Made Strong for a Reason: The Return to Mt. Batulao

"Strength is for service, not status."

Mt Batulao we meet again

I was feeling awesome. The ascending mountain trail of Mt. Batulao (Old Trail) that I "crawled" through only 2 and a half months ago, I was now almost effortlessly and swiftly climbing. The long drops that made my knees shake before, I now thoroughly enjoyed. It was an amazing feeling. 


Since the 7-day mission climb in June, I wanted to train myself to be a faster and stronger climber so that we could reach the summit faster and have more time for ministry in the villages. I was so happy to know that the great challenge of the mission climb changed me as a mountaineer for good, just as God had changed my heart on that summit and it hasn't been the same since.


But though I wanted to rush away in the front of the group and be one of the first to get to the peak as fast as I could (since this was a training climb), by the second pit stop, my plans changed. 

Eka's first climb

My dear friend Eka, who I invited at the last minute to this climb was there with us. It was her first mountain ever. Though Mt. Batulao's New Trail is considered an easy climb, the Old Trail of Mt. Batulao, which we took, is not easy. And for a first timer, climbing for at least 3 hours is no walk in the park. 


At the second stop we had, Eka, who was right behind me, was nowhere to be found. She came up a few minutes later at the tail end of our group of 15, heavily panting. I knew exactly how she felt, for this was my experience. 


During my first climbs, one of the most helpful aspects that got me to the top was the constant support of our our group leader and my mentor, Tito Ace, and how he kept on encouraging to me and climbing with me at my pace. I knew that this was also what I wanted to do for Eka.


We let the other climbers go on and we took the tail end of the team, going at Eka's pace and enjoying each other's company, laughing and singing our way to the top. I thank God so much for the wisdom of this decision, for towards our final ascent, Eka began to get terrible cramps. I know that I would have regretted it dearly if I wasn't there to support her. 


In a quite amazing feat, she made it to the peak, despite her limping and constant cramps. I was overjoyed and everyone was congratulating her, but no one as ecstatic as she was. 

Climbing for Christ

Tito Ace introduced me to some of the climbers as a "veteran", simply cause I've already done a mission climb, and I did feel somehow proud of how I had improved in climbing, but then in what happened, God humbled me revealed the  real lesson to me: Strength is for service, not status. 

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?" (Romans 15:1-2 MSG)

We are made strong by God so we can be of service to others, just like Tito Ace would stay behind to support those who are not as strong as he even if he could climb fast to the peak. We are made strong so we can carry more burdens for those who are overburdened. 


And as it goes in climbing mountains, so it is for our climb in faith. The stronger we grow in our faith in God, the more we will use it to serve others and help them grow stronger in their faith as well.

There's more to climbing that just reaching the top.

If I had climbed to the peak of Mt. Batulao at a run and made it there before any of the team did, I would have been proud of myself. But falling behind to support a friend and seeing her overcome her difficulty and cling to God for strength, made me proud of her and amazed at God's ability to change people in the mountains. 


For when our bodies break down, our spirit surfaces. And in the middle of the vastness of a mountain, God shows up clearly, and we realize how small and how weak we are, but God steps in with His strength and we are forever changed. 






Read Eka's blog on her climb here.