Expression of Christianity: What did I learn about being a Christian from the local Christians with whom I worked this summer?
· The power of a Christ-like attitude no matter what the circumstances
· A deep appreciation and love for people just for who they are as a unique image bearer of God
· The strong solidarity and support of the Christian faith community within and outside of the church
How is the local expression of Christianity similar to my own practice and beliefs? How is it different?
· Similar
i. Practices of prayer, Sunday school, worship, baptism, communion
ii. Heart to serve
iii. Finding family within the church
· Different
i. Rich and sincere welcoming hospitality
ii. Humility and acceptance of humble circumstances and those in them
iii. Small group prayer during Wednesday evening worship/prayer service
Local Christian church: What did I learn about the local Christian church in the area where I served? What does the church in this country have to add to the body of Christ?
· Faithfulness and commitment of the people and families within the church to the church
· Joy and celebration of the church and people amidst trying times
· Strong role, leadership, and potential of the youth within the church
Your faith: How might my faith have been different if I had grown up in this culture instead of in my own (include both positive and negative implications)?
· Emphasis more on community of faith rather than individual faith
· Rooted more deeply in basic faith rather than climbing and reaching towards new heights
· More local verses global eyes of faith
· Humility
· More accepted, less embedded faith
God: What did I learn about God over the course of the summer?
· God’s ways are not our ways. God’s ways are higher.
· God’s providence beyond what is expected when least expected
· God of all around the world
· How diverse and unfathomable God is
· Goodness and faithfulness even more
God’s call: What did God most need to teach me this summer? How well did I learn it?
· Surrender
· Being open
· Patience
· Living and loving in close community
· Solitude
· Being in His presence and the presence of others
· Joy of getting tangled up in relationships
In what ways have I changed? How is God asking me to change?
· Intentionally be present to those around me
· Being content whatever the circumstances
· Turning growth in Christian community into outreach
· Self surrender to be other serving
If you have insight into one or more of the bulleted items below, please share your thoughts. Also feel free to address something that concerns/interests you that has not been addressed elsewhere.
· What are some of the most important cultural values of China, Guatemala, Guinea, or the Philippines?
Philippines – Family / hospitality / respect for elders
· How do missionaries partner with other mission agencies? What levels of cooperation do they have? What do they do separately?
Work together, support, and get involved with each other’s ministries
· Do CRWM missionaries do missions differently than those who work with mission agencies that are not Reformed? How?
Empowerment of local people – involving them in and handing over to them the mission and ministry with support
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Philippines to Tennesse
I moved to Tennesse on August 2 and just started working as a youth ministry intern at Germantown UMC and attending Memphis Theological Seminary. Check out my new blog at http://ymintnatgumc.blogspot.com/ as the journey continues.
Philippines Continued
Sunday - July 26
- 7:30 am corn flakes and milk for breakfast
- 7:45 am Tagalog church service and 10 am English church service at Grace from Heaven CRC
- Lunch with deacons, elders, and pastor of church
- 2 pm HIV/AIDS presentation to about 40 adults and youth at the church (great response!)
- Hang out with youth at the church
- 6 pm pork, veggies, rice, and bannanas for dinner at church thanks to the fine cooking of the deacon ladies
- Hang out with 3 of the teachers who live at the church and the school
- 10-11 pm group devos
- 11-12 pm reflections on Philippines experience with teammates
- 12 pm bedtime
Monday - July 27
- 8:30 am peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, oranges for breakfast
- 9 am - noon tour of homes in a poorer area in Manila (85 families sponsored byZeeland Christian Middle school families in Zeeland, MI)
- Noon - 5 pm Mall of Asia (tour, 1 hour of ice skating in the mall ice rink, souvenier shopping)
- Cook pancakes for dinner at the church and hang out
- Play ping pong with school janitor
- We were suppossed to be picked up to go back to Laguna but our ride got stuck in traffic for 6 hours b/c of the holiday and ended up turning around
- group devos
-11 pm bedtime
Tuesday - July 28
(Often times in transition we only see what we are leaving behind and not all the potential that God has in store for the future - keep moving forward and be still in God)
- 6:30 am wake up
- 8 am breakfast at McDonald's in Manila (rice, eggs, sausage)
- ride river boat
- Horse drawn carriage ride (our driver had to have a college education to drive the carriage. Many fast food resturants require a college education to work in them. A relative of the carriage driver pastors a church and went to jail for 15 years of his life for bad behavior before he became a pastor)
- Tour of old fort in Manila
- Ride Manila train
- Lunch at Borgyos American resturant (P295 - shrimp penne pasta)
- Tour CRWM/CRWRC Manila offices
- Visit NuRock radio station where host brother worked for a year
- Drive back to Los Banos
- 7:30 pm dinner at guest house with host family and other church youth as a goodbye dinner for me - goofy games too
- Camp fire with youth
- 12:30 pm bedtime
Wednesday - July 29
- 9 am breakfast at guest house (avacados with brown sugar and yogurt, rolls, fried egg, rice)
- Day of goodbye's with host family youth and group
- Visit old Catholic cemetary
- Lunch at local resturant (shrimp soup, rice, chop suey)
- Blue Icy and curly fries snack at McDonald's
- 6:30 pm church prayer meeting at Calamba CRC
- Dinner at host families house (noodles, rice, fish, peanut butter fudge)
- Group watched Ice Age 3 while I talked with my host parents about Grace Community Christian School (They would like for me to look for support for them back in the U.S.) and heard some of their stories
- 11 pm group devos at guest house and sharing of farewells and words of encouragement for eachother
- 1 pm bedtime
Thursday - July 30
- 3:30 am wake up at guest house for 6:45 am flight out of Manila to back home
- Drive to Manila
- 6:45 am flight out of Manila
- 11 am land in Negoya, Japan
(12 hours time difference inserted)
- 4 pm arrive in Grand Rapids, MI
- Greeted by family and friend same at airport
- 8 pm back home in Kalamazo0, MI
- 7:30 am corn flakes and milk for breakfast
- 7:45 am Tagalog church service and 10 am English church service at Grace from Heaven CRC
- Lunch with deacons, elders, and pastor of church
- 2 pm HIV/AIDS presentation to about 40 adults and youth at the church (great response!)
- Hang out with youth at the church
- 6 pm pork, veggies, rice, and bannanas for dinner at church thanks to the fine cooking of the deacon ladies
- Hang out with 3 of the teachers who live at the church and the school
- 10-11 pm group devos
- 11-12 pm reflections on Philippines experience with teammates
- 12 pm bedtime
Monday - July 27
- 8:30 am peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, oranges for breakfast
- 9 am - noon tour of homes in a poorer area in Manila (85 families sponsored byZeeland Christian Middle school families in Zeeland, MI)
- Noon - 5 pm Mall of Asia (tour, 1 hour of ice skating in the mall ice rink, souvenier shopping)
- Cook pancakes for dinner at the church and hang out
- Play ping pong with school janitor
- We were suppossed to be picked up to go back to Laguna but our ride got stuck in traffic for 6 hours b/c of the holiday and ended up turning around
- group devos
-11 pm bedtime
Tuesday - July 28
(Often times in transition we only see what we are leaving behind and not all the potential that God has in store for the future - keep moving forward and be still in God)
- 6:30 am wake up
- 8 am breakfast at McDonald's in Manila (rice, eggs, sausage)
- ride river boat
- Horse drawn carriage ride (our driver had to have a college education to drive the carriage. Many fast food resturants require a college education to work in them. A relative of the carriage driver pastors a church and went to jail for 15 years of his life for bad behavior before he became a pastor)
- Tour of old fort in Manila
- Ride Manila train
- Lunch at Borgyos American resturant (P295 - shrimp penne pasta)
- Tour CRWM/CRWRC Manila offices
- Visit NuRock radio station where host brother worked for a year
- Drive back to Los Banos
- 7:30 pm dinner at guest house with host family and other church youth as a goodbye dinner for me - goofy games too
- Camp fire with youth
- 12:30 pm bedtime
Wednesday - July 29
- 9 am breakfast at guest house (avacados with brown sugar and yogurt, rolls, fried egg, rice)
- Day of goodbye's with host family youth and group
- Visit old Catholic cemetary
- Lunch at local resturant (shrimp soup, rice, chop suey)
- Blue Icy and curly fries snack at McDonald's
- 6:30 pm church prayer meeting at Calamba CRC
- Dinner at host families house (noodles, rice, fish, peanut butter fudge)
- Group watched Ice Age 3 while I talked with my host parents about Grace Community Christian School (They would like for me to look for support for them back in the U.S.) and heard some of their stories
- 11 pm group devos at guest house and sharing of farewells and words of encouragement for eachother
- 1 pm bedtime
Thursday - July 30
- 3:30 am wake up at guest house for 6:45 am flight out of Manila to back home
- Drive to Manila
- 6:45 am flight out of Manila
- 11 am land in Negoya, Japan
(12 hours time difference inserted)
- 4 pm arrive in Grand Rapids, MI
- Greeted by family and friend same at airport
- 8 pm back home in Kalamazo0, MI
Philippines Continued
Friday - July 24
- 8:30 am breakfast at KIM (bannanas, mangos, dragon fruit, rambutan (fuzzy fruit with spikes), bannana muffins)
- Visit Jeepney Magazine (street vendor magazine put out by KIM - $2 cost and $1 goes to the street vendor) office at KIM
- Travel/stuck in traffic in Manila
- Visit Mall of Asia for lunch - Wendy's - baked potatoe and chili
- Travel to Los Banyos
- Halo Halo snack at Chow King and group meeting
- HIV/AIDS presentation at Church Among the Palms in Los Banyos
- Back to staying at guest house
- Group devos
- 11:45 pm bedtime
Saturday - July 25
- 8:30 am breakfast at guest house (cassava cake, red pepper and onion and cheese omlets, rolls and guava jelly, bannanas, rice)
- Jamboree/Bible teaching to kids age 2-12 at a local community in the forest (singing, bible stories, snacks, coloring - 17 kids) - 170 families in this community have to move by August 30 b/c they are on a preserve and they don't know where they are going to move to yet)
- Pack
- Drive to Las Pinas
- Ride train in Manila
- Arrive at Grace Community Christian School in Las Pinas and meet Pastor Leo
- Dinner and breakfast shopping at grocery on a motor bike
- Dinner at school (rice, chicken, spaghetti, root beer, fruit salad)
- Prepare for HIV/AIDS presentation to church youth on Sunday
- Group devos
- 11:45 pm bedtime
- 8:30 am breakfast at KIM (bannanas, mangos, dragon fruit, rambutan (fuzzy fruit with spikes), bannana muffins)
- Visit Jeepney Magazine (street vendor magazine put out by KIM - $2 cost and $1 goes to the street vendor) office at KIM
- Travel/stuck in traffic in Manila
- Visit Mall of Asia for lunch - Wendy's - baked potatoe and chili
- Travel to Los Banyos
- Halo Halo snack at Chow King and group meeting
- HIV/AIDS presentation at Church Among the Palms in Los Banyos
- Back to staying at guest house
- Group devos
- 11:45 pm bedtime
Saturday - July 25
- 8:30 am breakfast at guest house (cassava cake, red pepper and onion and cheese omlets, rolls and guava jelly, bannanas, rice)
- Jamboree/Bible teaching to kids age 2-12 at a local community in the forest (singing, bible stories, snacks, coloring - 17 kids) - 170 families in this community have to move by August 30 b/c they are on a preserve and they don't know where they are going to move to yet)
- Pack
- Drive to Las Pinas
- Ride train in Manila
- Arrive at Grace Community Christian School in Las Pinas and meet Pastor Leo
- Dinner and breakfast shopping at grocery on a motor bike
- Dinner at school (rice, chicken, spaghetti, root beer, fruit salad)
- Prepare for HIV/AIDS presentation to church youth on Sunday
- Group devos
- 11:45 pm bedtime
Philippines Continued
Tuesday - July 21
- 8:30 am pancakes, meat loaf, bannanas for breakfast at guest house
- 11 am drive to Manila
- 2 pm arrive at Kid's International Ministry in Manila where we got a tour of the school, orphanage, and seminary their and ate dinner (rice, spaghetti, brownies, bread, soup). We will be at Kid's International Ministry (KIM) for the next couple of days.
- Met college students from England, Tennesse, Maryland, etc. who were also helping out at KIM
- met KIM B-ball ministry team - college b-ball players from the U.S. come to the Philippines to play against Philippino b-ball teams and to minister to them at half time
- Met 2 soccer players from Camerune(?spelling?) in Africa whose passports were stolen and money stolen so they have been stuck in the Philippines now for 2 years b/c they can't go back home without their money and passports.)
- 7:30-8:15pm group devos
- 8:30 pm watch the movie "Fireproof" at the apartment of the KIM school director (25 year old lady who started the school up here after college in the U.S.)
- 11:40 pm bedtime
Wednesday - July 22
- Pancakes, eggs, mango, bannana for breakfast at 8:30 am at KIM
- Ditch digging 10 am - 5:30 pm
- Lunch break at noon - rice, pancit (rice noodles with veggies), brownies, rolls
- Toron snack at 4:30 pm (fried bannanas in a crisp shell)
- 5:30 pm coleslaw, chocolate cake with white frosting, spaghetti, garlic bread for dinner at KIM
- 6:30 pm watch b-ball ministry
- 7:30 pm play soccer with 2 Camerune guys and a bunch of Faith Academy (missionary school in Manila) students and even their parents and teachers on an outdoor cement basketball court with soccer goals until 9 pm
- Teammate to hospital for foot infection - no worries - just some rest and recovery needed
- Walk back home
- Devos with group
- 12 pm bedtime
Thursday - July 23
- 8:30 am breakfast at KIM (eggs, bannanas, toast)
- Tie re-bar and dig ditch from yesterday further down (concluded that it was too unsanitary so we stopped)
- Watch recess at school and 5th grade PE class at KIM
- Chisel concrete for an addition to housing at KIM
- Lunch at KIM (green beans, coconut milk and chicken over rice, rolls, chocolate cake)
- Play with kids at orphanage
- Bread pudding and brownie afternoon snack
- Play with kids at orphanage (push in stroller cars, b-ball, swings, soccer)
- Dinner (enchiladas, rolls, salad)
- 8-10 pm soccer practice with Philippino Homeless World Cup Team (players will play soccer in the Homeless World Cup in Milan, Italy in September - sponsored by Jeepney Magazine)
- 10 - 11 pm group devos
- 12 pm bedtime
- 8:30 am pancakes, meat loaf, bannanas for breakfast at guest house
- 11 am drive to Manila
- 2 pm arrive at Kid's International Ministry in Manila where we got a tour of the school, orphanage, and seminary their and ate dinner (rice, spaghetti, brownies, bread, soup). We will be at Kid's International Ministry (KIM) for the next couple of days.
- Met college students from England, Tennesse, Maryland, etc. who were also helping out at KIM
- met KIM B-ball ministry team - college b-ball players from the U.S. come to the Philippines to play against Philippino b-ball teams and to minister to them at half time
- Met 2 soccer players from Camerune(?spelling?) in Africa whose passports were stolen and money stolen so they have been stuck in the Philippines now for 2 years b/c they can't go back home without their money and passports.)
- 7:30-8:15pm group devos
- 8:30 pm watch the movie "Fireproof" at the apartment of the KIM school director (25 year old lady who started the school up here after college in the U.S.)
- 11:40 pm bedtime
Wednesday - July 22
- Pancakes, eggs, mango, bannana for breakfast at 8:30 am at KIM
- Ditch digging 10 am - 5:30 pm
- Lunch break at noon - rice, pancit (rice noodles with veggies), brownies, rolls
- Toron snack at 4:30 pm (fried bannanas in a crisp shell)
- 5:30 pm coleslaw, chocolate cake with white frosting, spaghetti, garlic bread for dinner at KIM
- 6:30 pm watch b-ball ministry
- 7:30 pm play soccer with 2 Camerune guys and a bunch of Faith Academy (missionary school in Manila) students and even their parents and teachers on an outdoor cement basketball court with soccer goals until 9 pm
- Teammate to hospital for foot infection - no worries - just some rest and recovery needed
- Walk back home
- Devos with group
- 12 pm bedtime
Thursday - July 23
- 8:30 am breakfast at KIM (eggs, bannanas, toast)
- Tie re-bar and dig ditch from yesterday further down (concluded that it was too unsanitary so we stopped)
- Watch recess at school and 5th grade PE class at KIM
- Chisel concrete for an addition to housing at KIM
- Lunch at KIM (green beans, coconut milk and chicken over rice, rolls, chocolate cake)
- Play with kids at orphanage
- Bread pudding and brownie afternoon snack
- Play with kids at orphanage (push in stroller cars, b-ball, swings, soccer)
- Dinner (enchiladas, rolls, salad)
- 8-10 pm soccer practice with Philippino Homeless World Cup Team (players will play soccer in the Homeless World Cup in Milan, Italy in September - sponsored by Jeepney Magazine)
- 10 - 11 pm group devos
- 12 pm bedtime
Monday, July 20, 2009
Philippines Continued
Wednesday - July 14
- 8:30 am breakfast at beach resort (toast, eggs, OJ, ham)
- Visit Chocolate Hills, Blood Compact Statue, Old Catholic Church, Tarsier monkies, Giant 26' python snake, Bamboo Suspension bridge over a river
- Fajitas and mango ice cream with mango pie at Garden Cafe (hires blind waitors and waitresses) for dinner and dessert
- Walk beach
- 9-10 pm group devotions (Sovereingty of God)
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- Wake up at 5:30 am with plans to go on a boat on the ocean to watch dolphins, snorkel, and island hopbut too windy so we hiked the beach and took a nap
- 7:30 am breakfast at beach resort (pancakes with syrup and ham)
- Talk to a visitor at the hotel who we gave a Bible to b/c he was interested and asked for one. Pray that he would find a church and come to know God and share with his family. He is a traffic enforcer and manages a band in Manila that once played with the Black Eyed Peas. We may meet up with him in Manila.
- Walk on beach and cliffs along the shore
- Lunch at Trudis on the beach (seafood curry, garlic rice, mango crepe)
- Snorkeling on ocean surf out to the ocean shelf (very cloudy and wavy snorkeling but fun)
- Kayaking on ocean waves 3-4 pm
- Build sand castle
- 7 pm dinner provided by the beach resort that we were staying at b/c the host missionaries who brought us there had stayed there a few times before. This offering is called Sanpagita in Tagalog. Shrimp, rice, beef, mango, veggie stew, lumpia (like an egg roll) for dinner.
- 8:30 pm devotions with group in hotel room
- Stories from host missionaries
- 10 pm bedtime
Friday
- Wake up 5:30 am
- 6 am get on boat to go dolphin watching, snorkeling, and visit Vrigen Island
- Peanut butter and jelly and snacks on boat for breakfast and lunch
- 2 pm arrive back at hotel from our water adventures
- 2-4:30 pm read a cultural missionary book
- walk along beach
- Dinner at Trudis on the beach (chicken curry, garlic rice, fried bannanas, mango-bananna shake)
- 7-8:30 pm devos in hotel room with group on cultural missionary issues
- 8:30-11 pm hang out at Trudis resturant on the beach and hang out with group while listening to a live band
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Saturday
- 8:45 am pancakes and ham at beach resort for breakfast
- hang out at beach
- leave beach resort at 11:30 am for airport
- 1:55 pm flight back to Manila
- 4 pm arrival in Manila
- Prepare HIV/AIDS presentation for church tomorrow in Las Pinas
- Dinner at host missionaries house ( spaghette, pineapple, salad, papaya)
- 10 pm arrival at new place of stay in Laguna
Sunday
- breakfast 7 am (rice, eggs, meatloaf, noni health fruit drink, papaya with calamunsi, potato rolls with guava jelly, and mini bannanas)
- church at God's Light International Ministries in Las Pinas where we worshipped, ate lunch (spaghetti, rice, spicy fish and veggies, BBQ), and gave an HIV/AIDS presentation to the youth of the church and hung out with the youth and worshipped with them
- drove back to Los Banos
- made posters for HIV/AIDS school presentation tomorrow
- 7:30 pm dinner at guest house where we are now staying (noodle salad, biscuits, cake)
- Talk about Noni fruit health drink with guest house owner who helped commercialize noni in the Philippines
- 9-10:30 pm devos with group
- 11 pm bedtime
Monday
- Breakfast at guest house (rice, eggs, yellow watermelon, dragon fruit, rolls with guava jelly)
- 3 1.5-2 hour HIV/AIDS presentations at a local national high school 8 am-4:30 pm with a lunch break (beef, rice, and iced tea) at University of Philippines campus cafeteria
- 4:30 pm Ice Cream Sundae's and cake for a local peer educators birthday who was presenting with us at the school at McDonald's
- 5:30 pm-> hang out at host missionaries house and catch up on internet stuff
- 8:30 am breakfast at beach resort (toast, eggs, OJ, ham)
- Visit Chocolate Hills, Blood Compact Statue, Old Catholic Church, Tarsier monkies, Giant 26' python snake, Bamboo Suspension bridge over a river
- Fajitas and mango ice cream with mango pie at Garden Cafe (hires blind waitors and waitresses) for dinner and dessert
- Walk beach
- 9-10 pm group devotions (Sovereingty of God)
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- Wake up at 5:30 am with plans to go on a boat on the ocean to watch dolphins, snorkel, and island hopbut too windy so we hiked the beach and took a nap
- 7:30 am breakfast at beach resort (pancakes with syrup and ham)
- Talk to a visitor at the hotel who we gave a Bible to b/c he was interested and asked for one. Pray that he would find a church and come to know God and share with his family. He is a traffic enforcer and manages a band in Manila that once played with the Black Eyed Peas. We may meet up with him in Manila.
- Walk on beach and cliffs along the shore
- Lunch at Trudis on the beach (seafood curry, garlic rice, mango crepe)
- Snorkeling on ocean surf out to the ocean shelf (very cloudy and wavy snorkeling but fun)
- Kayaking on ocean waves 3-4 pm
- Build sand castle
- 7 pm dinner provided by the beach resort that we were staying at b/c the host missionaries who brought us there had stayed there a few times before. This offering is called Sanpagita in Tagalog. Shrimp, rice, beef, mango, veggie stew, lumpia (like an egg roll) for dinner.
- 8:30 pm devotions with group in hotel room
- Stories from host missionaries
- 10 pm bedtime
Friday
- Wake up 5:30 am
- 6 am get on boat to go dolphin watching, snorkeling, and visit Vrigen Island
- Peanut butter and jelly and snacks on boat for breakfast and lunch
- 2 pm arrive back at hotel from our water adventures
- 2-4:30 pm read a cultural missionary book
- walk along beach
- Dinner at Trudis on the beach (chicken curry, garlic rice, fried bannanas, mango-bananna shake)
- 7-8:30 pm devos in hotel room with group on cultural missionary issues
- 8:30-11 pm hang out at Trudis resturant on the beach and hang out with group while listening to a live band
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Saturday
- 8:45 am pancakes and ham at beach resort for breakfast
- hang out at beach
- leave beach resort at 11:30 am for airport
- 1:55 pm flight back to Manila
- 4 pm arrival in Manila
- Prepare HIV/AIDS presentation for church tomorrow in Las Pinas
- Dinner at host missionaries house ( spaghette, pineapple, salad, papaya)
- 10 pm arrival at new place of stay in Laguna
Sunday
- breakfast 7 am (rice, eggs, meatloaf, noni health fruit drink, papaya with calamunsi, potato rolls with guava jelly, and mini bannanas)
- church at God's Light International Ministries in Las Pinas where we worshipped, ate lunch (spaghetti, rice, spicy fish and veggies, BBQ), and gave an HIV/AIDS presentation to the youth of the church and hung out with the youth and worshipped with them
- drove back to Los Banos
- made posters for HIV/AIDS school presentation tomorrow
- 7:30 pm dinner at guest house where we are now staying (noodle salad, biscuits, cake)
- Talk about Noni fruit health drink with guest house owner who helped commercialize noni in the Philippines
- 9-10:30 pm devos with group
- 11 pm bedtime
Monday
- Breakfast at guest house (rice, eggs, yellow watermelon, dragon fruit, rolls with guava jelly)
- 3 1.5-2 hour HIV/AIDS presentations at a local national high school 8 am-4:30 pm with a lunch break (beef, rice, and iced tea) at University of Philippines campus cafeteria
- 4:30 pm Ice Cream Sundae's and cake for a local peer educators birthday who was presenting with us at the school at McDonald's
- 5:30 pm-> hang out at host missionaries house and catch up on internet stuff
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Philippines Continued
- Breakfast
- Courtesy call to mayor
- Visit a high school to ask for last minute approval to do an HIV/AIDS presentation the next day - got approval
- planted rice, rode a carabaou
- Lunch and yummy butter and sugar covered pancakes
- visit tribal community where we talked with the people through an interpretor and sang songs
- rode a boat and went fishing by catching fish from fish nets with our hands
- dinnner
- devos
Thursday
- 7 am breakfast at a resturant across the street from our hotel (rice, eggs, lettuce salad, and milo choco drink)
- 8:30 am presentation to 140 4th year students at a high school on HIV/AIDS
- Lunch at MCM resturant with bannana shakes, beef, chop suey, rice, cake, ice cream
- Travel to IVCF meeting
- 5-8:45 pm HIV/AIDS presentation and worship time with IVCF college student ministry
- Travel back to Laguna until 2:15 am until we found a roadside hotel to rest at
Friday
- 8 am wake up to continue travel to Laguna
- Breakfast at Chow King (Beef suey)
- Travel
- Lunch at Pizza Hut (Lasgna pizza, cheeseburger pizza with cheese volcano crust)
- 4:30 pm arrive in Laguna at host families house
- Play with 2 year old boy that my host family takes care of
- John Calvin's 500th birthday celebration service 7-10 pm
- 11 pm bedtime
Saturday
- 9:30 am breakfast at host families (rice, meatloaf, cheese bread)
- 10:30 am go to church to prepare all day for tomorrow's 20th anniversary celebration of the church (decorations, snacks, band practice, hanging out) unitl 9:30 pm
- rice, pork, tofu for dinner at host families
- 10 pm watch Monsters vs. Aliens movie with host family siblings
- Midnight bedtime
Sunday
- 10 am breakfast (rice, sausage, eggs, tomatoes)
- Play with 2 year old in host family
- Download camera photos
- Lunch (rice and blue marlin)
- 1 pm host family church's 20th anniversary celebration service (singing, message, people from surrounding CRC's come) (spaghetti and rice cake snack)
- Travel to University of Philippines campus with host family siblings for a chicken feet snack and to walk around and hang out
- 8 pm dinner at host family's house (rice cakes, rice, lettuce, pork)
- Watch "pursuit of happiness" with host family siblings
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Monday
- 7:30 am rice and smoked fish and rice cakes for breafast
- 9 am - Noon HIV/AIDS practice with local youth at LBCRC (presentation cancelled at school b/c no school for students b/c of swine flu)
- Rice and chicken for lunch at IRRI (rice research institutue
- Tour IRRI rice museum
- 6-9 pm class with Reformed Missionary Academy taught by host missionary
- pack for Bohol
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Tuesday
- 7 am rice and chicken for breakfast
- 8 am leave for Manila to fly to Bohol
- Noon flight to Bohol
- 1 pm arrival in Bohol
- Travel to resort on beach
- 4-6 pm snorkeling off the beach
- 6:30 pm dinner on beach (seafood curry, trudis delight (pancake and ice cream with choco syrup), garlic rice)
- 8 pm devos in hotel room with group
- 10 pm walk along beach, listen to live band on beach, and talk to some locals who run a diving boat
- Midnight bedtime
Wednesday - July 14
- 8:30 am breakfast at hotel (toast, eggs, OJ, ham)
- Tour Choco Hills, bamboo bridge, old catholic church, tarsier monkey
- Courtesy call to mayor
- Visit a high school to ask for last minute approval to do an HIV/AIDS presentation the next day - got approval
- planted rice, rode a carabaou
- Lunch and yummy butter and sugar covered pancakes
- visit tribal community where we talked with the people through an interpretor and sang songs
- rode a boat and went fishing by catching fish from fish nets with our hands
- dinnner
- devos
Thursday
- 7 am breakfast at a resturant across the street from our hotel (rice, eggs, lettuce salad, and milo choco drink)
- 8:30 am presentation to 140 4th year students at a high school on HIV/AIDS
- Lunch at MCM resturant with bannana shakes, beef, chop suey, rice, cake, ice cream
- Travel to IVCF meeting
- 5-8:45 pm HIV/AIDS presentation and worship time with IVCF college student ministry
- Travel back to Laguna until 2:15 am until we found a roadside hotel to rest at
Friday
- 8 am wake up to continue travel to Laguna
- Breakfast at Chow King (Beef suey)
- Travel
- Lunch at Pizza Hut (Lasgna pizza, cheeseburger pizza with cheese volcano crust)
- 4:30 pm arrive in Laguna at host families house
- Play with 2 year old boy that my host family takes care of
- John Calvin's 500th birthday celebration service 7-10 pm
- 11 pm bedtime
Saturday
- 9:30 am breakfast at host families (rice, meatloaf, cheese bread)
- 10:30 am go to church to prepare all day for tomorrow's 20th anniversary celebration of the church (decorations, snacks, band practice, hanging out) unitl 9:30 pm
- rice, pork, tofu for dinner at host families
- 10 pm watch Monsters vs. Aliens movie with host family siblings
- Midnight bedtime
Sunday
- 10 am breakfast (rice, sausage, eggs, tomatoes)
- Play with 2 year old in host family
- Download camera photos
- Lunch (rice and blue marlin)
- 1 pm host family church's 20th anniversary celebration service (singing, message, people from surrounding CRC's come) (spaghetti and rice cake snack)
- Travel to University of Philippines campus with host family siblings for a chicken feet snack and to walk around and hang out
- 8 pm dinner at host family's house (rice cakes, rice, lettuce, pork)
- Watch "pursuit of happiness" with host family siblings
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Monday
- 7:30 am rice and smoked fish and rice cakes for breafast
- 9 am - Noon HIV/AIDS practice with local youth at LBCRC (presentation cancelled at school b/c no school for students b/c of swine flu)
- Rice and chicken for lunch at IRRI (rice research institutue
- Tour IRRI rice museum
- 6-9 pm class with Reformed Missionary Academy taught by host missionary
- pack for Bohol
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Tuesday
- 7 am rice and chicken for breakfast
- 8 am leave for Manila to fly to Bohol
- Noon flight to Bohol
- 1 pm arrival in Bohol
- Travel to resort on beach
- 4-6 pm snorkeling off the beach
- 6:30 pm dinner on beach (seafood curry, trudis delight (pancake and ice cream with choco syrup), garlic rice)
- 8 pm devos in hotel room with group
- 10 pm walk along beach, listen to live band on beach, and talk to some locals who run a diving boat
- Midnight bedtime
Wednesday - July 14
- 8:30 am breakfast at hotel (toast, eggs, OJ, ham)
- Tour Choco Hills, bamboo bridge, old catholic church, tarsier monkey
Monday, July 13, 2009
Philippines Continued
Monday - July 6
- Breakfast at hotel (pancakes and cereal)
- Visit with Legasbi City mayor and health officer to talk about HIV/AIDS presentations that we are doing
- 9 am HIV/AIDS presentation to Legasbi and other local pastors and church people
- Rice, chop suey, bannana muffins for lunch at Ate Styles
- Travel to Iriga City
Tuesday (written by Kelly)
Today was basically my most favorite day ever!! We ate breakfast here at our hotel in Naga City and then just chilled until later on. We met Ate Eisha for lunch and then paid a courtesy call to the mayor. After the mayor we went to the dairy and got some milk and milk bars that were ube flavored. We did a presentation at Hope Christian school. Then we went wakeboarding, knee boarding, and water skiing on a cable driven system!!!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Philippines Continued
Saturday - July 4
- relaxed morning at hotel (van ac getting fixed)
- Casaga ruins
- Hala Hala and chicken teryaki at Bigg's Diner for lunch
- Hike up Lignon Hill in a surprise thunder storm
- Dinner at local resturant with missionary stories from host missionary
- Van broke down
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Sunday
- 9 am church at Victory Christian Fellowship
- Meet 18 students at church from Britian who at working with a street kid's ministry for 3 weeks
- Picnic lunch at black sand beach
- 4-7 pm watch Britian student's street kid church service
- 8 pm dinner at a local friends house (mango shakes, chiken pesto, garlic bread, brownies)
- 11 pm bedtime
- relaxed morning at hotel (van ac getting fixed)
- Casaga ruins
- Hala Hala and chicken teryaki at Bigg's Diner for lunch
- Hike up Lignon Hill in a surprise thunder storm
- Dinner at local resturant with missionary stories from host missionary
- Van broke down
- 11:30 pm bedtime
Sunday
- 9 am church at Victory Christian Fellowship
- Meet 18 students at church from Britian who at working with a street kid's ministry for 3 weeks
- Picnic lunch at black sand beach
- 4-7 pm watch Britian student's street kid church service
- 8 pm dinner at a local friends house (mango shakes, chiken pesto, garlic bread, brownies)
- 11 pm bedtime
Philippines continued
Saturday - June 27
- 7 am arrive home to host family's house from an all night Karaoke and swimming party at a private hot spring pool
- Sleep until 2 pm
- Pork and rice for lunch
-Shopping at Supermarket for making dinner tomorrow with one of my host brothers (pork, potatoes, dried mangos - P500)
- P20 expense to use internet in mall
- 4:30 - 6 pm hang out at home and pack for Bicol
- 6 pm band practice at church
- Watch movie - Alvin and the Chipmunks
- 10:30 pm bedtime
Sunday
- 6 am rice, eggs, sausage for breakfast
- 8 am Sunday School
- 9 - 11 am church
- noon-1 pm nap
- 1-2 pm run and play B-ball with neighborhood kids
- 3:30 - 7 pm Transformer's II at the mall with Los Banos CRC youth
- Pancit (noodles and rice) for dinner
- 9 pm bedtime
Monday
- 8 am HIV/AIDS prsentation at Pila National High School
- Lunch at Pila Delight
- Internet
- Cook for group at host families house with host brother
- Dinner with group (brown sugar and cinnamon bannanas, pork and sauce, rice, pastries, french fries, dried mangos)
Tuesday
- 4 am wake up to travel to Bicol
- 8 am hike up a mountain in a national forest where we could see both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea - noon
- 7 pm arrival in Bicol
- 7-9 pm group devos
- 9 pm bedtime
Wednesday
- Meet with a baranguay (town) leader = "courtest call" - pay respect to authorities
- Visit a puto stand to see how it is made ( a rice snack)
- Lunch at Jollibee
- Stories from people in baranguay who formed a co-op from which they can take loans
- Hike up to a pineapple farm
- Ice cream at Jollibee
- Meet families who have kids being helped by Compassion International
- Visit hospital for a rash that I developed - all is well - got a free check up b/c the doctor was a Christian at the private hospital we visited. The doc flew to Manila every weekend to go to church
- Rice and chicken for dinner at hotel
- Sing hymns
- Group devos
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- 8 am rice cakes, bannanas, peanut butter, hot cocoa, bread for breakfast
- Attend livelihood workshop on making soap and jewelry
- Spaghetti for lunch at Jollibee (local fast food)
- Visit a pre-school with 100 kids started by a family
- HIV/AIDS presentation to pastors in Bicol
- Travel to Legasbi
- 10 pm bedtime
Friday
- 9 am breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts
- Visit Intervarsity Christian Fellowship leader - arrange future HIV/AIDS workshops
- Drop off laundry
- Visit governor's office where greeted by a provicial health doc
- Visit Mayor's office for a courtesy call
- Lunch at Bigg's Diner (pizza and carrot pineapple shake)
- Run errands at mall
- Dinner at hotel
- Hang out and devos
- 11 pm bedtime
- 7 am arrive home to host family's house from an all night Karaoke and swimming party at a private hot spring pool
- Sleep until 2 pm
- Pork and rice for lunch
-Shopping at Supermarket for making dinner tomorrow with one of my host brothers (pork, potatoes, dried mangos - P500)
- P20 expense to use internet in mall
- 4:30 - 6 pm hang out at home and pack for Bicol
- 6 pm band practice at church
- Watch movie - Alvin and the Chipmunks
- 10:30 pm bedtime
Sunday
- 6 am rice, eggs, sausage for breakfast
- 8 am Sunday School
- 9 - 11 am church
- noon-1 pm nap
- 1-2 pm run and play B-ball with neighborhood kids
- 3:30 - 7 pm Transformer's II at the mall with Los Banos CRC youth
- Pancit (noodles and rice) for dinner
- 9 pm bedtime
Monday
- 8 am HIV/AIDS prsentation at Pila National High School
- Lunch at Pila Delight
- Internet
- Cook for group at host families house with host brother
- Dinner with group (brown sugar and cinnamon bannanas, pork and sauce, rice, pastries, french fries, dried mangos)
Tuesday
- 4 am wake up to travel to Bicol
- 8 am hike up a mountain in a national forest where we could see both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea - noon
- 7 pm arrival in Bicol
- 7-9 pm group devos
- 9 pm bedtime
Wednesday
- Meet with a baranguay (town) leader = "courtest call" - pay respect to authorities
- Visit a puto stand to see how it is made ( a rice snack)
- Lunch at Jollibee
- Stories from people in baranguay who formed a co-op from which they can take loans
- Hike up to a pineapple farm
- Ice cream at Jollibee
- Meet families who have kids being helped by Compassion International
- Visit hospital for a rash that I developed - all is well - got a free check up b/c the doctor was a Christian at the private hospital we visited. The doc flew to Manila every weekend to go to church
- Rice and chicken for dinner at hotel
- Sing hymns
- Group devos
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- 8 am rice cakes, bannanas, peanut butter, hot cocoa, bread for breakfast
- Attend livelihood workshop on making soap and jewelry
- Spaghetti for lunch at Jollibee (local fast food)
- Visit a pre-school with 100 kids started by a family
- HIV/AIDS presentation to pastors in Bicol
- Travel to Legasbi
- 10 pm bedtime
Friday
- 9 am breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts
- Visit Intervarsity Christian Fellowship leader - arrange future HIV/AIDS workshops
- Drop off laundry
- Visit governor's office where greeted by a provicial health doc
- Visit Mayor's office for a courtesy call
- Lunch at Bigg's Diner (pizza and carrot pineapple shake)
- Run errands at mall
- Dinner at hotel
- Hang out and devos
- 11 pm bedtime
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Philippines continued
Monday – June 15
- Fish and rice for breakfast
- Visit internet café for 1st time
- Lunch at Student Union building on University of Philippines campus (lasagna, cheese bread, Hala Hala)
- Visit museum
- Visit U.P. art center up the mountain where about 120 handpicked art students all around the Philippines go to for high school
Tuesday
- Rice, sausage, and dinner leftovers for breakfast
- Hang out at home with family
- Shopping for bird seed
- Rice and pig leg for lunch
- Prepare to preach on Acts 1:15-26 for Wednesday evening church service
- Visit garden shop for a bonsai pot
- Turon snack (fried banana with sugar)
- 5 pm band practice at church
- Dinner and B-day party for Karlynn, fellow SMP teammate, at a family’s house (lasagna, mangos, salad, Mrs. B’s blueberry cheesecake, Balut (hard boiled partially grown chicken inside of an egg), green mango shakes, and games)
Wednesday
- Rice fried fish, peanut butter, and pineapple jam for breakfast
- Hanging out and talking at the host family’s house
- Taho snack (a soy based flan with tapioca balls in it all in caramelized syrup)
- Squid and rice for lunch
- Hanging out and reading Philippine legends
- 6 pm church service where I preached my first sermon ever on Acts 1:15-26
- Dinner at Chow King after church
Thursday
- 9 am practice at Calamba CRC for HIV/AIDS presentations
- Buco (coconut) pie snack
- Visit Rizal’s house after lunch (Rizal is the hero of Laguna.)
- 4 pm HIV/AIDS practice at Calauwan CRC
- Pizza for dinner at church
- 11 pm bedtime
Friday
- 5:30 am shopping at the market
- Breakfast
- 8:30 am – Noon paint church roof at Calamba CRC
- Lunch
- Make HIV/AIDS posters
- 7:30 pm chop suey for dinner
Saturday
- 6 am rise and shine
- 9 am HIV/AIDS practice at Pila CRC
- Noon chicken, rice, and gravy at Jollibee (the fast food restaurant of the Philippines)
- 2 pm HIV/AIDS practice at San Pablo CRC
- Ice cream at Jollibee
- 6-10 pm band practice at church
Sunday
- 8 am Sunday school
- 9-11 am church (Father’s day service – Happy father’s day dad!)
- Lunch
- 5:30 pm dinner at host missionaries house
- 11 pm bedtime
Monday
- 9 am 2 presentations 1.5 hours long at Grace Community Christian School in Calauwan
- 4:30-6:30 pm ultimate Frisbee with Christian fellowship groups on University of Philippines campus
- Curry for dinner
- 9 pm watch movie “Surf’s Up” at host family’s house
- 10:30 pm bedtime
Tuesday
- 7 am curry and eggs for breakfast
- Travel to Tagaytai City
- 11 am pizza for lunch at Yellow Cab Pizza
- Noon boat ride to volcano island and hike up the volcano crater
- Swimming off boat on way back to mainland
- 7:30 pm pork BBQ for dinner
Wednesday
- HIV/AIDS school visit postponed b/c of signal 2 typhoon warning
- Hang out at a pastor’s house 11 am – 6:30 pm (The Dark Knight, lunch, card games)
- 7 pm prayer service at Los Banos CRC
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- Pancakes for breakfast!
- HIV/AIDS presentations to Crest and National High School
- Hala Hala at Max’s restaurant for lunch b/t school presentations
- It was almost like we were celebrities at school. Everyone wanted our picture or email.
- 7:30 pm beef, broccoli, and rice for dinner
Friday – June 26, 2009
- 7 am 2 HIV/AIDS presentations at Barretto National High School
- 11 am lunch at Chow King (Chinese fast food restaurant)
- Group meeting
- Hang out at host families house
- 6 pm – 6 am swimming and karaoke at a private pool
I thank God for the blessing that it has been to be here. We have been given so much hospitality and welcome where ever we go.
Presenting on HIV/AIDS at the local high schools has been quite exciting. This is the first time that many of the students have had a presentation on the subject and especially from a Christian perspective which is accepted in the public schools. I have been surprised at how interested and receptive the high school students are. This has been encouraging. Yet for many of them this is the first time that they have heard the word abstinence.
The teachers and principals at the school have really liked our presentations. Some teachers have asked for material to follow up on our presentation. Our presentations are aimed at gaining awareness for future peer education presentations by the local peer educators after we leave. We have been presenting with college and post-college Philippine youth using dramas, workshops, testimonies, and visual aids. Some students have even asked how they can join the team. This is very good because this is really only the beginning of HIV/AIDS education and awareness like this.
Thanks for all your prayers. They are a blessing and well needed. I am looking forward to the weeks ahead. Planning is often on the fly here so every day is a step of faith. Thanks for your encouragement. God bless your summer as well.
- Fish and rice for breakfast
- Visit internet café for 1st time
- Lunch at Student Union building on University of Philippines campus (lasagna, cheese bread, Hala Hala)
- Visit museum
- Visit U.P. art center up the mountain where about 120 handpicked art students all around the Philippines go to for high school
Tuesday
- Rice, sausage, and dinner leftovers for breakfast
- Hang out at home with family
- Shopping for bird seed
- Rice and pig leg for lunch
- Prepare to preach on Acts 1:15-26 for Wednesday evening church service
- Visit garden shop for a bonsai pot
- Turon snack (fried banana with sugar)
- 5 pm band practice at church
- Dinner and B-day party for Karlynn, fellow SMP teammate, at a family’s house (lasagna, mangos, salad, Mrs. B’s blueberry cheesecake, Balut (hard boiled partially grown chicken inside of an egg), green mango shakes, and games)
Wednesday
- Rice fried fish, peanut butter, and pineapple jam for breakfast
- Hanging out and talking at the host family’s house
- Taho snack (a soy based flan with tapioca balls in it all in caramelized syrup)
- Squid and rice for lunch
- Hanging out and reading Philippine legends
- 6 pm church service where I preached my first sermon ever on Acts 1:15-26
- Dinner at Chow King after church
Thursday
- 9 am practice at Calamba CRC for HIV/AIDS presentations
- Buco (coconut) pie snack
- Visit Rizal’s house after lunch (Rizal is the hero of Laguna.)
- 4 pm HIV/AIDS practice at Calauwan CRC
- Pizza for dinner at church
- 11 pm bedtime
Friday
- 5:30 am shopping at the market
- Breakfast
- 8:30 am – Noon paint church roof at Calamba CRC
- Lunch
- Make HIV/AIDS posters
- 7:30 pm chop suey for dinner
Saturday
- 6 am rise and shine
- 9 am HIV/AIDS practice at Pila CRC
- Noon chicken, rice, and gravy at Jollibee (the fast food restaurant of the Philippines)
- 2 pm HIV/AIDS practice at San Pablo CRC
- Ice cream at Jollibee
- 6-10 pm band practice at church
Sunday
- 8 am Sunday school
- 9-11 am church (Father’s day service – Happy father’s day dad!)
- Lunch
- 5:30 pm dinner at host missionaries house
- 11 pm bedtime
Monday
- 9 am 2 presentations 1.5 hours long at Grace Community Christian School in Calauwan
- 4:30-6:30 pm ultimate Frisbee with Christian fellowship groups on University of Philippines campus
- Curry for dinner
- 9 pm watch movie “Surf’s Up” at host family’s house
- 10:30 pm bedtime
Tuesday
- 7 am curry and eggs for breakfast
- Travel to Tagaytai City
- 11 am pizza for lunch at Yellow Cab Pizza
- Noon boat ride to volcano island and hike up the volcano crater
- Swimming off boat on way back to mainland
- 7:30 pm pork BBQ for dinner
Wednesday
- HIV/AIDS school visit postponed b/c of signal 2 typhoon warning
- Hang out at a pastor’s house 11 am – 6:30 pm (The Dark Knight, lunch, card games)
- 7 pm prayer service at Los Banos CRC
- 10 pm bedtime
Thursday
- Pancakes for breakfast!
- HIV/AIDS presentations to Crest and National High School
- Hala Hala at Max’s restaurant for lunch b/t school presentations
- It was almost like we were celebrities at school. Everyone wanted our picture or email.
- 7:30 pm beef, broccoli, and rice for dinner
Friday – June 26, 2009
- 7 am 2 HIV/AIDS presentations at Barretto National High School
- 11 am lunch at Chow King (Chinese fast food restaurant)
- Group meeting
- Hang out at host families house
- 6 pm – 6 am swimming and karaoke at a private pool
I thank God for the blessing that it has been to be here. We have been given so much hospitality and welcome where ever we go.
Presenting on HIV/AIDS at the local high schools has been quite exciting. This is the first time that many of the students have had a presentation on the subject and especially from a Christian perspective which is accepted in the public schools. I have been surprised at how interested and receptive the high school students are. This has been encouraging. Yet for many of them this is the first time that they have heard the word abstinence.
The teachers and principals at the school have really liked our presentations. Some teachers have asked for material to follow up on our presentation. Our presentations are aimed at gaining awareness for future peer education presentations by the local peer educators after we leave. We have been presenting with college and post-college Philippine youth using dramas, workshops, testimonies, and visual aids. Some students have even asked how they can join the team. This is very good because this is really only the beginning of HIV/AIDS education and awareness like this.
Thanks for all your prayers. They are a blessing and well needed. I am looking forward to the weeks ahead. Planning is often on the fly here so every day is a step of faith. Thanks for your encouragement. God bless your summer as well.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Philippines
Hi,
Schedule of Events
Monday - (06/08)
- Leave GR airport for Manila, Philippines
Tuesday
- Flying all day
- 2 am bedtime at dorm at Univertsity of Philippines
Wednesday
-Tour around University of Philippines and Los Banyos
-Asian soy chicken, rice, blueberry cheesecake for dessert
-Visit to IRRI, an international rice research institute that stores the global biodiversity of rice
-5pm Frisbee at university with other college students
Thursday
-Picked up by host families
-Lunch at ChowKing with a stellar dessert called HalaHala with milk, ice, coconut, jello, chic peas, jack fruit, and banannas
-Tour around Calamba
Friday
-Sportsfest all day with games, swimming, water slide, and lunch
Saturday
-HIV/AIDS training at a local CRC
-Band practice for church on Sunday
Sunday
-8 am Sunday school
-9-11 am church service in Tagalog and English (sermon all Tagalog)
-2-4:30 pm Zone Fellowship with games, worship, message, and snacks for all the local CRC youth
Monday (Today - 06/15)
-Tour around University of Philippines and Los Banyos
Because of the H1N1 scare we cannot go to the schools this week to do HIV/AIDS training. We have to wait ten days from when we arrived for precautionary reasons. So this week we will tour around, help out at the local churches, practice for the HIV/AIDS training and ? Everything is very laid back and go with the flow here with some loose structure.
We have been having a great time and have enjoyed staying with our host families and participating in ministry of the church here. Thanks for all your prayers. God's blessing,
Eric
Schedule of Events
Monday - (06/08)
- Leave GR airport for Manila, Philippines
Tuesday
- Flying all day
- 2 am bedtime at dorm at Univertsity of Philippines
Wednesday
-Tour around University of Philippines and Los Banyos
-Asian soy chicken, rice, blueberry cheesecake for dessert
-Visit to IRRI, an international rice research institute that stores the global biodiversity of rice
-5pm Frisbee at university with other college students
Thursday
-Picked up by host families
-Lunch at ChowKing with a stellar dessert called HalaHala with milk, ice, coconut, jello, chic peas, jack fruit, and banannas
-Tour around Calamba
Friday
-Sportsfest all day with games, swimming, water slide, and lunch
Saturday
-HIV/AIDS training at a local CRC
-Band practice for church on Sunday
Sunday
-8 am Sunday school
-9-11 am church service in Tagalog and English (sermon all Tagalog)
-2-4:30 pm Zone Fellowship with games, worship, message, and snacks for all the local CRC youth
Monday (Today - 06/15)
-Tour around University of Philippines and Los Banyos
Because of the H1N1 scare we cannot go to the schools this week to do HIV/AIDS training. We have to wait ten days from when we arrived for precautionary reasons. So this week we will tour around, help out at the local churches, practice for the HIV/AIDS training and ? Everything is very laid back and go with the flow here with some loose structure.
We have been having a great time and have enjoyed staying with our host families and participating in ministry of the church here. Thanks for all your prayers. God's blessing,
Eric
Sunday, May 24, 2009
SMP Philippines Testimony
*Why are you a follower of Jesus? How does this affect your life? What types of adventures has he led you on? How has he drawn you closer to him?
I am a follower of Jesus because I am a sinner desperately in need of a Savior. Jesus is my Savior. I live life by Jesus’ example by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I am a child of God, forgiven and redeemed, and set apart to do His will for the glory of His name. I seek in all of life to live God’s imagination. I live in community as a part of the body of Christ, the family of God in partnership with other believers in building God’s unshakeable kingdom by faith, hope, and love. I rely on God’s unfailing love that knows no limits and never runs dry. The joy of the Lord is my strength because in my weakness God is strong. God gives purpose to the days and decisions He has blessed me with the opportunity to live.
God has led me on many adventures:
Sea to Sea – a community of faith biking across the U.S. to live out and give testimony to the work of God in the world in hopes to raise funds to work towards ending the cycle of poverty
Calvin College - Engineer to Interdisciplinary Major in Math, Recreation, and Youth Ministry with an Engineering Minor – Life is not about what I am up to, but about what God is up to. “Before you tell your life what you will do with it, let it tell you what it will do with you.” - Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
Service Learning Trips at Calvin College
Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Project – urban community development
Kansas City, Missouri – Habitat for Humanity – building homes
Houma, Louisiana – First Baptist – building a Christian school
Interims abroad at Calvin College
Belize / Costa Rica – Ecosystems and Development
Romania – Social Entrepreneurship
Gaining a global perspective
South Dakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation VBS
Everyday living God’s imagination. What is God up to because I want to be a part of it?
God has drawn me closer to Him by revealing Himself, revealing the family of God, and revealing myself to me more and more as I go through life and am surprised by God’s goodness. Thank God for His unending love and amazing grace that will not let go and guides, keeps, and protects us in Him.
*Is there a particular event in your life which God led or is still leading you through? What would this time have been like without Jesus?
God is currently leading me through this transition of graduating from college into the “University of Life.” Sometimes I am confused, intimidated, and at a loss because I don’t want to let go of the past, but I look forward with hope because I rely on God’s many promises. God says, “I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.”
My last semester at Calvin College I decided to go forth in faith. That was all I had when I did not know what direction my life was taking and especially even more so now as I try to live the direction that it does seem to be taking. Yikes! So help me God. In God I have direction even without any direction. I look to God’s Holy Spirit for guidance and keep moving, stepping forward in faith.
*In thinking about the future, what do you hope to do in your life differently because you follow Christ? How is God leading you into this future? Why did you decide to pursue SMP this summer?
In living life as a disciple of Christ I hope to do just that – to bear the fruit of the spirit, make disciples of all nations, live as one with others and God, work in God’s harvest, and let God lead. God is leading me into this future by being my motivation, sending people along life’s path to encourage me, and paving the way. Steps have been laid out that I just have to be faithful in living out. God has surprised me. He has set out a life-map that I see only partially now. This life-map I never could have dreamed of or planned myself. I pray for the guidance of God’s Spirit and live by the faithfulness of God’s visions.
SMP Pursuit Story:
God is all about building people. We as Christians partner with God in this as we do ministry, building faith in people as we give testimony to God.
What is the place of summer missions when you are graduating from college? Now is the time to start to stabilize. Why go for eight weeks to an unknown, far away place to do ministry? Why out of all of the options did summer missions in the Philippines become my calling?
This is the last thing that I expected. To be honest I thought the Philippines was in the Caribbean. Ok, we need some answers.
As I graduate from college into the great big “University of Life,” I don’t graduate my faith, I go in faith. If you have ever been at this point in your life you understand. If you are waiting to get there you will understand when you get there or you have already had a similar experience where the world opens up to you and your faith. This can be disorienting and challenging.
I leave college knowing that God is the God of this world. This defines the rest of my life. I place my faith and my trust in God. Last summer when I thought raising $10,000 for the Sea to Sea Cycling to End the Cycle of Poverty bicycle tour was impossible God raised $30,000 for my dad, brother, and I. Now I have the opportunity to serve with CRWM, one of the organizations we were raising support for with the Sea to Sea bike tour. How exciting and what great follow up!
I go in faith praying that God will surprise me with his goodness. To be surprised by God you have to be open and you have to leave room for God to surprise you. I go with support because I know that I will get discouraged and sometimes doubt, but doubt is the struggle of faith alive. We all need each other. We are one family in the body of Christ. I ask for your support in whatever way that you can. If anything, just be there to remind me. I say thanks and give thanks to God. All glory is given to our Father in Heaven.
SMP Mission and Vision Statement:
In the Philippines I give myself to God to be used by Him. I go in faith praying that God will surprise me with his goodness. I hope to learn about God’s calling on our lives, see ministry in a different context, be encouraged by and encourage the faith of those in the Philippines, serve in missions, and share God’s ever flowing love. When we love with love from God it never ends. In all this I pray that God will make disciples of all nations.
I go with your support, in faith, yours and mine together, as a testimony to the love of God that spans the globe. I invite you to help me because I cannot go alone. Only with the support of God’s people and the work of the Holy Spirit is this all possible. I go in faith to live God’s imagination – living it big for a great God!
SMP Guiding Bible Verse:
Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
*I own a book with the title, "What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us?" It sounded almost irreverent; I thought I should buy it. So what has life in a Christian home or, alternatively, life in a non-Christian home, taught you? How did your faith/ belief/ trust become your own and not just that of your parents or other key persons in your life?
Life in a Christian home has been the foundation of my life. Christian faith and instruction were always there. The only thing is that they were just there. God blessed me with a great parents and a very supportive Christian environment to grow up in. The question is what I chose to do with it?
I have always had the practice, but I chose to make it my own and God chose me. It is only by God’s grace and faithfulness that I am a part of His family. During High School I made Profession of Faith to publicly profess my faith. God has been the potter in my life as He always was. He is molding me to be who He wants me to be as a part the community of faith.
Especially now as I go out from college and actually grow up to be my own person. I have always been quite independent, but as my dad said when I was grueling over whether or not to do SMP, “We will support you with what we can, but this is your decision.”
This is my life. My life – wow – you have one too. Let’s be ego-centric and just stand in the glory of that for a second because it is you living, deciding, acting, thinking, ____ing now. My life or God’s life? I have chosen to give my life over to God who gave me life in the first place. God’s Spirit breathes new life into me. I want to live to God’s full potential for me in His family with all God’s people. I do so by looking for what God is up to through all that is going on with the guidance of His Spirit. What is God’s imagination? The only way you can find out is as you live it.
I am a follower of Jesus because I am a sinner desperately in need of a Savior. Jesus is my Savior. I live life by Jesus’ example by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I am a child of God, forgiven and redeemed, and set apart to do His will for the glory of His name. I seek in all of life to live God’s imagination. I live in community as a part of the body of Christ, the family of God in partnership with other believers in building God’s unshakeable kingdom by faith, hope, and love. I rely on God’s unfailing love that knows no limits and never runs dry. The joy of the Lord is my strength because in my weakness God is strong. God gives purpose to the days and decisions He has blessed me with the opportunity to live.
God has led me on many adventures:
Sea to Sea – a community of faith biking across the U.S. to live out and give testimony to the work of God in the world in hopes to raise funds to work towards ending the cycle of poverty
Calvin College - Engineer to Interdisciplinary Major in Math, Recreation, and Youth Ministry with an Engineering Minor – Life is not about what I am up to, but about what God is up to. “Before you tell your life what you will do with it, let it tell you what it will do with you.” - Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
Service Learning Trips at Calvin College
Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Project – urban community development
Kansas City, Missouri – Habitat for Humanity – building homes
Houma, Louisiana – First Baptist – building a Christian school
Interims abroad at Calvin College
Belize / Costa Rica – Ecosystems and Development
Romania – Social Entrepreneurship
Gaining a global perspective
South Dakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation VBS
Everyday living God’s imagination. What is God up to because I want to be a part of it?
God has drawn me closer to Him by revealing Himself, revealing the family of God, and revealing myself to me more and more as I go through life and am surprised by God’s goodness. Thank God for His unending love and amazing grace that will not let go and guides, keeps, and protects us in Him.
*Is there a particular event in your life which God led or is still leading you through? What would this time have been like without Jesus?
God is currently leading me through this transition of graduating from college into the “University of Life.” Sometimes I am confused, intimidated, and at a loss because I don’t want to let go of the past, but I look forward with hope because I rely on God’s many promises. God says, “I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.”
My last semester at Calvin College I decided to go forth in faith. That was all I had when I did not know what direction my life was taking and especially even more so now as I try to live the direction that it does seem to be taking. Yikes! So help me God. In God I have direction even without any direction. I look to God’s Holy Spirit for guidance and keep moving, stepping forward in faith.
*In thinking about the future, what do you hope to do in your life differently because you follow Christ? How is God leading you into this future? Why did you decide to pursue SMP this summer?
In living life as a disciple of Christ I hope to do just that – to bear the fruit of the spirit, make disciples of all nations, live as one with others and God, work in God’s harvest, and let God lead. God is leading me into this future by being my motivation, sending people along life’s path to encourage me, and paving the way. Steps have been laid out that I just have to be faithful in living out. God has surprised me. He has set out a life-map that I see only partially now. This life-map I never could have dreamed of or planned myself. I pray for the guidance of God’s Spirit and live by the faithfulness of God’s visions.
SMP Pursuit Story:
God is all about building people. We as Christians partner with God in this as we do ministry, building faith in people as we give testimony to God.
What is the place of summer missions when you are graduating from college? Now is the time to start to stabilize. Why go for eight weeks to an unknown, far away place to do ministry? Why out of all of the options did summer missions in the Philippines become my calling?
This is the last thing that I expected. To be honest I thought the Philippines was in the Caribbean. Ok, we need some answers.
As I graduate from college into the great big “University of Life,” I don’t graduate my faith, I go in faith. If you have ever been at this point in your life you understand. If you are waiting to get there you will understand when you get there or you have already had a similar experience where the world opens up to you and your faith. This can be disorienting and challenging.
I leave college knowing that God is the God of this world. This defines the rest of my life. I place my faith and my trust in God. Last summer when I thought raising $10,000 for the Sea to Sea Cycling to End the Cycle of Poverty bicycle tour was impossible God raised $30,000 for my dad, brother, and I. Now I have the opportunity to serve with CRWM, one of the organizations we were raising support for with the Sea to Sea bike tour. How exciting and what great follow up!
I go in faith praying that God will surprise me with his goodness. To be surprised by God you have to be open and you have to leave room for God to surprise you. I go with support because I know that I will get discouraged and sometimes doubt, but doubt is the struggle of faith alive. We all need each other. We are one family in the body of Christ. I ask for your support in whatever way that you can. If anything, just be there to remind me. I say thanks and give thanks to God. All glory is given to our Father in Heaven.
SMP Mission and Vision Statement:
In the Philippines I give myself to God to be used by Him. I go in faith praying that God will surprise me with his goodness. I hope to learn about God’s calling on our lives, see ministry in a different context, be encouraged by and encourage the faith of those in the Philippines, serve in missions, and share God’s ever flowing love. When we love with love from God it never ends. In all this I pray that God will make disciples of all nations.
I go with your support, in faith, yours and mine together, as a testimony to the love of God that spans the globe. I invite you to help me because I cannot go alone. Only with the support of God’s people and the work of the Holy Spirit is this all possible. I go in faith to live God’s imagination – living it big for a great God!
SMP Guiding Bible Verse:
Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
*I own a book with the title, "What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us?" It sounded almost irreverent; I thought I should buy it. So what has life in a Christian home or, alternatively, life in a non-Christian home, taught you? How did your faith/ belief/ trust become your own and not just that of your parents or other key persons in your life?
Life in a Christian home has been the foundation of my life. Christian faith and instruction were always there. The only thing is that they were just there. God blessed me with a great parents and a very supportive Christian environment to grow up in. The question is what I chose to do with it?
I have always had the practice, but I chose to make it my own and God chose me. It is only by God’s grace and faithfulness that I am a part of His family. During High School I made Profession of Faith to publicly profess my faith. God has been the potter in my life as He always was. He is molding me to be who He wants me to be as a part the community of faith.
Especially now as I go out from college and actually grow up to be my own person. I have always been quite independent, but as my dad said when I was grueling over whether or not to do SMP, “We will support you with what we can, but this is your decision.”
This is my life. My life – wow – you have one too. Let’s be ego-centric and just stand in the glory of that for a second because it is you living, deciding, acting, thinking, ____ing now. My life or God’s life? I have chosen to give my life over to God who gave me life in the first place. God’s Spirit breathes new life into me. I want to live to God’s full potential for me in His family with all God’s people. I do so by looking for what God is up to through all that is going on with the guidance of His Spirit. What is God’s imagination? The only way you can find out is as you live it.
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