The Age-Old Scripts of Philippines' Tagbanua People

Vanishing from Use


On a quiet hillside in the village of Makagwaq, on Palawan Island in the western Philippines, 71-year-old Antonita Bibas teaches her grandchildren an ancient script. Known only to few, the isolated mountains and coastlines of Palawan are home to a rich but fragile culture. The script - adopted by indigenous Tagbanua people many hundreds of years ago - tells of the intricate cultures that once thrived on Palawan.

PRAY :
God's glory in the ancient scripts will be preserved to reflect a facet of himself. (Revelation 7:9)
For this tribe to discover their redemptive gifting and worship their Creator for his glory in them.

TEXT Katherine Jack
(Asian Geographic)

Asia's Child Soldiers

There are at least 300,000 children actively involved in wars or uprisings in 41 countries around the world. Tens of thousands of children have been recruited in the past decade – most are teenagers, but many are below the age of 10. There is no discrimination between the sexes.

Advancements in weapon technology allow increasingly younger children to handle AK-47s, M-16s and grenades with ease. Those who do not actually carry arms and go into combat take on roles that are just as, if not more, dangerous.

PRAY :
That our Asian children in strife-stricken nations will be protected, saved and allowed to be children.
For the Father heart of God to minister to those already within this involvement.
For the release of these children.
Against the abusive, destructive spirit set out to ruin these children's lives and hearts.

(Source: Asian Geographic)

East Timor

East Timorese youth growing up in a newly independent country are hungry for a sense of belonging. Some are finding it in the wrong places. Many young men are joining martial arts groups, some of which have an occultic slant. Members of a popular group have to offer animal sacrifices and wear belts dipped in chicken blood. They also claim to have the power to make others sick. Animism and witchcraft are pervasive in this nominally Catholic country.

P R A Y:

For the light of God to dispel the blindness that is in the hearts of many Timorese.

Ask Jesus to manifest Himself to God-fearing men and women who don't yet have a personal relationship with Him.

Intercede for local Protestant churches to be spirit-filled witnesses for the Kingdom.

North Korea

The fairy tale of liberation against the Japanese, the vision of a prosperous socialist land in which industry would boom and people would thrive did not go quite as planned.

In North Korea,the economic reality is such that more than a fifth of its population is malnourished, 80 percent of the country's factories have fallen into disuse, river and fields are exhausted and energy is scarce enough to light buildings.

More than 3.5 million people have died of starvation since 1994.
Complete indoctrination blinds the people to the fact that the country's economy has been stagnant since the 1970s.

PRAY :
For isolation to stop, establishment of peaceful diplomatic relations between the 2 Koreas.
For its people who have not seen much of the world, to be given the best.
For humility and wisdom for its leaders.
For a breakthrough in NK's relationship with the key nations.

(Source: Asian Geographic)