“We gave joy and found it in abundance”
By Gary Idulza
A Psalm of David keep ringing in my ear, it was a verse of chapter 86 of Psalms and it says “Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul”. We are that joy to our Higaonon Brethren and them to us, for if we only let God use us, we would indeed be a blessing. As we were on this trip, we were as of living through the words of Psalms 86. That gave me comfort and security through heavy rain, slippery paths, cold nights, muddy terrain, doubt, despair and the ever present danger of death.
Waking up in the stillness of the night, as everybody seems to be asleep. I praised God and gave thanks to Him, how wonderful it is to be a servant serving others that cannot give anything in return. They could only impart their shelter and their joy; they could only ask God on what might be our need. At the break of day, Brother Boy Sin-ingans’ house turned into a beehive of activity, the ladies were already busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast for us; all three dozen of us and by no means was an easy feat to do.
We gathered around for the early news coming from the project site and what good news it was. As early as 4 hours past midnight, as was the instruction to start the operation of the catchment’s basin, they are now using it as planned. As water flowed out of the pipeline from the catchment’s basin, they now used the water for drinking and for gardening purposes. When everybody heard about it, praises and thanks broke the stillness silence of the morning at Kalipay.
Breakfast came and gone and now we prepared for the early Sunday fellowship that will be held at Brother Boy Sin-ingan’s house. We as adventurous as ever decided to bathe at a nearby catchment’s basin, which was way down the steep and slippery slope of Kalipay Proper. As the start of the fellowship got nearer, more and more people are now coming to Brother Boy’s house. Some of our brethren came as far as from Bukbokon, a place on the mountains of Butuan City. A good two hours plus by bus from were we are now, but they didn’t even rode any vehicle; they just walk more than four hours of mountain path on a rugged and steep terrain. What commitment have these brethren of ours that they where on time for the 8 a.m. Sunday fellowship. I felt ashamed of myself that I often go late for fellowship, these brethren walk farther than my house to our fellowship center at Cagayan de Oro City. When the fellowship started, everybody was shoulder to shoulder singing praises and worship our God Almighty. We further strengthened each other by the quoting verses from the Bible and exhorting fellow brethren that the things we do are all for God’s glory and the furtherance of his Kingdom. There was also one surprise that was in store for us, the official public head of Kalipay donated a lot for the building of a Ministry church at the barangay’s proper. Praise God! Everybody was delighted by the news.
We then packed our things,
blessed everyone and be blessed also by them, and then off we go back to Cagayan de Oro City our home. The Trip was for me a memory of a lifetime, it seems that I learned more of life and how I should be thankful of the blessing I have now, and be content of it. Serving others as Jesus Christ served us took a new perspective of life for me. Having tasted God’s presence amongst our Higaonon brethrens, I should impart the lessons learned in this trip to my self and others so that they may see that serving is the way to be.
By Gary Idulza
A Psalm of David keep ringing in my ear, it was a verse of chapter 86 of Psalms and it says “Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul”. We are that joy to our Higaonon Brethren and them to us, for if we only let God use us, we would indeed be a blessing. As we were on this trip, we were as of living through the words of Psalms 86. That gave me comfort and security through heavy rain, slippery paths, cold nights, muddy terrain, doubt, despair and the ever present danger of death.
Waking up in the stillness of the night, as everybody seems to be asleep. I praised God and gave thanks to Him, how wonderful it is to be a servant serving others that cannot give anything in return. They could only impart their shelter and their joy; they could only ask God on what might be our need. At the break of day, Brother Boy Sin-ingans’ house turned into a beehive of activity, the ladies were already busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast for us; all three dozen of us and by no means was an easy feat to do.
We gathered around for the early news coming from the project site and what good news it was. As early as 4 hours past midnight, as was the instruction to start the operation of the catchment’s basin, they are now using it as planned. As water flowed out of the pipeline from the catchment’s basin, they now used the water for drinking and for gardening purposes. When everybody heard about it, praises and thanks broke the stillness silence of the morning at Kalipay.
Breakfast came and gone and now we prepared for the early Sunday fellowship that will be held at Brother Boy Sin-ingan’s house. We as adventurous as ever decided to bathe at a nearby catchment’s basin, which was way down the steep and slippery slope of Kalipay Proper. As the start of the fellowship got nearer, more and more people are now coming to Brother Boy’s house. Some of our brethren came as far as from Bukbokon, a place on the mountains of Butuan City. A good two hours plus by bus from were we are now, but they didn’t even rode any vehicle; they just walk more than four hours of mountain path on a rugged and steep terrain. What commitment have these brethren of ours that they where on time for the 8 a.m. Sunday fellowship. I felt ashamed of myself that I often go late for fellowship, these brethren walk farther than my house to our fellowship center at Cagayan de Oro City. When the fellowship started, everybody was shoulder to shoulder singing praises and worship our God Almighty. We further strengthened each other by the quoting verses from the Bible and exhorting fellow brethren that the things we do are all for God’s glory and the furtherance of his Kingdom. There was also one surprise that was in store for us, the official public head of Kalipay donated a lot for the building of a Ministry church at the barangay’s proper. Praise God! Everybody was delighted by the news.
We then packed our things,
blessed everyone and be blessed also by them, and then off we go back to Cagayan de Oro City our home. The Trip was for me a memory of a lifetime, it seems that I learned more of life and how I should be thankful of the blessing I have now, and be content of it. Serving others as Jesus Christ served us took a new perspective of life for me. Having tasted God’s presence amongst our Higaonon brethrens, I should impart the lessons learned in this trip to my self and others so that they may see that serving is the way to be.
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