Malimpec - Chapel in the Rice Fields

Today we went with the zone leaders to do apartment checks in the Bayambang (by-am-bong) Zone. One of the missionary apartments is in Malimpec, a little village in the middle of the rice fields. The story we were told is that virtually everyone in the community joined the church. There are over 1,500 members of the church in this little village. The missionaries live in an apartment just behind the chapel in Malimpec, so we asked people along the way the direction to the chapel. We kept following their directions, but I thought as we drove along the dirt road, certainly we will come to a paved road soon that will get us to the chapel. Wrong! 3.5 Km down the dirt road...

We passed puddles, that a few days ago were lakes.

We passed the carts carrying the harvest of the day. (Not an easy task.) And then after 15 minutes of dirt road... just around the bend...

The Malimpec chapel!

It is the largest chapel I have seen in the Philippines! And it's on a dirt road in the middle of the rice fields. That must have been some construction project. I wonder if they did a helicopter drop?

And sure enough the missionary apartment was just down the street. Everyone in the village knew where the missionaries live.

Some new little goats were staying near their mother at the front door of the elders.

Hey! Who are you!

Pretty shy when it comes to getting their picture taken.

This is a sled that is used in the rice fields. It glides over the mud and is often pulled by a large carabou

People from the village work the fields. It's harvest time and there is a good crop!

It looks like a field, but there is water under the growth.

A foot bridge... no it's a dock.

Bamboo grows everywhere and it grows quickly. It is very strong and durable.

Time to move on to the next apartment, but this was a fun surprise to see a big chapel in the rice fields.