On the run on Camigun

The plan for Camigun was to go over for their community Christmas party and return on New Years Eve because we had another appointment

Fr. Joe had arranged for all of our meals so we shared many of our meals with the Alvarez family in the house that the community built for FMC for missionaries to use in Camigun. It is a beautiful house made of local woods and bamboo with a wide open porch that also serves as a dining room, living room, and gathering area. What a blessing this house is!

So Saturday we attended an all day event where the surrounding communities that make up Sagay come and have a table and have a group that does some kind of dance and there were judges that decided who was best. Also Fr. Joe had a raffle that would give many prizes(I think it was intended to make no profit) and the top 5 prizes were 2-50kilo sacks of rice(bugas), 2 pigs (baboy), and the grand prize, a calf! Fr. Joe sold over 15,000 tickets a 1 peso each. Each time he has done this the grand prize seems to go to some very needy deserving family. This year it went to the family whose wedding Fr. Joe had rushed home to say the night before!

The next morning at mass was the baptism of Josephine, the Avarez’s families new baby, Lora and I were the Godparents!After mass Fr. Joe had to go celebrate mass for the Fiesta of a little mountain Village and asked us to come. We hiked up while some of the mom’s and young babies were able to be driven. What a beautiful walk and what beautiful, generous people. Like all Filipinos, they love to have guests and share what they have!

Then Fr. took us and some visiting Sisters to the cold Springs and if that was not enough he then took us for a tour of the rest of the island so we could see the active volcano.