Life in Bontoc...

Bontoc is an amazing place that is full of new things to experience!  

It has taken me a little while to become familiar with my surroundings and the different way of doing many ordinary tasks.  I am now proficient at bucket baths, doing laundry by hand and taking trikes to and from town.  Trikes are motorcycle taxis that zip back and forth from the city center and where I live.  I will try and post some pictures of one sometime, they tend to be highly decorated... :0)  

My humble home

The home where I am living is built right on the rice terraces and is currently under construction.  It is a cute little place where part of our team lives and where we cook and eat all of our meals.  It is seriously like a game of sardines at every meal with 24+ people spread between 3 small rooms.  One big surprise to me is that I actually have my own room... it is small with a twin size bed and a cabinet for me to store my clothes in.  My first impression reminded me of a jail cell, but it has actually become quite cozy.  

A warrior dance

One of my first activities here in Bontoc was to watch cultural dancing at the Among Festival.  It was really neat to see the different cultural dances and the traditional dress.  The festival was fun and gave me a chance to see a bit of the Filipino culture.  One of the other activities was a welcome dinner from the Bontoc YWAM family where we had a delicious meal and actually got to participate in some of the dances.  It was a fun experience to try some dancing and meet a lot of new people!

Rice terraces on our hike to church

 Last Sunday I rode on the top of a jeepney (a jeep/bus) to a place called Maligcong.  The view was amazign while we wound up the mountain!  From Maligcong half of our team hiked through the rice terraces to a small village called Fang-oreo.  In the village we did a church service in a tiny church.  I shared my testimony and a couple of my team mates shared the sermon.  It was amazing how welcoming and receptive the people were.  I got a lot of amens and praise the Lords as I shared and I wasn't even nervous because God was totally with me!  After the service we had a time of prayer for some people and that was a powerful time!  Our team was totally blessed when the church served us lunch before we took the hike back to the jeepney.  The food was great, even though I didn't know what some of it was... ;0)

For now this is a little bit of what I've been up to... it has been an amazing time experiencing God's faithfulness and love!  I look forward to sharing more soon.

Love and blessing to you all!
~Marie