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From the Field - Duit, Ifugao Province, Luzon
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Here are two views of the congregation in Duit at a service in 1999 when Dr. Adkins made a visit there. Duit is a tiny barrio about 200 miles (a 7 hour trip!) north of Manila, in the Ifugao Province of Central Luzon. Pastor Cesar is seated in the second row (wearing the necktie). The church is self supporting, and supports the pastor full-time. They have established 9 outreaches in "the next towns also." They have their own building (shown below) as well as a small parsonage. The children attend Sunday School in a separate building. |
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The man holding the small child in the front of this picture is one of the elders of the church. He is a civil engineer by profession, a college graduate, and holds a position in the provincial government. He headed up the major infrastructure projects in the area, and was instrumental in having much of the road from Kiangan (a town on the major highway) to Duit paved. Still, some portions remain unpaved due to extremely difficult working conditions! The final portion up to the church site is a slippery path or equally slippery "stairs" cut out of the rock! |
A Pioneering Effort by OPO workers -
OPO had established a work in a village nearer the main road, and the workers were anxious to go to "the next towns." They were seeking the Lord as to the direction they should take - the prime criteria being that it should be a place without a Christian witness of any kind. The Scriptures had only recently been translated into Tuwali, the local language in the Duit area, by workers from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Although scriptures were available, few could read the language, and there was no church in the immediate area. Adeline and Aida, two of the OPO team members, felt that the Lord was leading them to begin a work there, beginning with literacy training.
They arrived in Duit in April of 1991, and by God's help found lodging in the home of Carlos and Naning, whose daughter was working in Manila. Since leaving her home tribal area, she had accepted Christ and had been praying for someone to bring the Gospel to her people. Adeline and Aida became the means of her prayer being answered. This daughter was of great help when she came home on occasion, helping in the translation of songs into Tuwali.
You must understand that Adeline and Aida, though Filipinas, were from an entirely different culture. They had much learning and adaptation to do themselves. With the help of God, literacy classes began and many were anxious to learn. (One man in the area had thought it a waste of time to learn to read and write ... until he went to purchase insecticides at a nearby town. He saw the pictures of the beautiful plants on the label, took it home, and applied it to his plants. The next day, his plants were all dead! He had purchased herbicide instead of insecticide. He promptly enrolled in the next literacy class).
Using the newly translated Scriptures as the basic textbook, many of the villagers accepted Christ. Before the end of 1991, there were some 17 adults and 30 children meeting for worship in a concrete block rice storage shed, sitting on sacks of rice for their pews.
