Runiliyu

One of the kids here in Palawano land is called Runiliyu (not his real name). He is one of the first kids that was open and friendly to us. He is about 10 years old (we think – nobody really knows how old anybody is). When we first moved in, he showed our kids where the swimming hole was and how to jump off the rocks into the deep part of the water so they wouldn’t get hurt. He is always helpful, and is one of the few people that seems to give to others without expecting anything in return. He seems to have some kind of natural noble character.

One of the early incidents with him was when our kids were all swimming together and he slipped on a rock by the swimming hole and hit his head, causing a big gash. All the other tribal kids looked at him and pointed and laughed, calling him “stupid” for falling and hitting his head. That is what they do when other kids get hurt. Our son gave him a piggy back ride up from the swimming hole back to the medical clinic where we stitched him up.

Even though there was that one incident, the other tribal kids do respect him. There are not really a lot of kids around, because the Palawanos live in such a scattered lifestyle. Each family lives out at their own farm, although sometimes 2 or 3 extended families choose to live close to each other, making what seems to be almost a small village. Runiliyu lives in a family of 7. Several of his brothers and sisters died when they were babies, before the missionaries came here and started giving out malaria medicine. His father died about 4 years ago due to complications from malaria and a liver destroyed by alcohol. Since then his mother re-married and added one baby to the family. His older brother is deaf and has a hard time getting along with people, so Runiliyu has sort of taken over the role of being the respectable oldest son of the family.

The other day I went with him to the jungle where he climbed up a 50+ foot tall tree to get some natural fruit, which he later shared with our family. It was amazing to see him scale up this vertical tree with ease to get the fruit up at the top of the tree.

This morning I needed someone light to climb up on my solar panels and clean them off. I am heavy enough to possibly cause damage to the panels or the supports if I try and clean them off myself (and I am pretty light by American standards). Runiliyu is a very diligent kid, and since I have seen him climb those very tall trees without a problem, he is perfect for helping me out with this job. He was more than willing to do it, so we went up to the roof and he cleaned the panels while I stood by holding the safety rope. He is probably pretty excited about this too, because he can now brag to his friends that the missionary chose him to climb on the roof and clean the solar panels. He is not a bragging type, but if he wanted to brag about this particular incident nobody would fault him for it. Besides that, he was happy to earn a little extra money, and I was happy to pay him, since I am not able to do the job alone.

We interact with the Palawanos like this all the time. We go to their houses and visit; they come to our house and visit. We help them with medicine, and they help us get things done that we cannot do by ourselves. With this type of interaction, we have developed a closeness with the people around us, and our relationships are growing. And since they don’t know English or Tagalog, we have to use the Palawano language to communicate with them.

This kid is someone we would really like prayer for. We see in him, and in other Palawano kids like him, the future leaders of the church. As we talk with people during this time of pre-evangelism, please pray that the Lord will open the heart of Runiliyu and his family to the Gospel.

Runiliyo 2 years ago with a big catch of river fish

climbing to the top of the tree to harvest the fruit

Back in the tribe

Yea, back to the tribe! Home at last!

We arrived home last Wednesday, and as usual, had an incredible amount of cleaning to do. There were very few people around – mostly because (as we found out later) they are all at their farms. It is the middle of harvest time, and they do all their harvesting by hand, so they are pretty busy. There were, however, about 3 guys here, which was enough to help carry our cargo up from the airplane to the house. It is always nice to have that, seeing as how I have a bad back and it is difficult to do a lot of lifting and carrying.

The few people that were here wanted to visit, and of course we want to visit too. However, we had to set up the beds, turn on the freezer, unpack, wipe off all the counters and do all kinds of things to make the house ready to live in again. So our visiting was minimal as we were working. The weeds around our house were totally overgrown – hence many people coming by and asking if they can pull weeds for us (for pay, of course). So we set up a time to do that, which makes them very happy, because they get some work, which results in some pay, and then they can go downriver and buy things they need at the market.


One of the first things in the house I noticed was that the water level in our batteries was very low – below the plates. I had about 9 liters remaining from the last time I filled the batteries, and I knew that would not be enough water to fill the batteries up all the way. However, I thought it might be enough water to fill up to just above the plates, but I would have to refill the batteries in a few days. I prayed the water would be enough and started filling. When I was done – I had just about ½ a cup of water left! Wow! Thank you, Lord, for your provision of allowing the water to be just enough!

rain catcher

So that meant I would have to build a rain-catcher. I had been meaning to do that for some time. We can’t use water off the roof because of the metal screws in the roof – it would add enough metal ions in the water to destroy the batteries. And the water in the pipes also goes next to metal, so it won’t work either. It was the next day that I was able to build the rain catcher, and day before yesterday I was able to finally finish filling the batteries! Our batteries used up 18 liters of water while we were gone!

It has been really good to see people! We are so glad to be back. I haven’t had time to do any updates until just now. My bride spent the last 5 days preparing the house for living,preparing home-school lessons, and getting the clinic ready for today. I spent the last 3 days preparing my office to be used again – man it was a mess! The others in the house said they don’t recognize my office anymore because it is clean!

What other things did we do? Oh yes, I installed the cell phone signal repeater. That was great! Now whenever we turn it on, we have a strong enough cell phone signal in the house to actually call on our cell phones! Before, it was just good enough to send text messages, and we had to keep the phone leaning sideways on the radio on top of the dresser next to the freezer. If I wanted to have a sure call, I had to hike up the mountain on the other side of the river where the signal is strong. Now we are in a place where we can make or receive an emergency call. I leave the amplifier off normally so as not to use up a lot of solar power.

The other big thing is that I was able to purchase and install a floor covering for the kids room. They said that they didn’t like to play with their legos because they always fell through the cracks in the bamboo floor, so we purchased a plastic/rubber covering for the floor. It is quite nice now!

And my last task before beginning study preparations again is to set up this blog! Hopefully this will give a means for people that regularly pray for us a means of having more timely information.

And as far as the tribal people, they are all up in their fields harvesting rice! Here are some highlights:
•    One lady came by this morning and had some river crabs she had caught and killed. They always kill them right away, but they wait several hours before cooking them. Her husband told me about the wild pigs he shot while we were gone. He said he is out of shotgun shells.
•    Many folks asked if they could buy batteries for their flashlights.
•    There was a kid who had tons of warts covering both of his feet before we left. We gave him medicine to put on the warts every day while we were gone. He came by yesterday and showed us his foot – no warts! Amazing!
•    We gave away a lot of malaria medication the last 3 days even before we opened the clinic, and gave away a lot again today at the clinic.
•    The village chief (I say “village” loosely because they don’t really live in villages) showed me a new kind of pig trap he is making that will not accidentally snare dogs or other animals – only pigs!

And, as always, it is time to get used to the constant attacks of biting bugs!

no more warts!

a new kind of pig trap that only catches pigs

river crab