SULADS STORIES

SAVED BY AN ANGEL

by  Ruvilyn Sona

Log Deck 5 Mission School

I rang the bell that morning to tell the whole village that there will be a meeting that day.  After a while the chief who is also one of our active members of our church asked to be excused in the meeting.  I have an important business in town today ma’am he said, My two sons will be with me.

They left that morning but we proceeded with out meeting.  After a while we heard gun shots.  We didn’t bother because gunshots are just normal in our village because of the presence of NPA (New People’s Army ) communist rebels.

And then we were surprised to see three armed men.  They came straight to our meeting.  Their leader happened to be polite enough.  He offered his hand to me for a hand shake.  They introduced themselves as NPAs.   He said, “Ma’am may I have a time to talk.” 

“Sure yes,” I approved. 

 

“I killed your chief!” he said boldly.  I was shocked.  My partner was pale.  The people were crying.  In no time we were scattered.  We went straight to where we heard the shots from.  We saw fresh blood.  We followed the line of drops of blood but we did not find the chief.  The line of drops of blood led us to a nearby stream and there we got lost.  We could no longer trace where our chief was.  He might be somewhere still alive hiding in a bush.  We searched the stream down and in the bush but we did not find him. 

We went home tired and grieved.  Our hearts were crying for our dear chief.  We gathered the village people for a special prayer for our chief that god would spare his life.

 

The following morning we heard news from another village.  The messenger said that, they were having a meeting that Sunday morning when we were interrupted by a cry for help.  They stood up to investigate and they saw in the distance a man waving his hand bathed in his own blood asking for help.  They rushed to the rescue and they recognized it was our chief.  They rushed him to the hospital in Valencia and thank God he was saved.

In the hospital the chief related his ordeal that while they were on their way to town that Sunday morning three armed men blocked their way.  The two sons were held at gunpoint while he, the chief, was hog tied and led to a bushy part of the trail and asked to close his eyes. “I closed my eyes but I prayed,” the chief explained. 

“The man said, ‘Chief this is your last.  I’m sorry, but I give you time to pray.’  With the first shot I was hit on the back of my head but I was surprised it did not bleed.  And so he shot the second time and the third.  I was bleeding but I was conscious.  I  played dead.  Sensing maybe that I was already dead, I received a hard kick and he untied me, and he left.  When I heard that his steps were fading away, I slowly opened my eyes stood up and ran towards the stream.

“I headed for Santo Domingo village where there is a military detachment.  He noticed me running and he run after me.  I ran faster praying in every step I took.  Lord! I cried please save me.  I am thankful to my Lord he sent an angel to save me.

Today, the chief is in the custody of the government military but the mission school was closed for safety reasons.  The chief was sad that his people have been scattered now because of the incident.  His two sons that were held who also were active members of our church there have joined the military to retaliate.  What a mess.  But the chief is still hoping that he can gather some if not all of his people again in another village.

That is exactly what the SULADS are helping to do now.  Some of the chief’s people have moved to Log Deck 5, a newly opened village.  Pray with us that we will be able to reach these people with the Gospel story so that they will no longer be involved in bloodshed and violence.  Also, pray for the safety of the SULADS as they work under these tense conditions.