SULADS STORIES

OUR DAY AT DAMPAAN

By Fred L. Webb

October 1994

 

Sabbath, November 5, 1994, began early.  Even though there was no radio transmission, when the clock radio turned on, at 4:00 a.m. I awoke, wide eyed and ready for the exciting adventure--my first trip to Dampaan.  Dampaan was the sight of one of the twelve mission schools once operated by Mountain View College (MVC) in the mountains serving the primitive Manobo tribes.  These school have all been closed due to lack of funding.  This trip was in response to a plea by Datu Timbulawan re-start the school in his village so that his grand children could learn to read and write.  At 5:00 a.m., all those going gathered at my house to start the trip.  

 

Mr. Ruben Lachica would be the driver of the jeep in which I was to ride.  Others in the jeep were Mrs. Norma Lachica, Mrs. Muriel Heppel, and Mrs. Arlene Webb.  The other jeep driven by Edwin, held Mr. and Mrs. Daryl Famisaran, Mr. Alex Panes, Mr. Eugene Llamis, Mr. Joel Velasco and a Manobo and resident of Dampaan who is currently working at MVC.   The first fifteen Km were over the rough dirt road which leads to Mountain View College.  Then about five Km of paved road to the town of Valencia and again we turned off on a dirt road leading to the mountains.  We passed hundreds of hectares of rice paddy after crossing the Palangi River on a narrow one-lane bridge.  Reaching the edge of the flat valley and thus the rice paddies, we skirted along the edge of the hills for a number of Kms before turning up into the mountains.  After crossing through a small creek three times, we started up.  As we rose, the view became more and more spectacular.  Looking down into the valley we could see the neat rice paddies stretching across the Bukidnon Valley to the mountains on the other side where MVC is located.  As we left the valley vistas behind, we were entranced by the corn fields on the steep slopes of the mountains.  We decided that in order to plant or pick the corn, one would have to tie a rope on the waist and anchor it to a rock at the top of the hill to keep from falling off the mountain.  Suddenly we entered an area where there were again neat rice paddy terraces--the town of Concepcion where we met the last vehicle we would see until returning to the valley.  The roads became increasingly bad.  One steep hill was nothing but a pile of rocks held together by a little soil.  The jeeps bounced and twisted as we slowly traversed the road.  At one point, a bridge was non-existent across a chasm.  A detour led steeply down to the small creek and just as steeply up the other side.  Another five Kms led us to the end of what we deemed possible to traverse with the jeeps. 

 

At this point, we loaded all our gear onto our backpacks and began our walk.  The first part was rather nice as we followed an old logging road that since its abandoning had become somewhat impassable by vehicles but provided a good walkway.  Later we turned down a hill to a stream where we hopped from rock to rock to reach the other side.  Then up the hill and down again to another stream.  Just up the hill from that stream, someone said--there is the church.  High on the hill above us stood a fair-sized building which indeed turned out to be the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Dampaan.  What a reception we received.  The Datu met each of us and shook our hands vigorously.  His sister, dressed in native costume greeted us warmly.  Others smiled their welcome.

 

Changing from our travel clothes into ones more becoming to worship, we joined the church of about forty members.  The church was simple but very neat and well built.  The floor was graveled and smooth (waiting for cement so they can make a concrete floor).  All the gravel and sand is carried manually up from the nearest creek about a Km away.  The benches were sturdy wood benches which were very comfortable--the angles were just right to fit the human body.  Four of our number had been student missionaries and three had actually worked or supervised the student missionaries at Dampaan.  Joel Velasco led out in the Sabbath School program.  Datu Timbulawan expressed his delight that the student missionaries were returning.  He talked of the days that formerly were when his own children were able to learn to read and write.  He spoke of his dismay when the school was closed and his delight again in the promise of reopening the school.  Many eyes were dampened by tears as the chief spoke of the changes, the trials, and the pleadings of  his villagers for the return of the student missionaries.  Daryl Famisaran and Joel Velasco responded with their delight at the new beginning.  Dr. Webb told the listeners of like groups worshipping throughout the world.  He brought greetings from Africa, Europe, and North and South America to these faithful souls in Dampaan.

 

The children were having their own Sabbath School in an adjacent building.  Mrs. Norma Lachica, who has studied the Manobos extensively in preparing her masters thesis and currently her doctoral dissertation, led out in the children’s program.  Mrs. Muriel Heppel and Mrs. Arlene Webb participated by telling stories which kept the children captivated.

 

The message of the morning church service was brought by Dr. Fred Webb.  The topic was the Second Coming of Christ and the signs of His appearing.  After just describing the effects of two recent California earthquakes, he went on to another sign when the building began to shake.   “This is a sign of  Jesus coming”, Dr. Webb exclaimed as the earth continued to tremble.  Several of the visiting group were amazed at the special effects illustrating the sermon which concluded with Ellen White’s description of the Second Coming from The Great Controversy.

 

After the church service, the members gathered to have pictures taken to document this historical event.  A potluck dinner soon appeared and we joined in a multi-cultural meal.  A discussion regarding the water supply of the village led to an excursion about 500 meters away to the only source of water for the village.  There was a creek which flowed past but the drinking water came right out of the mountain.  This source had been developed by previous student missionaries and consisted of split bamboo “pipes” sticking out of the side of the mountain carrying cool, clear, and pure drinking water.  It tasted so-o-o good.  As we talked, the Datu asked if there was any way that this water could be pumped up to the village about 30 meters higher in elevation.  As the group talked, we decided to investigate the feasibility of a hydraulic ram pump where the power of falling water pumps the water the elevation required.  This will take some study and then if deemed feasible, it will require some fundraising as the village has no money with which to obtain such sophisticated equipment.

 

It was back to the shade tree outside the church for the afternoon meeting.  One of the features of this meeting was a story told by Mrs. Heppel.  Her story was of a snow storm in Canada.  In groping for some means of explaining to the Manbos what snow was, Mr. Famisaran used the term “ice candy”.  Ice candy is similar to what westerners call Popsicle.  To us Westerners, it seemed funny to think of Popsicles falling from the sky and being blown into drifts large enough to hide a two story-house from would-be robbers as a result of a mother’s fervent prayer.  Needless to say, the eyes of the children were wide open and Mrs. Heppel had their undivided attention.

 

Before leaving, we briefly discussed the logistics of the coming of the student missionaries on November 13 or 14.  The Datu promised to house the students temporarily until they could build their own house.  He gave permission to use the barangay hall (town hall) for the school until the villagers could build a permanent school building.  The visitors promised to provide the nails for the school building and as a special gift, we would provide the eight bags of cement needed to put a concrete floor in their church.

 

Parting was on a happy note but parting is never easy.  The Datu has been waiting for this return of the school so long, he found it difficult to let us go.  We finally tore ourselves loose and retraced our path back to our waiting jeeps.  As we reached the valley floor, we watched the Sabbath fade in the setting sun and praised God for the privilege that had been ours to visit the village of Dampaan and bring to them the hope, not only of a new school but the eternal hope of the future life with our Master, Jesus Christ.