August 19, 2023
I remember waking up a little later than I expected – or in other words, I slacked off a little longer after the alarm went off. Still wanting to run, but knowing I wasn’t able to hit the runway, I geared up for a work out – and I was able to run around for at least 1km. Funds were running low so I was able to find a local BDO to withdraw from. While I was out I also bought coffee from Jolibee, not knowing that later on, Pastor Rey N would treat the entire team to breakfast there. Funny way for the Man Upstairs to give me a double-shot of caffeine.
The van we were waiting on was commandeered by a relative of Pastor Gilbert, named Nono. They arrived at around 8am, and after we figured out who sat where, and thanked God that we had just enough space for all 10 of us, we headed to Little Baguio – for the mass wedding.
There were 8 Couples to be wed. Our roles were as follows: Pastor Alvin and Pastor Rey N served as Coordinators, Pastor Ronnie was our licensed Officiating Minister, Pastor Rey C contributed by way of sharing a message chock-full of wedding and marriage experience to these couples; even Micaiah and Fraulein helped expedite the processing of Marriage Contracts. Me? Oh, I just took pictures.
After Pastor Rey C gathered the couples, the principal sponsors, the veil and cord sponsors, and the ring bearer, he arranged them for a decent procession, working with me so everyone had a good picture taken of them entering the aisle. When everyone was seated Pastor Ronnie took charge – only after making sure we had a good working mic for him (it was the last of 4 mics that they tried). He also quickly prayed for one couple – the wife, in particular, because she collapsed soon after Pastor Ronnie opened the ceremony. One thing I remember is how the soon-to-be husband was quick to respond, even having a menthol inhaler stick ready for his partner to help her recover quicker. He held on to that while everyone around contributed by way of fanning the poor lady.
Pastor Rey N took over and shared a message, refined after 59 years of marriage. He was talking about how men have the ‘nothing box’ where they just zone out and think of… well, nothing. He also talked about how wives have double the average words spoken by their husbands. True enough, after his message, when Pastor Ronnie asked each couple to come before the congregation to speak some words of thanksgiving (to nobody in particular, but preferably to their parents) – well, eight times out of eight couples, it was the wife who did all the speaking while the husband faithfully stood strong.
One thing I observed from all the ladies, was that when they were truly thankful for the opportunity to get married – in the right way, I assume. We’re told that it isn’t as easy for couples to get married by local ministers, and they didn’t think twice to sign up even if it meant they’d be wed the same time as other couples – as long as they were married properly. In fairness to the men, they gave their supportive and wholehearted nods while their significant others spoke so passionately.
The traditions of the Veil, Cord and the Ring were observed, but only after Pastor Ronnie made it a point to emphasize the significance of such items, in the light of the Gospel. The couples were then told to face each other to speak vows as prescribed to them by Pastor Ronnie (versus the time-consuming option of them speaking from the heart)… and soon after, Pastor Ronnie, as officiating minister, proclaimed them husband and wife, before telling the men… ‘You may kiss the bride’.
Picture taking soon followed, and I just have to thank Pastor Rey N again, for helping me out in not only organizing who to shoot, but also posing them so they look good for the camera.
We didn’t leave the school gym just yet… The community, led by Pastora Remy, wanted to utilize us fully, and we were glad to follow up the mass wedding with a mass child dedication, where we quickly but effectively honored some parents’ wish to dedicate their young ones to the Lord. It was a quick ceremony officiated by Pastor Alvin (you can tell that we were all hungry), somewhat like a baptism. After this we had another round of picture taking, before tucking in for lunch.
And you could tell that they really were happy to have us, with all the platters and bowls on the table (of course, covered in true Filipino style to keep the flies away) – to our surprise, when we revealed dish after dish, we saw chicken after chicken cooked in different styles: Curry, steamed, boiled with jackfruit, adobo, oh my. And to close the meal appropriately, we were given tub after tub of ice cream – and no, not just any old ice cream – durian ice cream!
I feasted properly, but concerned that the team (me included) may need to visit each couple in their appropriate wedding receptions – and by the way, that was something. Apparently, all of these people lived so close to each other! What did that mean? Well, in order to differentiate one reception from the other (emphasizing that sure, they joined the mass wedding but they all wanted a personal touch, at least for their receptions), each family thought it would be an excellent idea to blast music at full volume – and, well, all I have to say is that I’m just so thankful to the Lord because we ate FAR away from the… ‘music’. They had fun! But it’s probably not something I’d stick around to enjoy with them.
Now, with our hearts and stomachs full, we headed out – but before we actually headed home, Pastor Gilbert insisted on two things – first, that we visit an outreach he just started, and second, that we take a look at the progress he’s made on his farm.
It was mostly kids at the community we drove to first, and you could tell that even if the team was understandably drained, our ministers came back to life when they saw all the kids running to them to greet them in typical Luzon style – with the mano. To my surprise, Mama Josie – who tagged along with us mostly just to be with us – stepped up to take part in ministering to the children, by gathering them around and giving money to the kids who guessed her name (they were coached by Pastor Rey N).
Pastor Rey C stepped up, gathered them around, and performed magic tricks – no, not ‘Got Your Nose’ but the coin behind the ear trick, and also what I see as one of his evangelical tools – the magical reconnected cord, from which he related a simple perspective to the reconciliation we have in Christ. Pastor Rey N didn’t back down – He gathered the kids and the families around, and prayed for all of them. Finally, Pastor Ronnie led them in worship -and if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, what really fascinated us was that they knew the songs! Here he was thinking that he was going to be teaching them something new – when, in fact, they didn’t just know the basic songs, they also ‘taught’ us some of the other variations!
Alas, even if we appeared to be having a lot of fun, we had to leave – The drizzle was a good-enough sign for us to say our goodbyes. Nono drove us to quickly visit Pastor Gilbert’s house where some folks took a bathroom break. Me? I was stung by a wasp. The pain reminded me of that one Wild Boyz episode where the – well, the wild boys were subject to the ritual of one South American tribe, where the had their hands bitten by hundreds of bullet ants – and each bullet ant sting was the equivalent of twenty wasp stings.
Pastor Gilbert said the wasps were his form of home security. And well, it seemed he needed it – there were lots of fruits in his garden. Not that he would hold back in sharing to the community, though.
Anyway, after that quick break we drove to Pastor Gilbert’s farm, and we saw what was the start of a proposed church/hall. He insisted that the next time we visited, we would hold our seminars and events there – even went as far as saying we could sleep there as well, if the cottages were finished. Not sure I’d agree to that last offer, but when we were served santol, durian, and boiled corn – well, I’d probably consider sleeping at least one night out there. Oh, boiled corn and durian? Awesome combo.
So there we were – we poured ourselves out in the morning, and we were given surprise after pleasant surprise in the afternoon, being filled both spiritually and (definitely) physically.
The rains got significantly stronger just as we got back into the van, and we took that as a sign for us to drive back to the hotel. I think I took some time to rest, and to copy files from the camera to the laptop, just so I had it backed up somewhere – especially considering that I promised Pastora Remy I’d give her copies of the pictures, and a little monetary contribution so each couple could have some of their pictures printed.
Now, I know we were full from all the chicken at lunch and fruit in the afternoon, but I didn’t seem to mind joining the team for dinner anyway. We headed to the nearby Kusina ni Macoy – the last trip we took to Mindanao 4 years ago, Pastor Alvin and I chanced this place for its Balbacoa. Now, on top of that, we also had grilled pork belly and slow cooked beef soup. The Macapuno Pastillas was a surprise hit, for afters, and Pastor Rey N thought to buy more to bring home to Baguio.
The barbecue alley was not too far away, and there were other stalls that served other things. I had my camera bag with me and I took a couple of shots here and there, before joining the rest of the team, who decided to spend time with the sweet corn guy in his stall.
I took some time after this to organize the school supplies I was going to bring to Mungu the next day; I received the names of preschool, elementary and high school kids, and I bought materials for them as needed. For the elementary students, I was pretty bothered that writing pads were sold and labelled, supposedly according to grade level. Unfortunately I only knew as far as who were in elementary school, but I didn’t know what grades they were in – which meant I just went with buying them notebooks instead. Soon as that was done, I spoke with Ann – I tried as much as I could to keep her posted throughout the day, but I do remember filling in the need to catch up with her before dozing off.
This day was a good day. We worked as a team. We saw potential, both in the children we ministered to, and the structure Pastor Gilbert was establishing. We recalled our value as ministers in the thanks we got from the community. And I suppose all of this just made the local delicacies taste that much better.
I thought I’d finish each day in one post, but apparently when you throw in the other details, you’ll need to keep spacing things out.
Until my next post – which I hope is coming very soon – May the Good Lord continue to bless and keep you and your family, and all you’re involved in.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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