The story of Noah's Ark and a global deluge is well known in western culture. For centuries in the western world, where Christianity dominates, westerners have been fascinated with the story of a massive flood, the eight survivors, and God's mercy that sustained creation.

Can the story of a global deluge be traced in other cultures around the world? What does it mean if the story can be tracked across Europe, Asia and India? How does it impact the validity of the account of the deluge if tribal groups and cultures around the world each have their own version of a world wide flood?

In April 2007 I set out to visit and live with an indigenous tribe in the southern Philippines. My purpose was simple: to investigate if they had a story about a global flood and document the evidence on film. They are called the Matigsalugs, an indigenous people who still live primitively in the mountains of the southern Philippines. They are the “native Americans” of their country.

The Matigsalug tribe is distinctly known for their violent past. Pangayaw or “vengeance killings” have become an inherit trait of their culture. Yes, “vengeance killing” is as strange as it sounds! Pangayaw is the 'right to take your life' if you've committed an offense against them. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't provided a list of possible offenses before I decided to visit the tribe!

When a Pangayaw is launched, with the confirmation of the Chieftains of the tribe, it can result in a bloody spectacle that can result in the death of many in a tribe, not just the person who committed the offense. First, the men of the village begin a Pangayaw by a sacrificial tradition that involves slicing the throat of a chicken and allowing the blood to drip on their machetes, bows and spears. Don't be mistaken; a Pangayaw ends much bloodier than it begins!

As the men begin their rampage to seek vengeance on their enemy, they obliterate any living thing they encounter along the way. For anyone or anything in their path, death is imminent. They hack down their victims with machetes, bows and spears, dismember the bodies and sometimes eat their liver.

I arrived in Manila after a 26 hour flight from Atlanta , Georgia. I met up with Tiana Cu-Unjieng, a very talented producer from Copenhagen, Denmark who was exploring the idea of making a documentary film about the Matigsalug's and their tradition of Pangayaw. We decided to work together and help each other accomplish our set goals. We took a 2 1/2 hour flight from Manila to Davao, the last major city before you enter the jungle by foot.

Tiana and I have a lot in common. She had previously made a documentary about Noah's Ark. I met her while working on my Noah's Ark film when Henri Nissen, the author of “Noah's Ark Uncovered”, a highly acclaimed book on the Durupinar site in Turkey, recommended I contact the producer of a Danish TV station to obtain an interview they filmed with him. He gave me Tiana's email address to obtain the interview. We've stayed in touch ever since.

With the help of three great women missionaries to the Matigsalug's, Tiana and I found our way through the jungle and into the tribe. It was a long and arduous 47 mile trek, which at most times involved climbing mountains, crossing rivers, all while carrying heavy packs loaded with camera gear and camping equipment. Temperatures reached 101 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) during the middle of the day. A major threat in that area is the NPA, New People's Army, a terrorist group that brutually kills it's captives for political gain. Islamic militant groups also roam throughout other mountain ranges in the south, but weren't as a serious threat to us as the NPA.

Upon reaching the tribe, I was surprised to find how friendly and welcoming the tribe was to our presence. Tiana and I quickly fell in love with the people. We spent the first night sleeping in one of the homes of the villagers. By American standards it wasn't a home, but to the kind host we couldn't have been more appreciative. Throughout the night I constantly picked off the cockroaches that ran across my neck and face, flicking them across the floor.

It wasn't until the second night that I noticed the gigantic tarantulas that were scurrying across the inside of the walls of the home. They were easily the size of my hand and bigger! I could only imagine that maybe several of these furry friends had climbed across me while I slept!

A single, powerful blow strikes just above the ankle! Nerve endings fire synapses in the brain, which release a wave of burning pain throughout the body. The venom is a neurotoxin which affects cardiac and respiratory function and can cause neurotoxicty and respiratory paralysis and death in thirty minutes. The little child collapsed to the jungle floor. He was struck by a Philippine Cobra, ranked the third most deadly snake in the world by the Discovery Channel, even beating out the King Cobra and Black mamba. The little child in the village was bitten and killed by the snake just one week before we arrived.

One evening we spotted a cobra behind the home we had slept in during our first night in the village. It buried itself deep inside a hole. The Matigsalug men came to dig out the hole and kill the cobra. After sometime digging and approaching the end of the hole, finally the Cobra pops out and scurries under the home and out the other side, where a man with a machete is waiting and quickly wacks off its head as it rears up to strike! Wow, my first encounter with a Cobra is definitely going to be a lasting one!

As I lean over to pick up the still moving body of the snake, I'm told that the man who killed the cobra was the father of the child who was bitten and killed just a week ago. At that very moment, I've never been more aware about the powerful and deadly force of the world around us.

We've been in the village for over two days and still have yet to meet the Chief. I've heard many terrifying stories about him. He's a fierce warrior that ravages his enemy with fear and power. Having slaughtered almost 100 men has gained him a deep sense of respect among the people living throughout the mountains and jungle. His name is Datu Buaya, when translated means “Chief Crocodile.” Many men have tried to kill him in numerous failed attempts in the past.

As I stood outside a hut having a conversation with a small group of men from the tribe, there came walking up the mountain a stocky man about the same height as me, strapped with an assault rifle to his back, grasping a spear. He politely greeted me, staring sternly in my eyes as to read my “true” intentions for being on his land. I tried my best to be as harmless and warm as I could be, while still trying to earn the respect and trust of a fierce warrior.

He kindly told us, through the help of a translator, that two people disguised as journalist entered his village years ago and attempted to kill him for a bounty of 50,000 pesos on his head. I knew that my feeble attempt to gain his trust would likely only raise suspicions, so I just shook my head in disdain as the translator told me the information, never trying to persuade him otherwise.

My goal over the next week was to get close to the Chief, earn a sense of his trust and discover if the tribe had an oral or written tradition about a great flood that swept the earth. These people have remained isolated from the rest of the world, so any story with resemblance to a global deluge that parallels with the Biblical account could only have been passed down from their ancestors and the very distant ancestors of Noah and his sons. The only contact they've had with the outside world was with a small mission's group that built a water well in their village several years back.

As the days passed, I grew ever fond with the Matigsalug people. Throughout the day, when I wasn't filming the men or women at work, Tiana and I would play with the children. I quickly earned the name “Busau”, which when translated meant “white devil.” It was never intended to be an insult, but rather a joke among the people of the village, so I gladly joined in on the joke and introduced myself as “Busau” to other villagers. Then again, maybe it was a terrible insult and I was just humiliating myself! Either way, it made a lot of people laugh!

There are over 30,000 people in the Matigsalug tribe. Most of them exist within small tribal communities of not more than several hundred. The village we were in had no more than 150 people. I learned of an amazing story from another Matigsalug community that I just had to chase down to investigate and verify for accuracy.

It's the story about a “black book.” According to the Matigsalug's, when the world came into being, man was given a “black book”, a book of righteousness that should be used to guide one's life after. However, because of the evil in man, the “heavy rains” came and flooded the earth and destroyed the “black book.” Then a prophecy was given in their tribe, a prophecy that's been passed down through generations for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. It was prophesied that another man would come with a new “black book” and in it would be the “account of a savior who is truth.”

I've always been skeptical by nature, so I wanted to investigate the validity of the story and talk to the people in the tribe about the accuracy of this oral tradition. A man named Dodong Cubos, a former high-profile drug smuggler, turned Christian was felt directed by the Holy Spirit to begin walking in the jungle and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit. Living in Davao , the last major city before you enter the jungle, he felt that he would be led by the Holy Spirit to a tribe where he would teach the Gospel.

After much apprehension and months of struggling with the thought, Mr. Cubos enters the jungle not knowing where his journey will take him. After trekking over 75 KM into the jungle, he comes across a woman and two men. The woman is pregnant but is experiencing major labor problems. One of the men standing there is the Chief of the village. Mr. Cubos asks if he can pray for the woman. The Chief agrees, but it's not custom for a man to touch a woman, so the Chief places his hand on the woman's stomach as Mr. Cubos places his hand on top of the hand of the Chief.

This woman and two men are from a very spiritualistic village community. Actually, in their community the people worship and offer sacrifices to a gigantic tree that stands portentously in the center of their village. Large rocks circle the base of the tree as an altar to sacrifice animals and other personal objects to the tree idol. Having been accustomed to a “spirit world” they weren't likely to reject the prayer of a man who might have “spirit powers.”

Praying boisterously in the midst of a dense jungle surrounding, Cubos ends the prayer with a loud and strong “amen”, which ripples across the jungle basin. The problems with the woman immediately went away at the astonishment of everyone there. Before Cubos leaves to return home, he asks the Chief if he can return to their village in a week's time. The Chief, who was a first hand witness of the power in this man, which has healed the sick before their very eyes, agrees to allow Cubos to return to their village in a week's time. Cubos later learns that the woman gave birth to a healthy child the very next day.

Once again, after a week passes, Cubos begins his 75 KM journey back into the jungle, continuing the original mission God has given him. He passes the location along the way where he prayed for the pregnant woman. Finally, he reaches the edge of the village. A prophecy given many, many generations ago is on the verge of being fulfilled!

As he begins to walk into the village, he carries with him a black book. The black book, tucked tightly under his arm, was the one prophesied about a long time ago!

The villagers immediately see him and greet him with astonishment as they know an ancestral prophecy is being fulfilled. To the amazement of Cubos, the villagers gather around to tell him that when he yelled “amen”, during the prayer with the pregnant woman, their gigantic idol tree came crashing to the jungle floor! After witnessing their tree falling and the Chief coming back to tell them that a man just said a prayer, the villagers exclaimed, “This man's God is more powerful than ours!” Even more astounding is the fact that it was never windy or rainy on the day the tree fell. Actually, the tree fell when the massive roots, which snake across the ground, began to snap and bust!

As the villagers continued to gather around at the amazement of this prophecy being fulfilled, Cubos opened up his “black book”, his Holy Bible and at that very moment preached the Gospel of a saving grace; a man who died for their sins so they could be reconciled to Christ. That day the people accepted the truth and turned their lives to Jesus Christ.

I met up with Dodong Cubos and filmed a short interview about his amazing story. I also met with one of the men who was with the pregnant woman that day when Cubos stopped to pray for her. He agreed to do an interview with me as well. Because of the powerful impact the event had on his life, that man is now a pastor to his tribe.

For me, it wasn't just a powerful missionary story; it also contained small pieces to a puzzle I've been putting together for several years. The mention of “heavy rains” that came and washed away the book isn't just coincidental. It testifies to the fact that many cultures and tribes around the world hold tightly to stories passed down by their ancestors about a global flood that killed mankind.

Back in the tribe with Chief Crocodile, my daily presence finally gains enough of his confidence that he's willing to talk to me. I was blown away with the story that I heard with my very own ears!

He tells me that his 105 year old grandfather told him a story before he died. It was about a man named Noea who built a massive boat to protect him and his family. Crouching down to draw the shape of the boat on the ground, he explains that Noea stored sweet potatoes, corn, and rice as provisions. The waters rose so high that only a single mountaintop in their area was only visible. As I sat there listening to the translation of the story, the overwhelming realization hit me that I was hearing a story from the Chief of an indigenous tribe which had been passed down from his 105 year old grandfather who heard it from his grandfather. The Matigsalugs are very strict about keeping traditions and stories passed down through the generations. The story of a great flood and a man who built an Ark to protect his family was just one of those stories they've diligently protected. Amazing!

Unknowing to the civilized world, most primitive cultures and tribal groups, including the American Indians, have passed down either a written or oral tradition about a global deluge. The Matigsalug's are just one of several hundred cultures around the world that have such a tradition. My trip to the tribe will be part of my feature documentary about my search for Noah's Ark and evidence of a global flood.

Bonding so closely with the people of the tribe made it very difficult for Tiana and I to depart. There was no doubt that God orchestrated his plan while we were there. Never did I imagine that I would experience such an adventure. Since then, Tiana and I have partnered with my Sister's ministry, Bless an Orphan, a non-profit organization that assists orphanges and needy children around the world.

We are helping to raise the funds to build a Church/School for the Matigsalug tribe and provide supplies like shoes, clothing, medical supplies, etc. to the village. The lives we have the opportunity to touch with the love of Jesus is far more grasping than a story about a big boat and "heavy rains." If you would like to learn more or become part of this project, please visit www.BlessAnOrphan.com Or, you can view more pictures of our expedition into the jungle.

In His Service,

Jeremy Wiles