A Weekend in Saclit

In the jeepney awaiting our departure

This weekend, Adriana and I accompanied our friend Pastor Steve to the village of Saclit.  Although a tropical storm had brought a lot of rain over the previous days, we were fortunate that the road was not blocked by landslides.

But travel is always an adventure.  Not long after leaving Bontoc, we had our first tire change - both front tires.  One tire was flat.  The tread was peeling off of the other.  But honestly, I was not so sure its replacement was much better.

The first tire

The replacement

Ooops

Tire change in the mountains

It was not long before we had to stop again and put the first tire back on.

You may have noticed the rocks on the right of the picture.  That is from a landslide.  All along the way, the road varies from 1 to 2 lanes due to interferences from rocks above or collapse of the road below.

Adriana of the Cordillera Mountains

The rest of the way, there was the additional noise from the tire as the tread peeled off.  But we made it - well mostly.  Bald tires work okay on flat, paved roads.  But the rain had made the road up the mountain to Saclit muddy.  Bald tires and a full load of people made it impossible for the jeepney to complete the trip to the top of the mountain.

She go no mo'

Adriana and I were both glad to walk the rest of the way.  The driver tried hard to make it, but a few times we slipped and slid to the edge of the road.  It's very steep and a long way down.  Besides, we had been riding for a couple of hours already.

Enough about travel.  Our purpose for the weekend was not to write about getting there, but about being there.

Entering the "City Gate"

Saclit is at the top of a mountain.  Once the road ends you still need to hike up the trail.  Some of it has stairs like you see above.  I found out this weekend that its location was chosen in large part due to the history of tribal wars.  The latest incident related to these wars was as recent as 2004.  The location of Saclit provides clear view of anyone who might be trying to attack.  This provided a very defensible location to farm and raise your family.

We stayed at the home of Alex and Megela and their family.  In the evening, people gathered at at their home for a Bible study.  Together we talked about what we can learn about people, about God, and about the relationship between the two from the story of Bartimaeus.  The discussion was good, but once again I was wishing I knew enough Ilocano to understand the conversation without a translator.  About 10:00 pm the conversation died down and we went to bed.

In the morning, as we prepared for church, the family went about their chores.  One of which is feeding the pigs.  In the picture below, 8 year old Amy is pounding the pig food in the corner of the house.  Behind her you can see the banana tree stalks which are chopped and added to the food garbage before being pounded in the wooden mortar and pestle.

Preparing pig food

After the pigs were fed, I had the opportunity to sit with the many children who had gathered at the house.  We listened to the recordings of the Read Aloud Bible Stories as we sat on the back porch.  Many people of all ages stopped to listen to a story or two as they were either on their way somewhere or came out of curiosity to see what was happening.  You can see in the picture that the houses are very close together, so all of the neighbors could hear what was going on.

When we finished the stories that were recorded in Ilocano, I read the remaining stories in English.  Some understood more than others, but we had to go through all of the stories a couple of times before they would let me leave to go to the church building.

Read Aloud Bible Stories

While Saturday was a hike UP, Sunday was a hike DOWN.  The home we stayed in is near the top of the village and the church is further down.  As we walked, Adriana and I drew a lot of attention since not many foreigners make it to Saclit.

Walking to church

The church service in Saclit does not have a specific starting time.  As people gather, Pastor Steve leads worship.  As people hear the the singing, they come to the church.  Eventually, it is decided that it is time to study God's Word.  Pastor Steve had some things on his heart that he wanted to share before inviting me to share.

Much like the Bible study the evening before, we read from the Bible and talked about what we can learn from the story.  This time we talked about Zaccheus.  In both settings, we also listened to the Read Aloud Bible Stories.  This was helpful to more than just the children who were there.  Many of the people in Saclit are illiterate and as such are oral learners.  Hearing the story as it is written in the Bible and hearing it repeated with the illustrations from the book makes it easier for them to retain.  When Pastor Steve and I were talking about it later, he expressed how much he appreciated the teachings and felt the way we presented these Bible stories will make it so that people will think about them when they are alone - working in the fields or lying in their beds at night.  Isn't that what we should all be doing with God's Word?

After the service ended, many people stayed at the church to talk.  Adriana and I were warmly welcomed and asked to come again.  The people emphasized how much they appreciated our coming and would like very much for our whole family to come.  People brought food for us to eat for lunch, although they were too shy to sit and eat with us.

We enjoyed their company so much that we were too late to catch the bus.  Since there is no vehicle that leaves from the top of the mountain in the afternoon, we needed to hike down to the highway to catch a ride.  Adriana was not feeling well much of the weekend and the rain made the shortcut too slippery and dangerous - it is shorter, but much steeper than the road.  Together, these made our trip down take longer - besides the fact that we left late.

We were able to catch a ride with an overloaded jeepney for part of the trip.  It was full of people from a nearby village who had been at the river all night.  A person from that place had drown when he was crossing the river and the storm surge swept him away.  All along the river there were people taking turns watching to recover the body.  We crowded in with them until they turned off the main road to return to their village.

After waiting a while along the road, another vehicle came along.  If you have never ridden in the mountains in the bed of a dump truck, the picture below gives you an idea of what it looks like.  It was a blessing that there was room for Adriana to ride in the front and that he took us all the way to Bontoc.

Hitchin' a ride

Pastor Steve and I rode in the back and were glad it was just a light rain.

Pastor Steve

Grace,
Tom