It was November 20-23, year 2017 when we, FMT missionary candidates, went to Brgy. Wasid, Nagtipunan, Quirino Province for a short-term mission exposure. It was a huge privilege for us to live with the Bugkalot people and experience their lives even for a short period of time. We came to them with the expectation that somehow we can minister to them, but the reverse happened. The people of the tribe were actually the ones who ministered to us through their lives and their testimonies of how powerful God is. Here's their story:
The Bugkalot Tribe (originally Ilongot Tribe) were known as head-hunters. Before the gospel came, killing people and cutting their heads were part of the tribal culture. The number of people who they killed determined how powerful they are in their own society. Stealing, for them, is more of a sin than beheading a person. Usually, their native houses had numbers of doors so it will be easy for them to get out and escape whenever someone enters and try to kill them. According to their stories, the head of the family usually doesn’t sleep at night in order to guard the whole household against any attack from their own tribal people. They were all living in a restless and fearful society. Many religious group tried to change them but they didn’t succeed. Even the government wasn’t able to stop the tribal culture. In fact there was a time in the history that the government was about to bomb and abolish the whole tribe because of its unstoppable killings.
But in 1980, missionaries from New Tribes Missions Philippines entered the Bugkalot Tribe for the first time. With them was the Word of God. And so for the first time, the gospel was preached to them. According to the elders of the tribe, no matter how their fathers tried to kill the missionaries, they always failed. “There must be something in this people,” their fathers said. Yes there’s really something in them: The gospel, which is the power of God that brings salvation to those who believe (Romans 1:16). Then later on, the whole community became believers of Christ. God used the missionaries for them to hear and know the truth about God and His Son Jesus Christ who died for them on the cross. Today, the people of Bugkalot Tribes are sending missionaries to different parts of the country. They even have 26 Bugkalot churches in Nagtipunan, Quirino Province. Before, the led people in the way of death but now, they lead people to life through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was deeply touched by their stories. Almost each and every one of them has their own stories to tell about the power of the gospel. Truly, there is power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the reason why Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16 that, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the POWER of God into salvation of those who believe.."
