Island travel, on to another jungle for Christ

11/28/2011

“We need to be at the boat at 7am in order to make it to El Nido in time to catch the shuttle going to Puerto.” sabi ng host missionary.

We just finished a language assessment with a friend of ours on another island. He is working in an area where the Gospel has not reached yet, and is doing well in his progress for learning the local language of the island! That means another unreached tribal area of the Philippines will soon have the Gospel!

So there we were, ready to go at 7 am, and our guide didn't show up! We waited, and waited, and finally decided to walk across the island to the boat by ourselves, pulling all our bags in a hand cart. When we got to the beach, we saw why our guide didn't show up – low tide! Our guide, or boat captain, had been drinking the night before, so he didn't pull the boat out past the tidal area. There was our boat, sitting on the sand! And we had to get to town that day...

Well, in a situation where time is of the essence, and you are on an island waiting for the tide to come in so that you can leave, what do you do? Nothing, of course! All we could do was sit and wait for the tide to come in. Well, we could have tried to swim across the open ocean... No, probably not a good idea.

While waiting for the tide to come in, we looked at squid eggs in the water, and talked about different things. Finally the tide has risen by about 6 inches, and so we called some other people over and we began pushing the boat towards the deeper water. It took about 10 of us, but we made it! We were off the island by 9 am, and our host called the shuttle van and asked them to hold the van for us. I don't know how the other passengers took it, waiting for 2 extra hours, but they didn't say anything to us. Once we were on the road, fantastic...

And of course, at Roxas we stopped at the Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. Wow. The most amazing food ever, and all for only 100 pesos. I always get the “beef stew with noodles”, and I never get tired of it!

Back in Puerto Princesa, we settled down and got ready for the next leg of our trip, which began this morning!

So, yesterday morning I was on a small island in the middle of the ocean, and today I am up in the northern part of the country, getting ready to go by helicopter into another tribe tomorrow!

We are in Tuguegarao, and have looked at our flight base up here. The base actually belongs to another mission, and they have shared the use of it with us. Their ministry is doing really awesome things for god – they record Gospel lessons in 4 or 5 of the major dialects of this area, and then broadcast them on different radio stations at designated times so that people can hear, come to know Christ, and be encouraged.

I was talking to the missionary in charge of this ministry, and he had some very keen insights into the world around us today. He said, “Why do you think that we have all this technology, the ability to travel, and the ability to send radio messages and internet email and all those things?” He believes that God restrained us from acquiring this knowledge until recent times.

Think about it from this perspective – the ancient kingdoms could build pyramids and giant statues, navigate by the stars and do all kinds of amazing things, but they couldn't look at a duck taking off from the water and figure out the simple mathematics of flight? It is not that complicated – wind speed over a wing, increase the lift over the drag, and you get something airborne. Leonardo Da Vinci may have been ahead of his time, but perhaps it was because God was only just beginning to allow man's mind to be opened up to this technology. And why would He do that now? So that we could use this technology to finish getting the Gospel out to all ends of the earth. That is what God is all about – the completion of taking His Gospel message to every people, tongue, tribe, and nation!

So while he broadcasts Gospel messages, we send people out into the hills. And with all these different means of taking the Gospel to the nations, soon every tribe will have been reached! This is what we hope for and pray for, and what we labor for!

Tomorrow we will be going into another tribal area, to a location off on a remote hilltop, where the Gospel has never penetrated. The people there are not really “tribal” like the Palawanos we served with, but they are still unreached with the Gospel and greatly in need of the message being preached there.

Click on any picture below to enlarge.

getting on the boat to go to the island

a view of Palawan as we jut out to sea

view from the boat as we head out to the island in the distance

a sleeping house in the lagoon on the island

after crossing the island through a coconut grove, the missionary houses emerge in the clearing

there are lots of pigs on this island

 

view of the beach on the side away from the boats

preparing one of our meals

a German-Romanian salad served on an island in the Pacific

private beach area

nice white sand beach

Konrad and I at the beach in between sessions

our boat was stranded waiting for the tide to come in

at low tide the people gather fish and clams from the reef

view of the one really nice house in the village from the reef at low tide

squid eggs

Once the tide started to roll in we were able push the boat out towards deeper water.

on our way back to the Palawan main island

view of the shore

fishing boat based on the main island

view of the El Nido cliffs from the bus terminal

The Menti Palawano are now hearing Bible lessons!

The Menti Palawano are now hearing Bible lessons!
Praise the Lord, for the first time in history, the Brooks Point Palawano in Menti are now hearing Bible lessons in their own language! Our partners have started teaching, and below is a copy of the email we received to describe how things are going.

We appreciate your prayers for us, our partners, and the Palawano as they continue to teach the lessons. This is why we labored in the tribe for so long, and why we are continuing to work here in the Philippines!

Here is the email from our tribal co-worker Elise:

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

On Monday morning, I said to my literacy class, "This is a day we've been waiting for. This is the reason God sent us here. Today, Dave will start telling God's story to all who want to listen. We have lots of fun in our literacy class, but it's a really serious and important thing that you are learning to read. Yes, anyone can listen to the teaching of God's Word, but you will be able to read it for yourselves. For others, they have to wait to be given God's Word like a child being given a drink from the hand of their mother. But you are like one who has his own cup, and can drink from it whenever you want. The ability to read is like having that cup".

So on Monday afternoon, the public teaching of God's Word finally began. In all 22 adults gathered, and some children, in various different family groups. They listened intently.

Dave began by telling the people that in the beginning, there was no one and nothing, only God, and that God was always there. As he described the character of God, eveyone was listening intently and heads began to nod in agreement.

"God had no source, and will have no end. He didn't suddenly appear. He always was. He needs nothing- not food, or air, or water. He is Spirit. In the beginning, there were no stars, no sun, no moon, no earth. There were no trees, no ocean, no rivers, no animals, no air, no people. Only God. And He was always there."

Pilno said, "Banar! That's true!"

Showing them a jar of rice, Dave said, "How many grains of rice do you think are in this jar? That's right, you don't know unless you count them. God doesn't have to count them. He knows how many grains of rice there are in every legkew (rice storage house) on Palawan! He knows how many hairs there are on every head! He doesn't even need to count them! He knows everything! Wherever you go, He is there. He is with our family in Australia. He is in every cave, and in the sky. You couldn't hide from Him. He knows everything, even what you are thinking."

"Banar!" said Pilno again.

As the people left to go home, we encouraged them to come to each teaching time, so when we got ready for them again on Wednesday, we were discouraged that of the first group of eight, only Pilno and Mulok came. Another eight came in the next group, with a couple of new listeners. So they heard the second lesson, and were amazed that God's Word was written by so many people over such a length of time.

It turns out that this week, the lowland town leaders have called various meetings that some of the Palawanos are expected to attend. And not only that, but many of them are preparing for a rice festival at the chief's village, and so when he says it's time to pound rice, then that's what you have to do.

Pilno, and also Tossito, one of Dave's language helpers said, "We are going to tell people they need to come! This is really important!"

Over lunch today, Tossito and Lito, one of the other language helpers, said to another guy, Pitio, "We all need to know what God says. Palawanos and white people. We all have the same original grandparents, and because of their sin, we are all separated from God. We are like the Israelites trapped at the Sea that's Red. Only God can make a way for us to be saved. It's very dangerous if people don't listen! They need to know the way back to God or they are lost!"

The two of them went over to Dave and Julie's place after that, where Mulita, a lady, was telling Dave she didn't want to listen to the teaching. Dave said, "Cousin, we aren't going to force anyone to listen." Tossito promplty said to Mulita, "You know, you really should listen! There is a second death and only God can save us." She looked right at him..."Oh?!" she said. "Hmmm. I'm going to think about it."

We talked with Pilno and Mulok, and decided to wait to carry on the teaching till next Wednesday when some of the distractions are out of the way. Meanwhile, we are taking every opportunity, over meals, sitting on the porch, hanging out at people's houses, to talk over what the people have heard. Some seem like they couldn't care less, while others are gripped by the truth. Tossito and Pilno said they are going to be telling people they need to listen. Pilno said, "We need to listen together, so that we can be of one mind. This is truth!"

Pray that the spark will become a flame, and will fan to life and sweep through this place!

Thank you for praying for Lupis! The tribal leaders met about his divorce, and told his wife she has to stay with him. So they are both here now, and both listening to the teaching. Praise the Lord!

Thank you for praying for the literacy teachers! The are doing REALLY well, and we are planning to buy a computer for them and Ludi to learn how to type. They are very excited! Today they went down to the market place, where just a couple of months ago, they would go to get drunk almost every week. They said, "We don't want to do that now. We have changed." Please pray for a total heart change, not just a change of behaviour! Tabung says that he prays to God every night, and hasn't had one of his "seizures" (or possible demonic attacks) since. He said after the first lesson that he was turning over the new thoughts about God in his mind all night!

In a week or so, I have to go to Manila for an immigration interview, and as I explained to the class this morning that I'd be away, Nurnito said, "Egsa (cousin), you just show us what to teach, and Tabung and I will keep teaching while you are away!" I was so encouraged!

I'm writing this from Philippino pastor's house down river. He and his wife minister to a mixture of lowland Palawanos and other lowlanders on the edge of the jungle. As I passed by one of the homesteads on the way here, I talked to a Palawano family who just lost their 17yo daughter, 7 months pregnant, to leukemia. She left behind a young husband and a 3 yo boy.We talked about why there is death and suffering, and about God, about how He loves the people He made, and wants them to be restored to Him. The mother said, "Egsa, you can come and tell us when my husband gets back from the next valley!" Pray for this hurting family!

Please go to battle on your knees for all these precious souls! Please ask God to give them a desire to listen to His Word that is stronger than the desire to make money downriver, stronger than the excitement about feasts and festivals. May the rice festival they are preparing for be the last one in this place where the spirits are thanked for the rice, instead of the true God.

May He soon receive the reward of His suffering (Isa. 53), the souls and worship of a people Christ died to save.

Please pray for Dave as he prepares and teaches the lessons to many groups. Pray for his health especially.

Please pray for the NTM UK Bible School graduates, Denis and Ella, who are proving to be a GREAT help here. They have both been battling sickness, but have done so much to help with repairs and producing literacy materials.Please pray for Pastor Job and Anna as they preach the Gospel in the lowlands.

Please pray for a solution for our communication issues, that somehow, we can get internet again in the village. We are greatly hampered without it.Please pray that an upcoming Immigration interview will go well so that my visa can be renewed. I have to go to Manila in a couple of weeks to do that.Please pray for the literacy curriculum I am preparing for teaching in the UK next March, God willing.

Again, thank you so much for standing with us. You are a vital part of the team!

Trusting Christ for a harvest of Palawano souls in His time!
Elise

end of our co-worker's email

Keep in mind, that because we have lost internet connection in our village, Elise has to hike downriver 2 hours to get to a location where she can connect by her cell phone to the internet. We hear from her about once every 2 or 3 weeks. Thank you for your continued prayers for the teaching!

Please pray for my upcoming trip next week! I am going to be traveling to 3 other new tribal areas to help the new missionaries with their language and culture studies. One of these already has a small group of believers, but the other 2 have not started the teaching yet because they are still working up to the language level! My job, in company with our consultant coming from the States, will be to coach and assess the progress of the missionaries in their tribal language studies, so that those areas also will soon be able to hear the Gospel!

Pray also for Ginny and the kids at home while I am gone!

We are thankful that God allows us to be involved with what He is doing in the Philippines!

George for all of us
George, Ginny, Isaac, Sarah, & Abby

getting to the airport and flying through a typhoon

Today was a crazy day. We have a typhoon barelling down on the Philippines – typhoon Pedring. It is supposed to be one of the most massive storms to hit the Philippines in years. They closed all the schools in Manila for the afternoon.

I flew to Palawan today, right across the southeast edge of the typhoon and through the rain bands that have been drawn up due to the low pressure area at the center of the storm. It was a bit of a scary flight. The plane made a hard heavy noise on takeoff, and then we had a lot of turbulence the whole flight down. The pilot announced that we were at 36,000 feet, but looking out the window we were inside clouds the whole time. There was no blue sky visible even at that height, so you can see how big this storm must be.

To get to the airport from our place, I had called for a taxi to come pick me up the night before. I gave the taxi company my cell phone number and they said that they would text me at 9 am to let me know the status of the vehicle. 9 am came and went, and no word from the taxi company. I figured, ok, sometimes they forget and don't call. So I waited. And waited. At 5 minutes to ten I called them, and they said sorry, they didn't have any taxi that could come here because of the rain (whatever!). So I asked why they didn't call and let me know, and they said they sent a text message. They read out the number they sent it to, and it was the wrong number! They had mixed up the last digit of my cell phone number, so I didn't know that I had no taxi.

Fortunately I had planned for this sort of contingency by planning to leave early. I headed out the door with my small backpack stuffed inside my large hiker's backpack and started walking down the road towards the place where I could catch a taxi. It is about a half hour walk along that road, and sometimes there are pubic jeeps that come there, but only about once every hour. I didn't really feel like walking because it was raining, but I did anyway. As I left the house, I whispered a prayer which was half thanks for knowing that He would grant my request and half “Lord please get me to the airport.”

Last month when I took a taxi to the airport, it took about 4 hours to get there because of heavy traffic. So I was expecting it to take about that long also today. After walking for only about 15 minutes, a utility vehicle came by, which I thought was the public transportation service, so I flagged it down. They stopped, but when I got there, it turned out they were just private citizens driving the same kind of vehicle that the multi-cabs often are made from! I think they felt bad for me, a white guy carrying a large heavy pack, walking alone on the road in the middle of a rainstorm. So they picked me up and gave me a ride down to Ortigas where I was able to get in a public multi-party taxi called an FX.

From there I told the guy that I needed to go to the airport. He said he wasn't going to the airport, but he would take me somewhere where I would be able to pick up a regular taxi more easily. So we headed down the road and picked up the passengers he needed to pick up, and kept on going. When we got to the semi-highway, he saw an empty taxi and started honking at him and flashing his lights at him. The taxi pulled over and we pulled over, and I got out and got in the taxi. Then that taxi took me to the rest of the way to the airport. A very creative way to get there, no doubt! God is good!

I was a little wet and very early, so I waited in the waiting area for about an hour and a half before they opened the line to process the tickets going to Palawan.

I started off this blog entry by talking about the plane, so I will finish it there also. As I mentioned, we were 36,000 feet, with tons of turbulence, and no blue sky. When we landed at the airport, I didn't feel the usual feel of the tires hitting the runway. I realized after-wards that was because the tires were hydro-planing. I also noticed that we just weren't hardly slowing down at all as we skidded along the runway. I prayed, Lord, please let this plane stop and let us not go sliding off the end of the runway! Finally after a long time, we came to a stop. It seems the other end of the runway had better drainage than the end we landed on. There were heavy rains and a fairly decent wind going across the tarmac as we got out of the plane. My compliments to the Zest Air pilots who made sure that we landed safely.

And all praise to the Lord, who has preserved my life once again for the completion of His work.

And one bit of cultural insight. On the way to the airport, we passed a very large Catholic church. My taxi driver made the sign of the cross as we went by. I asked him what you call that, and he said “sign of the cross.” So I asked him what they said in Tagalog, and he said “Antangan” ( I think – can't remember for sure). But he said that is a deep Tagalog word. I asked him what he would say if he was instructing his children to do the sign of the cross and he said he would say “sign of the cross ka” or something like that. He indicated he would not use the word “Antangan” because it is a deep Tagalog word.

Then I asked him why he makes the sign of the cross, and he said “Para sa pagpuri kay Cristo.” That was an answer that I did not expect! For the praise of Jesus! I thought that was cool.

When examining sociological constructs from a Christian point of view, it is always encouraging to see elements of Biblical Christianity coming out unexpectedly like this in the beliefs of the common people. This led to a short conversation on how you please God and on how the scriptures say that we please God by faith, by trusting in Him. Unfortunately, my taxi driver wasn't really interested in pursuing the conversation any further than that.

Now it is time to get ready to head into the tribe once again! It will be supply buying for the next few days before heading down.

George

ministering in a Filipino church

Thank you all for your prayers this past weekend as we went and ministered in a Filipino church. It went amazingly well, and we are thankful for the opportunity to minister there.

I could not believe I was able to continue preaching in Tagalog for a full hour! The Lord helped me, of course, and that whole time was not spontaneous – it was a prepared message that I had written, and received help in preparing from one of my old language teachers. Nevertheless, I was continuously interrupted with choruses of “Amen!” during the sermon, and several people asked us to come back! So praise the Lord, I believe He was glorified, which is always our intent.

I spent some time talking to the family about the church and the work going on there, and we are pleased that the Lord has opened the door for me to do some part time ministry there. The church is a needy place, in need of some solid biblical teaching in their language, and it would honor the Lord as well as the memory of the Korean missionary who planted the church, who was murdered at random by a crime syndicate halfway across the city over a year ago. He moved his family to a country other than his own in order to serve God among a poor, needy, and unreached people, and there his blood was shed in the service of God. Now He serves God in heaven, where there are no tears or sorrow, awaiting the resurrection.

The main reason that his family is able to continue serving here in the Philippines among the poor is, of course, because God has called them to remain here. However, another reason is that they made a very important decision early on in their family. They told me that when their kids were little, their father decided to put them in Filipino school instead of an international school, because they were in the Philippines and wanted to become like the people (which is such a very Christ-like motivation). As a result, I believe the family is well integrated into the Philippine system, and their kids feel comfortable here. That would be a very hard thing to do if you come here when your kids are older, because the culture strain would be excessive. However, starting your kids off and raising them in the local system has served this family very well. This again illustrates the positive side of the principle that you reap what you sow. The father sowed seeds of faith, and his wife and children continue on in joy because of their father's faith, which has become their own.

My work at this church will be part time, and will be fully integrated into my new duties of studying and learning the principles of CLA (Culture and Language Acquisition) in order to train to become one of our field's language consultants. It is amazing how the Lord has worked this out in His perfect timing for me to be able to accomplish exactly what I need to do for our mission, and also serve the needs of a local church at the same time. At the same time I will continue to be making trips back and forth into the Palawano tribe. So life is about to get very busy!

Oh, and by the way, they didn't ask us to get up and sing, thankfully! That would have been a total disaster! We did enjoy singing along with the congregation the various hymns in English, Tagalog, and Korean, but no “special number” was required of the Olsons, and we are especially thankful for that!

Here are some pictures - click on the link below each picture to view a larger image:

the church choir

George preaching

My family with the Korean missionary family

Picture of all of us with the choir after the service

On the bridge going to the church there are men with guns - fishing guns! They fire a little harpoon with a .22 caliber or other small cartridge into the fish in the river about 35 feet below and then haul the fish up by a line tied to the harpoon.

a week in the tribe by myself

8/20/2011 Journal entry

Wow, what an amazing and crazy week I have had. Being in the tribe by myself is a lot of work, and there are good and bad elements to it. To recap –

• I had a great visit with the downriver pastor and his wife about the school they have set up for their area. It is really doing a great service for the tribal people there in that area. They are receiving a Christian education, which enhances and strengthens the church, as well as helping to break the cycle of animism that keeps them in bondage.
• A guy way up river fell out of a tree, broke his femur, broke an arm, and his lower back. This was about 10 days before I arrived. They said that his lower abdomen had already started to smell bad (indicating gangrene, I suppose). I asked them why they didn’t take him to the hospital in Brooke’s Point, which is only about a 2 or 3 hour walk for them, and the messenger didn’t know.They said that they don’t have any money, but the interesting thing is, they can get money when they really want it. They typically only are willing to do that for themselves. They can haul begtik, or go into debt with someone, or sell land, or something. But they typically don’t do that for their neighbor, only for their own children or spouse.
• A kid dumped a pot of boiling hot rice over his leg, causing 2nd degree burns. I gave first aid, and then the next day when the blisters came out I treated it with burn cream and the gauze banadages.
• Another guy who fell out of a tree 2 years ago, and is now crippled, moved into the tribal house next to us. He is having to live under someone else’s roof, which is a bit of a burden for them, so he is trying to build his own house just a few feet down the trail. However, he is crippled and cannot walk without crutches, so he cannot build himself. The other Palawanos, who build houses all the time, won’t help him or build a house for him unless he pays them. He cannot get money, because he cannot work, so that is also a problem.
• Since our partners will be preaching the Gospel soon, hopefully this guy will be someone who will be available to listen to all the messages. After all, he is not going anywhere.
• I had one good language session with my helpers.  I got lots and lots of recordings, more than I usually do, knowing that I would have time to process the recordings once I returned to Manila. They are having to split time with their families also, by putting their kids in a downriver school, and hiking back up to the tribe once or twice a week to take care of weeding their rice fields and other work at home.

When I flew back to Manila on Saturday, Sarah was having a soccer game at the international school. I took the taxi there first, dropped off my heavy bag with Ginny, and then took the taxi to the place where I received my motorcycle I had shipped (yong pinagkuhaan ng ipinadala kong motor - that is easier to say in Tagalog). Then I rode my motorcycle back to the game, and after that back home to our apartment.

Now that the Lord has moved us out of being full time in the tribe and up to Manila for the time being (with regular short term returns to the tribe), we are settled in an apartment. It is such a totally different life here in Manila. I am thankful for the Lord working things out for us to be able to take care of some family needs at this time. He is good.

Keislaman

Also this morning at the bed next to us the ward was new patient – a very old man. They said he was 110 years old! His sons were attending to him. All 3 of them impressed me as very nice, with good manners, and well educated. Then all of a sudden one of them turned to me and started speaking in fluent Palawano! Totally unexpected – why would any educated Filipino take the time to learn Palawano, the language of the native people, especially since knowing that language doesn’t help anyone further their business or anything like that!

Well, it turned out that they were from one of the neighboring people groups that live down river referred to as “Keislaman” by the mountain people. These are people who had common ancestors with the Palawanos, but they broke away when they became Muslim. Now, many of them are educated, but they speak the same language as the Palawanos in their homes.

According to Palawano legend, they separated back in the days of the ancestors when an old man came down from the hills to visit a young man and his wife, who had just prepared dark sticky rice to eat. According to custom, they fed the old man and visited for some time before he left. When he left, he travelled by a path where the young man had set his pig traps. A few hours after the old man left, the young man went out to check his pig traps, and he had caught a pig in one of his traps. So he brought the pig home, where he and his wife butchered it and ate the initial cut of meat. After eating, they argued about who would take the remains of the pig down to the creek to clean out the intestines (which they would have use for later). The wife won the argument and took the remains down to the creek. When she was cleaning out the intestines, she noticed their contents – dark sticky rice! So she realized that this pig was actually the man who had visited them that morning, and he had turned into a pig and been killed in the pig trap. She got violently ill and threw up, but managed to make it home. She told her husband she could never eat pig again because of what happened, but the husband didn’t agree with that idea, so they separated. She went down to the ocean and re-married, while he went up to the hills and got remarried. Her descendants became the “Keislaman” and his descendants became the Palawano. According to the legend, that is why the Muslims don’t eat pork, but they speak the same language as the Palawano.

I was able to share this Palawano legend with our neighbors in the ward, but I have not confirmed if they share the same story in their culture. They acted a bit surprised at the story, so I have a feeling they might not have heard it before.

Ama, mulit ne!

“Ama! Mulit ne!” 

Over the last week, I have heard this phrase over and over again. It means, “Dad, I want to go home.” I am in Puerto Princesa right now with Burut, a 7 year old Palawano kid that we brought to the hospital. They showed up at our place over a week ago, and the child was swollen up like a marshmallow. Our medical team members were pretty sure the problem was kidney disease, but in our place there is nothing we can do about that. So we gave them some money in order to take a bus to the hospital in town. The next day another man came by our house with a message from the doctor at the hospital. They said they were pretty sure it was kidney disease, but they did not have the facilities to test to find out the extent of the disease. So we needed to send him to Puerto Princesa.

I was on top of the mountain about 5 hours up river when they called me in the morning to tell me I needed to take the kid to the hospital. My son and I were doing an overnight hike up there (more about that later). We were planning to stay 1 more night, but the medical emergency pre-empted our trip and so we came home that day. The next day I went to Quezon and met the kid with his dad, and together we proceeded to the hospital in Puerto Princesa. That was last Saturday, and we are still here a week later. The prognosis looks good for a release this weekend or early in the week. However, the young boy still has to wait.

It has been hard on the family for multiple reasons. First of all, they have not had any contact with their family that they left up in the mountains, so they are probably wondering what has happened. Secondly, the hospital is not an ideal place for people that are used to living in a free and open place, where they get up in the morning or at night and can look out to see as far as the eye can see. Also, they were embarrassed to bathe and/or use the restroom at first, but eventually they got over that and had to use it.

On the good side, the other Filipinos that are in the hospital have been very nice to the patients. We are in a ward with 5 beds, and all the families of the other people there have been very courteous and pleasant towards the dad and his kid. They have not made them feel embarrassed at all about being “natibos”, but instead have included them in discussions and talks, making them feel welcome.

So with regard to this, we ask for your prayers for little Burut’s completed healing! As of this morning, his swelling had been reduced significantly, and if the urine tests in the morning show the disease to be in remission, then he will be allowed to leave the hospital.