stove

After lunch we headed to Honnak's house to install a bottle-light. While I worked on that, more weaving lessons took place.

Karin Joy and Alayna talking weaving

Looking down from Honnak's yard

Preparing the bottle-light and teaching how to do so

I was glad to have Pastor Rudy and another man join me on the roof (no scary ladder this time). This way, I could guide them through the installation so they will be able to repeat it in the future.

Installing the light in Honnak's roof

Honnak is a widow whose grown son, Romeo, lives with her. Unfortunately, tragedy has been a part of their home in many ways so she bears the burden of providing for them both. I have visited her home and prayed for her and Romeo before, so it was a joy to be able to bring a little light to the cooking area of her small home.

Thomas and Honnak outside her door

A look around Honnak's house and a walk down to the river

From Honnak's house, we walked across the river to visit Ochawan in the sitio of Fankeg. We wanted to visit with her, pray for her, and Alayna was excited to give Ochawan a pair of slippers she had crocheted. It was good to hear that she is feeling better and is no longer fearful.

Ochawan was happy to meet our daughters. She was especially taken with Annalise, encouraging her to eat more camote so she would get brown skin. She said, "Even when you're all grown up, continue to come see me."

Alayna giving Ochawan her new slippers

More weaving - Jane and Alexie

The scheduled jeepney was not running this weekend, so we rode with Pastor Rudy to Can-eo and were planning to squeeze into his little truck with his family for the trip back to Bontoc. It was a tighter squeeze than we expected since three students also needed a ride back, making a total of 13 people. But the kids all chose to ride on the back and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

A truckload

A Light for Chapyosen

We spent much of Saturday in the village of Chapyosen.  In order to get there, we rode through the mountains to Can-eo and then hiked a little over an hour along the river to Chapyosen.

This washout is under the road to Can-eo

After arriving in Can-eo, we needed to pass through two sitios (neighborhoods, of sorts) before beginning the hike along the river to Chapyosen.

A typical house in the sitio of Favfey

Along the way we passed people going about their work. This young man was returning from gathering firewood; over his shoulder was a bundle of wood and strapped to his side was a machete.

A workingman

My last attempt to hike to Chapyosen was foiled by the typhoon and the active landslide that had wiped out the trail. The old trail is still blocked, but now that the slide is no longer active, a new footpath is being created by people packing the soil as they hike over the slide.

We are so proud of our girls. The hike was over an hour long in the sun. In many places, steep grades and loose soil made for tricky trekking and a few slips. Yet, there was never a complaint.

Hiking over the landslide

It was a beautiful day for a hike and the breeze helped to reduce the heat of the sun. Still, when we reached Chapyosen, we were a bit tired and thirsty. We had underestimated the amount of water the six of us would need. We chose to be thirsty until we made it back to Can-eo where we had clean water rather than risk introducing any friends to our intestines.

A well deserved break

Weekends have little meaning for farmers so most of the adults had gone out into their fields for the day. But the arrival of visitors, plus the excitement of our girls twisting animal balloons, brought the children to the house where we were resting. After a while, Alexie and Karin Joy, one of our guides, read and taught from the Read Aloud Bible Stories to the children and mothers that had gathered. They all asked to hear stories again.

Balloons and Bible stories

Karin Joy and Alexie

Alayna and a new friend

Everything can be a toy

Seeing the boy with the firewood and the children caring for their younger siblings in Chapyosen while their parents worked in the fields, reminded me of the difficulties of living in mountain villages. Later, the boy below was chopping wood for the rocket stove with his sister on his back. Lisa and I both noticed that when we were giving out balloons, none of the children asked for another. Neither did any of them cry when their balloon popped; often they would re-inflate what remained of the balloon.

A brother's love

After resting for a while, I introduced the rocket stove. They will be able to use the one we left for them as a pattern to make more.

The rocket stove boiling the camote treat we had later

Making sure the fire is still burning

Then we prepared a solar bottle-light.

Thomas and Alayna preparing the bottle-light for Espirita's house

Annalise smiling because she got Daddy's hat

Lhany smiling from the porch

The ladder I used to get on the roof was about as sturdy as other homemade ladders I have been on, but this one was a little shorter than I preferred. Had it sunk into the ground at all as I climbed, it would no longer have reached the fascia of the roof it was resting against - not fun! But everything worked out and the dark room below now has light.

Installing the bottle-light

A highlight for the girls was when Karin Joy took them to a waterfall nearby. It is really tall and they enjoyed the cooling mist it provided. Each of them is looking forward to the next time we go and hoping to be able to get soaked by the falling water.

The 4-As at the waterfall in Chapyosen

After a snack of camote, a native sweet potato, we hiked back to Can-eo. But that is an adventure for another post.

Grace,
Thomas

Can-eo - October 8 & 9

The original plan had been that everyone on the team, as well as our family would make the trip to Can-eo. But there were two problems with that:  people were sick and the road was not doing so well either. Many members of the team were still recovering from abdominal issues that kept them from participating in too much physical activity. At the same time, typhoons Pedring, Quiel, and Ramon were wreaking havoc with the mountain sides. The road to Can-eo was impassable to vehicles and the shortcut over the mountain was too steep and slippery for safe passage. This meant that only those who were feeling well would be making the hike. Since none of the children on the team were going, Lisa and the girls stayed to accompany the rest of the group to Sabangan on Sunday.

The traveling team with Pastor Rudy, Bridget, Jesse, and Nigel

We were able to hitch a ride to where the road to Can-eo turns from the main road. From there, we had to hike through the mud in a steady rain. Fortunately, everyone expected this and spirits were high as walked around and sometimes over the many landslides. Finally, we came to the road washout that will keep vehicles from making it all of the way to Can-eo for a while.

The road washout is in the photo on the lower right.

After making it to Can-eo Station Church, we rested for a while and had lunch. The next hike would be even more challenging. Most of our group planned to make the hike to Chapyosen. This is always a long hike and it was sure to be an adventure in the rain. It was!

In fact, there were several places along the way where landslides and washouts made using the trail impossible.

You can see in the picture above where the trail continues. What is no longer in the picture is the portion of the trail and the resting shelter that used to be next to the trail in this place. The rain and the river have washed them away.

The video above shows how we were forced off of the path by an active landslide which had completely covered it. At this point, we are walking on the slippery rocks between the rice fields. We could actually see Chapyosen in the distance, but did not feel it was safe to continue the journey. Instead, we prayed for the people there before beginning the hike back to the church, where we were staying.

On our return to the church, we stopped at a few houses to pray with people. At one house, we prayed for a young man Pastor Rudy and I have prayed for before, Romeo. He does not talk and often physically shuts himself away from others. When we visited, he lay on the floor with a blanket over his head and would not respond to anyone. His family has experienced several tragedies which have left his elderly mother alone to meet their needs.

Once we arrived at the church, everyone was ready for some rest and a chance to dry out. My waterproof hiking shoes did a good job for the first 40% of the trip. The gore-tex probably never failed, but after a while, the water running down my legs had soaked my socks such that every step was a squishy event. It felt good to take them off.

Leigh presented a teaching about Jonah that evening during the Saturday night Bible study. The rain made it so attendance was lower than usual. But it went well.

In the morning, Amy and Marie taught Children's Church. As you can see in the picture below, the kids had a great time.

Then of course, the team presented skits, testimonies, and the sermon during the morning service.

Can-eo Station Church with some of the YWAM Salem CDTS team

After lunch on Sunday, we were invited to visit Ochawan. None of us had met Ochawan before, not even Pastor Rudy or Bridget. We were told of her age and failing health. She was not known to be a Christian.

This bridge spans the river to the sitio in which Ochawan lives.

When we arrived, several ladies were already there waiting for us. Ochawan expressed how happy she was to have us visit her home as she sat on her porch covered with a blanket. The home was simple, like the rest of the homes in the village, but the porch had an incredible view of the valley and the mountains.

When we got there, Pastor Rudy began talking with her. She spoke no English, so besides his position as pastor in the community, it was only natural that he would be the one to talk to her. The rest of us lined up against the wall and listened and prayed as they talked. Pastor would give us a synopsis of the conversation as they went along.

Pastor Rudy and Ochawan

Nobody was sure how old Ochawan was, not even she knew when she was born. She did tell us that she remembered hiding in caves with her grandfather when Japanese planes made bombing runs in the area during World War II. She was a little girl then.

I was blessed to be a part of Ochawan's story of grace. One disappointment I have is that I never got a picture of her incredible smile.

Ochawan - a new child of the King

When we left Ochawan's home, we stopped by to pray again for Romeo. He was still curled up on the floor holding a blanket over himself. His mother wept as we prayed. Please continue to pray for them.

Then it was time to begin the hike back up the road to return to Bontoc. We were past the time that it would be easy to catch a jeepney when we got back to the main road. But the delay of meeting with Ochawan and praying for Romeo were definitely worthwhile. What a blessing it was to find that the landslides were cleared and within 100 meters of passing the washout, we saw a jeepney heading toward us. Of course, riding in any vehicle here comes with the high probability of needing to perform some sort of maintenance along the way. In this instance, a tire change.

10 minutes from Bontoc

Here's another blog post about our weekend in Can-eo, written by Amy, one of the team members. (http://amyrenee78.blogspot.com/2011/10/can-eo.html)

Sunday in Can-eo

Sunday morning at Can-eo Station Church began with Adriana, Alexie, Alayna, and Annalise leading children's church.  Again they used the translations of the Read Aloud Bible Stories.

Most of the time they used the recordings we have made of a native speaker reading the story.  Sometimes though, the girls read the translation themselves.

Alexie reading "Ti Bassi-Bassit Nga Tao" or "The Man Who Was Too Little".

After reading the story, the girls led the children in a song and taught them the motions that go along with the song.  At first there were only a few children who came.

As time passed, more came.  Some were too shy to enter and stood by the door.

As we have seen everywhere else, even adults enjoy hearing the stories.

Others that were too shy to come in stood at the windows.

After going through the stories once, the girls invited others to hold the book as the stories were played.  This helped other children to be less shy.

"Let me see!"

Wendy again signed a song for the congregation.  This time though, a couple of the ladies who worked so hard to learn the signs last night joined her in the presentation.

And again, our girls found babies to hold and to love on.

With Pastor Rudy's translation I presented an overview of the Bible then we listened to Matthew 27 & 28 using the Proclaimer.  The Proclaimers have been very helpful in both Can-eo and Chapyosen as people gather to study God's Word.

After service, we held our health clinic, testing blood pressure and blood sugar for all who were interested.

As we squeezed arms and poked fingers, Wendy gave lessons in sign language, and the girls twisted animal balloons for the children.

Concentration and expectation!

Grace,
Thomas