Kibungan on my mind

Shaken awake from bathing with ice cold water, I towel dried myself to prepare for the day's scheduled activities at Kibungan, Benguet. Looking out the screenless window with the morning sun shining on my face and the cool mountain wind alerting my soul to my brief time of quiet before the Lord, I opened my Bible:

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ" (Colossians 1:27-28).

Ah, Lord, You got me there. I remembered the youth group back in my home church for whom I will make an account before the Lord. Faces of specific young people flashed in my mind that made me say a short prayer for each of them. But how would I apply this awesome truth to my class that day?

I had traveled to different parts of the country before but usually to serve in youth camps, church outreach and work-related conferences. This time, our team of 23 people ranging from ages 14 to over 50 and coming from different churches and professions visited a Kankanaey church to train the believers in evangelism, leadership and worship. The missionary pastor and his wife beamed with delight over the deluge of momentary help we offered for four days.

That afternoon, I would teach a class of adult Kankanaey church members about leadership. Being the most senior in our core team, I was the sole choice to do this. But what do you say to a group of adults you will be meeting for the first time? I had not learned a single Kankanaey phrase so I spoke alternately in English and Tagalog. They looked up the verses in their Kankanaey Bibles. I did not need an interpreter who stood beside me and translate phrase by phrase. The class knew enough English and Tagalog to understand me. But was I admonishing and teaching them enough to stir them up to become "perfect in Christ"?

The next morning during the testimony time at worship service, the first person who came to the front to praise the Lord was one of the women in my class. She spoke in good English how blessed she was to have learned what I taught in class. She didn't say what exactly, maybe due to her inability to express herself well in English, but I could tell she was genuinely moved. When she sat beside me during the potluck lunch fellowship after worship service, she thanked me again for coming.

The Gentiles that Paul referred to in his letters were just like the Kankanaey--in need of people who will travel great distances to tell them the gospel. I, too, am a Gentile to whom God has chosen to reveal the "mystery" of Christ. He then sent me on this short-term trip to see that He has gone ahead of me and brought salvation to peoples in the mountains of Benguet. To my Kankanaey brothers and sisters, He is no longer a mystery but the Lord who deserves to be proclaimed and served. May God call workers from their midst to go to other Gentiles who have yet to hear.