Apostle Success Kanayo Uchime in Bogo for the Badjao
Apostle Success Kanayo Uchime in Bogo for the Badjao
Some of the shanty houses the Badjao people in Bogo live in!
Preambles
It was really a great adventure for us here, as we made a very long and desperate search for the Badjao tribal people in the Philippines, a memory that will always linger and linger in us for a very long time. That reminded us how God came down from His heavenly aboard searching for the mere man He had created and put in the Garden of Eden.
We in the Badjao Missionary Team (BMT) (a group of missionaries and evangelists dedicated to reaching the Badjao people wherever they may be found in the Philippines) was very eager more than ever before to locate the Badjao settlement in Daanbantayan, the very north of Cebu province– the people the Lord has mandated us to reach with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brief Information On The Badjao People
The Badjao people are a nomadic seafaring people, originating from the Samal Tribe, on the island of Mindenao, in the Philippines. The people are notable for spending most or even all of their time on their fishing boats - the reason why they’re often referred to as Sea Gypsies.
They as a result move from one settlement to the other in search of greener pastures. So locating them is often times very tasking and challenging. There settlements are usually shanties and slums that are very far separated from the rest of the people. They’re highly marginalized, abandoned and neglected to say the lest, with no one ready to assist them out of the poverty stricken life they’ve learned to live with.
It needs to be observed that since the early 1970's, the fight for independence has resulted in massive relocation of the Badjao people to other parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
But despite all these difficulties in locating the Badjao people, the BMT members took it upon themselves to fish out these Badjao people who’re staying in Daanbantayan. So on Saturday, August 1, 2009, we took off on a missionary journey in order to do a preliminary survey work among these people.
Departure From Our Liloan Base
Leaving our base in Liloan around 5.00 am, we boarded a Ceres Liner bus heading to Daanbantayan and arrived there about 9. 00 am and then we chartered a tricycle to Maya where the Team was reliably informed that the Badjao are.
But to our utmost surprise the people we met in Maya – where there is a little seaport, a usual aboard for the Badjao, informed us that the Badjao had left the place a long time ago. There and then we’re asked to go check them out in Bakhawan, very close to the cemetery - another location in Daanbantayan.
On getting there, we’re told again that the Badjao people are no more there, that they usually show up during major fiestas to beg for arms from visitors and other foreigners. At this point we were already exhausted and weary, but just as King David in the Bible, we encouraged ourselves in the Lord.
Though worn out, we didn’t give up our desperate search for the Badjao. We were so convinced that the Lord was leading us and that we must get a good report back home and based on that conviction; we kept up our search by asking a lot of people. And lo and behold people around informed us that the Badjao can be located in Bogo city – a place we bypassed on our way to Daanbantayan.
The Journey Back To Bogo City
What we did was to muscle up again and traveled back to Bogo city with the next available Ceres Liner and just there beside the bus terminal are the Badjao! The people are not so difficult to identify, mere seeing the shanties and slums will definitely tell you that you’re in the home of the Badjao people.
There and then we breathed a breath of relieve, praising and thanking God for leading us to the “home” of the Badjao and immediately we went into action by walking around the shanties, with the people peeping from their huts to behold these foreigners who’ve come to evade their privacy. Some picked up courage to come out to wave to us – may be we might be the very first black people they’ve seen all their lives.
As our style is we had to ask God to lead us to someone or some people (a seed-family) that’ll receive us and that paid off, at once one of them beckoned on us and ushered us in to his “apartment.” And that is Mr. and Mrs. Pilayo a lovely couple indeed, leaving with some of their grand children and a nephew – Bro. Alex, who we understood is already a Christian.
We rejoiced with him and ministered to the whole family, and willingly they committed themselves to the Lord and were willing to have us come back again for Bible study. There and then we scheduled Thursdays for our follow-up visits, when we’ll hold Bible Studies with the family, with hope that through them we’ll be able to reach out to their other kinsmen.
Our Findings
We discovered that being nomads, the people only retire in the evenings, between 6 pm and 8 pm and that any meaningful ministration there must be within this time frame. We also discovered that this Badjao in Bogo arrived there a long time ago from Alaska Mambaling, somewhere in the south of Cebu, probably as a result of the reclamation work done in the place then.
We further discovered that there present aboard in Bogo City is also a reclaimed area, but what we didn’t know is how long they’ll be allowed to occupy the place, since they’re always ejected from a place when a meaningful development creeps in. And this is one of the greatest dilemmas of the Badjao people, which the government of the Philippines needs to address squarely if the people must be integrated back into the system which they once played an active role.
We in the Badjao Missionary Team (BMT) (a group of missionaries and evangelists dedicated to reaching the Badjao people wherever they may be found in the Philippines) was very eager more than ever before to locate the Badjao settlement in Daanbantayan, the very north of Cebu province– the people the Lord has mandated us to reach with the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brief Information On The Badjao People
The Badjao people are a nomadic seafaring people, originating from the Samal Tribe, on the island of Mindenao, in the Philippines. The people are notable for spending most or even all of their time on their fishing boats - the reason why they’re often referred to as Sea Gypsies.
They as a result move from one settlement to the other in search of greener pastures. So locating them is often times very tasking and challenging. There settlements are usually shanties and slums that are very far separated from the rest of the people. They’re highly marginalized, abandoned and neglected to say the lest, with no one ready to assist them out of the poverty stricken life they’ve learned to live with.
It needs to be observed that since the early 1970's, the fight for independence has resulted in massive relocation of the Badjao people to other parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
But despite all these difficulties in locating the Badjao people, the BMT members took it upon themselves to fish out these Badjao people who’re staying in Daanbantayan. So on Saturday, August 1, 2009, we took off on a missionary journey in order to do a preliminary survey work among these people.
Departure From Our Liloan Base
Leaving our base in Liloan around 5.00 am, we boarded a Ceres Liner bus heading to Daanbantayan and arrived there about 9. 00 am and then we chartered a tricycle to Maya where the Team was reliably informed that the Badjao are.
But to our utmost surprise the people we met in Maya – where there is a little seaport, a usual aboard for the Badjao, informed us that the Badjao had left the place a long time ago. There and then we’re asked to go check them out in Bakhawan, very close to the cemetery - another location in Daanbantayan.
On getting there, we’re told again that the Badjao people are no more there, that they usually show up during major fiestas to beg for arms from visitors and other foreigners. At this point we were already exhausted and weary, but just as King David in the Bible, we encouraged ourselves in the Lord.
Though worn out, we didn’t give up our desperate search for the Badjao. We were so convinced that the Lord was leading us and that we must get a good report back home and based on that conviction; we kept up our search by asking a lot of people. And lo and behold people around informed us that the Badjao can be located in Bogo city – a place we bypassed on our way to Daanbantayan.
The Journey Back To Bogo City
What we did was to muscle up again and traveled back to Bogo city with the next available Ceres Liner and just there beside the bus terminal are the Badjao! The people are not so difficult to identify, mere seeing the shanties and slums will definitely tell you that you’re in the home of the Badjao people.
There and then we breathed a breath of relieve, praising and thanking God for leading us to the “home” of the Badjao and immediately we went into action by walking around the shanties, with the people peeping from their huts to behold these foreigners who’ve come to evade their privacy. Some picked up courage to come out to wave to us – may be we might be the very first black people they’ve seen all their lives.
As our style is we had to ask God to lead us to someone or some people (a seed-family) that’ll receive us and that paid off, at once one of them beckoned on us and ushered us in to his “apartment.” And that is Mr. and Mrs. Pilayo a lovely couple indeed, leaving with some of their grand children and a nephew – Bro. Alex, who we understood is already a Christian.
We rejoiced with him and ministered to the whole family, and willingly they committed themselves to the Lord and were willing to have us come back again for Bible study. There and then we scheduled Thursdays for our follow-up visits, when we’ll hold Bible Studies with the family, with hope that through them we’ll be able to reach out to their other kinsmen.
Our Findings
We discovered that being nomads, the people only retire in the evenings, between 6 pm and 8 pm and that any meaningful ministration there must be within this time frame. We also discovered that this Badjao in Bogo arrived there a long time ago from Alaska Mambaling, somewhere in the south of Cebu, probably as a result of the reclamation work done in the place then.
We further discovered that there present aboard in Bogo City is also a reclaimed area, but what we didn’t know is how long they’ll be allowed to occupy the place, since they’re always ejected from a place when a meaningful development creeps in. And this is one of the greatest dilemmas of the Badjao people, which the government of the Philippines needs to address squarely if the people must be integrated back into the system which they once played an active role.
Your Support!
Our Team can never achieve all these without your very support – prayer, emotional and what’s more financial support! You’re therefore encouraged to send across to us your financial support and to donate online click on this link: www.kmointer.webs.com/giveyourdonation.htm
Our Team can never achieve all these without your very support – prayer, emotional and what’s more financial support! You’re therefore encouraged to send across to us your financial support and to donate online click on this link: www.kmointer.webs.com/giveyourdonation.htm
In Conclusion
We went, we saw, we fought, we conquered and we also returned safely! And we’re able to accomplish these, not because we’re so great, but because our God is so great in us! The Lord loves the Badjao hence He also died for them that they might have life and also have it to its fullest!
Note: Please you’re permitted to republish this article in any media of your choice with proper attributes to the Badjao Missionary Team Philippines. And to learn more about the Team, please visit our website by clicking on this link below and you’ll be right there:
http://sites.google.com/site/badjaomissionaryteam/
By Apostle Success Kanayo Uchime
Kingdom Missions Outreach International Inc.
Websites: http://www.kmointer.webs.com/ and www.seamist.org/uchime
Email: kanayo@seamist.org or kmo4missions@yahoo.com
Tel: +639089857499, +639324712532
Yahoo messenger: successkuchime@yahoo.com
Websites: http://www.kmointer.webs.com/ and www.seamist.org/uchime
Email: kanayo@seamist.org or kmo4missions@yahoo.com
Tel: +639089857499, +639324712532
Yahoo messenger: successkuchime@yahoo.com
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