January 2013

Gethsemane Dweller Church – Hillside

Church Building Dedication

January 22^nd was a very exciting day for my church-mates and me. It was the dedication of our beautiful new church building. When I first joined GDC-H in March last year, our church had no roof, an uneven concrete floor, empty holes in place of windows and no doors. Now we have a beautiful two-storey building with small classrooms and a workers’ room downstairs and the main hall, a small library and a room for meetings on the second floor.

Our church is part of the Gethsemane Dweller Churches, a group of churches here which were established by Korean sponsors. There are now 14 Gethsemane churches in Manila and the surrounding areas. Our Bible School is linked to Gethsemane; it is under the leadership of a Korean missionary pastor, Pastor Lee, who is also the senior pastor of the main church, Gethsemane Dweller Church – Cainta, and our school is located on Gethsemane Prayer Mountain.

Our Korean sponsors came to the Philippines for the dedication of the building. I felt so blessed as I considered the investment they have made into the ministry here in this nation.

It was also so lovely that the PCL students were able to come and support this wonderful event. GDC-H has been so blessed and I am excited for the future of our church. I truly believe that we can shine the light of Christ into our community and that through our church, people can find the hope, love, joy and peace that comes from a relationship with our wonderful Lord and Saviour.

With PCL students at the Church Building Dedication

Preparing for the feeding

The Opening :)



With my church-mate Lanie

Singing an unrehearsed, unexpected 'Special Number' at the Dedication :)

PCL Students Ready to Serve the Food

 

Visiting other churches

One of the things I love about my role here in the Philippines is having opportunities to visit other churches. On January 26 I joined a group of PCL students to sing some praise and worship songs at the anniversary of Jesus Christ, Chanel of Blessing Church. It was quite an experience. After we had sung some quiet, reflective songs, we began an upbeat song, ‘Let Everything that has Breath’. Then one of the electric fans caught on fire! All of a sudden, the church members were out of their seats and once the fire was out, they remained standing and began clapping and praising the Lord with great energy and enthusiasm. So there you go… to add a little ‘spark’ to the praise and worship, simply start a small fire!

 

The next day the same group of students (plus a few more) visited Jesus Christ Potters Hand Christian Church, the church of two students, Bro Ely and Bro Glenn. It was a blessing to again sing to the Lord and celebrate His faithfulness in that place. I had the opportunity to meet the pastora of the students and spend time with some of the leaders for dinner.

I told Bro Johnard that only people wearing sunglasses were allowed in this photo :)

PCL Life

Of course, we continue to have classes, services, administration and events here at PCL. We have passed the half-way mark of semester two and students have completed their mid-term exams. The students have a heavy work-load, so it is always nice to take time for bonding. In January, two of our first year students celebrated their birthdays and their batch-mates surprised them with a special night including praise and worship, games, a short message and of course food. The students always invite me to join them in their celebrations, which I love to do. My contribution was to allow them all to try Tim Tams, which I had brought back from Perth. Not surprisingly, they were well-received!

Games at the Birthday Celebration

 

Having our school located on a beautiful mountain is a wonderful and peaceful contrast to the crowds, traffic and pollution in metro Manila. For the most part, the animals here add to the beauty. But last week, the boys had an unwelcome visitor in their dorm. I don’t know what type of snake it was, but apparently it was venomous. Thankfully, one of the Gethsemane Prayer Mountain maintenance staff, Bro JoJo, caught the legless intruder. I’m glad the snake didn’t come to my room!

 

 

The months ahead

This month, PCL will begin the process of electing the new leadership teams for the academic year 2013-2014. The roles of the student council, the discipline team and particularly the president are such an important part of PCL, so we pray for God’s guidance. I am grateful to our current team who have faithfully served the student body here.

Preparations are already underway for the upcoming Baccalaureate Service and Graduation Ceremony. The graduating students have had their special graduation photos taken. We are excited for the plans God has for the next chapter of their journey in serving Him.



Batch Leviticus - To graduate in March

 

December 2012

Trip to Subic

At the beginning of December, I had a wonderful opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines. Along with two dear friends, I went to Subic, the home of one of my students, Brother Philip. It was so encouraging to see what God is doing in that place and especially in the lives of Brother Philip’s family who are pastoring a church in that place and overseeing daughter churches nearby. After many years of faithful service and passionate prayer, the churches are seeing a season of great breakthrough and blessing. What an encouragement it was to see the things that God is doing there and to hear about the wonderful way He has been answering prayers. While I was there, I was invited to bring the message to the daughter church in Olanggapo. I had very little time to prepare and I had never before shared a 45 minute message, but I felt very strongly that God wanted me to accept this opportunity and to trust that He would give me the words to say. Of course, God is faithful, and during my Saturday Dawn Watch, He gave me a scripture and some insights to share. I woke up at 3am on the Sunday morning to finish preparing and by the time we were at the church, I was nervous but excited to bring the word of God. The church members blessed us by buying lunch for us and then we headed back to the main church for a combined meeting, where I sang a special number. I enjoyed meeting the youth and some of the leaders in Subic. I also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity on the Saturday to go out in a boat to a small island nearby with some of the church members to have lunch, have a swim and walk around the island. It is a very beautiful place and I look forward to visiting Subic again sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing a message at Olonggapo Church

 

With some of the youth leaders in Subic

Christ-must Concert

On December 14, Paul College of Leadership held its ‘Christ-must’ Concert on the Prayer Mountain. The students had been planning and practising for months, so there was much excitement when the day finally arrived. In the months leading up to the event, PCL students had been tirelessly promoting the concert. I was surprised to learn that the promotional poster (with a photo of me!) was even in one of the major shopping malls. On the night, the sanctuary on the Prayer Mountain was jam-packed. The concert went through the story of creation, the fall of man, the death and the resurrection of Jesus through drama, song and dance. It was a wonderful night. The Gospel message was delivered powerfully and the praise at the end of the night was so alive. It was really great to have such a victorious night together before the three-week Christmas break. I felt privileged that the students really wanted me to be part of such a special event.

Many people came to watch the concert

 

Visiting Australia

I was so excited to be able to go back to Australia during the Christmas break. Even though I had enjoyed the most wonderful vacation in Darwin during December, it had been 11 months since I had seen my family in Perth, so I was very excited. I thoroughly enjoyed spending quality time with my family, especially my five nieces and nephews, who continue to grow and are such a joy. I also caught up with lots of friends and spent two evenings sharing about my Philippines adventure with some people who help to support me in finances and in prayer. One goal I had while I was in Perth was to have a sebaceous cyst removed from the top of my head, as it had grown so much during 2012 and was becoming difficult to hide (you might notice that I often wear sunglasses on my head). It seemed like it was going to be very difficult and probably expensive to get it done and I expected that I would have to extend my stay in Australia in order to get an appointment. However, God answered my prayers, as my parents are friends with a doctor who did my operation before Christmas. It was a very minor procedure, but I was so happy and I really believe that God was the one who made it possible for me to be back in the Philippines before classes started again. I loved my time in Perth and even got to spend a few days in Darwin on my way back. 

The Annual Christmas Day Family Photo

Decorating Jesus' Birthday Cake. I'm so happy that Jesus likes Pavlova as much as I do!

My beautiful 'baby' dog Olly (the golden retriever) who now lives with my sister has a new little baby sister, Lala :)

Cute!

The months ahead

I have only been back at PCL for 1 week, but already, life is busy. Mid-terms are just around the corner. We have some Korean visitors coming to the Prayer Mountain in the next few weeks.  I continue to tutor a Korean student who is here for a few months to study English. I am looking forward to all that 2013, my second year in the beautiful country, will hold for me, and continuing to trust that God will direct all that I do.