Anna Visits PCL
This October, we had the wonderful
privilege of having Anna Morse, from DBC, visit PCL, staying on the beautiful
Gethsemane Prayer Mountain. On a personal level, it was wonderful to have a
visit from a dear friend, to talk about Darwin friends and to share some of my
life here in the Philippines. Anna also had the chance to spend time with and
get to know the students of PCL. We were so blessed when she offered to teach a
couple of 2-part tutorials about music. Filipinos are naturally musical people,
but most of the students had very little knowledge about written music, and
many expressed an interest in learning how to sing harmonies. Anna graciously
accepted the request to be the speaker in our mid-week service, and we were
blessed as she shared about ‘God the Gardener’ from John 15. I appreciated
Anna’s interest in hearing the stories of nine PCL students who are sponsored
by Australian friends (most from DBC connections). I am so blessed to be the
‘middle-man’ who passes along the sponsorship of these students, enabling them
to fulfil their calling to be trained for Christian ministry as pastors,
missionaries or teachers. For Anna to take extra time to get to know those the
way that God is working in the lives of those particular students was a
wonderful blessing.
Anna also spent time in my church,
Gethsemane Dweller Church – Hillside, spending several hours teaching our
worship team, leading us in a special number, and playing keyboard in our
praise and worship.
The 9 days went so quickly but I (and the PCL
students and my churchmates) thoroughly enjoyed her visit. We are now looking
forward to more friends from DBC visiting PCL in January! Anna brought pavlova to the Prayer Mountain! |
With my churchmates |
Sharing God's Word in our Mid-Week Service |
Teaching Music to our students |
My Wedding!!!!
At the beginning of this year, I was 30 years old and had never had a
boyfriend. I was happy with my life; I have been so blessed to have wonderful
family and friends, a challenging and rewarding job and most of all, a personal
relationship with Jesus. But of course, like most people, I longed for a
partner to share life’s adventures with. On October 25, God fulfilled this dream,
and I married Julius Verzosa. We both believe with all of our hearts that God
brought us together in His perfect timing – and that it was worth waiting for!
In the lead-up to the wedding, the love and support from Darwin, Perth
and the Philippines was overwhelming. We received gifts of money (so helpful as
neither of us had any house-ish things), cards (now proudly displayed in our
house), books, and things for the wedding (tiara, earrings, even candles that
were made by my nieces and nephews – with a lot of help from my sister-in-law).
Friends from Perth had even thrown us an engagement party! The day before the
wedding, Juls’ friends came to the mountain to decorate the sanctuary. It
looked stunning!
It was so wonderful to have family and friends from Australia (and the
province) make the flight to Manila. While my brother and his family was
unfortunately able to make it (they sent a video and were certainly in our
hearts), my parents, my sister and her family joined us from Perth. We also had
some Darwin friends (including Anna, Suz and Alex, and Kirk from DBC and Kylie from MCC) be part
of our special day, with Anna and Suz as secondary sponsors.
The day went so quickly but it was filled with so much joy and love.
We felt God’s blessing, especially as the weather was perfect on the day,
despite rain in the days before and after. A highlight was teaching the
Filipino guests ‘The Nutbush’ and ‘Cha-Cha Slide’, with Juls and his mates
giving an improvisation that had us all in stitches.
After the wedding, we had a honeymoon that we
never imagined possible – five days in a beautiful hotel in Thailand. This was
a very much appreciated wedding gift and it was an experience that we will never
forget, including an elephant ride, baby elephant show, a one-day boat tour
where we snorkelled with amazing fish, and more Thai massages than I can
remember. Juls and I are loving our new life together, and we look forward to a
life together with our wonderful Lord.
Farewell GDC-Hillside
Of course, marriage means many changes, and one change was
that it was time to say good-bye to Gethsemane Dweller Church – Hillside, my
home church for more than 18 months. I was asked to be the song leader one last
time, and to include my favourite praise song, ‘Happy Day’. After the service,
we had a special farewell lunch, which the women had cooked, using big pots on
little campfires outside. I had the opportunity to say goodbye and then there
was an open microphone for the church members to say a message to me (and Juls,
as they wished us a blessed life together). I will miss my GDC-H family but
look forward to discovering God’s plans for us in our new church.
Semester Two
Semester Two began on November 11th.
After all the wonderful changes in my life, it was nice to go back to PCL. As
always, I am excited about what God is doing in the lives of our students.
This semester, I am not teaching
English, as one of our other professors was keen to take the composition class.
Instead, I am teaching biology and indoor games. I’m enjoying the meatiness of
biology, and the social, fun aspect of indoor games (which also enhances
English and logic skills). I continue with my administrative roles and student
support. It’s great to be back at PCL.
We are
continuing to adjust to the curriculum changes due to our new accreditation
status. Please keep PCL in your prayers.