The Dumagats & the Black Book

It was late in the afternoon. The boat we were riding was safely docked on the side of the dam. We began the two-hour hike on a dirt logger’s road to the village of Maitim [1] where two of our female missionaries were
stationed. It has been six months since they themselves arrived there. I have nine new missionaries with me who were undergoing field training in tribal evangelism and literacy program.

We passed by a cement house where there were loud noises of men drinking wine. These men weren’t Dumagat natives. They looked like lowlanders. Unat, the Dumagats call them, in reference to their straight hair (as opposed to the Dumagats’ curly hair). They were also fair-skinned and wore good lowland clothes unlike Dumagats whose skin is dark brown and who often wore old, dirty clothing. There were four young ladies in our group including the missionaries assigned in Maitim. As we passed the drinking men, they all paid full attention to the ladies, even straining their necks to follow them with their gaze.

After a couple of days in Maitim, something added to the pressure of a hectic schedule. I was told that the lowlanders who were drinking in that cemented house we passed by at the beginning of the loggers’ road were members of an armed militant gang.  In their drunkenness they boasted that before the week was out, they would abduct the ladies who were with us. 

I was very concerned, for these missionaries were my responsibility. We decided to set up watches at night. The men were to take turns guarding the house. One of our missionaries (a young Filipino from California) remarked: “Sir Abner, what’s the use of us guarding? We don’t have guns, while those men are armed!” I responded: “Well, at least you can shout and the ladies can run away!”

Our schedule continued without much changes. Teaching during the day, and Bible storytelling in the evening. I had been teaching the usual Bible stories starting from Genesis. I began from the story of Creation, the start of the Great Controversy, the Fall of Man, then on to the Great Flood. The chieftain, whom we call Tatay Pedro [2] was always present and very attentive.

Two days after we began taking turns guarding during the night, the missionary lady assigned in the village met with all of us and said that Tatay Pedro told her not to worry about the abduction threat. He told her that someone is watching over us. We were not impressed at first. How can a bunch of small statured natives defend us against armed lowlanders? I wanted to know what he meant. 

Before we went on this field exposure, we were told to beware of the New People’s Army (NPA rebels) in these mountains. Well, it turned out that the men in this village were NPAs! They had guns and they were guarding the village against the gang of lowlanders.

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I was intrigued why they would go that far for us. Accompanied by the missionary lady, I went to see Tatay Pedro in his hut. And he told me this story.



​TATAY PEDRO'S STORY

Two years ago, I was walking in the jungle with my machete. Suddenly, a man walked towards me on the trail. He had curly dark hair. His height was equal to mine. He wore clean clothes. His skin was as dark brown as ours except that it was clean from scabies and somewhat glistening. I did not know why but I became afraid of this strange “Dumagat”. 

As the man approached me, I took one look and then instinct took over. I drew my machete and hacked the man. I saw him fall, but to my surprise, he again stood up without a scratch. Then he touched my head and I felt a strong force push me down to the ground. The man said: “Pedro, sit up.” I was surprised that he knew my name. But I listened to what he was saying.

The man told me: "Pedro, tell your people to repent of their wicked ways because Makedeppat [3] is coming soon." He then told a story about a man who Makedeppat ordered to build a big boat because a great flood was coming, and how only that man and his family were saved. The man told me: "the earth will be destroyed again, but this time with fire." Then he showed me a black book saying: “all that I told you are in this book. Read it.” 
 
I told him that I could not for I do not know how to read. The man answered: "Someday, someone is going to come to your village to teach you from this black book. When they do, take care of them. If you do, danger will not come to your village. It will only reach up to the road." I have been telling my people to change their ways since that time.


TATAY PEDRO'S PLEA

I was dumbfounded as I listened to Tatay Pedro's story. No wonder he kept nodding as I told the story of the flood, as if he already knew them by heart! He said that when I was telling them the story of Noah, he wondered how I would know about it. Who could have told him? he asked to himself. (He thought that story was only known to his tribe!) But when on the following nights, I showed them the Bible, saying that all that I told them was from that book, which is the love letter of Makedeppat, it all made sense to him. But what made him take action was the fact that my Bible had a black cover!

That day, Tatay Pedro pleaded: “Please tell us everything in that black book. Do not leave anything out.” We have been teaching Dumagats for over a decade now. More than 300 of this semi-nomadic tribe has accepted Jesus through baptism and are congregated in 4 churches spread out in the mountains of Northern Luzon. Today, too, one of those congregations are actively taking the gospel to other villages. 

The Dumagat tribe is just one of the ethnic/language groups in the Philippines that needed someone to go and share them God’s Love Letter - the Bible. We see in this experience that possibly an angel has gone ahead to prepare the ground for us to reap in. But as in the case of Cornelius and Peter, God’s usual way is to send a human messenger to share the Message.

Please pray for the ministry of Philippine Frontier Missions. As you do so, consider whether God might be calling you to enable more Filipino frontier missionaries to go to other tribes that God has already been preparing in advance.

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[1] Not the real name of the village. Since I will be saying things that may get some people in trouble with the government, I shall use pseudonyms for persons and places in this story.
[2] Not his real name
[3] The Dumagat word for the Creator God

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