The Village Evangelists

Pastor Larry Alentajan who serves in the province of Antique speaks Kinaray-a, the heart language of over half a million people in the Philippines. He uses the translated Kinaray-a New Testament (NT). Pastor Larry is passionate in bringing God’s Word to the whole village in a novel way – through a loudspeaker affixed to the top of a bamboo pole!
At 5 a.m., he would go on the air to recite a NT passage in Kinaray-a and then end with a prayer. High above the rooftops, the pastor’s voice could be heard ‘live’. This daily routine at dawn would go on for months.
One day, the pastor fell sick and realising he was too feeble to read aloud, he did not go on the air. Resting at home alone, he pondered: “Has my public Scripture reading impacted anyone in the village? Is it worthwhile to continue?”
As if in answer to his queries, an anxious fish vendor called him just then. “Pastor! I was expecting to hear your voice. But the loudspeaker was silent this morning. You also kept the trishaw riders at the market waiting by the loudspeaker! Like me, they would not start their day till they have heard your message. What happened to you?”
​The testimony in thirsting after God’s Word soon spread like wildfire to the neighbouring barangays (districts). The pastors from those areas began to replicate the idea of reading aloud the Scriptures over the loudspeaker. By God’s grace, the readings blessed and transformed lives among the Kinaray-a people.

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