SULADS STORIES

THE LONGEST NIGHT

By Daryl Famisaran

MVC-SULADS Director

January 2000

 Usually it takes us only four hours to hike from Cauhangan Mission School to Tacucon.  This time we left Cauhangan at 10:00 am expecting to reach Tacucon at 2:00 pm.  It was drizzling when we left.  One villager checked the river for us whether it was safe to cross.  He came back with the message, “It is safe, Sir.  We will just pray that the rain will stop.”

 

When we reached the river, the drizzle stopped.  Hungry, we cooked some noodles and ate them with boiled sweet potatoes.  It took us some time to cook and eat our lunch..

With big back packs, and tummies full, we continued our hike with heavy steps.  Then it started to rain.  We noticed that the water was starting to rise in the river.  If the rain won’t stop, I was afraid that the river would swell and we would be trapped.  As far as I can remember, we needed to cross the river twenty-two times.  If the river swelled too high, we would never get to Tacucon in four hours.

We hurried on.  We provided each of ourselves with sticks so we could have something to hold on to when we crossed the river which was now waist deep.  There were seven of us—three missionaries, two of them ladies, a dentist, two graduate students who came with us for a study in anthropology and myself.

Just crossing the river took us so much time assisting each other.  Wading is much slower than walking.  The strong current delayed it more.  In no time, it was almost dark and we had not gone half way yet.  The rain was still pouring and the river was swelling more.  It was fortunate that we had a bolo (long knife) and we cut through thick shrubs making our own trail. 

The sun set.  Night insects started their choir.  Night birds shouted at each other as they fed on their prey.  The river shouted the loudest with its angry torrents.  The rain continued to pour down.

We could not move any further.  We needed to settle in for the night.  It is too dangerous to be making our own trail in the night.  “Let’s look for a safe place to spend the night,” I suggested.  It was good that we had four home made hammocks, two umbrellas and a rain coat.  “But what can these do for seven of us?” I muttered.  “Anyway, these can do their purpose to help us.”  First, we cleared the area, tied our hammocks, and gathered our things in one area.

“ANTS!  ANTS!” someone cried.  All of a sudden, big ants were biting us.  Someone had accidentally hit and destroyed an ant nest on a twig.  “Lets move to another place,” somebody complained.

“We’ll stay here,” another answered.  “To look for another place, clear and settle in will take some time.  We don’t know that there won’t be ants there too.  Ants are scattered in the forest.”  We all agreed to just settle in where we were.

Wet, cold, tired, and hungry, we settled in.  We sang songs for our worship that night.  We shouted while singing to try to drown out the sounds of the angry river.  We recited memory verses of God’s promises and we prayed.  That ws our strength, courage, and shelter during our sleep.

SLEEP!  Do you think we were really able to sleep?  There were only four hammocks for the seven of us.  These were small hammocks made for only one.  Since I was the biggest in the group, I had a hammock to myself.  That left six of them to sleep in three hammocks!  I tied my hammock to the same posts where the four boys tied theirs, but mine was under theirs to take advantage of their umbrella.  The two ladies were on separate posts just near us and they had an umbrella just covering their heads.  They could hardly move because the hammocks were too narrow.  Even a single person sleeping in a hammock can easily turn it over.  They suggested that they sleep like logs.  Yes, they were like logs alright.  Wide awake, careful not to move lest they flip over!

I thought I would be comfortable to be alone in my hammock.  My buttocks were touching the ground and ants were getting inside my sleeping bag.  I was scratching all over all night.  I got off my hammock, stomped and shook off the ants from my sleeping bag.  This only caused more ants to be disturbed and more came!

Oh!  What a long night!  I was anxious for the morning to come, but it was only 7 in the evening!  What else could we do but to stay there wet, scratching, shivering, and waiting for the sunrise.  As I looked around for a more comfortable place, God diverted my attention to the fungi that illumined the forest floor.  Such beauty that lighted our surroundings, contrasting with the darkness of the night!  They were spread all over.  Some formations looked like maps that seemed to be places yet to be reached.  They seemed to be crying out to be reached by missionaries to harvest them.

“Lord,” I whispered.  “Thank you for letting me see the beauty in the lives of the people we serve and sacrifice for in these forests.  Even in their simple songs, earnest prayers, and sincere faith in Thee, they shine beautifully in the midst of their dark world of animism.  Please help me as I lead the SULADS program to penetrate more into the unreached people groups.  Please reach also the hearts of many who have the burden of saving these hungry souls in the mountains.  I pray in Jesus Name.  Amen.”