One Bullet for Porras, Part 1

by ANTONIO SENDING, JR.

Fourteen-year-old Porras was a bright student and a born leader. His father, Chief Tranning of the Manobo people of Mindanao in the Philippines, was proud of him. One day Porras would be a warrior, so his father took him along on headhunting expeditions.
Porro's village often received threats of tribal war, so they were constantly alert for signs of danger. His father had rifles and taught his son to use one. But Porras did not share his father's dream for him. He wanted to lead his people in a different way; he wanted to study at Mountain View College, where his teachers studied; and one day, he hoped, he would return to the mountains of southern Philippines and teach his people to read and to write and introduce them to Jesus.
One day, a chief from another Manobo village came to visit Porras's father. He brought a horse, a gift from a family in the chief's village. The chief had come to ask Porras' father for permission for Porras to marry a girl from his village. Porras knew that in the past there had been problems between these two villages. A marriage would resolve those problems and prevent further bloodshed. Porras wanted nothing to do with this marriage. But to Porras' horror, his father agreed to the marriage.
Porras was in serious trouble. To refuse the marriage surely would mean bloodshed between the two tribes, and Porras's own life was at risk. But if Porras accepted the offer of marriage, his dreams for the future would vanish with the smoke from the morning fires.
Confused and frightened, he went to talk to his teachers, student missionaries from Mountain View College. The missionary teachers, however, did not dare advise Porras what to do. That would be to interfere with the village's customs. They could only advise Porras to pray that God would reveal His will for this young man.
Porras went home and prayed. "Dear Lord, I want to be a teacher! Please help my father understand that I want to attend the Adventist high school and then study at Mountain View College. If I marry, that will be impossible."
Porras' father and mother argued about what to do. His father wanted Porras to marry the young woman from the nearby village, but his mother refused to allow her beloved son to live in another village. "He is still a boy!" she sobbed to her husband. "I don't want to give him away!"

(to be continued)