Dumalugdog

We left on Friday to go to Dumalugdog. We left at 5 AM and traveled by van (a thirteen passenger van about the size of a mini van plus all of our bags, food supplies, our building supplies, and the other passengers baggage) for about two hours, followed by a 45 minute motorbike ride to Pagat, and then the 3.5 mile hike to Dumalugdog. It was a muddy trail, too muddy for Maia to ride a horse. Jackson decided he wanted to hike it. It was a very steep downhill hike, made harder by the muddy and slippery path. It eventually leveled off and we followed a river. We crossed the river 4 times. It was up to the top of my legs with a strong current. It made me nervous to be carrying a camera! We started at 9:30 and finished at 3:00 PM. To enter Dumalugdog you have to cross a bridge that looks like it should have been condemned years ago. It has wooden supports and a wooden walkway. The supports were half rotten and a lot of the wooden slats for the walkway were missing. I'm not exaggerating! We crossed one at a time because we weren't sure how much weight it could hold. I crossed with Jackson, there was no way I wanted him to go alone! It was a scary two minutes! There were spots we had to slide our feet along the cables because our legs weren't long enough to reach the next slat. You do a lot of praying in those two minutes and thankfully, God provided safety! Jackson hiked the whole thing and did an awesome job!

We stayed with Pastor Jun and his wife Linda. They have five children and live in a two bedroom hut. They gave up their bedrooms for the females on our team. The guys strung their hammocks next door in the church. (The church building looks like a pavilion.) We greatly enjoyed our bath in the river!

Our plans in Dumalugdog were to build a cabinet for their FLIC (Functional Literacy for Indigenous Children) school. We had brought all our supplies with us from Davao. From the village of Pagat, some were put on horses and some were hand carried. The cabinet supplies didn't make it until Saturday after lunch time. So, I went to plan B. I was the group leader for this trip. Plan B was fellowshipping with the pastor and his family. He also invited the tribal datus (chiefs) and the government datus. We all introduced ourselves and then divided into prayer groups. I had the opportunity to pray with Pastor Jun and another lady from the church. She was concerned with church unity because this is a busy time in the fields for everyone. Pastor June was concerned about getting nails to be able to do some repairs on the church and for the unsaved in the village. He thinks probable only half have come to a saving knowledge of Christ. He himself is a missionary. He and his family moved from another tribal village to Dumalugdog five years ago to reach the people there. Pray also for their acceptance into the community. At times their is a lot of jealousy and envy, particularly with his wife who teaches at the FLIC school.

One of the datu's arranged a dance for us. They have this neat percussion instrument. It is a log suspended horizontally. Six people have sticks and they rhythmically beat it. There's at least three different rhythms going at once. It has an awesome sound. While they played, an older man performed a traditional war dance. Then they were doing some other dances for us. We got chances to do both. The instrument playing is a lot harder than it looks! Well, the dancing isn't that easy, either! It was a great morning. So, although we go with a purpose to build a cabinet, it's more important to build relationships.

After they showed us their talents, we showed them ours. How to play four square! The men joined in and then the boys. It took a little bit before they caught one and understood all the rules. The boys caught on quicker. It seemed to be a big hit.

After lunch our building materials arrived! Except for the one side of the cupboard. We got to work sanding and staining. It took us the rest of the afternoon to get all the pieces done. After dinner that night we had a fellowship in the town hall (a small pavilion) with the people of the tribe. Everyone sang and then our team introduced ourselves. Pastor Jun had made up the order of service so I was a little surprised when the Jeffries family was called upon to sing a special number. We picked a children's song, Jesus Loves the Little Children. The rest of the team was surprised when they were each also asked to sing a special number. I'm pretty sure it was pushing them all right out of there comfort zones! I knew ahead of time that I would be sharing about salvation, through an interpreter, of course, so I wasn't surprised when called upon to share. Pastor Jun spoke a little and then had anyone who needed prayer for healing to stand on one side and those who had a vision for the community to stand on the other side. We divided up and prayed for each person individually. It was an awesome time.

Sunday morning we attended church and Skip was the preacher. I think he enjoys it. It was funny after church how many people wanted their pictures taken with the kids! The leaders wanted their pictures taken and requested that we give them a copy. Jackson and Maia each received gifts. Jackson got a beaded cell phone holder and Maia got necklaces. I think they're getting used to the attention! As we finished up, our missing cabinet piece arrived!

After lunch, the guys went to finish off the cabinet. They recruited Pastor Jun and another guy to help. It gave them an opportunity to talk. Ate' Lisa spent some time getting to know Linda, Pastor Jun's wife. Grace, the kids, and I played with all the kids. Jackson & I played four square while Maia and Grace played the bouncy ball game. It's a very technical game that we made up last year in Botoy. You take a handful of bouncy balls, throw them into the air, and watch all the chaos ensues as the kids try to catch them. They collect the balls and give them back. You keep repeating this until you get tired. They have a game similar to duck, duck, goose that we played. They taught us a new game, the snake. All the kids get in a line, similar to a congo line, and "head" of the snake tries to tag the "tail" of the snake. It's a pretty wild game. We also taught them, stop go (i.e. red light, green light in the US.) They seemed to love it. I think the kids could have gone on playing until dark, but by 5, Grace and I needed breaks!

Sunday night we packed up our things and tried to get to bed early. Our plan was to get up at 4 AM for the hike out. You may groan, but we wanted an early start. The last part of the hike is all uphill and very steep at that. We all managed to cross the bridge without falling through the holes. It was six o'clock by the time we got on our way. There weren't enough horses so some leaders in the village volunteered to carry our bags. Jackson wanted a horse but there wasn't one available. Maia got carried, again. It hadn't rained the whole time we were in Dumalugdog so the trail was mostly dried out. It is a tough hike. The river was a little lower this time. We hit the uphill part at 8 AM but it was still hot. Jackson was quite the trooper. He was tired but managed to make it the whole way. We were very proud of him.

The motorcycles took us to the highway. They were less scary going uphill verses downhill. Or maybe I was so tired from the hike that my gratitude over not having to walk anymore skewed my judgement. Either way, it was a relief to be riding. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We are welcome back to Dumalugdog and I hope they saw our actions as Christ love to them. It was well worth the trip.