For the 17th consecutive time, the Feast was held at the Ang Ating Tahanan grounds of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines located at the South Drive in Baguio City. We have again been given the opportunity to use their multi-purpose hall for the sixth time since 2012.

The Feast started with our traditional opening night service on the evening of Oct. 4 with the message delivered by the coordinator for the Baguio festival site reiterating the importance of learning the fear of God during the Feast. The highest attendance we’ve had during this Feast was 154 on the second day of the Feast.

We were privileged to have with us two visiting elders during the Feast: the pastor of the Oklahoma churches, Ed Dowd and his wife RaeAnn and their family, as well as David and Kim Nunn.

The messages were uplifting, inspiring and encouraging. The pre-recorded sermon from our president, Victor Kubik, titled “Understanding Suffering in Order to Rejoice,” was downloaded in time and was viewed and listened to by the brethren as the main sermon on the sixth day.

The festival show this year was held on the fourth day. The festival show featured festive songs and dances from a number of countries from around the world. Featured among others were of course native Filipino songs, popular music and classic folk dances, which always included the famous local folk dance called the Tinikling. A good number of our overseas brethren were given the opportunity to experience Tinikling, which added to the enjoyment and fun of everyone.

Various wholesome activities were prepared and enjoyed both by the young and the once-young alike as well as the whole family, where everyone had the opportunity to enjoy fun, food, fellowship and games. Among the activities were: the youth day activities for the preteens and teens held on the second day, the seniors dinner on the third day hosted again by our teens and young adults, and the family day activities on the fifth day. Because we had a good number of overseas brethren and other first-timers to Baguio, we had two afternoons devoted to touring the city. Interested brethren had the opportunity to visit the city’s historic and scenic spots while experiencing the ride on local passenger “jeepneys.”

With the spiritually inspiring messages, the warm fellowship, the spirit of service and outgoing concern the brethren shared and experienced here, everyone felt they were blessed by our great God with a deeper level of spiritual understanding of the joy, unity, love and togetherness. We all look forward to in the Kingdom. This Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day will be remembered as one of the most joyful and spiritually fruitful ever.