OUtreach to Butay, Paquibato~

The 5am beLL calls the lucky few who might still be sleeping, after a night of confused roosters it's not hard to get uP at the crack of dawn! But who'd want to miss the sunrise in a place like this anyhow?! As the first few beams peek over the tallest mountain on the horizon, the clouds begin to quietly dissipate, revealing underneath a sea of mountaintops easily seen from the village of Butay. THe Manobo tribe might not have many pesos in their pockets, but they are mORE than rich with their surroundings in Creation.
We were fortunate enough to accompany a Foursquare Pastors' Retreat to the mountains 4 hours north of Davao City last week for a total of 5 days. Not only doing prenatals and countless baby, children, and well woman check-ups, our team of 3 nurse-midwives, and myself were able to witness a little of how praise&worship happens in Butay and the surrounding tribes. One word to sum it up: CONstant.

Pictures to the left detail the common way to carry a baby around by tying a malong (like a thin sleeping bag with the bottom open);

Shelling rice by pounding it with an oversized mortar and pestle- ya, they were laughing at me;

Erika, a 6yr old washing her families dishes (like a pro, i might add) at one of the 2 water sources (a black pipe running from a spring higher up) in the village;

More check-ups;

and church pews (one of the only times the church was empty).

There are tOO many pics to post them all. And tOO much more to say about the experience. Just know that I am back in Davao, safe in the orange house and back working at Mercy.

I BOOKED MY FLIGHT HOME! For December 23rd...and would love to recount more of the tale in person in the new year ;p