A Amountain range runs from southwest to northeast on Negros Island, separating the two sides of the island into two separate provinces (Oriental on the east side - where we are- and Occidental on the western side of the mountains. The separation even affects the language. Here in Oriental, the natives speak Cebuano dialect while the residents of Occidental speak a dialect called Illongo. The mountain range is anchored on both ends by two large volcanoes - Mt. Canlaon in the north and Mt. Talinas here in the south.
Mt. Talinas looms over the southern end of Negros Island and dominates the skyline. It is visible from all over this end of the island and it's summit is often covered in clouds. Our team left early this morning (7:00 AM) for a village near the summit of Mt. Talinas.
Near the top of the mountain there is a huge power plant that provides all of the electrical power for the islands of Negros, Siquijor, Cebu, and Panay. The electricity is generated by geothermal energy from the volcano, itself. The road up the mountain is steep and rough - only a dirt road in some places. Guard rails are spotty and the view of the drop over the edge of the road is dizzying. The amazing thing is the sheer size of the power plant when one finally reaches the area near the summit. It is huge and is spread in several units over a large area. The smell of sulphur is very strong as gasses from beneath the earth are released in the generating activities.
Our destination was Phanhug, a remote barangay of the municipality of Valencia. The village is literally spread about the side of the mountain and when there, one feels as though he can almost touch the clouds, which hang just overhead. The Barangay Captian (an office equivilent to that of village mayor) is a very pleasant 33 year old lady who has just been elected to that positition. She had responded positively to the request of Pastor Valdez to have an open air meeting there, and we were welcomed with open arms by the Captain (who is in the orange shirt in the photo), and the Chief of Police (in the blue shirt and hat).
The temperature up there was probably in the low 70's - a good 15 degrees lower than here on the coast. The Filipino members of our team from New Life Church, wore sweaters or long sleeved shirts and complained about how cold it was. We four Americans were quite comfortable!
The service was held in the usual place with the typical beginning. We set up the karaoke machine like sound system on the stage of the barangay hall building which overlooks the basketball court. Most every village we have ever visited has a basketball court at the barangay headquarters, and it is the gathering place for public events. The loud music began to play and people come out of their homes to see what is going on. Darrell began to sing and the crowd of curious neighbors began to grow. Eventually, Pastor Valdez began to speak, in Cebuano, telling them (I think) who we are and what we were doing there. He encourages them to call for their neighbors and the crowd continues to swell as people continue to file into the basketball court area.
Each team member "works the crowd" greeting people with a smile, introducing ourselves and asking their names. Foreigners are plentiful in Dumaguete City, but we are quite a curiosity to most of the folks in the rural areas. This morning was Darrell's turn to bring the message. I also shared my testimony with those in attendance. The village school children and their five teachers joined the gathering as school was dismissed for the occasion. While the adults listened to the message, Pastor Joseph Zerna and wife, Juvy, shared the Gospel with many small children, and Juliet Dales shared the Gospel with the older children in a separate group. Each of the small children received a Bible story coloring book and crayons, and the older children were given a "comic book" type of book depicting the story of David and Goliath.
We keep no records about professions of faith among children, but when the invitation was given to turn from sin and accept Christ as Savior, SIXTY adults responded and prayed to receive Jesus! What a wonderful harvest of souls!
The next hour was spent with the Filipino members of our team counseling respondents, collecting decision cards for followup and Bible Study, and with each new believer receiving a Bible in the Cebuano dialect. Mrs. Valdez instructs them about the basics of how to use and study their Bibles. The prayer of Pastor Valdez is that a new church congregation might be planted in that remote area. A regular weekly preaching point has now been established, and we very likely witnessed the beginnings of a new church this morning.
In the afternoon, Randall and Darrell went to the area of Upper Batinguel for a Bible Study at the home of Mrs. Rose Villenueva. Randall did the Bible Study there and all of those who were in attendance were believers and members of the New Life Church. At the same time Mrs. Valdez, Joseph, Juvy, Thamer, and I traveled to Sibulan to attempt to reserve a large covered outdoor arena in the heart of that city, on the heavily traveled highway, for our Evangelistic Crusade when I return with the New Orleans team in May. If you think bureaucracy is bad back home, you should see the red tape in dealing with local government officials here! We were told by the administration office that we must submit a written request to the Mayor. We made two trips to the Mayor's office and finally got to leave the letter with his secretary on the second trip. He was not in, but we have been given an appointment with him for 3:00 PM tomorrow. We also visited a company that rents chairs (and other stuff) and were able to reserve three hundred chairs for each night of the May crusade.
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. God has blessed us with a wonderfully fruitful day, and Thamer is feeling much better and was with us in our activities today, doing what he does best - mixing with the children and adults, and handing out copies of the Word of God.
Tomorrow's plans call for a morning trip to Dauin (where we were "shipwrecked" three years ago) and Zamboanguita on the southern end of the island. Please pray that the Mayor of Sibulan will make the 3:00 PM appointment and approve our request to use the Pavilion.
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