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)