FIRST TRIBAL CHILDREN’S
CAMP
Glory to God for the success of the
children’s Camp. It was harder than I thought to control children who gathered
in a camp for the first time. Unlike the camps I ran before, this one is unique
and worth remembering.
THE Participants
207 Bla’an
children came (ages 6
– 12 years old) from 4 sitios (small villages) of Kihan and were excited to
experience that first time event in their lives.
Teachers and Volunteers
With the help of 3 teachers and 23
volunteers the camp was made possible.
Miss Sol Chua – A teacher and a church worker at Tagum
Christan Fellowship. She helped handle the children 6 to 8 years
old.
Miss Marjorie
Gayagaya – A licensed
teacher, a Bible School Graduate and a children Minister at Bula GB Church. She
handled the 9 – 12 years old during the camp.
Pastora Karen
Mada- A tribal worker
and wife of Pastor Elmer Mada now serving Faith Gospel Church of Amnas, Kihan,
Malapatan, Sarangani Province. She served as assistant Director of the Camp. I
am praying for her to lead the future children’s camps.
The highlands Youth assisted the teachers in
the class and in serving food,
The women helped for the food and merienda
preparation
The Pastors helped in some other
capacities.
REACH TEAM also conducted medical clinic at that
time and served as the medical personnel just in case of
emergencies.
Alabel youth served as my personal
assistants in transportation and photography.
Camp Acitivities
May 26 (Travel, registration
and orientation)
We Travel from Gensan to kihan along with the volunteer teachers and
with the initial supplies at the back of
Pepe. I also took the extra refrigerator to kihan so we a place to stack the
perishable items. We arrived near lunch time as the travel needs to be slower
due to the condition of the vehicle. We had few stops wondering if we can make
it to kihan as the back wheel began to have a grinding noise but as I continued,
the noise were gone. I also needed to shift to low gear on that long
Downhill road as the brake didn’t seem to hold. We were also stuck on the muddy
trail near kihan as the rainy season is starting, thus making the travel more
challenging. But we made it to Kihan. Children are there waiting to be
registered. Sister Kristina already registered some and got more than 60 on the
list already. The rain poured after lunch and making the place cooler as the
breeze blew on the Clinic. We have to wait for the rain to stop and began the
registration. The road toward the venue was muddy but the children didn’t mind
it due to excitement. We registered 160+ on that afternoon and made orientation
on the kids about the camp and what they needed to do and what to bring with
them. We dismissed the kids at 4pm as it was a day camp only ( the facilities
was not suitable for children staying overnight). The REACH Team arrived late
that afternoon for the Free clinic and Medical Support of the Camp. When their
vehicle got stuck in the slippery uphill climb before reaching the clinic, I was called to tow them out which
I did hoping Pepe could help. But it was funny because the supposed savior
needed to be saved later as Pepe got stuck
and wouldn’t start. The REACH vehicle managed to get out anyway without Pepe’s
help (I just assisted Jordan
how to get out) and later towed Pepe toward
the open space near the clinic.
That evening at the Clinic’s upstairs (Staff house),
the staff were up until 11pm preparing for the things needed for the next couple
of days.
May 27
The staff continued to register the participants coming that morning and we did reached 207 participants as we started at 8 in the morning. We had the opening program in the morning with Praise singing, prayer, Introduction of staff, setting the Camp Rules, Learning new songs and Short Movie. Then we divided the participants into 2 groups for the division of class according to their age category. With the help of teachers and youth volunteers, the children were able to enjoy more lessons and handwork in their respective class. We serve Merienda in
between class and Lunch after the morning session. In the afternoon, we divided the participants into 4 groups for the group games and with the help of 4 youth volunteers who served as coaches (team leaders), we were able to make the children enjoy the games that whole afternoon. We served merienda at the end of the games before we dismissed them at 4pm.
May 28
We started at 8 in the morning with praise and worship and the word of God through movie with
and Cristina were with me that time. When we were on our way back, the river was flooded so high for the first time since April that we cannot cross to have the supplies delivered to the other side.
That was 5:30 in the afternoon and we waited
for many hours along with the stranded people on the village before crossing the
river. We look for a place where we can cook something to eat and I am grateful,
an assembly of God member volunteered to cook for us. I bought rice and sardines
in the sari-sari store nearby. That was 9 in the evening that the stranded
people decided to go as the river was low enough for them to cross on foot.
Pastor Benjie and Cristina decided to walk toward the clinic. I decided to stay
and wait for the morning as I have to cross the river 5 times and no one could
help in case I have troubles in the middle of the night. I did not go somewhere
but stayed inside the vehicle praying that I could be able to deliver the goods
safely to the other side. I could see lightning flashes somewhere beyond kihan
and begun to worry of the river might go even higher when it rains up in the
mountains. My fear worsen when heavy rains poured so hard at around 2 in the
morning and I began to talk to God about the need to cross the river and for
what purpose why I got stranded in the other side of the river. The answer to my
questions got answered at around 3 in the morning when I heard noise outside
from people walking in the rain with their flashlights on carrying somebody on a
hammock. I went outside out of curiosity and found out that a woman gave birth
at around 9 pm and the placenta still left inside. The tribal customs here did
not permit the umbilical cord to be cut until the placenta comes out. So in that
case, the newborn baby was already outside with the umbilical cord still
attached to the mother for 6 hours. It was cold and raining with only one
umbrella to cover the mother and child. I was moved with compassion and without
a second thought, I said to myself that it was God’s purpose why I was stranded on the other side of Kihan,
to save that mother and the boy. I then volunteered to take them to the Hospital
as there was no available vehicle to transport them, and that case was
considered urgent. It took me less than an hour to reach Gensan Hospital and
delivered the patient safely. It was already 5 in the morning when I got back on
the river side but amazingly, the river did not go higher as I feared to happen.
Glory to God. Back at the clinic the night before, the Camp staff and REACH team
were worried with us as there was no other means to communicate anybody at the
clinic to let them know of our situation.
May 29
The most joyous day for me. I arrived safely at the site so renewed and invigorated despite the
The most joyous day for me. I arrived safely at the site so renewed and invigorated despite the
lack of sleep the other night. Arriving that morning means I have to do what was supposed to do the night before, the sorting of the goodies (school supplies) and the prizes. But with the help of the volunteers, the task was done so fast. We had the children gathered again for that last day of camp. We worship God in singing praises with Pastora Karen. I preached to them and led hundreds of them to give their lives to Jesus. What a Glorious day. We gave a spaghetti treat to the children (so special here) and divided the class for the last time for their workshop and distribution of the school supplies. The children were so happy for the gift they had because
school started
on the first week of June and the thing they received were useful as they start
the school year. We distributed a pack depending on his/her grade. Inside the
pack (plastic case) were pen/pencil with sharpener, notebook, eraser and writing
pads. I could added more items but because of that number of participants, I
limited the items to what we can only afford. It was not only the children, but
also the parents who witnessed the distribution of school pack were happy and
personally thanked us for the help. It was just a simple thing, so limited
but that meant so much to
lives of the people here at the mountain. After Lunch we had some short games
and surprises at the hall then we distributed the prizes for their game
winnings. The children were so happy. Many asked if we will do it again next
year…. And we answered “ we plan to do it again”. We then asked the children to help in the clean up and
restoration of the venue which did not took us too long. The Camp officially
ended at 3 in the afternoon. Later that afternoon, together with the staff, we
had a small thanksgiving celebration at the clinic. I appreciate all
their efforts and their joy to serve in
the camp. Everybody was in high spirit as we discussed each experiences during
the camp. I gave each a simple token of appreciation. We stayed for
the night and had a movie for the
staff.May 30
Early in the
morning, with the hope that I could make Pepe (the mountain Jeep) to start as I
did not took any attention to the vehicle on the onset of the camp. After
figuring out , patience and prayerful tries, I made the engine to run again.
Glory to Jesus. We loaded our stuff to the jeep , ate our breakfast and helped
in cleaning the Clinic before leaving. We left Kihan at around 9 in the morning.
The travel was slow and with caution as we had trouble with Pepe on our way to
kihan 3 days ago. We made a stop-over at alabel Church to drop some volunteers
then continued our way to Gensan to eat Lunch at the House with the 2 teachers
going home. I finally rested my mind after the month-long super adventure in the
highlands of Sarangani.
for more pictures of the camp, just click the facebook link : https://www.facebook.com/jogubal/media_set?set=a.10204158975318677.1073741856.1355015043&type=3
Pastor Jojo Gubal
EFM Ministry Associate
for more pictures of the camp, just click the facebook link : https://www.facebook.com/jogubal/media_set?set=a.10204158975318677.1073741856.1355015043&type=3
Pastor Jojo Gubal
EFM Ministry Associate