Juanito travels to one of the churches that CALM serves almost every Sunday. Often, he rises early on Sunday to be able to reach the church on time, preaches at that church, travels to another church for an afternoon or evening meeting, and then returns home late Sunday night. Other times, there is only time for one church visit because of the distance and occasionally, an overnight visit is required. When possible, he travels by bus, but sometimes other modes are transportation are required.
When the church is in one of the remote interior areas, he hires transportation via motorbike. The motorbike drivers provide a ride to one or, preferably two passengers, for 50 to 100 pesos, depending on the distance. (One US dollar is about 55 pesos). In the mountainous areas that can’t be reached by a road, one of the church members may give him a ride on a cart pulled by a water buffalo. The cart is not what comes to mind to Americans; rather we would call it a travois, two joined poles that are dragged behind the buffalo.
A visit to the Gregacjac church requires a 5-kilometer (~3 miles) walk through rice paddies. The Buenavista Church of Christ is on Guimaras Island and requires travel by ferry.
Good, reliable transportation would be a great asset to the ministry to CALM. As Juanito says, “That is why I have been praying God will provide me a pickup truck so that anytime I can travel anywhere to preach, whether it is uphill or downhill with muddy or dusty roads.”