Return to the goddess of evil
Diwalwal Outreach article from Jo (some input from George)
Well it's that time again. We are going back to Diwalwal Waal on Mt Dewata ( the goddess of evil) To be honest in the flesh some of the team don't want to go but in our spirits we do. Very strange feeling!
We have a new member this trip, Dawn Hope from Mlang. She was in the mission school with Anne and JM. We picked her up on the way there at a place called Tagum.
On arrival at Dwalwal we went directly to our new friend and on site contact, Janes place ( the former drug den). We were pleasantly surprised as they had made the big 'bedroom' into two by partitioning with curtains so me and G had our own space. The 4 girls were on the floor and Jun Jun got a 'bed' all to himself .
That night the team preached at a gymnasium that had its roof ripped off by Typhoon Pablo.
It was pouring down so quite a poor turn out. I stood over the sound system with an umbrella ( very high tech) and it reminded me of when I used to stand in the pouring rain under an aircraft wing in Aberdeen airport. Fast forward 20 years, I'm now saved and up a mountain in a place like Sodom and Gomorrah preaching the gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ. In my wildest dreams I couldn't have predicted that or comprehended it!!
Because the rain was so strong we moved to sheltered area close by and a few of the team preached. The heavy rain had stopped people coming but one man just stood there the whole way through so Jane, Vennie and George stood speaking to speak to him, he wept as he gave his life to Jesus!
On the way back to the 'Dewata Hilton' ha ha! we went to pray for Yoli' s (our friend we met last time) daughter who was having a difficult and painful pregnancy. She miscarried her last child and was obviously anxious about this one. Instant healing as pain left the body directly after we rebuked it.
Yoli owns a little store in a bunk house where the miners live. Her daughter is married and her and her husband live in a little room about the size of our bathroom There was 2 friends in there already so when me G and Yoli crammed in you could hardly move.
That night as we turned in I sat on the home made bed and heard a loud crack. G then kneeled on the bed, another crack . We weren't sure if the bed was going to last until morning as it was only thin plywood. We had a nice view of the roof as there was a hole in the ceiling straight above us! Took me hours to get to sleep and then found out I was locked out of the WC. G had to find me one by the power of dimming flashlight, which he eventually did down a steep flight of stairs into the nether regions of this ore breaking/factory come house. Despite still no electricity in Diwalwal this is a precarious place of rest considering were came willing to sleep and live out of the car - all 8 of us. Oh the joys of missionary life.. Oh the joy's of seeing lost souls find Christ!
This incident broke my heart. This is 3 little boys. None of them would have been above 8 years of age. We passed them and could see they were helping out with the family budget by carrying heavy ore. No school just a horrible job walking and carrying heavy loads up mountainous roads for a few pesos. One of the boys looked really unwell with sores round his nose. Maybe solvent abuse Im not sure. If so would probably want to blot out his hard and joyless existence. I wanted to weep and felt so sad for them.
The next morning we had quite a breakthrough in our prayer time which was evidenced by on fire preaching and many salvations and Healings. Not quite sure what passers by thought as they passed the house as we were VERY loud and there are no windows. Actually the weather was quite cold whilst we were there so very refreshing for me but not so for the poor Filipinos.
Not good for George either when he had to wash and shave in freezing mountain water.
We drove down a treacherous rocky track, sheer drops, big rocks, mud & potholes all along the way. But we had prayed and trusted the Lord to keep us to fulfil His plan for the day. Arriving in a small village, built in to the edge of the mountain, known locally as Australia?? Every little shack and home ore breaking factory looked as if it could drop off the precarious slope it was built on very easily!
We were led to stop at a small store and asked if we could buy coffee. Everything is very flexible here. Even if they don't sell coffee they will try their best to accommodate your request. All business as usual.
The Australian Gold Mine
We did not realise that this stopping place was directly outside one of the biggest gold mines there is there and by miraculous timing and divine intervention it was shift change and the mine manager "just happened" to be passing us on that little track. Without knowing who he was G & Jun said hello and began to engage him in small talk. When he explained who he was and where he was going we asked and received permission to preach to all the miners. He said the best time was right away. We gulped coffee, grabbed the sound system and headed into the compound. They stopped the entire operation and gave us 30 minutes to share the good news of the gospel. It was a captive audience as it was in their place of work so they had no option but to listen. Perhaps a 100 plus men and ancillary staff listened intently to the message of Gods saving love and the eternal consequence of unforgiven sin. Many of these strong men hung their heads and wept. The manager included. I'd estimate that 90+ percent responded and prayed a prayer asking for salvation. By Gods grace we will return to that place.
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| Jun Preaching at Australia Gold Mine - Many wept as they received Christ |
After that we walked about making friends with the people. It is a verrrry long time since these people have seen Westerners unless they go to Davao. White people seldom go to Dwaal Waal , in fact one lady told us that in her 30 years there she had never seen anyone come and preach and pray for the sick.
We later learnt from some of the new converts in that place that a cult community directly behind the mine compound had heard our preaching and had mocked us and our message to the rest community, The night after a fire broke out in one of the cult homes spreading quickly and burnt every house in their area only to the ground. A 100 or so houses were destroyed but thankfully no casualties. The locals told us openly we know it is because they mocked what you preached. Fear came upon us.
A few days later another Typhoon came through, very strange for weather pattern for Diwalwal, but the only Purock damaged and with many casualties from flying debris again this same place! Be not deceived God is not mocked.
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| Dawn Hope preaching while a man shoulders a freezer |
Just a 100 metres or so from the mine compound entrance we found another good place to set up the speaker system for a JSP (Just Stop & Preach) there were around 20 or so people milling about quite bemused by our presence so a public sharing was timely. One man thanked us for coming and immediately went to the owner of the very noisy Ball Mill beside us (Ball Mill - ore breaking house of 24/7 rollers crushing ore to release gold, almost every home has one). No problem, the man shut down his generators and gave us peace to preach Christ Jesus.
The place is really quite a culture shock for the unprepared, full of trash and the smell of human faeces hits your nostrils most places you go. Not sure what is was like before the typhoon but it really is like a hell hole now. You can see Gods blessings are missing due to the corruption and greed of the people, the occult bondage, 80% are on mind numbing drugs and the politicians that run the place turn a blind eye so they can profit from cheap gold.
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The view from the house we have kindly be offered to stay in.
Better than 8 people all sleeping in the car as we had planned.
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Despite this the people are mostly very friendly. Following this last JSP our practise is to have a walkabout and talk with people on a one to one. G, Vennie & myself were invited to come in too an old couples 'home'. They said they had both received Jesus during the preaching. They said they both suffered infirmities so G offered prayer, God is so good, when we prayed and they both got healed of back injuries and arthritis.
Soon, word got out about the healing miracles and people began to arrive and the house filled up.
We led many more to Jesus and prayed with most for healing, all experienced immediate healings. Eventually we left Vennie talking to a transgender. She informed him that if he didn't give his life to Jesus and be what The Lord made him to be he would go to hell. He admitted that he hated his life and didn't like the way he was. He ended up accepting Jesus and then Anne, who had appeared, prayed for his sinusitis and The Lord healed him. He said repeatedly "Its gone, its gone". Vennie said that to begin with there was a battle as she felt like demons were looking at her through his eyes!
After this we took a short and again precarious drive up to the next enclave. Because this is the only flat plateau its referred to as the "Helipad" It's a high point with an all round panoramic view of both the high and low communities living up this mountain. We felt to stop here and remit sin as Jesus instructed us in John 20v23, repenting for the sins of the forefathers just as both Daniel and Nehemiah had done. We had a makeshift communion using fruit and water and if the liberty and power of the next JSP was anything to go by then there certainly seemed like a the heavens had opened and power to preach and to heal the sick streamed down. Many more bowed there heads in repentance then joyfully received healing in their bodies.
JM and Anne preached .... Very powerful. Among the many healings one man with a raging fever started to sweat profusely as we prayed for him and said he felt a lot better. Many men healed from back pain and headaches. These two ailments are extremely common there. The reason being the type of work - mining and headaches due to the fumes from the mercury and the cyanide which they use to refine the gold.
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| Cant drive everywhere - Sometimes walking |
That evening we preached in the street very close to the house we were staying at. Unbeknownst to each other me and Vennie were struggling when we started to pray for the sick. I felt apathetic and unanointed. (Reason for this is later on in the blog). George and the rest of the team saw many healings. One person G prayed with had a painful breast cancer lump immediately disappear. Next to her was a woman whose husband experienced the exact - same when we preached here two weeks earlier. A painful lump the size of a small tomatoe instantly disappeared off his chest. The same woman had requested prayer for her three month old grandchild who was due to be operated on the next day for a large lump. As the operation was about to begin the "The lump also completely disappeared"!
Next to her in George's line was the old couple that Jesus had healed from back injuries, the man from TB and chronic arthritis. They wanted to testify and ask for further blessing on their lives.
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| All houses used for gold refining |
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| This is the centre of Nang community |
Slept better that night and the bed was still intact when we got up on the morning! After prayer and enquiry we felt directed to visit another community, this one known as Vietnam but nicknamed "Nang". What a shocker!! if we thought the drive the day before was treacherous this was times five. As for the place itself - This really was Sodom.
The atmosphere was much darker, the people, mostly men, far less friendly, the place - filthy. No one felt comfortable. The speaker system malfunctioned, G's phone that we play the music through malfunctioned. Eventually we used a car battery to power the speaker system.
Worst place in Deialwal so far. Filthy atmosphere. The 'roads 'here were unbelievable.
Regards Jo
This man in the picture below believe it or not was barefoot. This man will carry massive loads on his back all day long up and down the mountain. With shoes on that would be exhausting and arduous but without shoes , the mind boggles!
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| Barefoot on sharp rocks with HEAVY weight |
This was the place that I saw the worst transgender ever . I have no words to explain and I didn't take a pic but he was a pitiful sight. It reminded me of when Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom if there were 5 righteous men. I think this place would be struggling! More prayer and fasting required here.
Back to the house for lunch and a final meeting. After lunch we headed off with Jane and Yoli in tow to go to Monkayo to Jane's friend. She is a Barangay captain and owns the house we were staying in in Diwalwal. Her ex husband is the owner of the gold mine there. She had arranged a meeting with some of her constituents to hear us share the gospel. Quite interesting considering this lady is a devout catholic.
George preached to quite a large crowd of people. They listened intently, mostly all raised their hands to accept Jesus and then we asked if any wanted to come up to receive healing from Jesus. Nearly all of them came up.
Saw many Healings, in fact it felt like the anointing had come back for me. One woman said that she had had burning in her feet for a long time and it disappeared. One man with pain all over his body started to touch his toes and was beaming when he said the pain had gone. A little boy we prayed for who had a bad fever, he cooled down after prayer. A dumb G & Jun prayed with girl spoke. Sinuses were healed
Many many healings that night. How compassionate is the Lord to care not just for our soul but also our bodies.
The lady healed from the burning feet asked us to pray for her daughter who had had an issue of blood for 6 months. I felt to ask her if she had idols in her house and she replied "yes". I said tell her to throw the idols out and The Lord will heal her.
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| HB JSP - Highways & Byways Just Stop & Preach - Nang |
Following the meeting we were then asked if we didn't mind visiting some homes were the people were so sick that they couldn't attend the meeting. All were very close so it was no problem for us. First, they took us to a hut where a lady had been bedridden for 8 years. She looked dead already but we prayed for her anyway. No immediate sign of healing but there again, many of the miracles are not manifest until the next day. We get many texts several days later to learn of a "delayed miracle".
We then came to the issue of blood ladies house. The first thing that G asked without knowing my conversation regarding this was ' has she got idols on the house'. Which was interesting as I hadn't said anything to him about that. We prayed for her but not sure if she will throw them out. Massive stronghold! Usually, if the sick person owns idols they don't receive a healing. Those that are willing to obey the bible, repent and do away with their idols do receive a healing!
We enjoyed a great dinner at the barangay captains house and was sung to by Jane's daughter currently one of the finalists in the Philippine equivalent of "Philippines X factor" or similar. By 9pm we began the seven hour drive back to Gensan and home.
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| Perilous drive into the Nang |
The next day me and Vennie were talking (we always pair up to pray) and I commented on how I had felt a couple of times when I had been praying for the sick and she said she felt exactly the same. She had said Lord have I sinned against you. What's wrong. We came to the conclusion that the heavy demonic atmosphere had affected both of us and we had listened to the devil instead of God. I believe also that their faith is in gold not in God. But, when we got to Monkayo in the valley and some two hours drive from Diwawal we both felt a liberty and a freedom that we hadn't felt up the mountain. I must say though it only affected me and Vennie didn't seem to affect anyone else.
Dawn our new member said she loved the fact that she didn't have to have a shower for 3 days. The reason being it wasn't easy going into a pitch black room with no windows, nowhere to hang your clothes. Your water is in a bucket and you forgot to bring a towel so you are using a throw. Oh and you have to hang your solar lamp over the only tap. I think I am now qualified to adapt to anything, anywhere!!
Regards Jo
GALLERY
This is our 4 wheel drive with another puncture. Joyfully fixed by bystanders who simply refuse to allow George to change the wheel. Punctures apart, definitely the vehicle The Lord wanted us to have. What a blessing it is. The 'roads' are the worst I have ever seen in my life. Sometimes we don't even know if the car will make it. But it always does. Jun Jun does a lot of the driving so we even have a 'chauffeur' . He is also our technical man who sets up the solar lights , sound system etc. when the team are preaching. The entire team are an amazing bunch of people. Truly The Lord hand picked them.
More places we cant drive
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| Everything is carried by everyone |
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| Another Child carrier |
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