A trip to visit Banwaon believers in the Philippines became an exciting adventure and a chance to make new friends for a group visiting from the USA.
"It had been a long day toward the end of a very full couple of weeks," wrote missionary David Johanson. "We had spent the afternoon on motorcycles in the jungle and it had rained most of the afternoon."
David was taking the group to visit a Banwaon village, but now they found the river was overflowing its banks. It was impossible to cross the river that afternoon. "There is a village on the other side [of the river] but just a few houses on our side," David wrote.
The villagers welcomed their visitors and began finding ways to make them comfortable. The flooded river gave the group an unforgettable experience. "Those people were just so generous to us," David wrote.
David bought some sardines and rice and some of the ladies cooked it for their visitors. "Sardines and rice taste so good when you are tired and hungry and wet," said David's wife Helen. "We used banana leaf plates and hands for utensils."
Eight people squeezed onto a sheet of plywood in a small hut while three others slept on a raised platform. The villagers provided the plywood from one home and a tarp for the roof from another. They wanted to make the visitors as comfortable as possible.
The next morning the river was still brown and swift but the level had gone down enough to cross. The raft had been washed away during the night so the villagers made 11 trips in a canoe to deliver the group to the other side.
They finally arrived before noon and were greeted by relieved Banwaon believers. They shared sweet fellowship as the Banwaons sang praise songs they had written and the group sang songs in English to them.
The visitors were thrilled to hear the testimonies of the Banwaons and to catch a glimpse of their spiritual maturity. Pray that these people will be challenged to increase their involvement with missions. Pray also for the Banwaon believers to continue to grow spiritually.
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