A trip to the dentist doesn’t usually take three days but when missionary Gene Trudeau in the mountains of the Philippines lost a filling, the adventure began.

Gene taught one of his Manobo friends to drive his four-wheel drive vehicle so that he could help out in times of need. But on the day he wanted Mahan to drive him to the airstrip, Mahan wasn’t available. So Gene drove to the airstrip with his wife Carol and Manobo Bible teachers Piduy and Pulding.

Between their home and the airstrip a very rapid river flows. Because they needed to return the truck to the village, Carol drove back accompanied by Piduy. Carol managed to ford the river without incident. Then Piduy drove Carol back to the airstrip on his motorcycle. It was a jarring trip but they were able to cross the river by raft.

“Then we waited at the airstrip – and waited and waited. After the plane [was] 1 1/2 hours late, we were just ready to phone the pilot on our satellite phone when we heard the plane coming,” wrote Carol.

The pilot told them that about halfway to their airstrip the alternator belt broke. Concerned that the battery could possible run down, he returned to his airstrip to replace the belt.

When the plane landed, they had an hour’s drive to get to the mission guest house.

The next day they drove to the city where the dentist has his office. They averaged 21 mph on the trip to the city because of construction and other traffic hold-ups.

Finally Gene’s tooth was fixed and the Trudeaus were ready for the return trip.

“As we write this, wrote Carol, “we are back at our NTM guesthouse and due to fly back to our airstrip soon. And this time Mahan should there at the airstrip to meet us with our truck – if the river isn’t flooded so high that the truck can’t safely ford it – and, if it isn’t raining so the plane can fly.”

Pray for Gene and Carol as minister to the Manobo people in remote areas. Pray for the Manobo believers to grow in the Lord as Gene and Manobo Bible teachers faithfully teach and disciple.