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Daily Scripture
 
"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."

Psalm 37:5

WHAT HAS 40 ARMS AND 48 LEGS?

Filipino group traveling on one motorcycle

May 24, 2007

by Ian Fallis

How do 20 Higaunon believers and two pigs travel more than 50 miles to this week's bi-annual church conference in the Philippines?

They hire two motorcycles.

The load included all of their luggage, but it's not as bad as it sounds because the pigs didn't bring any luggage.

"These motorbikes have a frame built on the back of them with two planks of wood tied crossways to them and they often carry up to ten people plus the driver," wrote missionaries Ron and Michelle Jennings. Two people sit behind the driver, and two boards that they call wings stick out on each side in order to carry eight more.

"They told of how they braced themselves along the highway as big buses overtook them with other buses coming the other way and they prayed thinking they were going to be squashed between them," the couple wrote. "Then on the mountain roads they described how many times they crashed as the bike could not stay balanced on the rough roads.

"It's OK though, they said, with the wings sticking out the way they do the bike can't actually crush you, you just get toppled off."

Hiring the bikes cost the believers the equivalent of two weeks' wages.

"Anyone who is willing to go through all that to attend a Bible conference and stand at this end rejoicing in God's provision in getting them here has to have a motive that is little bit beyond the natural realm," wrote Ron and Michelle. "They just decided what the Lord wanted them to do and placed themselves in His hands."

"As usual they come as a tremendous encouragement to us as they shared what the Lord has been doing in their lives and the lives of the believers in their area since the last time we saw them."

Thank the Lord with us for the faith and growth of the Higaunon believers.