Aeta Adventure
December 4, 2007
Well, I have quite the tale to tell. I do want to start off by thanking you all for your prayers. For those of you who received my email Monday or Tuesday and read my extra note about praying for our team as we ministered to the Aeta people, know and rest assured God answered your prayers. The ministry went very well. We were on our way up in the mountains, around winding hills, lush green landscape, and some high cliffs. All around us God’s creation testified to His power and majesty. I felt literally in His presence. We traveled by Jeepney and could actually drive to one Aeta village. From that village we would hike for 2 hours to another new settlement and start our work on a church. On the way to the first location we learned that there was, “trouble” in that village, and we wouldn’t be able to go there. We would be ministering to the first village we would come to.
We drove up to the village, and several small children greeted us. You would think that you were in Africa because of the way they look. They are black, with black curly hair, more like African’s than native philippino’s. (they would be like out Native Americans….first to inhabit the Philippines.) They were very poor. None of them had on shoes, and the crusted dirt on their bodies and hair testified that they did not bathe often. All children under the age of 4 didn’t wear pants or underwear, and would sit anywhere, in the dirt, on vines, or on concrete like this. All the children were in awe that foreigners or even Philippinos would be visiting their home.
We all piled out, and learned that the men would be going to the other village, that the “trouble” was more family feuds than rebel NPA, which was our main concern, but that it was wise that us ladies, would stay in this village, and do a ladies ministry, and our planned kids ministry. We hadn’t planned at all on doing a ladies ministry, but I immediately thought of 2 Timothy 4:2 that says to be ready, in and out of season, to be ready to preach His word. I was ready. So 15 minutes after we arrived, the men folk were off, and it was me, my two roommates, Lai and Liezl, and our friend Dale. I was to teach, and Liezl was to translate. I shared out of Matthew 11:28-29, where Jesus calls all to him who are weary and heavy laden, and He shall give you rest. We also went around and introduced ourselves, and said a little about each other. Many of the ladies had 5 or six children, one with 8! And throughout the teaching, the mothers were openly nursing their children, and twice, did two toddlers relieve themselves inside the concrete church. I must say that is something that has never happened during one of my teachings before! At the end of the small study, we opened it up to prayer requests, and the ladies were very forthcoming. At the end, we has about 15 ladies! How wonderful.
A few hours later, after lunch and preparations, we had our kids ministry. We played many worship songs, all of which the kids didn’t know, but they loved the fast beats and crazy hand movements. Oh and by the way, not one of the kids or adults understood English, this is much different than in my San Fernando and my neighborhood, where everyone pretty much speaks English. Liezl taught about Noah and the ark, and I had put together the craft, or animal masks. The kids were so excited to get to do something fun! They are very, very poor, and fun sometimes comes at a cost, so having paper and crayons was a very new experience. They reassured their masks, which were faces of rabbits, bears, or pigs. The pigs was the resounding favorite. We finished up with a good 45 minutes of more worship songs!
By this time the men arrived back, tired and sore. They has gone into the jungle, and cut down trees with hand saws and machetes and then carried them over more rugged mountain terrain to the building spot. They were so worn out. As the time went on, we all washed up, put on our sweaters and pants, because it was getting cold!
We ate dinner, in a common traditional Philippino fashion, eating on banana leaves. Lots of rice is simply scooped out on the leaves, then we had brought canned food, and dumped whatever was our food of choice over our lump of rice. Then you squish it together in one hang and kind of shovel it in. That part was a little too rustic for me, I did use a spoon most of the time!
Later, after dinner, I enjoyed fellowshipping with our group. You see this trip was just as much about serving the Aeta’s as it was about bonding with our own team. I sat with Pastor Anthony , P. Dan, and Jesse, and we easily conversed in English. It always amazes me now when I can have a complete conversation with someone and not worry about if they are completely getting the idea, or waiting for them to reply with struggling with some words. We fellowshipped until it was time for a special service, where our youth pastor would be sharing. Little did I know that their church services are more like America’s Christmas programs. All the songs are at least 20 minutes long, then they have the youth sing, then the small kids, then the women, and then more everybody singing. So about an hour of worship later, John taught, and did wonderfully. He speaks their language, and do I sort of could keep up! Then more worship and a prayer that was of course, accompanied by song! By the end of the program, we were all tired. We slept, very coldly, inside the church.
We woke and saw that it was drizzling. It must have been about 5:30am. It was a mad dash to the Jeepney, so that we could make it off the mountain while it was dry. If it would have begun to really rain, we could have been stuck up there for another night. So we loaded in, and were off.
The ride seemed easy enough, it was much easier going downhill than up, perhaps too easy. Our driver was not experienced in mountain driving, and with a heavy steel Jeepney, and 16 people sitting in the back, it makes for a heavy vehicle. I noticed the landscape looking a little blurry, and it seemed Pastor Dan and Anthony did as well. They yelled to the driver to slow down. He did, almost mockingly so, because we were crawling, so we said had to do some adjusting on that! So we got talking again, and perhaps 10 minutes went by, then I noticed again that the landscape was really blurry, and you could feel how fast we were going. I felt scared. I no more than recognized that feeling, and so did everyone else, when things went terribly wrong.
We rounded a slight left turn, and we were flying, the Jeepney began to shift right, then the driver tried to over correct, and we all went left. (Now the back is like two long benches, with 8 on each bench facing each other with an aisle in the middle, The there are no seatbelts, and the only exit in the back is a back door with of course, no door. Our aisle was filled with camping backpacks, tools and some equipment. Above is a railing on each side, sort of like a subway where you can reach up and steady yourself or hold on. ) I was holding on for dear life as we has shifted left, I let out a stifled scream. The driver then overcorrected his overcorrect, and the Jeepney shifted again to the right, this time with more momentum. I could feel it start rolling. It seemed like all time was suspended. I didn’t know what to think, I don’t know if I was thinking. My eyes had been open during the time on the road, and then I remember thinking, I just know we are going to roll. I had no idea where we were or what the terrain was. I only could imagine what I has seen on our tip up there. Big hills stretching out, covered in a blanket of palms, or steep cliffs looking straight down to steep ravines. I just thought, “I have no choice but to ride this out”. I cried out the only thing I could as I shut my eyes, and held on, going over backwards, “Jesus!”. I thought for sure we would roll over and over, but we only rolled once, and while I was expecting a hard landing, it seemed like someone was cradling us in protective arms. It could have been the slow motion part of this whole ordeal, but I am really not quiet sure.
We were upside down somewhere, and I felt completely out of it, I thought my eyes were open, but nothing but blackness met me. I heard Pastor Anthony yelling saying not to panick, and Lai next to me saying the same thing. Thought it sounds like something that would be inevitable, non of us were really panicking. I heard Liezl crying hard and almost screaming, and then some more noise. Still blackness. I thought I was knocked out, but I hard Pastor Anthony yelling my name, and then Lai next to me yelling my name, then light. A black luggage bag had fallen over me, and I didn’t know it! Haha, I wasn’t blacked out, just covered! I answered back, I felt fine, but I still couldn’t move, and Jesse and Pastor Dan were trying to get everyone out. At least, everyone who was sitting across from out side of the Jeepney, Pastor Anthony, Lai, myself and Edmond were practically sitting on our heads, and had to wait as people climbed over us out into the jungle. Finally we dug ourselves out, and I climbed out with all my strength only to be overcome with wobbly knees and shock once out. I was white as a ghost. I couldn’t believe what just happened.
Was everyone alright? I think so. No one was bleeding, not even a scratch. Then I heard yelling, and saw Anthony run to the front of the Jeepney, it was Alfie! His leg was pinned under the Jeepney, he has been sitting next to the driver in the front seat. Jon was also stuck in the Jeepney, but was trying to help with Alfie. We were all in shock. People had begun to arrive and Pastor Roldan who was following us has seen the whole thing, and was immediately there to help us get out of the unstable jeep. It has ended up rolling into some banana trees, which are hollow, and have a lot of give, so that was the cushioning I felt when we crashed. Also, Alfie’s leg was caught in between the heavy steel Jeepney and a banana trunk. This was the worst thing imaginable in a third world country. I knew no fire trucks, no police, no ambulances were coming, it was up to us to rescue Alfie! Thank the Lord for Pastor Dan.
I remembered that he was an engineer, and that he would know how and where to apply weight and power to the Jeepney to try and lift it off Alfie. Unfortunately, the way it has tipped all the weight was against us, and it wouldn’t budge, not with 20 of us lifting. Pastor Dan from the outside, and Jon from the inside started cutting with a hunting knife, the banana trunk away. At one point it relieved a lot of the pressure on his leg, but he was still pinned. (the inside of the trees are hollow, and if by digging out the heart of the banana tree, they were trying to create a sheaf of sorts to slide his leg out from under the jeep.) They took turns cutting away, but it became clear we needed to get something to lift the Jeepney I was just praying and praying, watching and praying.
I was so scared for Alfie. I love everyone here so much, and not knowing the extent of the injury was almost too much for me, but we continued to do the most powerful thing, pray. Not too much later, Pastor Roldan from the Aeta’s had gone for a tow truck, equipped with a wench, after much yelling and direction, Pastor Dan was able to secure the wench to just the right place, to life up the front of the Jeepney. It has to go slow, because at that angle, moving too fast, or creating back pressure could cause the jeep so slide. There, it was done, they pulled Alfie loose!
I saw Anthony carry him up on his back, and set him down right in front of me. No blood, it skin wasn’t open, but it could still be broken. Alfie said he was fine, but we weren’t taking his word on that, we needed x-rays, we loaded him in a man’s jeep, and he and John went to the hospital. We all gathered around, and waited while still in a little state of shock for our ride to come.
Pastor Anthony encouraged us. We couldn’t let the enemy rob us of our joy. We were fine, and Alfie was alive, and God was in control. I knew this, but it was nice to hear it out loud, During the whole time my adrenaline was powerful, but the peace in my heart was overwhelming. I was worried, but knew who was in control. We all hugged each other, and everyone was asking everyone if we were ok. Besides some missing shoes, and Pastor Anthony’s glasses, we were fine! Our new Jeepney arrived, (I wasn’t so stoked on riding in another one so soon, but this one was newer, and our driver experienced), and we made our way to the hospital. We arrived, and Alfie walks out! Not one broken bone, not even one hairline fracture, just two lovely big bruises! If that isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is!
On the way home, we just thanked God, and actually sang the worship song, “How Great is our God”. That couldn’t be more true! I know God was watching over us, and that He is working already through this situation. It certainly woke me up. I just saw Satan’s plan to totally take out the entirety of this church’s leadership and staff, but no, God has the victory, it was assured for us at the cross, and Jesus was there today, even before I cried his name in the accident.
We haven’t lost our joy, I haven’t lost mine. If anything my faith has grown because the circumstances today only confirmed that God has a great plan for this fellowship and the ministry here, as well as everyone that was able to walk away from an easily fatal crash.
Thank you all for your prayers. God heard them and answered them. Continue to pray as God uses this to reach out and awaken hearts.
Well, I have quite the tale to tell. I do want to start off by thanking you all for your prayers. For those of you who received my email Monday or Tuesday and read my extra note about praying for our team as we ministered to the Aeta people, know and rest assured God answered your prayers. The ministry went very well. We were on our way up in the mountains, around winding hills, lush green landscape, and some high cliffs. All around us God’s creation testified to His power and majesty. I felt literally in His presence. We traveled by Jeepney and could actually drive to one Aeta village. From that village we would hike for 2 hours to another new settlement and start our work on a church. On the way to the first location we learned that there was, “trouble” in that village, and we wouldn’t be able to go there. We would be ministering to the first village we would come to.
We drove up to the village, and several small children greeted us. You would think that you were in Africa because of the way they look. They are black, with black curly hair, more like African’s than native philippino’s. (they would be like out Native Americans….first to inhabit the Philippines.) They were very poor. None of them had on shoes, and the crusted dirt on their bodies and hair testified that they did not bathe often. All children under the age of 4 didn’t wear pants or underwear, and would sit anywhere, in the dirt, on vines, or on concrete like this. All the children were in awe that foreigners or even Philippinos would be visiting their home.
We all piled out, and learned that the men would be going to the other village, that the “trouble” was more family feuds than rebel NPA, which was our main concern, but that it was wise that us ladies, would stay in this village, and do a ladies ministry, and our planned kids ministry. We hadn’t planned at all on doing a ladies ministry, but I immediately thought of 2 Timothy 4:2 that says to be ready, in and out of season, to be ready to preach His word. I was ready. So 15 minutes after we arrived, the men folk were off, and it was me, my two roommates, Lai and Liezl, and our friend Dale. I was to teach, and Liezl was to translate. I shared out of Matthew 11:28-29, where Jesus calls all to him who are weary and heavy laden, and He shall give you rest. We also went around and introduced ourselves, and said a little about each other. Many of the ladies had 5 or six children, one with 8! And throughout the teaching, the mothers were openly nursing their children, and twice, did two toddlers relieve themselves inside the concrete church. I must say that is something that has never happened during one of my teachings before! At the end of the small study, we opened it up to prayer requests, and the ladies were very forthcoming. At the end, we has about 15 ladies! How wonderful.
A few hours later, after lunch and preparations, we had our kids ministry. We played many worship songs, all of which the kids didn’t know, but they loved the fast beats and crazy hand movements. Oh and by the way, not one of the kids or adults understood English, this is much different than in my San Fernando and my neighborhood, where everyone pretty much speaks English. Liezl taught about Noah and the ark, and I had put together the craft, or animal masks. The kids were so excited to get to do something fun! They are very, very poor, and fun sometimes comes at a cost, so having paper and crayons was a very new experience. They reassured their masks, which were faces of rabbits, bears, or pigs. The pigs was the resounding favorite. We finished up with a good 45 minutes of more worship songs!
By this time the men arrived back, tired and sore. They has gone into the jungle, and cut down trees with hand saws and machetes and then carried them over more rugged mountain terrain to the building spot. They were so worn out. As the time went on, we all washed up, put on our sweaters and pants, because it was getting cold!
We ate dinner, in a common traditional Philippino fashion, eating on banana leaves. Lots of rice is simply scooped out on the leaves, then we had brought canned food, and dumped whatever was our food of choice over our lump of rice. Then you squish it together in one hang and kind of shovel it in. That part was a little too rustic for me, I did use a spoon most of the time!
Later, after dinner, I enjoyed fellowshipping with our group. You see this trip was just as much about serving the Aeta’s as it was about bonding with our own team. I sat with Pastor Anthony , P. Dan, and Jesse, and we easily conversed in English. It always amazes me now when I can have a complete conversation with someone and not worry about if they are completely getting the idea, or waiting for them to reply with struggling with some words. We fellowshipped until it was time for a special service, where our youth pastor would be sharing. Little did I know that their church services are more like America’s Christmas programs. All the songs are at least 20 minutes long, then they have the youth sing, then the small kids, then the women, and then more everybody singing. So about an hour of worship later, John taught, and did wonderfully. He speaks their language, and do I sort of could keep up! Then more worship and a prayer that was of course, accompanied by song! By the end of the program, we were all tired. We slept, very coldly, inside the church.
We woke and saw that it was drizzling. It must have been about 5:30am. It was a mad dash to the Jeepney, so that we could make it off the mountain while it was dry. If it would have begun to really rain, we could have been stuck up there for another night. So we loaded in, and were off.
The ride seemed easy enough, it was much easier going downhill than up, perhaps too easy. Our driver was not experienced in mountain driving, and with a heavy steel Jeepney, and 16 people sitting in the back, it makes for a heavy vehicle. I noticed the landscape looking a little blurry, and it seemed Pastor Dan and Anthony did as well. They yelled to the driver to slow down. He did, almost mockingly so, because we were crawling, so we said had to do some adjusting on that! So we got talking again, and perhaps 10 minutes went by, then I noticed again that the landscape was really blurry, and you could feel how fast we were going. I felt scared. I no more than recognized that feeling, and so did everyone else, when things went terribly wrong.
We rounded a slight left turn, and we were flying, the Jeepney began to shift right, then the driver tried to over correct, and we all went left. (Now the back is like two long benches, with 8 on each bench facing each other with an aisle in the middle, The there are no seatbelts, and the only exit in the back is a back door with of course, no door. Our aisle was filled with camping backpacks, tools and some equipment. Above is a railing on each side, sort of like a subway where you can reach up and steady yourself or hold on. ) I was holding on for dear life as we has shifted left, I let out a stifled scream. The driver then overcorrected his overcorrect, and the Jeepney shifted again to the right, this time with more momentum. I could feel it start rolling. It seemed like all time was suspended. I didn’t know what to think, I don’t know if I was thinking. My eyes had been open during the time on the road, and then I remember thinking, I just know we are going to roll. I had no idea where we were or what the terrain was. I only could imagine what I has seen on our tip up there. Big hills stretching out, covered in a blanket of palms, or steep cliffs looking straight down to steep ravines. I just thought, “I have no choice but to ride this out”. I cried out the only thing I could as I shut my eyes, and held on, going over backwards, “Jesus!”. I thought for sure we would roll over and over, but we only rolled once, and while I was expecting a hard landing, it seemed like someone was cradling us in protective arms. It could have been the slow motion part of this whole ordeal, but I am really not quiet sure.
We were upside down somewhere, and I felt completely out of it, I thought my eyes were open, but nothing but blackness met me. I heard Pastor Anthony yelling saying not to panick, and Lai next to me saying the same thing. Thought it sounds like something that would be inevitable, non of us were really panicking. I heard Liezl crying hard and almost screaming, and then some more noise. Still blackness. I thought I was knocked out, but I hard Pastor Anthony yelling my name, and then Lai next to me yelling my name, then light. A black luggage bag had fallen over me, and I didn’t know it! Haha, I wasn’t blacked out, just covered! I answered back, I felt fine, but I still couldn’t move, and Jesse and Pastor Dan were trying to get everyone out. At least, everyone who was sitting across from out side of the Jeepney, Pastor Anthony, Lai, myself and Edmond were practically sitting on our heads, and had to wait as people climbed over us out into the jungle. Finally we dug ourselves out, and I climbed out with all my strength only to be overcome with wobbly knees and shock once out. I was white as a ghost. I couldn’t believe what just happened.
Was everyone alright? I think so. No one was bleeding, not even a scratch. Then I heard yelling, and saw Anthony run to the front of the Jeepney, it was Alfie! His leg was pinned under the Jeepney, he has been sitting next to the driver in the front seat. Jon was also stuck in the Jeepney, but was trying to help with Alfie. We were all in shock. People had begun to arrive and Pastor Roldan who was following us has seen the whole thing, and was immediately there to help us get out of the unstable jeep. It has ended up rolling into some banana trees, which are hollow, and have a lot of give, so that was the cushioning I felt when we crashed. Also, Alfie’s leg was caught in between the heavy steel Jeepney and a banana trunk. This was the worst thing imaginable in a third world country. I knew no fire trucks, no police, no ambulances were coming, it was up to us to rescue Alfie! Thank the Lord for Pastor Dan.
I remembered that he was an engineer, and that he would know how and where to apply weight and power to the Jeepney to try and lift it off Alfie. Unfortunately, the way it has tipped all the weight was against us, and it wouldn’t budge, not with 20 of us lifting. Pastor Dan from the outside, and Jon from the inside started cutting with a hunting knife, the banana trunk away. At one point it relieved a lot of the pressure on his leg, but he was still pinned. (the inside of the trees are hollow, and if by digging out the heart of the banana tree, they were trying to create a sheaf of sorts to slide his leg out from under the jeep.) They took turns cutting away, but it became clear we needed to get something to lift the Jeepney I was just praying and praying, watching and praying.
I was so scared for Alfie. I love everyone here so much, and not knowing the extent of the injury was almost too much for me, but we continued to do the most powerful thing, pray. Not too much later, Pastor Roldan from the Aeta’s had gone for a tow truck, equipped with a wench, after much yelling and direction, Pastor Dan was able to secure the wench to just the right place, to life up the front of the Jeepney. It has to go slow, because at that angle, moving too fast, or creating back pressure could cause the jeep so slide. There, it was done, they pulled Alfie loose!
I saw Anthony carry him up on his back, and set him down right in front of me. No blood, it skin wasn’t open, but it could still be broken. Alfie said he was fine, but we weren’t taking his word on that, we needed x-rays, we loaded him in a man’s jeep, and he and John went to the hospital. We all gathered around, and waited while still in a little state of shock for our ride to come.
Pastor Anthony encouraged us. We couldn’t let the enemy rob us of our joy. We were fine, and Alfie was alive, and God was in control. I knew this, but it was nice to hear it out loud, During the whole time my adrenaline was powerful, but the peace in my heart was overwhelming. I was worried, but knew who was in control. We all hugged each other, and everyone was asking everyone if we were ok. Besides some missing shoes, and Pastor Anthony’s glasses, we were fine! Our new Jeepney arrived, (I wasn’t so stoked on riding in another one so soon, but this one was newer, and our driver experienced), and we made our way to the hospital. We arrived, and Alfie walks out! Not one broken bone, not even one hairline fracture, just two lovely big bruises! If that isn’t a miracle I don’t know what is!
On the way home, we just thanked God, and actually sang the worship song, “How Great is our God”. That couldn’t be more true! I know God was watching over us, and that He is working already through this situation. It certainly woke me up. I just saw Satan’s plan to totally take out the entirety of this church’s leadership and staff, but no, God has the victory, it was assured for us at the cross, and Jesus was there today, even before I cried his name in the accident.
We haven’t lost our joy, I haven’t lost mine. If anything my faith has grown because the circumstances today only confirmed that God has a great plan for this fellowship and the ministry here, as well as everyone that was able to walk away from an easily fatal crash.
Thank you all for your prayers. God heard them and answered them. Continue to pray as God uses this to reach out and awaken hearts.