Baguio City was again one of the three Feast sites in the Philippines after two years of having virtual celebration due to the pandemic. For the 20th time, this festival was held at the “Ating Tahanan” grounds of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines located at the South Drive in Baguio City. This is the ninth time we have used their multi-purpose hall since 2012.

The Feast started out with our traditional opening night service on the evening of Oct. 9 with a short welcoming message delivered by the Baguio festival coordinator reiterating the importance of rejoicing and learning the fear of God during the Feast. The highest attendance we had during this Feast was 119 on the Eighth Day/Last Great Day.

The messages were all very uplifting, inspiring and encouraging. The pre-recorded message from our president, Rick Shabi, “Welcome to the 2022 Feast of Tabernacles” was played, viewed and listened to by the brethren as the main sermon on the morning of the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The afternoon service of the first day was suspended when the sermonette giver, Constantino “Toti” Carlotta III, suffered a heart attack during the hymn following his message. He was rushed to the hospital and was sadly declared dead on arrival. The Church conducted a funeral service for him in the afternoon of the fourth day of the Feast.

It was a very sad event with everyone tearfully praying, but with God’s help, encouragement and guidance through His Word, we were able to continue rejoicing in the right fear of God, with the rest of the services and programs of the Feast.

Thanks to our great and merciful God, the various activities were all enjoyed as planned by the young and old alike. The whole family had the opportunity to enjoy wholesome fun, food, fellowship and games. Among the activities everyone enjoyed were the youth day activities for the pre-teens and teens held on the second day, the seniors’ socials and dinner on the fourth day (hosted by our teens and young adults) and the family day activities on the fifth day of the Feast.

The festival show this year was held on the third day of the Feast. The show featured festive songs and dances focused on the importance of rejoicing at the Feast. Some of these were native Filipino songs, popular music and classic Filipino folk dances, including the famous local folk dances called the “Sayaw sa Bankô,” the “Tinikling” and (special this year) an authentic Mountain Province “Igorot Dance.”

The messages were spiritually inspiring and centered on the vision of what the Millennium will be like and the establishment of God’s Kingdom on this earth when we will be reunited with all our loved ones who have gone before us. The warm fellowship, the spirit of serving and outgoing concern the brethren shared and experienced was a blessing. Everyone present felt that 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. In spite of the sad event that God allowed us to experience, this Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day will be remembered as one of the most joyful and spiritually memorable Feasts ever.