January 2014

DBC Team visits PCL

After a wonderful two-week Christmas break, PCL classes started up again on January 6^th. One week later, the team from DBC came to PCL for a Mission Trip – to encourage and have fellowship with the students, and especially to teach them some skills in music. The team was Josh and Sarah Ingrames, and JR and Robyn (with their daughter Eden) Del Rosario.

I had been very pleasantly surprised in December when I was checking my budget and looking at my internet banking, when I found an unexpected deposit from DBC. After communicating with DBC, I was thrilled to be able to purchase a keyboard and a projector for the school, and to have some money to set aside for any mission activities the team might want to be involved in. The keyboard was to be integral for the music activities with the DBC team, as well as every worship service in the future (in the past, we have literally hooked up my iPad and a phone in order to use the keyboard aps during our worship services!) The projector could be used by the team, as well as by professors in the future - with a class of 70 students, I am excited to have a new medium for presenting information.

Using the new projector in my biology class

The team arrived on Monday 13^th in the afternoon and rested that evening. By Tuesday morning they were ready to begin their time with the students. There were plenty of opportunities for breaking the ice and beginning to build relationships. Josh and JR joined some of the boys in basketball a few times, while Sarah, Robyn and I cheered them on. Eden was a student-magnet, and playing and talking to Eden was a great way for many of the students to get to know the team. The team was involved in the Wednesday mid-week service, with Sarah playing keys, JR playing guitar and leading, and Robyn and I singing. Josh was the preacher, giving an encouraging and also challenging message about preaching the Word, using his best American accent and speaking slowly, so that the students would be able to understand him. (The Aussie accent is quite difficult for them.)

Rehearsing for the Mid-Week Service

Bonding with the students through basketball

The students found out that riding a unicycle is very difficult!

Of course, the students were looking forward to some music lessons so on the Wednesday evening we split into three groups. Robyn taught a group some principles of singing in harmony, and they really enjoyed learning ‘2^nd voice’ or even ‘3^rd voice’ to some beloved songs. Sarah and Josh followed up on the brief lesson Anna had taught them in October, looking at notes, rhythm and some other aspects of written music. JR took some of the more advanced students and taught them how to match what they can hear with some music principles. Thursdays at PCL are a bit messier, with students having classes at different times, so this was a fantastic opportunity for the most enthusiastic students to have some individual or small group tutorials as their schedules allowed. Many students also stayed on the Thursday evening for an extension of JR’s tutorial. It was really incredible seeing the penny drop, as the students, who have incredible talent, excellent ears and great musical memory, saw the power of the principles JR was teaching. I personally also had a few ‘Ahah!’ moments. Too soon, the students went down, back to their homes and churches. But the DBC team had more experiences to look forward to.

DBC Team Feeding Program

A real highlight of the trip was an evangelism and feeding program held at my former church, Gethsemane Dweller Church – Hillside. We simply could not have done this without the wonderful pastor (Pastor Judy) and church members, who helped us make a program, set up the outdoor area, and provided man-power. Also, the staff at Gethsemane Prayer Mountain were amazing – they cooked enough food for more than 300 people, transported it, helped serve the people and packed away afterwards. We sang some favourite songs (One Way and Happy Day), JR and Robyn sang a special number, we had a few dance numbers from the GDC-H youth and then the part they were very excited about – Josh’s circus tricks. It was FANTASTIC and the kids loved it. Our dear friend Pastor Anthony, who had joined us for the day, was quite afraid when he had to lie down so that Josh could jump over him ON A UNICYCLE!! The kids loved interacting as well. After a brief evangelistic message by Pastor Judy (in Tagalog), the feeding began. It was full-on, with 300-400 (it was hard to tell) people there, but it was an amazing experience and the people were very thankful. 

Preparation for the program

Pastor Anthony was quite scared

DBC Team Out and About

We had some other opportunities during the week. We joined with members of Pastor Lee’s church, Gethsemane Dweller Church – Taytay, which is the main Gethsemane Church, to lead the praise and worship in their Sunday Service. JR preached a wonderful message entitled ‘Our Hope, Our Call’. The wonderful thing about both the Sunday at GDC-T and the Friday feeding program, was that we were together with some of the PCL students, so the relationship was already there. We also went to a local zoo (and got some awesome footage of a snake stalking, catching and eating a live mouse) and visited Juls and my house. I must thank my wonderful husband Juls for driving us everywhere (if you’ve seen Manila traffic, you will understand why I don’t drive). I want to thank the DBC members who came, and everyone at DBC for supporting this trip. Pastor Lee and I would dearly love to develop this further if there are future trips and I have heard that there is interest from DBC for it to be an annual event. I’ll pray for that!

At Gethsemane Dweller Church - Taytay

A New and Exciting Opportunity

Since getting married three months ago, Juls and I have been very seriously praying about our ministry. We have been in Novaliches, in a small outreach church that Juls’ senior pastor had assigned him to. However, we felt that this was not God’s long-term plan for us. It seemed like doors were closing and we didn’t have peace that God was calling us to stay there.

While we were visiting Pastor Lee’s church with the DBC team, Pastor Lee, without knowing how seriously we had been praying for direction in this area, offered us the opportunity to minister in a new Gethsemane Dweller Church, in the San Mateo area. We immediately felt joy and excitement, and after more prayer, felt strongly that this is God’s plan for us. So we have happily accepted this offer. We are now looking for the right place to build our church, and also for a home in the area. While, in our humanness, we have some nerves, we are very excited and know that it is truly The Lord who has brought this to be, and that He will be our strength and our guide.  


Please keep Juls and me, as well as PCL, in your prayers. Thank you for all of your support. God bless you!