Student Sponsorship Ministry Updates

The students in SSM increased this school year, 2008-2009. We have 20 students now with the addition of 8 more students (5 girls & 3 boys). Two of the girls were prior students who stopped for one semester and came back to continue their schooling. Because of their number the apartment they had been housed in became too small for them as they have only one bathroom. In the mornings, the students (3 or 4 at a time) cue for their 10 minute use of the bathroom. With the suggestion of the building owner and after much prayers we decided to transfer the students downstairs to the 2nd floor with 7 rooms by faith. Their rent would be more than twice what they used to pay. The students are happier with more space and more restrooms.

Three of the students are due to graduate at the end of this school year on March 2009, 2 Crimonology students and 1 teacher. We thank the sponsors for faithfully providing for the food, rent, and other needs of the students. Special thanks goes to Ruth Ellen and Doc. Last summer (April in the Philippines) the students and the staff received 2 packages of clothings from the USA courtesy of Ruth Ellen & Doc. Thank you for continuing to pray for the provisions and needs of these students. Only seven among the 20 students have sponsors and whatever they received is shared among all the students.

Lisa Maxwell has been doing a good job teaching and sharing with the students on Tuesdays during discipleship nights. And on Fridays during fun nights, Tom has been ready with his teambuilding activities.

Og-okhod Bible Storytelling Festival

At the end of June, a team from Australia joined us at YWAM Mountain Province for the Og-okhod Bible Storytelling Festival which was held from July 6 to July 15.

The Og-okhod Bible Storytelling Festival was facilitated by three teams working together: the Core OneStory Project team from Mountain Province, the Australian Og-okhod Short-term Mission Team, and the Northern Philippines Mother Tongue Translators Association (NPMTTA). The team was divided into two groups. One group was dedicated to each of the target communities, Sadanga and Sacasacan.

At the beginning of the festival, the team was expecting the people to be tired from their work during the day to bring in the rice harvest. But they were excited to see how the people not only stayed awake but engaged in the stories throughout the festival. In fact, the nightly attendance grew from about 20 the first night to 50-60 adults and about 120 children in both Sadanga and Sacasacan by the end of the festival.
During the ten days in the villages there were many activities. Each afternoon the teams would visit people; building relationships, praying for them, telling the stories, and inviting them to come to the evening program where the stories would be retold. In the evening program, the stories were dramatized with songs. At the same time, people from each community were trained to tell the story and practiced so that they could share the story at the evening program. After the evening program, all who attended processed the meaning and implications of the stories in small groups and worked to memorize the stories. At the end of the festival, those who memorized 5 stories were awarded a t-shirt and a Bible for their hard work.

The Australian team supported the local team members by, among other things, serving meals, cleaning, and serving coffee and pandesal (a type of roll) each night. This allowed the local team members to share the stories in the tribal dialects. Many of the team became ill during their time in Sacasacan and Sadanga. But they worked through their illness to share the stories.

The Sacasacan group had to hike to and from Sadanga each day. That meant a 45 minute hike each night in the dark, and usually in the rain. One team member, Jason, made the trip several times a day as he brought the pandesal from a bakery in Sadanga to the team in Sacasacan then returned for the evening activities in Sadanga. Of course, he then had to return with the team later each night.

At the conclusion of the festival, a celebration was hosted. A fantastic meal of pork and chicken was served with all of the people of the community. The people from both villages remarked about how good it was to have believers from so many denominations and backgrounds coming together to share the Word of God. They are eager for the next festival so they can enjoy the stories and fellowship once again.

OneStory Partnership

One major ministry of the YWAM Mountain Province team is the OneStory Partnership. This is a global partnership involving YWAM, Wycliffe International, Trans World Radio, International Mission Board, and Campus Crusade for Christ. The mission of the OneStory Partnership is to develop, initiate and facilitate oral strategies to communicate God’s Word to oral peoples who are unreached or Bibleless, resulting in sustainable, indigenously led, reproducing church planting movements which transform lives and societies to reflect a biblical worldview. Patrick, Betty, and Walter spend several days each week serving as members of the Core Team for this project. The Core Team in Bontoc is composed of members from the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, YWAM, Pentecostal Church, and the Baptist Church. This One Story Project is overseen by the Bontoc Scripture Society of which Rufina is Board Secretary of the the Board of Trustees.

The team has worked to translate an initial 12 stories and is working toward a goal of 60 stories which can be communicated orally. The stories are designed so that the content and style is culturally appropriate yet accurate. The intent is that the stories are memorable so that they can be shared orally and dramatically.

For more information about the OneStory Partnership, please visit: http://ywamonestory.org/partnership.htm.

Brief History of YWAM Mountain Province:

The work of Youth With A Mission in Bontoc was started by two foreign missionaries, Jackie Schori (Swiss) and Paulina Brown (Guam). Responding to the suggestion of then YWAM Director Jeff Romack, the two ladies who first worked in Benguet moved to Bontoc in 1986 and quickly established relationship among the Bontoc and nearby Kalinga people. Aside from Jackie and Paulina, the first YWAM Bontoc base staffs included a Filipino couple, an American couple, and three Filipino single guys as staff. The focus of the ministry was on church planting in the villages and mercy ministry. From 1986 to 1990, Bible studies were held weekly in Maligcong and in Dalican, Bontoc. Two churches were planted during that time – one in Anabel, Sadanga and one in Bugnay, Kalinga. In the late eighties, more staff joined the base and the student ministry was added to the existing ministries.

In the 1990s, YWAM church planting extended to Pakak in Rizal, Tabuk; Caneo, Bontoc; Buscalan, Tinglayan and Kadaclan, Barlig. YWAM outreach teams from different nations were a big help. It was also in the 90’s when YWAM leaders with emerging church leaders conceptualized the idea of coming up with an independent organization to manage and supervise the churches planted by YWAM missionaries for sustainability and autonomy. Hence, the Tribal Christian Churches Association was born and most of the YWAM planted churches became members under the umbrella of this newly formed organization. Church planting work continued in the late 90’s to include Ableg, Pasil and outreaches this time included Saclit, Sadanga; Payag-eo, Sagada and Balili & Mainit both in Bontoc municipality.

In 1998, the first Tribal DTS was held in Cada, Mankayan, Benguet directed by Ferdie & Dee Sim. The directorship was eventually turned over to Patrick Fegcan in 1999 and the next TDTS was held in Bontoc, Mountain Province in January 2000. Since then 3 Tribal DTS were conducted until 2002 when most of the staff finished their commitment and left for furlough or further training. Due to health & other reasons of staff concerned, the TDTS stopped for a while. Meanwhile, Discipleship Training Courses, Marriage Enrichment Seminars and Kids & Youth camps were regularly conducted by the remaining staff.

In 2001, the Stairway to Heaven Ministry which is a student sponsorship program supported by a Korean missionary became an attached ministry of the Bontoc Base concurrently handled by Patrick Fegcan. The program became a full YWAM Student Sponsorship Ministry in June 2005 when this was left by the supporter.

At present (2008) the on-going ministries of YWAM Mountain Province include but not limited to church planting & strengthening (Caneo & Payag-eo), student sponsorship ministry, discipleship training courses, family enrichment seminars, summer youth & kid’s camp, missions mobilization, discipleship training school, Nehemiah Network, Moral Recovery Program and the latest addition, the One Story Project.