X is Bone Dry
Will God Perform A Miracle?
They were desperate.
The people of a remote village in the outskirts of Laoag City, (in the northern portions of the Philippines) were eagerly waiting for the first sprinkle that year, but Heaven’s response was: NO!
Their Barangay (a small village) remained an utter desert. It was bone dry. They needed rain or else they’d die!
To make things worse, almost all Barangays of the entire province of Ilocos Norte have tasted the first showers that year except this parched land. We’ll call this land “X”. It remained a page without a single word. In fact, it’s devoid of even a single punctuation. It was dying of thirst.
The village was arid. Some say no life could survive in it. It’s hot. Stay out under the sun and soon you’ll feel delirious due to dehydration.
We might have offended God
I remember the time. It was May. The month when the first round of downpours during the rainy season falls. But, at X… the sky remained tearless.
Naturally, the people started to complain. They told each other, “We might have offended God, or might have displeased him terribly, and grieved Him with our ways; Obviously, that’s the logic behind His decision to withhold rain from us”.
Looking at their downcast countenance and hearing them talking this way, I was reminded of Matthew 22:29 NLT, Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” The Lord was surely talking about them. (But—the truth is—He is also talking about us), and if they could have read that verse, realized their mistakes and that would drive them to humble themselves… that could’ve been a great story. But, the narrative didn’t end that way. It didn’t for a long, long time.
A revelation from heaven
The observation above was a revelation from heaven. I know it was a reminder from God and this made way for a big realization. Once I received this… I knew in my spirit, this was God confirming my calling to work at X.
God wanted me to be His instrument in the village. Someone who would act as a messenger, a teacher, a minister. Someone who would remind them about their Father in heaven. A brother.
So the next time I went to spend time with the Lord, I closed my eyes and prayed silently, fervently. I thanked Him for being with me and trusting me to plant a church. I was grateful that He let me work with young ministers in the project at a place where people were desperate for God. The village was desperate for a house of worship. The people needed a site. No, not only a site, they had to join a gathering of people where they could worship and reach out to God. That way, God could touch them.
Those are all good things and they assured me I was right in accepting the assignment.
I hesitated because I was a novice
However… one thing kept bothering me. I was new to ministry. I was very green with regard to church planting. Maybe that’s the reason why there were times I wasn’t sure whether this project was a blessing or a curse to me.
Please don’t get me wrong. (No, I never doubted God’s presence in the call. I can assure you that). My doubt arose from the fact that I and my team have experienced repulsive behavior from some of the Barangay folks while going for visitations in the area.
The truth is there were times we were mistreated and verbally abused by some of the residents. I must remind you, again, that I was a novice, then. That’s the reason many doubts filled my heart.
The enemy wanted us to quit
Looking back now, I knew it was the enemy maneuvering events. He wanted us to have bad experiences. His goal was to discourage us. It was him being desperate to stop us from fulfilling God’s vision for His people.
Even though this was our lot, it was obvious that God positioned me there (apprehensions, confusing thoughts, and all). Plus… there was something evident: they were UNAWARE of one thing: they badly needed the one true God!
While all these thoughts were rushing through my mind and my spirit, I realized one thing… They needed God more than they needed rain!
At least, with this particular point, I was sure.
Before they’ll be dumped and trapped in the pits of hell, forever, we had to tell them—they needed rescuing by their Creator. That was clearer than daylight.
No food only means one thing, DEATH.
With their worries and distress about their village being desiccated, I got it. Yes, I can understand the concern. Many of the residents of X rely on farming as a means of livelihood. No rain only means one thing—no harvest; no harvest means no money; no money means no food; no food only means one terrible thing: DEATH.
Alcohol. Hueteng. Gambling. Gossiping.
I was quietly thinking—their dark belief that God was slighted by their actions could somehow have a basis after all. Just to let you see what I’m driving at here—the Barangay folks were very fond of betting on an illegal game of chance called “Jueteng”. They laid down their bets every single day, hoping to win a small treasure. Oh, how they love card games, too. Of course, with bets.
Drinking beer or gin or rum (not only enjoying it but getting totally wasted) is their favorite pastime. Trouble is, once the alcohol took over, domestic quarrels broke out. I surmise even domestic violence could have ensued. On top of that, many of the village folks wasted time doing nothing except spreading rumors.
Maaaan… how they love gossiping. They have too little time to spare on Bible reading, or, even have the slightest desire to do so. (I’m not judging them. Just stating the facts).
Has God forgotten its existence?
Again, I say… the place was DRY….
Was it because God was far? At the time, I assume God must have abandoned them. We both know that’s not true, but that was how I felt during the church planting project; especially during the church’s infancy.
X was desolate because somehow I felt that God has forgotten its existence. But then, again—we know that’s not true. God’s eyes were on them. Even now.
A dark cloud was hovering over and covering the area
Putting it simply now, these people somehow have forgotten the fact that they have a God, and so they acted and lived their lives in such a manner that only reflected one thing. Gloom.
There was a thick, dark cloud hovering over and covering the whole area. It stayed motionless there. At least that’s how it felt when we roamed the area spreading goodness and the Word of God.
The truth is, after months (more than a year to be specific) of working at X, I’ve observed that the place had its special group of sinners like any other place on Earth. Although, here… I may not have any evidence but I’d strongly suspected that it was chock full of insolent, hard-hearted people.
A Korean Mission Center commissioned me to plant a church
When the mission center assigned me to lead a group of young soon-to-be pastors to establish a church in the village, I did not know what was looming on the horizon.
What’s the story behind the church planting project, you say? I was commissioned by a Korean Mission Center. The head missionary who was running the mission center and who was stationed here in the Philippines for several years, assigned me to be the head the church planting activity.
The back story
One summer, I was hired to teach a subject on “using media for evangelization” for the center. They invited me for a teaching stint upon the recommendations of pastors who knew that I used to work as a broadcaster for ABS-CBN, GMA, and RMN.
While teaching, I learned that they were looking for a pastor who hails from Laoag City, where X is. I’m from this city. When I heard about the search for a pastor, I suddenly felt a STRONG THUD in my heart. That intense prick in my spirit was not only strong. It was also extremely demanding. I knew it was the Holy Spirit, instantly. He whispered, "Be that pastor. Come on, present yourself now. Be that pastor they are looking for!” I was cornered so to speak. That prodding. Oh, it was powerful.
It was irresistible
I couldn’t resist, so I immediately began to seek God’s will regarding the matter. I prayed hard, and fervently so. And after months of seeking God’s face. After fasting for weeks. After spending sleepless nights ruminating about it…it culminated in an assurance that God was leading me to accept the Call.
I believed deep down in my spirit I was called to lead the church planting project at X. The thud I told you about a while ago, that intense beating deep in my soul that I felt earlier was from no one else but Yahweh.
A call, accepted
So without delay, I told the Korean missionary about my desire to serve in the place called X. I asked for an appointment with him. After we had a very short talk, he readily accepted my plan to lead the project, thereby confirming my prayers and the calling I mentioned earlier. The calling was real after all.
I was officially installed as a pastor
After that, we started ministry work. For many weeks we went around visiting people, praying for the sick, encouraging the downtrodden, and teaching Bible lessons until we were requested to take a pause. The mission center said a ceremony had to happen at that point. Officially, I had to become the pastor of X, so the center sent a senior pastor (he works at the mission house, too) to install me as the pastor of the newly planted church.
On that extra special day, we had our first Sunday service.
We knelt done and prayed for rain
To nurture the newly birthed church, we organized several bible study groups in the area. And on one of those bible study sessions, I felt an irresistible URGE to pray for rain. Looking back now, it was because I absolutely knew X’s deepest need for that hour was a downpour from heaven.
So, we knelt and prayed.
That was a Saturday night. A night full of stars. The people were obviously not hopeful that it will rain the next day, despite our prayer. The Barangay folks believe that when the sky is decorated with stars at night, there was no rain the following day. And rightly so. Science dictates: when human eyes can see stars at night, it’s obvious - there are no clouds. And no clouds means no rain.
However… the following morning, a Sunday—the Lord’s day…
Heaven finally showed mercy.
The windows of God’s sky poured out water to that drought-possessed land. First, a drizzle, then a little shower, and finally… a downpour.
Yes, it was not the usual rain they’ve always got in the place. It was an extremely heavy downpour that started in the morning and lasted ‘til the time the people laid down their tired bodies to rest for the day.
God granted our petition. He sent rain to a dry and hopeless desert.
All it took was a sincere prayer. The scenario just needed an ordinary guy who has a genuine desire for the people to be blessed and who was willing to intercede for a lost village. And God relented.
Yes, God was touched. He felt sorry for his lost people, and, so… He cried. Tears rolled down His cheeks and they landed on X.