ANTIQUE DAY FIVE:

Dedication.

4:30 AM call time for the team. Trompa ministry. Early morning rain. Interviews with Pastor Larry and Bimbim. Visit with Mrs. Alentajan and her class. Mrs. Autajay and her Bible study. Visit Bimbim's house and family. Interviews with Dondon, and Bimbim's mom and brother.

I keep finding it hard to select a single standout moment from the day. Each day held so many moments -- some tiny moments in time -- that God used to encourage, challenge or convict me. But, I started this pattern -- so here's to consistency! I'll come back and revisit other moments in other posts :) HA!

Standout moment from the day...

This afternoon we got to visit the home of the Autajays. Mrs. Autajay is a retired school superintendent. She is dedicated to the people ... to their learning. Each week at her home she has a Bible study where they use the Scriptures in Kinaray-a. Because many of the women who are a part of the study are mothers, she welcomes them to bring their children because she knows that it's the only way they can come.

The group sang some songs together, listened to some teaching from Mrs. Autajay and then she had them break into smaller groups to work on some learning together. This was by far one of my favorite moments from the day -- watching these small groups work together, searching through the Scriptures together. What I loved about this moment -- there was this unmatched eagerness and whole-hearted participation in each of the participants. It was different from any other group I've observed before. Each group had a group leader who had a worksheet that was to be completed. Each person though flipped through the pages of their Scriptures looking for answers.

Ah... for that eagerness to search through God's Word for His Truth and instruction to continue on in their lives! (... in my own for that matter!)


Ok... just a word about another standout moment. I woke up at 4:00 AM so that we could catch Pastor Larry give his morning message over the trompa as he does every morning. Pastor Larry wakes up every morning at 3 AM to prepare for his trompa ministry. Each day he brings the sound equipment from a safe, secure place and sets it up in the shelter he uses from the trompa ministry. He prepares a message that he delivers around 5 AM. As he was preparing, I caught just a moment when he was quietly sitting... waiting... praying. As I snapped a few shots of him there I thought, what a life of dedication and vision. Sigh.

What's a trompa?
High up, secured to a bamboo tree are three BIG megaphone like speakers. Attached to it are wires and cables that connect to an ampliphier and sound system housed in a shelter. This set up allows for the pastor to play music, share scriptures, and give some teaching to those in ears' reach of the trompa.

This trompa ministry concept is used pretty thoroughly in the Antique area. The sound from the trompa carries pretty far. Pastor Larry's reaches about 5 different barangay. He times his so that it doesn't clash with the trompa of a neighboring pastor's.