Botoy

The entire team was too large to take to one village so we split into two. The team that went to the village of Botoy was myself( Kerry), Maia, Dusty, Emi, Tiara, and Lilet, our leader. Botoy is located at the top of mountain, a 5000' climb. The first third of the hike was steep but after that it became a gradual uphill. This is the rainy season so it wouldn't be a hike without a little mud, just enough to keep it interesting! We were the second team ever to visit Botoy and the first foreign team. It would be 5 days of a lot of firsts! Our objective was to build relationships in the village.

We stayed at the Datu's (chief's) hut and it was the largest and nicest hut I've seen in the mountains! It is on top of the ridge line overlooking the village below. It was a great location: great view, nice breezes. He didn't stay with us, instead preferring to stay at his hut by his fields. He was to come on the day we arrived but it was Monday afternoon before he ever arrived. I was beginning to think we'd have to go to his field if we wanted to meet him! He had given his permission for the people to have a church service but he had made it clear in the past that he wasn't interested in a church. Our job was to help change his mind.

When we arrived, we met pastor Robert. He is the pastor in the next village and his heart is to plant a church in Botoy. We thought that they had been holding church services in Botoy before we had arrived only to find out that we would be a there for the very first church service ever on Sunday! On Saturday evening we hosted a fellowship outside the chief's hut. Dusty played and Emi, Tiara and myself sang with him. Then I shared the gospel. I didn't ask people to step forward or raise their hands, so I'm not sure if anyone accepted Christ but it seemed well received.

The church service on Sunday was held at the billiard hall. They didn't have a church but they had a pool hall! Our group sang again and Dusty preached his first sermon ever! It's always an adjustment to talk through an interpreter but Dusty did great. Pastor Robert asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ and at least 15 people did! It was an awesome first church service! Afterward, we were trying to get to know people. It's kid of hard when you don't speak the language! I've been picking up some words here but I'm learning Visian not the Matisalug tribal language. It's all confusing to me! Anyway, Tiara, our teammate from Manilla, was able to interpret for us. Emi was answering questions about herself and life in the US. At first I was taking videos of people & then letting them see it. Normally, this is a big hit with the kids. I barely got a few smiles this time. Most were very camera shy. Next Maia & I tried playing with bouncy balls with the kids. They don't bounce well on dirt so I was throwing them in the air. They'd catch them and throw them back. I only had two and Maia wanted more. I returned with about 8 more bouncy balls. I threw them all in the air at once and it was so funny to hear the squeals and see the chaos that ensued. We finally found something the kids enjoyed! We played it, and played it, and played it.

After lunch, Emi, Maia, and I taught them "stop, go," our culturally relevant version of red light, green light. We figured no one had ever seen one of those before! We also taught them "manok, manok, okonos" literally, chicken, chicken, rooster, aka, duck, duck, goose. We also didn't sit on the ground, it was too muddy. The kids never seemed to tire of that game! I, on the other hand, got a little tired of it after the 50th round! But, I enjoyed playing with the kids. Mostly the kids who would play with us were boys. There were only 2 girls who would play. The other half of the kids sat and watched us play. We had piqued their curiosity but not enough to get them to interact with us. Even the little girls shied away from Maia, which was surprising. In our previous two mountain trips, Maia was a celebrity with kids huddled around her just wanting to be with her.

Lilet had asked me at lunch on Sunday to invite the military to eat dinner with us. We had 15 army guys with us. I asked Lt. Pito, the man in charge, for all of them to join us. It's a good thing I'm white. It made him feel obligated to agree! The look on his face when I asked him was, "No, that's the last thing I want to do, I think I'd rather starve," but he just nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am." They all showed up! They don't speak conversational English well so they are uncomfortable talking with us. We let Tiara interpret for us! (I am surprised she didn't have a headache after all the interpreting.) After we ate, we had a mini battle of the bands between Dusty and one of the army guys. They would sing a song and then pass the guitar back. After Tiara told them they didn't have to sing religious songs, they relaxed a bit. Karaoke is popular in the Philippines and so they like to sing love songs. Dusty had to rack his brain to remember the chords & words of a few long songs. We wanted them to feel comfortable around us. He'd only come prepared with praise & worship type music but he pulled it off. He and Emi even sung a duet. Dusty shared the story of David & Goliath. Lilet explained that we never like to miss an opportunity to tell others about salvation. She explained salvation and all 15 men accepted Christ! God was definitely working in this village. I asked if I could get it in their language, how many would like a Bible, and they all wanted one! We haven't had a chance to shop for them yet but they all want a pocket Bible. I'd like to highlight some verses for them. (Let me know if you have suggestions, besides salvation, I was thinking of words of courage for when they're in battle.)

Monday morning we tried our hand at farming by helping to plant 70 fruit trees. It was a very steep mountain side that someone had to go ahead of us with a bolo (very large machete) and clear a path. The holes had already been dug and they were spaced about ten yards apart. A very long ten yards! It was very rugged terrain. Farming is not an easy life. We managed with only minor falls and no injuries. It just added more laughter to our trip, of which, their was plenty of it on this trip!

In the afternoon, we handed out toothbrushes to the adults, flip flops to the boys, and panties for the girls and small children. Sadly, the panties seemed to be the only clothing some of the small children had. We would later see them walking around in just their new panties. The funny thing about flip flops in the rainy season is that it's easier to walk without them! When going up or down a hill, most people took them off. Actually, if my feet were tougher, I think it would have been easier, too!

On Tuesday the most of the children went to school. They have school Tuesday, Wednesday, and a half day on Thursday. Odd schedule, but that's a story for another day. While they were away, Pastor Arnell and some others attempted to teach us the traditional tribal dance and to sing a song in Matigsalug. I thought they were just trying to entertain us for the afternoon, little did I know, I'd be performing it for the whole tribe! We had a final fellowship that night, celebrating our last night with a bonfire. Pastor Arnell and Norma performed the dance and than Dusty and I danced. (Emi says she doesn't dance and Tiara thought it should be 2 white people dancing. That left me by default, not by my dancing skill!) Amongst great cheering and laughter we danced. It started raining as we finished so we moved to the billiard hall. They asked us to dance again. We laughed a little harder, but danced again. Now if anyone is familiar with the Philippine culture, you would know what's coming. They have no qualms about putting you on the spot. They asked our group to perform something as our goodbye. Then they said that Kerry will be sharing something with them. Then they announced Dusty would like to say something. We had joked earlier with Dusty that if he had to preach, we'd give him five minutes notice. I didn't even get a five second notice! But, the point of our mission is to take advantage of every opportunity to share Christ. We performed & shared happily and more people accepted Christ. Praise the Lord! As we were finishing, they said someone had missed us dance. They asked us to dance for a third time. We complied. We laughed and they laughed. Laughter is a universal language, no interpreter needed! It had taken our entire trip but I felt we had finally connected. As we sang a goodbye song and shook hands, we received hugs and saw some tears shed. I looked at the kids, with most having a runny nose, a cough, some smelled, and I thought, these are the cutest kids! It was a sad goodbye.

On a lighter note, it had poured the entire time we were at the billiard hall. The datu's hut is at the top of the hill, following a very dirt packed path. A path that becomes a sliding board when wet. I attempted to carry my sleeping daughter up the hill, but, well, let's just say I would have been better off to do what the natives do: take off my flip flops! I ended up muddy but saved Maia. It only added yet another joke and more laughter to the trip! This was followed by a large spider sighting at the hut. The reaction to the spider by a fellow teammate almost caused Tiara and I to roll on the ground in laughter. Oh, team bonding at its best!

We left at 5:20 AM the next morning and quite a sight we were. We consisted of 15 military, 6 team members, people carrying our backpacks, two or 3 guys that took turns carrying Maia, and several teenage girls who had helped cook for us. They skipped school so they could walk us out of the mountain. That's how they say goodbye. We kept a great pace, thanks to our military escorts, and were out of the mountain in less than three hours. The last part of the hike was steep and slippery. A farmer had built a hand rail along his field to go up & down the trail. I knew we were in trouble if the natives needed a hand rail! Let's sum it up by saying that we ended up muddier than when we started with many more funny stories. We did earn the distinction as being the loudest group ever escorted by Lt. Pito, but he said, "at least they had fun."

I end this saga with a heavy heart. Pastor Robert, whose heart it is to see a church planted in Botoy, has just lost his second child. Six months ago after the first team left the mountains his 3 month old son died of complications from a heart defect. While we were in Botoy, they had taken his son to the hospital with malaria. He died 3 days later. Please pray for Pastor Robert, his wife Gem, and their remaining child, a 4 year old girl. Please pray for their protection from the enemy because it is a spiritual battle. Pray that satan will not win.