It’s been a year since Pastor Jordan Dela Cruz started a ministry
among the Dumagats in a remote island (Baranggay Cozo, Sitio Dimaguipo) off
Casiguran, Aurora. His first encounter
with the Dumagats was when he and his wife visited the island right after their
wedding. Pastor Jordan, an Aeta from
Zambales married Zyra, a Dumagat. After
their third visit, Pastor Jordan responded to the call fo God to minister to
the Dumagats.
The
Dumagats, the close relatives of the Aetas, are semi-nomadic people. They move from one place to another in search
of food and better shelter although some have learned to live in permanent
settlements. Most of them are hunters and
fishermen. They inhabit the coastal
areas of Aurora and Quezon and some are dispersed in smaller groups in the
mountains. They speak 6 different
languages.
In spite
of the obvious difficulties and challenges they will face in the island (the
island is very remote and there’s no clean, running water and there is no electricity),
Pastor Jordan
Their worship
sanctuary says it all – a make-shift structure built out of tree branches which
serve as the posts and braces while a used polyester and nylon fabric serves as
the roof. Since, most of the members are
poor they don’t have any funds to build a better worship place. The church does not even have enough funds to
support Pastor Jordan and his family. But
these conditions did not deter Pastor Jordan
Instead
of being discouraged, he started evangelizing the area by going from one
community to the other preaching the Gospel.
After a few meetings, he wondered what difference it will make if he had
a portable generator he can use to power a sound system so the people can hear
the Gospel better. He started praying
for it. Meanwhile, his senior pastor
shared this to us and we too started praying for it.
God does
answer our prayers. When Joshua was in
the US
After coordinating and sharing this wonderful news to Pastor
Jordan, on June 14, Rico, Elisha and Ramon all Junior Pastors of JKKCC,
volunteered to represent the Youth Mobilization Team and brought a generator that
will help Pastor Jordan and his Gospel ministry.
The three traveled a total of 24 hours, including a 10-hour
drive from Cabanatuan to Casiguran that started at 2:30 am, just to reach the
island where the Dumagats live. It was a long drive indeed, but the hardship
they encountered is nothing compared to what Pastor Jordan and his family
experience in the island everyday. They
went home encouraged and so much challenged.
On the other hand, Pastor
Jordan was so thankful. He sees the
generator as God’s proof that He will provide for all their needs. He said in the interview, “The Lord commanded
me to be here. He was the one who
brought me here; He will be the one to bring me out of here. In all the trials and challenges we have
experienced here, the Lord has proven Himself faithful. I don’t know how to hunt nor to fish, and so
I am totally dependent to Him who called me for this prupose. This generator is just one of the many answer
to prayers we have received from God”
Now, we have officially started of our ministry to the
unreached. As they board the boat that
will bring them out of the island, they did’t say good bye but instead they
said, we will meet again. True enough,
we are now planning to mobilize a bigger group to help Pastor Jordan and his
ministry. Please pray for us as we
target to help build their worship place and his damaged boat. That includes bringing a sound system and
musical instruments. We are also looking
at bringing a medical team because many people in the island are sick and
without any medical assistance. The
nearest hospital is at least 5 hours away by bus.
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