And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9, 10 NIV)
We had the privilege to visit the Bugkalot tribal lands with Pastor Jay who heads up Global Empowerment, and who regularly speaks at Christ's Commission Fellowship Alabang and CCF Singapore. Pastor Jay has been a missionary to the Philippines for over thirty years, and has lived with the Bugkalot while with New Tribes Missions. He speaks the Bugkalot language by heart, has raised his family with the tribe, and many people there fondly call him "Uncle".
Me and my wife Ashley in Nueva Viscaya, Bugkalot tribal territory, near the first nursery for coffee seedlings. The land was truly beautiful, barely touched. As this is tribal land, you would only venture there when accompanied.
What's so unusual about the Bugkalot? Well, they used to be a tribe of fierce head-hunters. The literal kind, not those who help people move from one company to another. Their culture used to be so violent that every youth was expected to take a head as he transitioned into manhood, and a man couldn't marry unless he had taken a head.
A Bugkalot in traditional tribal garb. The head dress was significant, and indicated heads taken.
Along a trail with Jay, Joseph, plus Scott, and Tim, who have been missionaries in the Philippines (Tim, to the Tagbanua tribe in Palawan).
Then Jay tells the story of how two New Tribes' missionaries in the late 1950's started to camp outside the Bugkalot lands and attempted to make contact. They told of one night where they somehow got lost on the trail and couldn't find their way back to their tent, so they slept somewhere along the trail. The following morning, they found the trail again, and went back to their tent. Later on, a Bugkalot man adopted them into his family, and they started living with the tribe and learning the language. This man would later become the first believer, and would lead to a great many Bugkalot becoming believers.
We enjoyed an invigorating 3-hour hike to Cawayan village along a beautiful mountain trail. In the photo are Thelma, Ashley Magbanua, Diday Patino and Gemma Jamero.
We even did a river-crossing.
When the missionaries had already learned the language, some Bugkalot men asked them, "Do you remember when you used to live in the cloth house? Do you remember when you didn't go home one night?" The missionaries had a bit of trepidation at that point. They said they got lost that night and couldn't find their tent. The Bugkalot, who are experts in the forest, couldn't believe that. To them it was the equivalent of telling your wife you went to the mall and didn't go home last night because you got lost. The missionaries then learned that Bugkalot men had surrounded their tent that day, and planned to kill them. When the missionaries didn't appear that night, the stealthy Bugkalot were convinced that the only way the men could have known about the planned attack was that a spirit from above had warned them. So when the missionaries said they had a message to them from Creator God above, the men were ready to listen.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
As we visited the Bugkalot, we were able to go to the villages at Lipuga, Cawayan and Pelaway. Often times in small conversations they would ask Jay in their local tongue if we his companions, were Christians, and their faces would light up when Jay would say yes. They might even clarify if "Christians" in name only, or in name and deed. (That's actually a sad commentary on today, but the reality is that some only claim to be Christians but don't live lives as true believers and followers of Christ!)
The people we met were very friendly and helpful. They would even ask discretely if we were Christians, and they had a calm assurance they would go to heaven.
It was so refreshing to meet the Bugkalot. There are now strong churches in each of the villages. Whereas Bugkalot from different villages used to kill each other when they met on a trail, now all the villages actively support each other. The people we met were very friendly and helpful. And people had a genuine assurance of salvation. They knew they were going to heaven - that we would meet again then, if not again earlier. The Bugkalot have a saying, that formerly, they were unafraid to kill, but they feared dying, and today, they are unafraid to die, but fear killing.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:16, 36 NIV)
Our trip thus had the feel of going to a Christian Camp, to a gathering of Christians. But this was no mere camp, it was the vast ancestral lands of the Bugkalot, and it was actual village after village of believers.
The Holy Spirit is so alive in them that even with their modest means, they have now sent and are supporting Bugkalot missionaries to the Agta tribe in Bicol. And for the Bugkalot to support their missionaries and improve their livelihood, there is now a grand plan set into motion of planting hectare upon hectare of coffee beans, to become one of their main economies. And by God's grace, we will support this project as well.
We visited the nursery they started to build for the coffee seedlings, and the future planting sites.
We had the privilege to visit the Bugkalot tribal lands with Pastor Jay who heads up Global Empowerment, and who regularly speaks at Christ's Commission Fellowship Alabang and CCF Singapore. Pastor Jay has been a missionary to the Philippines for over thirty years, and has lived with the Bugkalot while with New Tribes Missions. He speaks the Bugkalot language by heart, has raised his family with the tribe, and many people there fondly call him "Uncle". 
What's so unusual about the Bugkalot? Well, they used to be a tribe of fierce head-hunters. The literal kind, not those who help people move from one company to another. Their culture used to be so violent that every youth was expected to take a head as he transitioned into manhood, and a man couldn't marry unless he had taken a head. 
The Bugkalot live in the Sierra Madre mountains of Northern Luzon, and their huge ancestral lands are protected by the Philippine government. Logs and wood products cannot be taken out of their territory, and land use is governed by the Bugkalot.
There is a record in some Japanese history books that during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the 1940's, a troop went to the Bugkalot territory wanting to occupy the land, armed with guns and bayonets, but they were picked off one by one by the Bugkalot with their sharp bolos, who knew the forests by heart, and were very stealthy. Only one Japanese soldier was allowed to escape and tell the story, which led to the Bugkalot being left alone.
The Bugkalot would go on head-hunting trips, and at times they would ambush even a funeral procession in the lowlands, first killing the man with the shotgun (he was there because of a possible attack by the Bugkalot), and then they would kill all the men, then the women, then proceed to decapitate everyone, up to the corpse in the coffin. It's a horrible story, but that was their history.
Our group at a site of a potential ambush, with Jay explaining how the Bugkalot would carry out an attack.
The killings came to a point that in the 1950's, the Philippine government wanted to eradicate the land of the Bugkalot, and were ready to bomb and invade, and were at the outskirts of the lands. But it was the plea of missionaries to have a chance to work with the Bugkalot that prevailed, and stopped the army from advancing. God's hand was at work.
There is a record in some Japanese history books that during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the 1940's, a troop went to the Bugkalot territory wanting to occupy the land, armed with guns and bayonets, but they were picked off one by one by the Bugkalot with their sharp bolos, who knew the forests by heart, and were very stealthy. Only one Japanese soldier was allowed to escape and tell the story, which led to the Bugkalot being left alone.
The Bugkalot would go on head-hunting trips, and at times they would ambush even a funeral procession in the lowlands, first killing the man with the shotgun (he was there because of a possible attack by the Bugkalot), and then they would kill all the men, then the women, then proceed to decapitate everyone, up to the corpse in the coffin. It's a horrible story, but that was their history.
The killings came to a point that in the 1950's, the Philippine government wanted to eradicate the land of the Bugkalot, and were ready to bomb and invade, and were at the outskirts of the lands. But it was the plea of missionaries to have a chance to work with the Bugkalot that prevailed, and stopped the army from advancing. God's hand was at work.
Along a trail with Jay, Joseph, plus Scott, and Tim, who have been missionaries in the Philippines (Tim, to the Tagbanua tribe in Palawan).
Then Jay tells the story of how two New Tribes' missionaries in the late 1950's started to camp outside the Bugkalot lands and attempted to make contact. They told of one night where they somehow got lost on the trail and couldn't find their way back to their tent, so they slept somewhere along the trail. The following morning, they found the trail again, and went back to their tent. Later on, a Bugkalot man adopted them into his family, and they started living with the tribe and learning the language. This man would later become the first believer, and would lead to a great many Bugkalot becoming believers.
When the missionaries had already learned the language, some Bugkalot men asked them, "Do you remember when you used to live in the cloth house? Do you remember when you didn't go home one night?" The missionaries had a bit of trepidation at that point. They said they got lost that night and couldn't find their tent. The Bugkalot, who are experts in the forest, couldn't believe that. To them it was the equivalent of telling your wife you went to the mall and didn't go home last night because you got lost. The missionaries then learned that Bugkalot men had surrounded their tent that day, and planned to kill them. When the missionaries didn't appear that night, the stealthy Bugkalot were convinced that the only way the men could have known about the planned attack was that a spirit from above had warned them. So when the missionaries said they had a message to them from Creator God above, the men were ready to listen.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
As we visited the Bugkalot, we were able to go to the villages at Lipuga, Cawayan and Pelaway. Often times in small conversations they would ask Jay in their local tongue if we his companions, were Christians, and their faces would light up when Jay would say yes. They might even clarify if "Christians" in name only, or in name and deed. (That's actually a sad commentary on today, but the reality is that some only claim to be Christians but don't live lives as true believers and followers of Christ!)
It was so refreshing to meet the Bugkalot. There are now strong churches in each of the villages. Whereas Bugkalot from different villages used to kill each other when they met on a trail, now all the villages actively support each other. The people we met were very friendly and helpful. And people had a genuine assurance of salvation. They knew they were going to heaven - that we would meet again then, if not again earlier. The Bugkalot have a saying, that formerly, they were unafraid to kill, but they feared dying, and today, they are unafraid to die, but fear killing.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:16, 36 NIV)
Our trip thus had the feel of going to a Christian Camp, to a gathering of Christians. But this was no mere camp, it was the vast ancestral lands of the Bugkalot, and it was actual village after village of believers.
The Holy Spirit is so alive in them that even with their modest means, they have now sent and are supporting Bugkalot missionaries to the Agta tribe in Bicol. And for the Bugkalot to support their missionaries and improve their livelihood, there is now a grand plan set into motion of planting hectare upon hectare of coffee beans, to become one of their main economies. And by God's grace, we will support this project as well.
On our last night, the Bugkalot presented to us some of their dances, singing, traditional garb, and a "fighting dance".
On the last night of our short trip, the Bugkalot at Lipuga gathered for fellowship and to present to us some of their dances, singing, traditional garb, and a "fighting dance". At the closing prayer, I was deeply touched with the powerful words of the Lipuga Elder who thanked God that though the Bugkalot were a terrible and violent people, God in His grace had sent missionaries to tell them of His love, and how Jesus died on the cross to save even the Bugkalot, so that they, too can be forgiven and have eternal life, and also now take part in spreading the Gospel to other tribes.
In Luke 7:41, Jesus tells the story of two debtors, one owing much, and the other little. Both are forgiven by the creditor, master. Who would love their master more? The one who was forgiven more. The Bugkalot are keenly aware of their recent history, and how they were forgiven. And their love for The Lord is something you could feel. May we, like them, always be aware of how much God has forgiven us.
And for anyone who has not yet experienced God's love and forgiveness, and has the comfort that he is accepted by God and will go to heaven, I pray that you will seek Him until you have these. Read the Gospel of John.
It was a true privilege for us to visit the Bugkalot together with Jay, Joseph, Scott, Tim, Diday, Gemma, Ernie and my wife Ashley.
Praise be to God!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On the last night of our short trip, the Bugkalot at Lipuga gathered for fellowship and to present to us some of their dances, singing, traditional garb, and a "fighting dance". At the closing prayer, I was deeply touched with the powerful words of the Lipuga Elder who thanked God that though the Bugkalot were a terrible and violent people, God in His grace had sent missionaries to tell them of His love, and how Jesus died on the cross to save even the Bugkalot, so that they, too can be forgiven and have eternal life, and also now take part in spreading the Gospel to other tribes.
In Luke 7:41, Jesus tells the story of two debtors, one owing much, and the other little. Both are forgiven by the creditor, master. Who would love their master more? The one who was forgiven more. The Bugkalot are keenly aware of their recent history, and how they were forgiven. And their love for The Lord is something you could feel. May we, like them, always be aware of how much God has forgiven us.
And for anyone who has not yet experienced God's love and forgiveness, and has the comfort that he is accepted by God and will go to heaven, I pray that you will seek Him until you have these. Read the Gospel of John.
It was a true privilege for us to visit the Bugkalot together with Jay, Joseph, Scott, Tim, Diday, Gemma, Ernie and my wife Ashley.
Praise be to God!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Philippines
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