(First challenge came during our first night, when I realized I forgot to bring my toothbrush... Haha. But that's not a topic worth pursuing here.)
On our first day of walking, we woke up after ~2 hours of sleep in Bacungan and started walking towards Bahile (also known as Byahilo to one hiker). It was actually Day 3 of the hike already, and we were told that this leg of the hike was the longest at ~24 kilometers.
Walking in the early morning when it's cool and your feet and legs are relatively well-rested is fun. But the fun ends after a few hours, when the sun is glaring at you and your feet are dead and every step is painful. I was soooo ready to hitch a ride with the passing jeepneys! But thankfully, I didn't, due to the following reasons:
- the guy we passed from ~3 kilometers back said we only had 3.5 kilometers to go
- I was walking with Meng, Erik and Ate Espie who were all determined to walk all the way
But as we passed each kilometer marker, we realized that we were still far from the Bahile campsite. Instead of 3.5 km, the guy probably meant 6 or more kms. If I could have just rolled or crawled those last kilometers, I would have. (After all, the only exercise I've been getting in the past year was walking to and from our office printer a few meters away, about twice a day.)
Anyway, I was still able to drag my feet until we finally saw the Hike4Life banner welcoming us after more than 5 hours of walking. Yeah!! We survived walking the longest leg of the hike without taking a ride! That was actually good enough for me at that time. I thought, I probably won't survive the next days of the hike so I'll just take the jeepney when I get tired. After all, I survived the longest leg already.
However, God would surprise me by giving me enough strength to walk all the way from Bahile to Tagabinet (most difficult leg), then Tagabinet to Sabang (last leg) in the next days. What's more amazing is that thousands of other hikers were able to do the same. And with the medical and other barangay missions, with the nightly Festival of Life performances and messages, and with all the inspiring people and stories around, the impact of Hike4Life on all the lives it has touched is just beyond words. It's just pure passion + grace + love.
If this is what God can do for me during 3 days of walking, I can't imagine what He can do for me with the rest of my life. If this is what God can do for just 1 hiker like me, I can't imagine what He can do for all the other hikers, for all the young people of Palawan, and and for the millions of people in the Philippines and all over the world who are hungry for His love.
I went into this hike planning to do just whatever I could, with my own strength. But God had other plans, and I am so thankful for that. This hike has already done so much for me, and will probably do so much more as the days go by. It's all His work -- all praises to Him!
# There is so much more to be shared from this experience -- these words are not enough. But I do hope it will just naturally flow from me and out into the world, as I go on hiking for life. :)
A big THANK YOU also to Life Church, to the Manila Tribe and its leaders, and to all fellow PCF hikers!
posted on 10:56:00 PM
