As guest house managers, we serve 12 missionary families on this island and last week Tim, our chairman, and I had the opportunity to visit one of our remote tribal works where Ray ministers. We have helped with this work in many ways. Purchasing groceries and building supplies for them and shipping these items to them. Also helping with the medical and housing of sick tribal people. It was good to get out and see one this first hand.
This work is located on the northwest side of this island. The first leg of this trip was a short ride to our bus terminal. From there we took a Jeepney, named Dexter. It was a 7 hour drive. We arrive at the terminal at 8 am, the stated departure time. We left about 8:30 only to go a few hundred yards to the nearest gas station. There, we filled several large containers with diesel, some of which were for Ray. We were on the road by 9 am. The jeepney overflowed with people and cargo inside. Then more cargo and diesel was stacked on the roof. Not too sure about the cooling system, but there was some kind of water reservoir on the roof which dripped on us. Apparently, when the engine would overheat, the driver would open a valve to fill the radiator. The valve did leak and every time he would fill it, I would get water splashed in my face. There was no front window so we were cruising along at as much as 50 miles an hour with the wind in our face. By the end of the day, I had a windburn.
We did stop at 11:30 am for lunch at the bus terminal at a medium size town north of here. I ordered rice. It was served with a bowl of “possibly” chicken broth. It was very good. I think it cost all of 40 cents. Then we all climbed back into the van and continued north. It wasn’t long before the paved highway ended. Actually they were doing highway construction. There were some dirt sections which periodically changed into a one lane paved road that both the incoming and outgoing traffic shared. Eventually we reached the place where we needed to cross the island (east to west). Another two hours on a dusty bumpy road! We were grateful it was dry season. Apparently Dexter runs “rain or shine”. However we could see places that would be all but impassable during rainy season.
We did arrive at Ray’s place about 3:30 pm. It was a beautiful location right on the South China Sea. For a “bachelor”, Ray did reward us with a wonderful meal of Hungarian Sausages and rice with a peanut sauce. (Ray’s wife Chris and their partners, Danny and Philippa, are presently on furlough. Many of the people there are Central Tagbanwas. Their language has died out and they now speak the Cuyonon language. There are also many outsiders who have moved into this area and they speak the Tagalog language. These two families are working with these people in both languages. Ray and Chris were the first to move in. The arrived in this area in 2002. At that time there was no road and they had to come up to east coast by boat. Ray and Chris completed their language and culture study and presented the gospel in 2008. Now they have a group of 5o believers and are continuing the outreach to this community.
While there we did enjoy a swim in to ocean. The Water was warm and the Jellyfish were not the kind that sting you. I did have an interesting trip back. First two house was in a Jeepney that was “packed” with people. Then I had to take three different vans to get to town and I opted to walk the last mile. It’s wonderful to see what God is doing in this very remote area.