Ministry to the Ati

We have a long history with the Ati. A lot of this is personal and some of it is  prophetic and could be embarrassing.

Ministry is very hard for two main reasons: the witchcraft still clinging to many in the tribe; and because of their poverty, lack of skills, spiritual immaturity and common carnal attitudes it is hard to lead them into God’s promised land. But God has spoken much about them being one day used by God as instruments in his revival, and said we belong together.

Go find them

So one day maybe in 2015 or so God told me I need to start working with the Badjao and Negritos, which are pre-Tagalog native groups. GO FIND THEM, he said. So instead of talking to contacts or other churches, we just got on our motorbike and began driving by his direction up towards Loay where we heard there are tribal Negritos, mainly of the tribe called the ATI.

First day we stopped to take a photo of the view. It was amazing. We didn’t know it but we had stopped right at the unmarked path to their village! It began to rain so hard and long we waited an hour but then just decided to drive home through the rain, but before we got half way home I was too numb to feel my hands and had to stop … It was dangerous actually, but I later felt that this unusual outpouring of rain was a sign of what God was going to do. Next day, we tried to complete the task and found the home of Analee, on the same hill but below the main camp where we stopped the day before.

The main group were doing baptisms this day in the ocean nearby and one by one they came back to her house and first one, then two, three, then four said, “Hey, It’s Pastor Edward at our home!” How do you know me? I met you at so and so … this happened four different people with four different encounters with me I was not aware of! The Spirit began to flow, as Ann began to pray and prophesy and people began to cry. It was soon too much for Ann and she asked to go back home to rest.

John D

We were invited to minister on the weekend in their open-air shelter and there was another foreigner from Seattle who was involved with them for a few years and gave us the green light to work together … but soon began to attack us. John D. His American wife was deaf and they ran a deaf church in town. I am following God’s personal and very clear direction to help the Ati, and they invited us and accepted us, but I don’t want friction with others so we were careful to only follow God’s direction and not do anything that even appeared wrong or ambitious. John D also seemed a little pretend, like a charlatan in some ways to me, but he did things that appeared good in public but seemed hollow and unspiritual to me. We also heard he was antagonistic towards us behind our backs, talking about us a lot and so we prayed and trusted God to work things out. Maybe John would come around? But one day he accused us very hurtfully and Ann was very upset by this. God protected us and told Ann we do not have to worry about him anymore.

Why? What would God do to protect us? Meanwhile how can we do God’s will with the Ati if he keeps sabotaging, interfering and bad-mouthing us around town? But I learned that when Ann gets upset and prays for God to protect her, if people insult her, if they embarrass her, God will move immediately. He has done this several times. We left it in God’s hands! One or two years later was all it took and what he did was so shameful and sinful, I can only attribute it to God’s judgment.

Great Ministry but Unstable

There was always great ministry in the Ati camp, usually it was overnight worship and prayer, prophecy and a great time … but many people are tryin to steal the Ati and the Ati themselves are very poor and are suffering very badly and are looking for food and money first, understandably God said, but it’s hard to lead people into spiritual promises when they are too focused on natural needs.

They looked to us for financing, but God only gave us his Spirit and knowledge of how to lead them into deep intimacy and also many of his promises of  future development, huge funding and great resources … but there intangible ideas were not enough, they needed something in hand now! We visited one time and God said Look around, what do you see? Hardship! He said. He later said that we need to minister to them with food and money first because they are suffering so much they can’t listen to us until their physical hunger is met. It’s complicated to me because isn’t this why they are going astray, by looking for money and man’s favor first? But God does not judge them this way and knows their suffering and needs I suppose.

We also had a ministry event in the mountain, Pastor Sherwin invited us, after we met him in a ministry event in town. Many Ati were going to his remote church and God’s instructions to me for my message were random unrelated ideas! I just shared as instructed and in the back row a boy began convulsing being delivered. This was Jericho, who later moved into our house with his wife and baby. Another boy at the meeting began prophesying and spoke for a long time saying the seeds being planted that could be killed in three years if not nurtured. His father was there who is very firm saying there is no more Holy Spirit since we have the bible, a common local doctrine. He says the deliverance and his own son’s prophecy were from the devil. It was still a nice ministry time.

Houseguests?

When we lived in the big mansion we would sometimes get visitors from the Ati on their way to town. The only problem is when one comes, 50 more are not far behind. We had 50 unexpected overnight guests one memorable time, but the 9 bedroom house had room to spare and we had a great time fellowshipping and worshipping. Would love to have more times like that!

But we had many hardships soon, and the Ati tribe soon began working with another ministry, the 14th during recent memory and they seemed to forget all about me and Ann. God said, They are in kindergarten, Do you really want to pastor them during this time? … obviously not.

Timing?

Maybe its a matter of timing? Maybe we have to wait until they mature out of this phase. Also the vision of the community shipwreck is happening right now! Maybe this has to play out before they can hear us, obviously they cannot while they are bound by such pollution, mixture and ambition. But God also said, “STUBBORN, STUBBORN, STUBBORN!” Timing is not always measured on a calendar, but may just a matter of attitude, repentance and faith.

Lady Mae and her family

One of the young girls, Lady Mae, stayed with us a few months ago and she said there is a bad attitude of selfishness in the main group leading the church now and they do not share with others in the large family tribe anymore. Her mother God said has a good heart and God will bless her and lift her up. Her sister is very beautiful and has a foreigner boyfriend in America but they can’t meet since the pandemic. She got beat up a few weeks ago here by someone, she wont say who; her face is very bruised. We assume its her father or etc. It’s a hard life being a tribal actually. God said Lady will get married soon, and we hope good things for her sister as well, but God specifically said he will lift up their mother. I did not entertain Lady’s comments about the selfish divisions in the tribe, but when we went to the thanksgiving I saw them in the spirit for myself and yes, it’s exactly what she said was going on. When Lady was staying with us she had a few prophetic visions.

Key people and events:

Tribal chief is Antonio and Wilma is his wife. Many young men are also called Antonio, Anthony, etc. in the family. They all have nicknames to distinguish them.  The main family group is about 50, but maybe 150 other cousins in the area. They have groups in Jetafe, etc. but they all originally come from Boracay, IloIlo actually.

This group we were sent to lives primarily on “Morning Hill” called Himontagon Hill. [pics]

The neighboring Ati tribe faction across town is fully polluted and bound by witchcraft , prostitution and murder. Its an evil group and dangerous to work with. The Himontagon faction are mostly practicing or at least professing Christians.

Analee seems to be the chosen leader of the group but everyone tells her what is best for her to do with her life to help them out of poverty, usually it is for her to leave and get a job elsewhere. As the spiritual head its maybe best not to make her quit the ministry and leave. She is going to rescue the tribe from the shipwreck according to the Word of God.

Andril lived with us for about a year. Pip-pip (also an Anthony) has one of the strongest prophetic mantles we’ve every seen, but he is too weak to carry it God said. He’s in the video prophesying in tongues 2 hours and Andril was giving the interpretation! Andril is a joker, happy-go-lucky. Pip-Pip saw hell one time and his body got so hot they poured water on him and it steamed off … he saw many relatives in hell … Pip-pip is serious and quiet, skinny. Andril is loud and joking, chubby.

Last year I had word to go see them, and I also saw a vision of a ‘pump boat,’ a small outrigger canoe, that was in Jetafe waiting for us. We visited, it’s 3 hours away, and there were 100 people I never met before. Their church is so tiny, and everyone lives in poverty. SO MANY children! We began to share with Analee, she was hit by the Spirit, and the next week they had an amazing meeting with divine encounters in their meeting because of this simple interaction.

I prepared to start to work with them again, to train her, to go to the islands, maybe we can plant a church with their help in the remote islands??  THEN I GOT SICK, so sick I had chronic LMB 15 times a day for two months straight until I forced my way into divine healing that I was praying for the entire 2 months to no benefit … I finally really laid hold of the promise and got healed and it took another two months to recover before I could do anything.

The Community … is Drowning

In this time one of the younger men named Antonio, who is jokingly called ‘Scary Movie’ because of his bad driving in the jungle one time, well anyway he began having convulsions, seizures … again. The witch demons from his ancestors are trying to possess him so he will carry on the legacy I believe from what I saw when I prayed. Some of this is coming from demons on Matriarch Wilma, from her not-so-distant past.  We began to pray for his healing/deliverance and God said, “Why can’t they pray for themselves?” … I was about to find out. He was hospitalized and we were not allowed in to see him because of Covid policy, and could only pray with his wife outside, and she said she felt God’s presence for the first time in years when we prayed with her. See, God said, I am doing many things at the same time. God sent us to minister to his wife primarily it seems, not to him directly maybe, but we prayed for him outside and he was soon released but seemed very beat up. It was a dangerous attack.

Why couldn’t 50 spirit-filled Christians pray for Antonio themselves? Well, we soon found out. We went to their Thanksgiving soon .. .  the write up is on my main site and its heartbreaking.

https://prayermountainbohol.com/when-the-light-in-you-turns-into-darkness/ it was AWFUL, beyond AWFUL … the pollution was so bad Ann nearly collapsed and vomitted, our children saw angels with the youth but many demons with the adults, which also made them nauseous. I saw so much sin, bondage, demons and pride in place of what used to be sincere worship, humility and anointing.

Then … the Typhoon, Odette, hit and everything became focused on meeting daily needs and survival. Now five months later only 60% of Bohol has its power restored, and we are praying for the tribe and direction.

PipPip needs to be supported and strengthened. If we held a bible school I would invite him first, he needs room and board. [recent pic]

Analee needs to rise to her calling to lead the tribe again, and save it from drowning.

Henry led the community into this corrupt pollution. One of his sons is very sinful yet is still in ministry and leadership. Analee is going to draw them out the Word of God said. She was the defacto ministry leader before, and the main worship leader. She was given the position to lead the new church plant in Jetafe … but then Henry took over the main group and last meeting she was not even allowed in the ministry service at all; she was sitting way outside like us and no singing, praying or part of the yearly anniversary ministry. How odd. But with the mess the ministry has turned into, this is what God was showing in prophecy before. There must be a distinction of light and darkness.

Future plans?

Any construction or ministry we plan to do, we want to include the Ati. The construction, to give them work and skills and include them in God’s promised future prosperity and development; the ministry because many of them are called and were anointed before the last two years of turbulence. They can be trained if we can wean them away from man’s ways and the deception of corruption. Food first God recently said.

They also may benefit from direct intervention from a feeding program, like one Daniel mentioned in Texas / California called Children Hunger Fund. I’m waiting for more direction to know what to do.

When you work with the Ati there feels like barriers or layers of witchcraft from their past that you need to penetrate. It’s very hard for most people. Our first night meeting there was a large demon sitting outside the chief’s house and Ann could not go outside to use the toilet for many hours. It was claiming the tribe as its possession, we prayed to rebuke it but there seems to be a strong tie they have not broken off giving it some staying power. They need to undergo a deeper cleansing, deliverance, renouncing, but it’s hard to give them any real ministry right now.

So if there is outside help from a feeding ministry, I want to make sure its protected, organized and not going to be corrupted and administered selfishly. Maybe Ann and I have to be directly involved in this, and we can, and can visit Jetafe every month to oversee distribution and minister. Loay is only about 45 minutes away and many live there in a small village the local Catholic priests made for them (and also targetted them for conversion back to Catholicism), and I would not take such charity but they did and may be one reason there is such mixture right now. This was the venue where Ann nearly passed out and vomitted … But it is not far away … Jetafe is far away at 3 hours and on a bike it’s a long trip. In a car it would be half as difficult, and on bike we can’t bring anything with us of course and can’t drive in the nearly daily rain showers. God has been promising a car for a LONG time. We are willing to do our part as soon as God opens up the doors with prayer, and funding, etc.

So for now the more prayer and prophecy the better. It’s tiring and they are not willing yet to seek the higher realm maybe, that may need to be the focus of prayer. Preparing their hearts, breaking off the mixtures, clarifying their own needs to them. God will move. God did just also say that we belong with them, we are called by God to be a family together and serve him together as well. Their overseeing church, JCTV, is not very spiritual, and may also be why they have slipped so far. But maybe we can work together if God leads and arranges a proper relationship. God called it kindergarten not too long ago and we are certainly not walking, ministering or training people to live in that kind of realm. Let God lead!

But for our part we are very willing, but they cannot see the value in our help, their physical need is often overpowering them. But also ambition and pollution of mixture of man’s ways must be addressed, and many spiritual connections and bondages need to be broken off. It’s a hard assignment but we are willing to move forward as God guides.