Muntinlupa

This past Sunday we were at the Church in Muntinlupa where Greg Jr, Eddie's nephew, is the preacher.


Katie and I started out with the children.

Vernon gave a good sermon on being faithful.

There was one response to the invitation - Flori Face. She's been coming to Church for about 5 weeks, and later in the afternoon she became a sister in Christ.

Look, Bea!!!!! Another authentic Church of Christ! If it weren't for potlucks, what would we do?

This is their brand new sign. A couple in the Church own a company that does this kind of work.

Muntinlupa was our last scheduled place to work. Now we rest!

New Friends

We made fast friends with Eddie's brother's family during our visit to Daet in the Bicol region. I only wish we could have stayed longer.


This is Greg Jr's daughter Sara. We started talking instantly! She is 25 years old and a nurse as well. She is also newly engaged, and understandibly very excited about it!

The last morning we were were there we had breakfast on Bagasbas Beach. There were few people on this beautiful beach, and none of them were foreigners. This beach is not developed, as far as businesses/hotels are concerned. It was nice and peaceful.

Some of the rest of the family.

Here is me with Greg Sr's daughter Betty and her middle daughter.

The good-bye picture.

Naga City

This past Friday we went to Naga City to the Philippine International Bible Institute, primarily to encourage the small group of young preachers.

The gentleman in the wheelchair (I can't remember his name right now) is the founder of the school.

Vernon giving an encouraging message on have a Christian attitude.

The Church sign.

One of the missions of the school, as you can see in the picture, is to establish over 110 churches in the Bicol region in the next 10 years.

Macagon

At first the rain was so bad, they thought Vernon would have to baptize the people in this bathtub. Much to my dismay, the rain stopped right after this picture was taken.

This is the land for the new church building in Macagon. Curently they meet in a house.

Vernon with the 4 he baptized.

Without these 2 young men, I would have slipped all the way to the river. Since Bill wasn't there to help me, they made adequate alternatives.

Daet

Last Thursday there was a gospel meeting (just one day) and fellowship at the Church in Daet, which is where Eddie's brother preaches. Katie took care of the children, Vernon did some preaching, and I did a ladies' class on how to teach children in Bible class.

What good attentive students - and beautiful too!

Here is Eddie's brother Greg, Sr.

The sign.

Us with the Church members.

Eddie, Katie, me, Vernon, Greg Sr, and Greg Jr.

Coconut

During the 15 hour trip to Bicol Region, we stopped at a little stand that had fresh coconuts. Mmm . . . it was good!

A Party

What we thought was our last night in Zambales region, we spent it at a BBQ/party at the home of the administrator of the preaching school here.


The administrator, Ruel, and his wife have a private business. They sell paper products and cleaning items to other businesses and hotels. In fact, one of their customers is the Suzuki hotel.

The young preaching students are quite a crowd - they love to have their picture taken!

We had a short devo. And then a few of the preaching students had to give a short talk (I think it was part of a class) explaining why they chose to be a Christian. Then, to my surprise, the 4 of us in the mission team were asked to get up in front of everyone too. And without warning of course, I was first. I learned a lot about the 4 students.

We were also surprised by receiving certificates for the work we had done. It was a humbling experience.

This picture didn't turn out as well as I hoped. Some of you might think Vernon is being identified as a goat, but it was just a game! I forgot what they called it, but it was sort of like Bible 20 Questions. It was a lot of fun!

Cabalan

Before we went to Golden Feather, we all met up at the Cabalan church building.

This is the preacher's mother-in-law, Merci. She has taught the children here for over 30 years! They don't have many of the conveniences we do when it comes to teaching - copy machines, teaching books/material, etc . . . I was amazed at all of her work when I walked into the little classroom. She's written everything by hand and come up with all her examples and crafts. For her crafts, she tries to use everyday things that you would find around the house. For example, there was a dove drawn on a piece of paper with crushed egg shells to make it white. What an inspiring lady! I wish there had been more time to spend with her.

Our team with the group of preaching students just before we left for the village.

Whistle while you work . . .

On the hike - little did we know the hard part was coming up ahead. And it only got hotter!

Golden Feather

Here are pictures from the Aeta (Native Filipino) Village. For a review of our work here, see the previous blog entry - Catch Up.


Cute kids!

Seems very interested in coloring his Alaskan animals.

This is the little girl who is 6 years old - Erica.

Here we are with some of the villagers that came to the gospel meeting.

The village was beautiful set up on this little hill. The scorching (literally) hot hike was well worth it!

Errands

Vernon, Eddie, and Marlow talking business. I'm glad that's the men's job!

Look like we're having a good time? Well, this is actually a deceiving picture. We spent nearly 2 hours in this bank converting our travellers' cheques into Filipine currency. We've had so much trouble with our travellers' cheques that I'll probably never use them again outside the United States. After we had been here awhile, we did find some humor in it.

Subic Bay

Here are some pictures when we visited Subic Bay, where there was a U.S military base about 50 years ago.



This is a portion of a Spanish gate wall.

And a cannon!

The actual bay area.

Our Hotel - Suzuki

While we've been in the Zambales region, we've stayed at the Suzuki hotel. It sits right on the beach at Subic Bay. It's not the Hilton, but it's the best place we've stayed.



The guys in this picture are vendors who are constantly trying to sell us things. It's pretty humerous seeing Vernon interact with them!

This is some of the hotel staff. They all have been wonderful!

A pretty flower outside.

Me with a view of the bay in the background.

Hotel from the outside.

We left here last Wednesday. And when our scheduled changed and we had 5 days left at the end of our trip, where else did we decide to spend our time - the Suzuki!