Wednesday, 16 March 2016

January and February 2016

PCL Happenings


We are only a few weeks away from the end of the school year, and things at PCL have been as busy as ever. After the mid-term exams were completed in late January, our students had an exciting program to look forward to. Saturday, February 13th was our first ever fun run, which was called ‘Pray Pa More, Takbo Pa More’. (Takbo is Tagalog for run.) The event was held at Quezon City Memorial Circle, a very popular circular park. Participants gathered at 5am (although, not surprisingly, some were late) with the opening prayer and welcome happening at 5:30, followed by some warm up dance aerobics. At 6:00, the race began, with participants running around the outside of the park, on a few lanes which had been sectioned off for the event. We had more than 200 runners, including students, members of the Gethsemane churches and other churches or friends who had been invited. We were so thankful for the staff members and 4th year students who put in such a huge effort, including some who stayed at the park overnight, sacrificing their sleep for the event. The school raised 30,000PHP (almost $1,000) and were able to buy more chairs for the classrooms.








At the end of February, the students held elections for the new student council, to be composed of a male and female batch representative for each year level, plus a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and public relations officer. We are so thankful for the current Student Council and all they have done over the past year. We are excited for our new batch of leaders who will serve PCL in their new roles in the next academic year, and we pray that God will always guide and strengthen them.
 

Student Council Elections
Gethsemane Dweller Church – San Mateo

For the past year, Juls and I have been doing ministry in Divine Mercy, San Mateo, through an initial month of outreach events, weekly Bible studies and informal Sunday meetings. On January 12, we were very excited to have our official Church Dedication. Members of the Korean church who sponsored the building came to The Philippines to participate in the program. Before the program began, the 3rd and 4th year PCL students walked through the subdivision, inviting members of the community. Many people, especially children, came. We had games, songs and balloons for the children downstairs, while the praise and worship, special numbers and message were given in the main area upstairs. After the service, every guest was given a wonderful meal and some gifts including lovely clothes for the children and travel mugs for the adults. It was so wonderful to have the installation of Pastor Francis, who graduated from PCL last year and who has, together with his wife, been ministering in this community with Juls I since we began. We are confident that he is the right person to pastor our new little church, and we believe that God will do great things in this community through this ministry.








Since the dedication, we have been praying that our regular attendees will grow. We are so encouraged by the youth, as we started with about 5 young people gathering every Saturday afternoon with Julius, and we now have about 15, showing a desire to learn more about God and grow in their faith. Every Sunday morning, about 40 children attend our service, with about 25 of those children coming without an adult companion (supervision of children is different here). While it can be quite difficult to handle so many children, because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, when I see them listening to stories about Jesus and joining in prayer, my heart is touched. I pray that these precious children will grow in the knowledge of God, and experience the love of Jesus. I pray that their growing faith will guide them throughout the coming years. Perhaps the future leaders of our church are the little children who currently enjoy colouring in pictures from Bible stories and playing with the other kids. 

Some of the children who come to our Sunday services

A Wonderful Ministry Opportunity

Since focusing on church planting in San Mateo, Juls and I haven’t visited as many churches as we used to. However, on Sunday, February 28th, we were asked to visit the church of Pastor Fred, one of the professors at PCL. His church was having a special evening called ‘Love is Forever’, aimed at helping young people make wise choices about love, dating and marriage. It has been a while since I have given an exhortation, but I was really happy to share our story and give a message to the young people about such an important and relevant topic.



Moving to Perth

As many of you know, Juls and I have been praying seriously about moving to Australia. There are many reasons why really feel that our time in The Philippines is coming to an end.  In May last year, Juls applied for a partner visa and in February, his visa was granted. Pastor Lee has known about our decision since early last year, so the school is already aware that this will be my final semester at PCL. It is also the reason why we began our ministry in San Mateo with another couple, and why Pastor Francis, instead of Juls, was installed as the pastor.  

We are looking forward to being with our Perth family again


We have a lot happening in our final two months here including graduation and a very exciting mission trip. One of our third year students, Bro Assis, is from a province called Aklan, where the only nearby church has been abandoned for years, and was also damaged in the 2013 Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Three years ago, he enrolled at PCL with the intention of pastoring the church after his graduation. Our graduating students will be joining him in April for evangelism and preparation for his future ministry there. We are praying for our students, who are trying to raise the $300 each needed for this wonderful mission opportunity. 

With Bro Assis (3rd from the left) and our four graduating Verzosa Scholarship students
 We will be heading for Perth a few days after the mission trip, on April 26th.  We pray that we will finish our final months here well, and that our preparations for the big move will come together. 

We really appreciate your prayers. We are particularly praying for:
  • Our graduating students, that God will meet their financial needs for graduation and mission trip
  • Spiritual and numerical growth of our little church, Gethsemane Dweller Church - San Mateo
  • Juls and I as we prepare to move to Australia within the next two month
Thank you so much.
Our Indoor Games class is lots of fun

With some of my 1st year students

When you see a dog with pink ears wearing sunglasses and riding on the front of a motorcycle, you just have to take a photo!

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

November and December 2015

Semester Two, 2015/2016

Semester Two began in November. I have two subjects with our first year students, Biology and Indoor Games. I’m enjoying both of these subjects and continuing to work with our delightful first year students. I’m also teaching English Communication to our third year students. We are having a lot of fun with this subject and I am really enjoying spending time with the third years, as I haven’t taught them since they were in first year.

My Biology Class

Enjoying Fellowship with the 3rd Year Students


In December, we had our annual Sportsfest. It was another fantastic week, with such an encouraging, positive vibe. The third year students organized the event, and even cooked for all the students. I was really impressed by their organization, effort and communication with the whole school and reflected on how much they have grown in leadership over the past few years. We played basketball, volleyball, chess, table tennis, and team building games. There was the always entertaining cheering competition, with each team’s cheer going for 10 minutes, which I found hard to judge. Another highlight was the talents night, which I again judged. Every year, I tell myself that I won’t play because of my dodgy knee, but when our team was down in the basketball and the students requested that I play, what could I do but put on my sneakers and join in. I’m no athlete, but years of childhood netball taught me how to plant my feet when I catch a basketball (most of the girls have trouble with travelling), and while I’m not good at dribbling, I am quite proud to say that I scored within a few minutes and helped our team come from behind to grab the win. Unfortunately, I didn’t play so well in the grand final, which we lost. I was quite happy that I didn’t experience much knee pain in the next few days, as I had in previous years.






The last week of class in December was disrupted by another typhoon, but that didn’t stop the students from having their Christmas party. Unfortunately, I was quite sick and didn’t get to join in the celebration and see their hilarious presentations, but the students had a wonderful time. 


San Mateo Ministry

We are so excited about our ministry in San Mateo. The building is really close to completion now, with the dedication set for January. Juls continues to work hard, communicating with the builders, the members, the neighbors and Pastor Lee, and doing a lot of cleaning and organizing the last bits and pieces.

Before Christmas, Juls and I felt to do something practical to help our Bible Study members, who have very little money and often struggle to buy the simplest things.  We bought each family a package of food, to make sure that they would have at least something to put on the table on Christmas Day.  It was a simple gift, but we were happy that we could do something for them.




Pastor Francis and his wife (the couple who are church planting with us) and Juls and I decided to organize a ‘simple’ Christmas party for our ministry.  I still manage to be surprised by what Filipinos call ‘simple’, as we began planning games, gifts, raffles and food. We planned the party for December 20, but we had to postpone it due to a typhoon. So we rescheduled the party for December 27, and the delay worked out well because we were able to use our new church building for the first time. The building wasn’t complete, but the second floor was usable. It was such a crazy, noisy, somewhat out of control, but fantastic day. Attendance was good, with quite a few visitors coming and most of our regular and semi-regular attendees coming. They loved participating in the games. We were relieved that we had cooked enough food, although we ran out of plates so Juls and I shared a large saucepan lid to use as a plate.  We felt that this was such a positive step in our ministry and we continue to pray that God guides us all in this. 

Playing games 

Juls with some of the kids from our ministry


There was plenty of fo

No plate? No problem! We'll just use a saucepan lid instead.

A Very Verzosa Christmas

Our original plan for this Christmas was to go to Samar province to visit Juls’s family. However, Juls didn’t feel peace about going, and so we decided to stay home. It ended up being a good decision, as the typhoons I’ve already mentioned affected his parents’ home. There was also terrible crowding and waiting at the bus terminals that we would have used, and I just don’t think I would have handled the crowd so well. 

Juls and I celebrated Christmas in our house, and invited a few friends to a pre-Christmas celebration. I couldn’t find any Christmas bon-bons – it’s not a ‘thing’ here – but I refused to have a Christmas celebration without them, so I made paper crowns, found corny jokes, bought some little toys and made non-banging bon-bons. Guests were informed that they were not allowed to eat until they told their joke (even if they didn't get it due to language differences). I warned them to take off their crowns quickly after discovering that when they are wet (from sweat) they can stain your skin. It was nice to do something that our Medling family does every Christmas. Our Christmas Day was quiet, but God really touched my heart again as I reflected on the enormity of the love and grace of God, in the gift of Jesus. 



I love our little tree, with the faces of our dear Aussie nieces and nephews
Welcome 2016

As I reflect on 2015, I thank God for the way He carried us, strengthened us and guided us. Through every challenge, He provided the way. I found myself struggling with some emotional issues, and I’m so thankful for His Word, which encouraged me, the holidays and refreshing breaks He gave us, and the little reminders that we are loved. I received some  encouraging messages and gifts from Aussie friends which touched my heart so much. I’m so thankful for 2015.

 We look forward to 2016, believing that it will hold many new adventures for us. As long as God is with us, then who can be against us? We are believing for a great 2016. 

With Ethan Gabriel, our inaanak (kind of like a godson, but with many godparents)

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

September and October 2015

Ministry in Divine Mercy, San Mateo 

Now that the rainy season is coming to an end, we have been enjoying increased attendance in our ministry in Divine Mercy, San Mateo. Juls and Pastor Francis (PCL Class of 2016) continue to share preaching, worship and Bible Study responsibilities. In September, a few of our members requested an outing to the Prayer Mountain because it was a public holiday. We had a lovely morning of worship, followed by Juls sharing a simple message from the Word of God and then the opportunity for members to go the sanctuary, prayer cells, cottages or benches to do what Gethsemane Prayer  Mountain was designed for – personal prayer, worship and Bible reading. After this, we had a pot luck lunch (‘share share’ in their words). One family, having nothing else to bring for lunch, prepared their own duck. I’m grateful that when I need meat, I can just go to the supermarket. I’m not sure I have the stomach for the old-fashioned way of preparing meat.



Kain Tayo! (Let's Eat!) 

We were looking forward to October 17th, as it was to be the 19th anniversary of Gethsemane Prayer Mountain, and we planned to bring many members to the combined Gethsemane Churches celebration. Unfortunately, that weekend, a typhoon came, and although it didn’t have a big effect on our area, it was enough to force our members to stay home, as they are always stranded in their homes when heavy rain makes the river in their area impassable. We brought only 2 members to the event, but we still enjoyed it.

The lady in turquoise on the bottom left is Anna, who wasvisiting us during this time. 


The construction of our church building is progressing well. We are aiming to have it completed within a few months, with the Korean sponsor’s visit and church dedication to take place in January. Juls does a great job touching base with the construction team and neighbours regularly. 



Precious Time with Family and Friends

Honestly, I have had my ups and downs emotionally for quite a while now. A combination of sadness and frustration with what I see here in the Philippines, together with general homesickness and the desire to be with my family members who are facing lots of challenges at the moment have really stretched me. I am so thankful to God, who speaks to my heart and restores my peace and hope, and to my dear husband, who is so loving and supportive. But God continues to bless me by providing me with wonderful opportunities for physical, spiritual and emotional restoration.

In September, Juls and I went to Singapore to spend a week with my sister and her family, who very generously covered most of our expenses. We thoroughly enjoyed going to Universal Studios and a River Safari with them, as well as simple things like swimming, shopping and hanging out.





In October, Anna Morse came to visit for a week. We had grand plans to show her our weekend ministry and then visit beautiful Subic, as it was school holidays. Unfortunately, Typhoon Lando disrupted our plans. We were not badly affected, but we had to cancel our church service and decided to play it safe and avoid traveling north.  We stayed in San Mateo and caught up with a few friends. Anna delighted them with her yummy cooking. Although Anna’s visit didn’t go according to my plan, I really enjoyed just sharing heart to heart conversations, hearing about Aussie friends and spending time together.



After Anna left, Juls and I decided not to let our Subic deposit go to waste, so we spent three days there for our 2nd anniversary.  

Spending Time with Mum

Finally, at the end of October, I went to Perth to spend two weeks with Mum. In August, we found out that she had a tumour, which was removed through surgery in September. To make sure the cancer was all gone, Mum had to start chemotherapy in October. I felt really strongly to visit her for the beginning of her treatment, although due to a lack of time to get a visa and financial limitations, Juls couldn’t come with me.  While I couldn’t spend a lot of time there, I was happy just to see Mum and I’m so proud of her; she is doing well. So far, she has had two rounds of chemo (probably three by the time I manage to send this newsletter). Each time, she has had a few yucky days, but is generally feeling ok. Most of all, she feels God’s presence, comfort and peace. We are confident that after her 12 rounds, she will be completely well. It was very special to spend time with the rest of my family as well, who are the ones who can be there with her for the entire six months of treatment. 




PCL Happenings

In September, I organized two worship evenings, especially designed for new students who long to be part of the PCL Worship Team. After hearing their heart for worship and their musical skills, it was a delight to include many new students in our team for dawn watch and mid-week services.


One of my responsibilities here at PCL is to monitor our students’ testimonies, which are given during our Mid-Week services. This has become one of my most cherished duties. As I mentioned earlier, I have felt overwhelmed, frustrated and helpless because of the situation of so many people here in the Philippines. However, week after week, I hear the testimony of how God has intervened in the lives of our students. He lifted them from helplessness to hope and gave them opportunities to share this hope with others.  I have no doubt that God is moving in the lives of our students, and that He will continue to bless others through them. I am truly blessed to be part of their journeys.

We have many new members of our PCL Worship Team


Thank you for your continued prayer, encouragement and support! God bless.

Monday, 7 September 2015

July and August 2015

PCL Happenings

We are already half-way through Semester One and as usual, PCL life is eventful for students and staff. I am continuing to enjoy teaching my English Grammar class. My first-year students are doing really well, and their results in their mid-term exams were great. Our students have also had opportunities to research and present lessons themselves, with the results being informative, fun and entertaining. The data projector purchased with a donation from DBC at the beginning of 2014 has continued to be a great help in my class, other classes and our dawn-watch and mid-week services.

My English Grammar Class


There are now eight PCL students (as well as a library aide, and a handful of other children or students who are not from PCL) receiving sponsorship from Australian friends. We call them the Verzosa Scholarship students. As part of their scholarship, they spend 2 hours per week helping in the library, which is a great help to all students, as it means the library can be open in the evenings. They have commented that they enjoy their library service and that the time goes very quickly. Sadly, 30 scholarships from Korean sponsors that had been available in previous years is no longer available, and many students are really struggling with their finances. The Verzosa Scholarship students (and I) are therefore very grateful for the support from overseas.
Some of the Verzosa Scholarship Students
Scholarship Students helping in the library

 August is ‘Buwan ng Wika’, meaning ‘Month of Language’ and is basically a celebration of Filipino language and culture. In the third week of August, PCL students in PE1, Filipino 1 and Filipino 3 prepared oral recitations, debates, and traditional dances involving coconuts, floral wreaths and candles. The students were especially pleased that for the whole afternoon they were exempted from the ‘English Only’ policy of PCL. It was a wonderful day.



Ministry in San Mateo

We are continuing our ministry in Divine Mercy, San Mateo. It has not always been easy, but we have had some wonderful moments and we are excited about what God has planned for our little ministry.

One of our biggest struggles has been the weather. In this subdivision, when it rains, it’s very hard for people to move about. There is only one actual road; the rest of the ‘roads’ in the subdivision are just grass or dirt tracks. Most of the people who attend our church live beside a river with a very simple bamboo bridge. When there is heavy rain, the bridge is removed to prevent it from being swept away. I feel for the people, as they can’t cross the river to leave their homes during heavy rain. Thankfully, we haven’t had any serious floods in our area this year, but on several occasions, the rain has certainly been heavy enough to stop people from attending our services.


This bridge has to be removed during heavy rain, so our members can't go anywhere

 Last week, however, we had nice weather for the start of our service, and we realized how much we need our new church building to be ready. With no rain to stop them attending, we had people sitting on the stairs and in the doorway, and we took the children outside for a while as well. We are thankful that Sis. Leonie allows us to use her house, but we can’t wait to have more room.



It is very exciting to see the progress on our church building. We hope it will be finished by October. We see so many opportunities for spreading the Word of God and showing His love in this little community through the use of this building. 




Birthday and Fellowship

In July I celebrated my 33rd birthday. The night before my birthday, as I was walking from my room back toward the school, the second year students surprised me in the dark with a poster filled with messages, a little cake, and of course singing. They intentionally surprised me a day early, because last year their birthday greeting was a few weeks late. Not to be outdone, the 4th year students knocked on my door at 4:15am on my birthday, wanting to greet me before the day began. Even though they brought cake to my room, we decided to wait until the afternoon to eat it, along with a few other snacks, together at a more reasonable time.  Throughout the day, all the students and staff greeted me and made me feel special. A few days later, when I went home, I enjoyed having a few friends around to our house for another celebration. 

2nd Year students surprising me before my birthday

Eating cake and snacks with the 4th years at a more reasonable time than 4:15am 

Celebrating my birthday at home with some friends

Tagalog

Having stayed here for 3 & ½ years now, I would like to say that I’ve got a grip on the language. However, with PCL’s English only policy (not my rule, but so the students can really improve their English), my husband’s good English, and the ability of most Filipinos to communicate the basics in English, together with a busy schedule, I haven’t managed to get beyond a very basic level of Tagalog. This semester I have a less hectic schedule, and I’ve picked up the Tagalog books and started studying hard. One of the lovely 4th year students, Sis. Marj, meets me once or twice a week to check my understanding and memory. I’m really enjoying my study and hope I can get used to how quickly Filipinos talk! 

Sis Maj, my Tagalog teacher

Prayer and Family

Sometimes it’s hard to be away from family, and I have felt that more than ever over the past month or two. Members of my family have had some health problems, and then in August, we were shocked to find that my mum had a tumor. This is a journey that she is still going through, although we are very hopeful that surgery can remove all the cancer. At this point in time, we don’t have the answers. Over the past couple of weeks I have done a lot of thinking and praying, and considered flying back to Perth. This isn’t ideal, as I don’t want to let my class down, and I really don’t want to be away from my husband who is still studying and doesn’t currently have a visa for Australia, but of course I will go if my family needs me. For now, we are hopeful that Mum will be fine and I am tentatively planning to stay in the Philippines as normal, with the option of flying to Perth if things take a turn for the worse (which we don’t expect and pray against). While I won’t pretend that it has been easy or that I haven’t been worried, I have felt the love and comfort of God as I turn to Him in prayer. One morning in Dawn Watch, He gave me the most beautiful picture that filled me with peace and hope. I didn’t hear any answers about what would happen to my mum. I didn’t receive any promises that my family would always be healthy and safe. What I received was comfort that God loves us more than we can comprehend, that He is in control, and that He isn’t limited by our human, earthly perspective. We believe that Mum will be fine, but no matter what, we know God is with us and find peace and comfort in knowing who He is and remaining in His presence.

Thankful that even though I'm far from my family, we have regular communication through Facebook

Thankful for my loving, supportive husband (with amazing bread roll abs)

Thank you for your love and support. We would really appreciate prayer for:
  • Mum's surgery today (Tuesday Sep 9th - that all cancer can be removed
  • Peace and comfort for my whole family
  • PCL staff and students - that God would provide all their needs (spiritual, academic, emotional, financial)
  • Ministry in Divine Mercy - for growth in both number and especially spiritual maturity for our attendees
  • Construction of our church building