Dibagat Youth Camp Pictures · 338 days ago

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Rudy's Dibagat Youth Camp Report May 08 · 341 days ago

Dear Isnag Ministry Team,

Date wise, this report is overdue. But God’s work is timeless. I am going to share with you here what God did among the young people from Dibagat and the surrounding areas during our youth retreat on May 24-27, and what God did for the people in Apadi (AH-PAH-DEE), one of our outreach villages.
God tested the commitment of 53 young people who joined the youth retreat. From the time we arrived at our camp site, which was on a river bank 10 minutes by boat upstream from the village, it was raining until we left. There were two typhoons passing through Luzon at that time. But the rain was not enough to douse the excitement and anticipation of a fun time in these young people, most of whom were first-timers. Under our tarp shed, they did their Bible studies wholeheartedly. In the rain outside, they had tremendous fun with games of all sorts. I discovered through these kids that it can be more fun to be in the rain than to be in the sunshine.
On the second day, many of the young kids were beginning to discover who the Lord Jesus is. In their morning and evening devotions, Bible studies, and my messages, the focus was the Lord Jesus. In addition, they had to answer 45 questions on who the Lord Jesus is. Their minds were saturated with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Late in the afternoon before our last day at the camp, the rain became very strong for about thirty minutes, and our tent started leaking all over. Judging from my experiences with typhoon rain, I knew it could go on through the night until the following day. I prayed to the Lord to please stop the rain just as he stopped the storm in the sea of Galilee. But as I prayed, there seemed to be a little voice telling me to pack up and go home. Every time I said the prayer, I heard the same little voice saying the same thing. God wants us to go home. So, I told the campers, “Guys, pack up. Let’s go home!” Thinking that we were ending the retreat, one camper said, “Please, sir, no. Let’s not go home.” They wanted to stay despite the weather. I insisted that we go home.
In the midst of the very heavy rain, we packed up, and in 45 minutes we were all inside the church in Dibagat. We even had enough time to cook our supper before it got dark. We continued the Bible study and the fun in the church. Before the retreat was over, 12 of the young people believed and committed their lives to the Lord Jesus. All of them were newcomers. Praise the Lord! They believed in Him even if He did not stop the rain.
On June 28 to July 5, a team of 12 men and two ladies from the US (led by Nard Pugyao) came to Dibagat to help provide a good water supply for the people in Apadi, a village downstream of Dibagat where we have been having our outreach ministry for the past two years. The villagers had been getting their water from a small, open reservoir full of rotting leaves. One time they found a dead chicken inside the reservoir. Another time a snake, and yet another time dirty clothes. The team built a basin for collecting the water, which is then filtered and channeled to a sealed reservoir, which the team also built. The water is again filtered and distributed through pipes to 7 locations in the village where people can come for safe and clean drinking water.
Apadi used to be dominated by a cult that uses the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as a façade. They call their group “Back to Christ” movement. But the Bible is not taught, rather I was told that the cult sold ID cards telling the people to wear them around their necks for protection. They say that people can be saved through membership in their group. But God has conquered the village for Himself through a handful of professing Christians and probably just one or two believing Christians. Believers from Dibagat church started a Bible study in Apadi with these few believers. In the beginning, there were very few who attended the Bible study, but now it has grown to a small church. One old woman said, “I have forsaken spirits. I now have my own Bible. Please pray that the spirits will not come back.”
Another of the believing Christians is a young girl who came to church in Dibagat one time; there she met the Lord and became a believer. She was given a copy of the Isnag NT, but when her father learned of it, he was irate, and hacked the Bible up. But the faith of the girl was untouched.
On the evening of the day the team finished the water system, the whole village and the team had a celebration. The Dibagat believers responsible for the outreach were all there. Mark Pugyao gave a very good message. He challenged the people to commit their lives to the Lord. The entire village heard the gospel because of the new water system.
We can now freely talk to all the people in Apadi about the Living Water because of the water system that runs through the village, just as the Lord Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman about the same Living Water when He was by the well.
The youth retreat and the water system project are significant events only because the gospel was preached. And you, my beloved partners, played a significant part in these events through your physical presence, your prayers, and your financial gifts. But in all these, all glory belongs to God. Amen.

Prayer Requests
Please pray for the 12 kids who committed their lives to the Lord Jesus; that they will continue reading the Word of God and grow in their faith. All those who joined the youth retreat were each given a Bible study guide in Isnag.
Please pray for the people in Apadi village that as they drink of the water from their new water supply, they will remember God’s love. Pray also that the Holy Spirit will remind them of what they heard on the celebration night about God’s plan of salvation.
Please pray for our outreach ministry workers, for health, stamina, good testimony and clear presentation of the gospel. Please pray for their physical needs, too.
Please pray for me as I plan, prepare, and present materials to prospective translators at Alliance Graduate School, and to mother-tongue translators at seminars and workshops. Pray for me also as I mentor colleagues in linguistics and translation.
Please pray for me, also, as I continue my ministry to the Isnags through training, counseling, and making Bible study materials.

Thank you for you continued involvement in God’s work among the Isnags.

“My Father never stops working, and so I keep working, too.” John 5:17

Joyfully serving the Lord Jesus Christ,

Rudy

Dibagat Team 2008 arrived home · 358 days ago

The guard at the SIL guest house in Manila gave each of our room a wake up call at 4 in the morning July 8 so that we could get ready for our bus trip to the Manila airport to catch our flight home via Japan Airlines. By 5 a.m. we all piled in our rented Coaster (mini bus) and headed to the airport, everyone ready to depart for home. By 7 a.m. each one was completely checked and cleared immigration and to our departing gate. Each one ready for the long trip home, and by 9 a.m. that big 747 lifted off Manila International airport! You would think that big airplane will never get off, but technology and aerodynamics is amazing!

We had a good 4 hour flight to Tokyo with 5 of our team members going in separate airlines from there to their final destination and the rest of us flew 12 hours to Chicago and from there to different airlines to our final destination. Each one cleared immigration and customs. There were some major thunderstorms all over the US so there were some delays at O’Hare. We sat and waited at the taxiway to depart for over two hours and I finally made it to Charlotte by 11 pm. Teams in OH made it home by 1:30 a.m. Everyone got home and we give praise to the Lord for safety, for fellowship, for mission accomplished, and above all for God using each one on the team to meet a special need among the Isnags.

Perhaps next time there will be another trip to Isnag country, another team will stamp their footprints and fingerprints on the mountains of Dibagat and see what God is doing among the Isnags!

Dibagat Team 2008 - Mission Accomplished · 363 days ago

The team of 14 accomplished what they intended to do in Apadi by providing nice clean water for the Isnags there. The Lord provided nice clear and hot weather while building the 5 feet by 8 feet by 4 feet deep which is approximately about 1200 gal. water supply available. The water source was piped into the reservoir with a 2 inch galvanized pipes and from the reservoir to the village with one inch pipes and a 3/4 faucet of 9 available for the whole village. It took team work with the Isnags and our team to accomplish the job in 3 days and we had some time to fellowship with the Apadi people. We had an evening meal together Wed. July 2 and pastor Mark Pugyao gave a wonderful message for the Isnags in Apadi. The team interacted quite a bit with the men while two women interacted with the women and children. It was a God orchestrated team that He alone put together, and as always each had a special talent to share to make the team accomplish what they came to do. Yes, God put the team together from OH, AL, Canada, WI, PA, TX, FL, NC, MT, VA, and KS and the Philippines.

The end result might never be known, but God knows it all and all the glory goes to Him as always.

Margie's Moments · 363 days ago

As one of the two women on this Dibagat 2008 team, I have had a unique experience. I found out about this opportunity about a month before we left knowing very little about the trip and nothing about the team, yet I could hardly pass up an experience to serve in the Philippines.

I just completed my Masters degree in International Development and was anxious to go back into the developing world with my new tools and knowledge from grad school. So I departed on this trip, not as my first time on a mission trip, but rather with a new perspective, a greater understanding of poverty and more confident in who God has made me.

I am a very task oriented person and an introvert, so embarking on a service project with no defined role scared me, but God was faithful in answering prayers. When I first received special treatment fro being a woman (longer plane rides, eating first, being chosen for special trips into town) I was uncomfortable, but God showed me his purpose for me during this trip and I came to be very thankful for my “special” role. While the men worked every day pouring concrete and hammering wood, I sang and swam with children. I helped in the kitchen and came to know the kitchen help. I was stretched to be relational, but I loved the end result. So much of living overseas is downtime and building relationships and I had ample practice over the past two weeks. God gave me confidence that I can be relational.

Not having other girls around also allowed me to be more self-confident and I was able to avoid comparing myself to my teammates. For the past two weeks I could sing without feeling I should let the singer lead and run around with children without feeling like I was in another’s shadow. The women and the children loved on me like I have never experienced. They held my hand, gave me gifts, and told me how beautiful I was. They opened themselves up and poured out Christ’s love. I could definitely learn from them in this area.

God teaches me more about himself the more I see of the world. Here he’s shown me more of his beauty, love, faithfulness, and compassion. Thanks be to God.