why there are so few fish in the river today

I was talking to my language helper the other day, asking if he knew how to swim as a kid. He said no, because there were no deep pools in the river when he was a kid. I was wondering about this, because the river is full of deep pools all up and down the river, and people talk about how in the past the pools were much deeper. So I asked him to explain.

It’s like this, egsa. When I was a baby there were many many deep pools in the river. There were also many many fish. In all the deep pools of the river you could just go and fish whenever you wanted and catch lots of fish. I don’t remember it because I was only a baby, but my parents and my older siblings told me about it. One day one of our friends went down river to town and bought some poison over the counter. He had decided to use it to catch fish. He went to one of the big pools in the river and threw out the poison. He caught lots and lots of fish. Way more fish than he could eat – there were a lot that were wasted. They had to bury the extra fish by the side of the river.

The river god saw this and was angry so he sent a big flood. The big flood washed all the fish away and filled in all the deep pools with rocks so that they were shallow now. So when I was old enough to start swimming, there weren’t any deep pools for me to swim in. Later when I was older, there were other floods that washed out some of the deep pools, so I was able to learn to swim. But they have never gotten as deep as before the big flood.

We knew about the big flood – everyone talks about it. It happened about 4 or 5 years before the first missionaries arrived here. It actually filled in the area where our airstrip is now with lots of rocks and mud – giving it a good foundation.

If there is some kind of disaster, like a big flood, or a drought, or the crops are all eaten by bugs, these are considered a judgment by the gods because of a particular sin that someone has committed. When we were back in the States for the summer, 2 young couples got married here. However, they did it the wrong way – they just got together without involving the chief or anyone from their respective families. They were both fined a very high fine – 1000 pesos each. That is about 25 dollars. They also had to give the chief a white chicken and a ceramic plate to appease the wrath of their deity, so that he will not bring upon them another crop failure, landslides, big flood, or whatever he chooses to punish them with.  He cut the chicken in half, threw half in the river and half in the air (that should stop the flood and make sure everyone gets enough rain for their crops). Then he smashed the ceramic plate, symbolizing that their sin was broken.

We have several prayer requests right now for things coming up, so we would appreciate if you would lift these things up!

• I have a language evaluation coming up in a week and a half. Please pray for my mind to be clear during the process so that the consultant will be able to accurately determine where I really stand in the language!
• Our partners are preparing the Gospel lessons for the beginning of teaching the Gospel to the Palawanos! Please pray for wisdom and guidance as the lessons are written, and that the hearts of the Palawanos will be prepared to listen to the message and receive it with joy! The process of writing lessons will take a few months, so please pray also that they are able to take the time to make things clear and easy to understand.
• After my language evaluation, I will be flying out with the consultant to visit some of the other tribes and assist in their language evaluations. Please pray for safe travels!
• There have been a number of problems between Palawanos and Visayan people that live down river. These have mostly been problems because they sell alcohol every Thursday at the market there, and men get drunk, and then they haul off and start hitting each other. Things have recently escalated into threats of more extreme violence, with some men down river threatening to come up here and kill the Palawano men they got in a fight with. Please pray that peace will rule and people will calm down and get their heads on straight about this.
• One of our son’s teachers at the missionary kids’ school, who also happens to be his rugby coach, has been very low on support and has not yet returned to the Philippines. (In fact, many teachers have been so low on support that they could not come to the school this year, and some important classes have been cancelled). We would ask you all to pray that the Lord would raise up more support for this man’s ministry. We feel that he in particular is a strong benefit to the school and our kids, and is also supposed to be Isaac’s bible teacher next semester.  In particular, if you know of anyone that is looking to support a missionary but doesn’t know where to give, we have the information on how to support this individual, and you can email us.

After our language evaluation and my assistance to the other tribes, our kids will have their October break from school, and will fly into the tribe to be with us. We are looking forward to that!

Blessings to you all in Christ for the Gospel

Fishing is a regular source of protein for the people.There used to be many more fish in the river before the big flood, according to what people say.

someone from downriver cut up this tree for wood, but before it was all used up the remainder was washed away in a flood last week

rattan vines from the jungle cut up and sold by the bulk to furniture makers is a source of income for the Palawanos

This young man needed stitches. He said the reason he cut himself was that he was working on a Friday, his holy day, and so he was punished for that by the spirits, his god, or bad luck when he accidentally sliced himself.

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cooking rice over an open fire in a grass house