Recently a group of 3 tourists and their guide came down the
trail that goes passed our school and through our villages here in Kementiyan.
They had stopped for a rest near the clinic. I was curious as to where they
were coming from and more importantly I was concerned about what they were
doing here. So passing by, being the only white person they had seen, they
called me over. After talking for a little while the story I gathered was:
months before they found themselves in need of adventure so they had set to
hike coast to coast, summiting the tallest mountain in Palawan, Kebetangan.
Having hiked 7 days so far they were near the end of their trip and in need of
food. So, I invited them to my house where I cooked rice and gave them the
untouched cans of fruit cocktail I had sitting on my shelf. Tropical Fruit Mix,
untouched because ‘why eat from a can what you can find right outside your door.’
While they were eating we talked some more and I answered a few question about
the mission and what we do here. Then one of them asked me, “Do you get paid
for your work here?” With a smile I replied, “Aside from donation for people
back in America that pay for my food and transportation, not a penny.” They
looked at me like I had a few screws loose, but then returned to eating their
food. We chatted some more then I pointed them in the direction of the trail
heading toward the lowlands.
A few days later, I was talking with Kiana, another teacher
here, telling her about our visitors and all their curious questioning. The
more we talked the more I realized that if being paid with money was the only
reward I received from being a missionary here, it simply wouldn’t be worth it
and I probably would have gave up and quit a long time ago. The things we do
here may appear like work to the American world-view but I guess spending this
small time a missionary has changed that view of mine. I see now why the missionary
Paul said “I count all thing as rubbish.” Yes, of course we need money from our faithful
unselfish donors because that’s how the “busy”ness of our world works. But the
work of the gospel is never limitted by dollar signs; nor can they alone be a
fitting reward for those who are called as His servants. I am starting to
understand that a heavenly eternal reward is worth greater than anything
the riches of this world could offer me in this lifetime. Contrary to the
declining value of the currency that backs our world economy, the work of our
Heavenly Father is backed by a currency redeeming souls everyday “not with
perishable things like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.”
