Philippines Trip January 2011 #8

Our visit with the Bishop yesterday went exceptionally well. He had asked us to come at 9:30 and then stay for lunch with an international group he was hosting. When we arrived he greeted us warmly and even left his own staff waiting while we talked about the translation projects in Kalinga. He is VERY supportive of the translation projects as the Scriptures are at the centre of his vision for ministry in this province. He is especially interested in the Lubuagan Kalinga project which is the one on which I am consulting now, as Lubuagan is his home area. He again committed to providing someone from his staff to reading through the translation in preparation for him to give it his official endorsement. We also chatted quite a lot about peacemaking in Kalinga, including the dangers involved. He asked for prayer as sometimes the peacemaker ends up being misunderstood and targeted by both sides in a conflict. He spoke well of one of the Mennonite peacemakers who has been here for a couple of seminars and he is looking forward to the visit of our friend Dann next week. After we had chatted for a while he invited us into his dining room for coffee. He had the table set for 15 people and had a meal cooking in the slow cooker. Apparently he is without a cook right now, so he was doing the cooking for lunch. We were impressed all along by his warm hospitality, humility and servant leadership. The guests included a Kalinga married to a Korean and another Kalinga married to a German. Also at dinner was a medical doctor from this community who is half Spanish and a school Director from Lubuagan. So at lunch we got to hear and speak English, German, Kalinga, Ilocano, and a little Korean and Spanish. It was also very interesting to chat with the school Director and her principal from Lubuagan. They include daily Bible sharing in their curriculum. They would be very interested having the texts for their daily readings in Kalinga to use for their Bible sharing. This looks like a good opportunity for the translation team to involve a significant group in the local community in reviewing the translation even before publication. Yesterday was a cloudy, cool (about 25 degrees) day with some light drizzle. This morning it looks like we will see the sun again. So far the weather has been quite pleasant and a good break from the deep freeze in Canada.