SULADS STORIES

SACRAFICIAL SUBSTITUTE

By Fred L. Webb

June, 2000

The SULADS have heard the roar of the lion again as he walks about seeking whom he may devour.

 

In several of the stories in the past, you may have read of the great success that has been won for the Lord in the village of Lapangon.  It was there that they made the caraw to keep track of when Sabbath comes.  It was in Lapangon that the datu postponed his own baptism until others could join him.  It was in Lapangon that the warrior was baptized while still wearing his bolo (knife) because it was “bloody and needed to be washed”.  It was Lapangon where anyone coming to the village must listen to the children sing and hear the story of Jesus.  It was in Lapangon that they needed a new church and set about to build it.

It was during the building of this church that the current story had its roots.  There was a need of a carpenter to assist in the construction of this church.  One of the SULADS in the village called for her grandfather, a Seventh-day Adventist from nearby San Fernando to come and help them build.  He responded and while there became acquainted with a 12-year-old girl we will call Mary. He requested Mary to come to his home in San Fernando to provide help in his household.  Mary went with him.

About a month later, Mary reported to the SULADS working in her home village of Lapangon that the carpenter had molested here repeatedly.  Quickly and quietly, the SULADS brought Mary down to MVC to protect Mary from both the family of the carpenter and her own villagers.  The SULADS also came to seek advice on what to do.  It was decided that the first thing needed was a doctor’s evaluation of whether there was physical evidence of rape.  Upon submission to the examination of a gynecologist, it was determined that there was physical evidence.  Armed with this information, Mary was taken to the police station in Valencia to report the incident.  There the police told Mary and the SULADS that since the incident took place in the township of San Fernando, they would have to report to the police in San Fernando. 

 

Off to San Fernando, the group went to the police station there.  The report was taken.  By the time the police went to arrest the carpenter, he had left town.  Some speculate that the carpenter was tipped off and was able to make his escape.  At this point, the granddaughter who was a SULAD in the village discovered that her own family were upset with her for reporting her own grandfather and that she should flee for her life.  She left Mary at MVC and fled for cover. 

 

By this time, the leadership of the village learned of the rape.  They were furious.  According to their tribal “law”, four people should die—the alleged rapist, the victim, and the two SULADS who had been responsible for the carpenter being in the village.  Daryl Famisaran dispatched Romel Mansaloon, himself a Manobo and at the same time the SULAD that had first started the work in Lapangon, to Lapangon to try to placate the villagers.  After some very heated discussions, Romel was able to persuade the villagers that since they were now baptized Seventh-day Adventists and followed Jesus, they needed to learn Jesus’ methods of dealing with problems.  The killing of these four people in revenge would not bring back the purity of Mary.  Finally, Romel was successful in getting the assistant datu to come down to MVC to talk with Daryl Famisaran.

Upon his arrival with three other warriors, discussions began.  The datu demanded payment of P20,000 plus a cow to prevent killing.  After much negotiation, the datu was persuaded to accept only the cow if the SULADS would see that the rapist was brought to justice which could very well mean death by lethal injection if found guilty.  The cow would be taken to the village.  On a given day which was to be on Thursday, June 22, 2000, there would be a ceremony in the village where each villager would in turn beat the cow until eventually the cow died.  In this way, the cow was the sacrificial substitute for the lives of those who would have been killed. 

Some have asked, “If these villagers are now baptized Seventh-day Adventists, why did they still intend to kill other humans?” 

 

My response to this is, Satan was attempting to return the village to its former viscous and bloodthirsty ways.  God used this trial to provide a means for the next step in the sanctification of the villagers.  Now that the villagers have learned that there is another way to deal with a criminal, perhaps it will be easier next time to solve their problems in a peaceful manner rather than shedding blood. 

This is also a good illustration to the villagers of the sacrifice Jesus made for us as sinners.  We are guilty.  But instead of God seeking revenge, he provided a sacrifice to substitute for our rightful death from our commission of sin.  Jesus is our Sacrificial Substitute. 

Pray that these villagers will learn from this sacrifice and will continue to progress in their own personal sanctification process.  Pray that they will become more like Jesus every day so that in the judgment, Jesus will be able to plead His blood to pay for their sins.  Also pray that the alleged rapist will be brought to justice so that the Manobo villagers will know that the SULADS have kept their word.  This seems to be a test of the integrity of the SULADS in the eyes of the Manobo.  May God’s name be honored.