Going through a Path with no Trail

How the Lord led Ptr. Derrick to untapped resources with wounded legs and dirty K-Swiss!

“Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,” Jeremiah 33:3

The trek started out fine. I was enjoying the scenery. Lot’s of greens. The smell of the country and fresh air was so relaxing. I saw a lot of coconut trees and pili nut trees along the trail and realized how rich the property was. As we went along, we stopped ever so often to look at a tree and the fruits while Dr. Dineros points to them and enthusiastically explains their potential market and income generation. Then, he wanted to see the limits of his property. So we started to walk towards the direction of the barbwires along the property line. This was when the “suffering” (hehe) started.

Our guide brought out a “bolo” and started to cut vines, tall grasses, branches, and plants in front of him. I deduced that the path Dr. Dineros wanted to take had no trail. We were going to parts of his property that no one has reached before. Now, in this part of the trek, I started to look more often down to my new shoes, my arms, and my legs. As we walked through the newly made trail, I acquired several cuts on my arms and legs due to the protruding thorns from vines and branches. I got more as we went along with additional insect bites and dirt on my new K-swiss, which was, by then, brown with mud.

Dr. Dineros, however, was consistent in his enthusiasm and continued to explain as we stopped every now and then at a fruit filled tree. We realized that in these parts, where the trees are growing wildly, there were more fruits on them. There were more resources here than in the parts of the property that had established trails. And he was getting more excited about it.

I, on the other hand, after walking for 4 hours through a “virgin forest”, started to complain to myself. I was worried if I remembered to put on sunblock. I was complaining about the cuts, the insect bites, and was thinking we were supposed to be operating at this time, or I should have been in church today (because it was Sunday), worshipping, listening to God’s word in an air-conditioned auditorium, but instead I here, suffering. One of the guides was even saying, “Wala pa tayo sa kalahati!!!” (“We’re not halfway there yet!”) So, I complained even more. But, through my complaining, God broke through.

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