By Neng Betoya, Missionary Teacher in the remote village of Agbalite
People are hungry for peace and love. Some people spend a lot of money to have peace and security in this false world. People think that money and power give them assurance and peace of heart and mind. Others go elsewhere to escape from the cruelty of this world and live in the country just to have peace of mind. A safe place is not a guarantee of peace either. It is only through God that we can achieve peace because He is the only One who has peace and is able to give it to us.
I had a student who made me so frustrated one day. I shouldn’t have felt that way because this work is not mine, it’s God’s. Humanly speaking, sometimes we don’t have peace because we lack faith and we also take things into our own hands. I experienced this when this student (Bimboy) stole money and the cell phone of Sir Ding. He has stolen many times before, and it wasn’t only money, but also things from other people. When he got Sir Ding’s money and cell phone, I started to get frustrated. Many times this kid has been advised, directed, comforted, and loved by us here, hoping that he would change, but he gets worse. It is really obvious that no man on earth has the ability and capacity to change the human heart. It is only Christ. I realized when I felt the frustration and disappointment, that I took everything in my own hands, that I gave credit to myself. What a shame on me! I forgot that everything is under God’s control. I forgot that I have a mighty and powerful God who created everything. Why should I feel discouraged? This work is not mine, it’s Gods. When I thought about these things, the picture of Benjie’s face was visualized. Then I started to appreciate the other side of the story.
When we found that Bimboy was missing that day we immediately suspected that he was the thief. Joel also told us his suspicion of Bimboy when he stayed with him for quite some time. When we heard this, our suspicion grew bigger. Sir Ding decided to look for Bimboy in Kalansan, the nearby village. Benjie and Albert, some of our students, saw him there before the flag ceremony on that day. Benjie saw Bimboy and started to chase him, but Bimboy ran away when he saw Benjie. When Benjie caught Bimboy, he started a conversation with him, and even comforted him along the way. Bimboy was so furious at him. He wanted to hit Benjie, but Benjie embraced him and said, “You are my friend, I can help you if you have a problem. Don’t be tempted by Satan, just focus on God.”
Bimboy said, “Leave me alone. I want to go to hell!”
Benjie still continued in convincing Bimboy to come back and confess, but Bimboy was so narrow and girded by his own will. Bimboy had already closed his mind and didn’t accept any words of enlightenment from Benjie. Bimboy continued walking, but Benjie didn’t stop following him. It came to a point that Bimboy started to feel annoyed because of Benjie’s presence and intervention. He started to threaten Benjie, but still Benjie followed him until Bimboy reached San Pablo, a village near Paluan.
Bimboy and Benjie didn’t know that the teachers had already reported the incident to the police and the barangay officials in Paluan. The barangay officials were already on the highway waiting for Bimboy to arrive. When Bimboy arrived, one official approached him and confiscated his bag. There they found the stolen money and other things which belonged to other people. One of the barangay officials happened to be Bimboy’s relative. When he saw the evidence, he immediately hit Bimboy’s face and chest, but Benjie covered Bimboy and defended him.
Bimboy slept at the prison that day. The following day, Sir Ding and Ma’am Dada went there with Jimmy, the tribal police here in Agbalite. They went there to get Bimboy. The police in Paluan released Bimboy and turned him over to the officials of the tribe to receive the tribal punishment. Bimboy was put in stocks for twenty hours and received eight beatings from the tribal mayor.
This story reminds me of God’s patience toward us. God chases us, talks to us, defends us, encourages us, and comforts us every day like what Benjie did to Bimboy. God never surrenders when He sees that there is still hope. Though we always exchange Him for our own pleasure, desire, and wants, like Bimboy, He is always there ready to pull us away from the decoys of Satan. God doesn’t want us to be hurt. He is long suffering, but His patience has its limits. At the end, when we will not listen, we will suffer the consequences of our doings. As long as there is hope, let us initiate patience.
After the incident, I had a talk with Benjie and I asked him if he felt any fear toward Bimboy when he chased him on the mountain. Was he scared that Bimboy and his family might take revenge for his intervention in the problem. Benjie said, “No ma’am, I am very much at peace with God.”
Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Isaiah 26:3