While our first week in Sorsogon Province involved an overnight trip to Castilla, a weekend at EBI, and an overnight trip to Donsol, the second week was one big road trip (6 nights away from our EBI homebase), beginning with visiting Pastor Pio Garduque’s family in Barcelona. Since Pastor Gumer Gile is the partition head of PAMI churches in Castilla, Donsol, Barcelona, Bulusan, and Irosin, he accompanied us to each of these five places. Pastor Gumer’s smiling presense added an assuring and helpful consistancy. He got us on and off the right buses or jeepneys, informed us of the correct fare, helped carry stuff, served as interpreter, shared songs and prayers, and participated in discussions. We also learned useful tips from Pastor Gumer, like how its handy to drape a mosquito net over a table at night with your sleeping pad under it.
Since we arrived in Barcelona about noon on March 13, we began with a tasty lunch prepared by Pastor Pio. Besides being a pastor, Pastor Pio is a talented carpenter and cook.
After lunch, Pastor Pio had a busy schedule planned for us, wanting us to conduct Kids Times in 3 different places–2 pm in the school grounds of Cagon (a barangay named after a crab), 4 pm in a far-away group of thatched roof houses near a stream (Barangay Bangate, sitio Common), and 7 pm back at the rented house/church in the barangay of Luneta.
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Cagon outreach, in thatched roof cottage next to a public elementary school building:
Pastor Gumer interpretting for Ben & Pam
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Bangate, Common outreach (remote outreach by a stream):
This road deadends at Sitio Common, where we then hiked along a stream to get to the grouping of thatched-roofed houses where we conducted a Kids Time
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Pastor Pio’s rented house/church in Luneta:
Pastor Pio and Sister Juvy Garduque, with daughters Faith & Hope, and baby son Azariah Kiel
Pastor Pio giving daughters Faith & Hope a ride to school
Sister Marife Garcera, an EBI graduate from a few years ago, that was volunteering in Barcelona the last couple weeks, in hopes of being added as a PAMI worker
Termites eating away at the window sills