Friends

On the first evening of my Christmas break I went out with a group of friends for dinner. We had a fun time together laughing and talking. I thank the Lord for Christian fellowhsip. It truly is a blessing to have friends. I am grateful for the way the Lord has blessed me this year with new friends. The Lord promices to take care of your every need. How Great is Our God!

Idols

Close your eyes, what do you see? Darkness everywhere! Now think of many parts of this world where people live in spiritual darkness. Thousands who don't know the way to Christ. People praying to Mary, doing rosaries, or going to church once in a while, all in attempt to find God.
This Christmas I felt a bit of this spiritual darkness. I visited Cebu, one of the 7000 Islands of the Philippines. It was here as I walked the busy streets before Christmas that I witnessed some real spiritual darkness. Thousands of people pray and touch a statue they call “Jesus Christ”, (but it is actually small doll that looks like boy). It was these people that made me think of the millions of others around the world who worship idols on a daily basis. Often a church the pastor reminds Filipino Christians to destroy their former idols and worship the living God. I visited on temple in Cebu were I once again witnessed Filipinos coming to ask God for answers using stones and sticks. I thought about how wonderful it is that we have access to the thorn of God anytime, and without any stones or sticks…all because of the Cross!

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God…”
Exodus 20:4-5

Gifts

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

What gift do you have to give this Christmas? This is the season full of giving and getting. To often we get wrapped up in the giving and we forget what we can give. God gave us the greatest gift many years ago. He gave us His son. Not only did he give us his son on earth, but he gave us the ultimate gift by dying for us. No gift on earth compares to that. God is not asking us to compare our gifts, but asking us to give what we have. We each have our own role to play in God’s plan and each individual is important.
Gift giving comes with a cost. What a precious, priceless gift God gave us. When we really think about what it cost Jesus- the magnitude of His sacrifice-and the depths of His love for us-we can’t help but respond in awe and wonder. Our hearts can overflow with gratitude. Let us, with the poet, Christina Rossetti ask;
What can I give Him this Christmas?

"What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him?
Give my heart."

May you have a Joyous Christmas as you celebrate the best gift ever given!

Time

I have not written for so long and now time has quickly passed. Where do I begin? God's Constant Faithfulness has been the theme of my year so far! What a powerful and faithful God we serve. This Sunday at church I heard the wonderful news that God is working in the Philippines. Lives are being touched by his love. At church a Christmas tree Choir, sang and the gospel was presented. Over 100 people made professions of faith. Praise the Lord! These professions of faith made me think of the early church in Acts and how many were coming to the Lord. WOw!It brings great joy to my hear to hear how Go dis working here. My prayer is for my own Nation. That we as believers will shine our becan of love, touching others lives and pointing them to the Savior. I pray that during this Christmas season, others will see our love and come to know Christ through us.

At chaple this week in elementry school, we sang a song called, "With Him and In Him"
With him and in him, and through him
I can do all things, I can do all things
with him and in him and through him...
I can do all things through Christ the Lord.
It may not seem like we can do much, but through Christ's strength we can share His love with others.

Thanksgiving

God asks us to be thankful in all situations! In a country such as the Philippines surrounded by so much poverty and injustice, it hard to be thankful. However, as a missionary here, I am so thankful for many things. I am grateful that I have met some wonderful friends who care for me. I was invited to two different Thanksgiving dinners in November. I was so touched by this gesture of love. I was also able to help host a Thanksgivig dinner for Filipino Bible study. It was so much fun. Here is a small representation of our group. It was a great joy to serve them!

International Week

Every Novemeber in the elementry school we celebrate International week. Each class has a different country to study. My class studied South America. Each day brought it own set of fun events like dressing up, or marching in a parade. I really had a fun time learning about South America along with my students.
During the week we prayed for a variety of missionaries who were working in South American countries. We did a variety of fun activities learning about animals and the rain forest. I made my classroom into a rain forest wiht hanging vines. The kids loved it!
The week ended with a International chapel. Each grade presented something about their continent and prayed. It was wonderful to learn about each continent and lift them up in prayer!

In the Garden

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a ladies retreat two hours away from Manila. The retreat was held at a nice bed and breakfast place called Sonia' s Garden. I honestly felt like I was not in the Philippines. It was so beautiful. Infact, it was like I was in my mom's garden. There were flowers everywhere. This particular part of the Philippines is much cooler so plants can grow well there.
The speaker was a lady from the states. The conference was for both American and Filipino missionaries.
The accomidations were beautiful. I got to sleep in a real bed and I was actually cold!
I am attaching some pictures to show you this beautiful place.

My favorite part of the weekend was meeting new people. I also got to spend time with my Lord in the garden. It was nice to walk with the Lord in the Garden. I felt like Eve when she walked with the Lord. It was awesome!

50 Years

This year Faith Academy is celebrating 50 years of God's faithfulness. It was so exciting to be part of that celebration. We had a lot of former students and staff visit the campus and share their stories. We also had a flag rasing to honor all the countries represented at Faith. I am proud do say that Canada makes up the third largest population of students at Faith.

Often as I drive up the hill to Faith I am grateful for these two years to be part of molding students for the Kingdom. The more I get to know students and spend time with them I am convinced that fruit will remain in their lives because of Faith Academy.

4B Class of 2006

Here is a picture of my wonderful class. There are 13 children from Korea, United States and Canada. I am truely enjoying every moment with them. This is what makes me get up in the morning...knowing I will see their smiling faces and hear them talk. It is truly a blessing to be part of their little lives!

Some of you knew my class lead chapel on week. This is a picture of my class leading chapel. We did chapel on the topic of Responsibility. They did a fabulous job acting out different skits on responsiblity.

A weekend Away

I am looking foward to going away next weekend. Iwill be attending a women's coference. It is for women in ministry. The speaker is from the states. The cost was expensive but some people in the US sponsered it...I am so excited. I will post pictures when I can. I am hoping for some encouragement and some refreshment.

Singapore Visit

I just got back from visiting Singapore. I was there for a week of holiday's visiting Christian schools and visiting missionaries. It was so awesome! It was like living in Toronto. Everyone was in a rush! It was so safe! I loved the visit so much. I was able to see the whole Island in one week. The highligt of my week was visiting the zoo and night safari. Here are some pictures of the animals I saw.
The city has a great bus system and many tall buildings.

my home

Some of you have asked to see where I live. I wish I could transport you here myself. Sometimes pictures do not capture life well. I will try to do my best.
I live in Manila the capital city of the Philppines. The Philippines has 30 million people, the city of Manila has 13 million. It is the fastest growing country in the world.
I live in valley called Valley golf.It over looks a golf course. It is such a nice nice place to live becuase it is very peaceful. I live in an apartment of the 4th floor. Not only cna you see a beautiful golf course from my building but you can see Faith Academy.
Many have asked if I can walk to school....I could but I would very wet!

Typhoon Madness

As I sit here writing, I hear rain banging against the windows. It has been raining and blowing all day! and the superidenent calls for a day off...why? there is a thyphoon coming. All schools in Metro Manila are cancelled. This is nothing but a blessing as many of us have report cards to write. But as we try to do our work our city is being destroyed! This is the worst Typhoon in five years!

These pictures are beside my apartment. The damage was really bad around the city! We did not have power for five days! It was an exprience I will never forget! I came to realize how much I take forgranted!