It’s been a busy time for the team over the last few days. On Thursday (Nov 1), most of the team worked a half-day and then spent the evening evangelizing in a somewhat unique way. November 1st is All Saints Day, and they celebrate it much differently that we celebrate our Halloween in the US. They do have our traditional “Trick-or-Treat” celebration, but the real focus on All Saints Day here in the Philippines (and other places around the world) is to celebrate the lives of loved ones that have passed on.
The family and extended family will gather together at the gravesite of a loved one and, for lack of a better description, have a party. They bring food & drinks, games, tents or some sort of covering, and they talk about their loved ones and pray for them. They pray that God will allow them into Heaven (because they are in purgatory ).
There was a church that was already planning on walking through the crowd and handing out tracts, so our team members went out with their team members and evangelized. We spent about an hour and half planting seeds and spreading the Word. One group led four people to Christ! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be evangelizing in a cemetery, much less leading people to Christ. Oh where the Lord will take you when you listen and obey!
