Catholic Online: Miracle in the Philippines: Tribe converted to Christianity after hearing Gospel and watching 'Passion of the Christ'

By Kenya Sinclair (Catholic Online)

April 27, 2016

Manobo tribe embraces Jesus (tikbo).

 LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to missionaries from Christian Aid Mission, nearly the entire village converted to Christianity after eight months of hearing the Gospel then finally watching "Passion of the Christ."

The ministry director, whose name has been concealed for security purposes, explained the villagers attended Bible classes for eight months before the fateful weekend they learned the powerful promise of Genesis 22:18, in which God tells Abraham, "All nations on earth will bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed my command."

The director explained, "The week before presenting the gospel lesson was a week of suspense. Everyone was in anticipation as to what would happen to Jesus after He was arrested by the Jewish leaders. To make the teaching of the gospel that night more vivid, the teacher inserted a brief video clip of the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus from the movie, 'The Passion of Christ.'"

Following the clip, the director said an old man "emotionally said, 'How I wish I could be by Jesus' side and help Him!' But after the truth had been explained concerning the death and resurrection of Christ as God's only provision for man's salvation, a feeling of awe and amazement was felt."

The sacrifice of Jesus touched the tribe, who expressed both understanding and faith that night.

"Finally, after consistently teaching over the past eight months from Genesis onward, we were able to present the gospel, and nearly the whole village responded and trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior," the director stated. "It was a great joy for us to see them understand the saving grace of Jesus for salvation; some cried as they shared their testimony of faith."

The next day, the Manobo adults shared their responses to the Gospel and of Jesus' resurrection.

The Manobo were converted after seeing "Passion of the Christ (Tweaktown).

One converted older man said Jesus "suffered so much for me. I'm glad He rose again from the dead."

Another elderly woman who came to Christ explained she was grateful to hear Jesus' story and, though she was not long for the world, knew heaven awaited her because of Christ's sacrifice.

The director explained, "Many more Manobo, both children and adult, expressed faith in Jesus. Truly, God is at work in the lives of these people, moving them from darkness to light, into His eternal kingdom."

The conversion of the Manobo people is worthy of celebration and the director explained the majority of Filipinos consider themselves Christians despite their beliefs being "mixed with former animistic rituals and superstitions." He added, "there are tribes that have never heard the gospel message."

Prior to their conversion, the Manobo believed all men were created to live forever until a bird traded humanity's "life breath" for a piece of kemp string, which left man mortal.

"From that time on, the Manobo were taught that no one has been raised to heaven," the director stated. "Yet they still yearned to leave this world of poverty, sickness, hunger and death to a place of eternal bliss. Today, many of these villages have heard the gospel message and know they have a place in the eternal kingdom through Jesus Christ, their Savior."

Now, thanks to the missionaries and Jesus' gift to humanity, the Manobo people have the opportunity to live in the truth of God's Word and divine grace.