Philippines Day 3

           What a day for day #3!  Today was "Everyone needs a Savior" with the story of Nicodemus.  The children continue to be such a joy to be around, even with the language barrier, and we continue to hover around 140 children.  Their smiling faces and infectious laughter have been such a blessing to all of us.  In crafts they made Jesus and Nicodemus puppets and Karen and Bob acted out the story of Nicodemus from John 3 with the puppets while Dara told the story by dressing up as Nicodemus and doing a monologue.  She also shared the story of salvation through a John 3:16 soccer ball and each child received a salvation bracelet before they left the Bible story room.  In recreation Randy M and Curt played some games with the children that taught them that they need to listen to the voice of Jesus through all the other noise around them and in music we danced to Bubblin' Up, which the children absolutely loved!  The words to the song tell them that when they have Jesus inside it bubbles up and you have to tell others about Him because you can't keep it in, it's Bubblin' Up!!
           After we finished with VBS and lunch we toured a clinic that the church helps to sponsor, Rafa Clinic, in Antipolo, Philippines.  They helped the people who live and work around the cement factory in Antipolo.  It was a beautiful facility dedicated to fulfilling the Great Commission by ministering to the sick, hurting, and poor, through this medical clinic and it was an honor to see it and hear about Alina's work there and her passion for Jesus.  We finished the evening with a great American staple: PB&J, chips, and watermelon.  We were blessed to be a witness to another Filipino thunderstorm, and boy did it rain!!  God's way of making everything green!  We're looking forward to Day #4 and what God had in store for us.
Blessings,
Dara, Randy K, Randy M, Curt, Karen, Bob, and Dorie

 

 

 

Philippines Day 2

Greetings from Day 2 of VBS Philippines!!

Today dawned bright and hot with temperatures getting into the upper 90's.  We enjoyed another great day of VBS at New Hope to Asia were we had 30+ more children attend than yesterday making our total 146 for today.  Our theme if you remember is Submerged so the we did some swimming with the fishes in music today, and the Bible story and craft centered on a water theme as well with the children learning the story of the woman at the well and the fact that Jesus offers us living water.  The children made little wells in crafts that they absolutely fell in love with and didn't want to put down.  It was such a treasure to see them with their craft.  They once again had lunch before they departed for the day and we left not to much later, returning to the hotel site to prepare for tomorrow's craft and get some rest.  We went to dinner at a food court in a mall where dinner was a local fare but dessert was much closer to home; a DQ Blizzard!  It was a nice cool treat for such a hot day.  Looking forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow and can't wait to tell you all about it. 

Blessings,

Team Philippines
Randy K, Randy M, Bob, Dara, Curt, Karen, and Dorie

 

Philippines Day 1

Philippines Day 1
Good day from Manilla, Philippines!
         Our team departed Friday morning with a quick jaunt to Atlanta before the long haul up and over the country by Alaska and then back down to Tokyo, all 14 hours of it.  What a flight!  We had about an hour and a half in Narita before boarding another plane for the final leg of our journey to Manila.  That one lasted another 5 hours.  I really didn’t want to look at another seat but we then had to get into a van for the 40 minute ride to our hotel.  The bed was a site for sore eyes after 24 hours of traveling, let me tell you!  We awoke to beautiful skies to celebrate Easter with New Hope to Asia, the church that is to be our place for VBS this week.  The congregation welcomed us with open arms and we celebrated our Risen Savior with singing and dancing.  There was an amazing sermon on the hope we have in Jesus, then after lunch we got some much needed rest in the afternoon before going back that evening and worshiping Easter again with the youth.  Before that we made final preparations to begin VBS the following day.  Monday morning we began our day with devotion and breakfast, which consists of rice, a fried egg, some type of sausage, and bread.  We then arrived at New Hope, where we were greeted by over 120 smiling faces, ready to start VBS.  We’re doing Submerged, which is what the church did last year, so a big SHOUT OUT to those of you who let us borrow shirts!!  We dove under the surface to find out what God sees in us and how we can look deeper into God’s Word.  We did four rotations: Crafts, Bible Story, Music, and Recreation.  The crafts and Bible story centered on Zacchaeus and the music taught the kids that no matter what, no matter where, Jesus knows you and Jesus loves you.  The children then had some lunch before heading home for the day.  We came back to the hotel to get some rest before dinner and are looking forward to day #2 of VBS. 

Blessings to all,

The Philippines Team