bring on the rain!

I had a first this weekend! Most sundays I like to make myself a coffee and drink it during the service. Well, the heavens were pouring down rain this sunday, which brought the temperature down. For the first time ever, here in the Philippines, I experienced my coffee going cold on me! It was totally shocking! It's been raining a lot this week, which I love. I take great pleasure in standing outside becoming drenched in the heavy downpour, and according to some friends, this is just a light rain! It's going to get a heck of a lot heavier, so I'm excited to see what that's like :)

Pastor Ding continued his message from last week about prayer. Last week was more specifically on the question of whether lack of prayer is weakness, or sinful. It was so intriguing to me, as I've never even considered it. This week was more about prayer itself. Why do we pray? What happens when we pray? One thing he said that stuck with me was, "you can trace every big thing that God has done, to a prayer." ...which is so mind boggling. If that's true, then it proves that even though God can do whatever he wants, he choses to work with, and through us. He chooses to partner with us. Something I still don't understand... But it's refreshing to hear about prayer- why do we actually pray? God reminded me this past week that because he calls me child, I have a right and privilege to approach him with my requests and petitions. So why should I delay? What could stop me, if he is waiting? An area in my life I really wish to see growth is in my prayer.

Of course, tonight, when I'd really like it to be raining, there's none to be had. Our pipes have been broken since last night so we find ourselves without flushing toilets, tap water, showers, drinking water, everything. If it was raining even a little I'd go outside to brush my teeth! Argie is working on fixing it right now, I hope and pray that he's able to get our water back... We're constantly so hot and sticky- especially during rainy season with so much humidity in the air! You should see what's happening to my hair... If I leave it wet, it curls. But as soon as it dries and I brush it, my head turns into a big fluff ball!

I went to Greenhills today with Lisa, which was so fun! The prices were a little discouraging, not quite as low as we would have liked them to be. Such beautiful clothes... but not for the right price. We couldn't find any tops we liked for less than 200 pesos! Of course, by Canadian standards that's still really cheap- only 4 bucks, but I'm trying to live on a Filipino budget. 200 is not easy to justify spending on a t-shirt. I still managed to get a couple really nice gifts for people at home, a couple scarves, and one shirt. I also got a pair of shoes for church, since the only footwear I've had are my islander sandals, which aren't very classy and don't match my pretty skirts haha.

Tomorrow is back to school. My first class is with the grade 3's. We're starting a book called Danger Ahead, it's a Focus on the Family book. It's not too long, and I think they'll be interested once they get into the plot line. My grade 2 class is so much easier, because I can fill up a whole 50 minutes by reading to them and having them interact with the story as we go along. That class always ends up going by faster, and they're so much more responsive to me than the grade 3's. I don't know why.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention that my dinner tonight was a burger with cheese and egg from one of the shops along the road. I spent a whole 22 peso's on my dinner. Guess how many Canadian dollars that is? ZERO dollars! It's only 50 cents! And it was delicious. Who knew that throwing a fried egg on a cheeseburger would taste so good? Masarap!

Sige po, magandang gabi, pagpalain ka ng Diyos!

smelly teacher Angela...

These kids are incredible! I often think I know how great they are, but then they surprise me all over again. Gruar last night was awesome, as always. It was only raining a bit on the way over, but by the time we started to unload and set up it was coming down hard, so we relocated further into the squatter where there's some shelter. The venue is smaller and cramped, but we were mostly dry and managed to do our songs, skit, prayers and hand out food :) Milet told the story of the feeding of the 5000. I mostly held Mae Mae- I got to meet her little brother and parents yesterday. It was really cool to talk with them briefly. They told me that I'm Mae Mae's favourite, and of course I told them that she is mine. Not that I should have any favourites, but it's always going to be true that some kids stand out. They are ALL special. Her English has improved since last year when she didn't speak any at all! I'm very proud of her. And I've learned more Tagalog now, so our communication is improving all the time :)

Perhaps I should lay out what my weekly schedule looks like. I realized I've never done that before, maybe it gets confusing sometimes? Anyway here it is:

Monday:

• I teach the Grade 3 reading class at 9:00 am,
• Grade 2 reading class at 11:40am,
• East Avenue, Quezon City children's ministry from 5:00pm-10:30pm

Tuesday:

• Grade 3 and 2 reading class
• Bagong Silang squatter village ministry at 4 or 5:00pm, then dinner at the church

Wednesday:

• Grade 3 and 2 reading class
• Prayer meeting at 7 or 8:00pm

Thursday:

• Grade 3 and 2 reading class
• Preparing food for Gruar from 11:00am- 4 or 5:00pm
• Gruar squatter village ministry at 5:00pm

Friday:

• Grade 3 and 2 reading class
• Worship practice at 8:00 (?) pm

Fridays are rather quiet for me.... I can do lots of reading and sleeping on fridays!

Saturday:

• Superkids children's ministry (400 kids) from 8:00am-1 or 2:00pm

Saturdays are definitely the longest and most tiring days, but also so much fun. It's nice to have a good rest after the chaos of hanging out with, then feeding 400 kids. Trust me, you cannot imagine what it's like unless you've seen it! haha.

Sunday:

• Church at 10:00am
• Youth group at 6:00pm

There are almost always people at the church, so I will usually hang out with whoever's around during the hours in between events. They end up being full days, which is so good, and I'm very happy about that. I prayed before I came that I wouldn't let one day be a waste. I don't want to take any of my time here for granted, which is sometimes hard when it's so hot and all I want to do is lay down with the fan on.. haha. And I do that too, but I'm usually with people. Community is so important here. It's a cultural aspect that I love and am growing accustomed to. 'Alone time' is experienced when you are showering, in the bathroom, or going to bed. Haha. And I like that!

About showering, maybe I should explain for my Canadian friends what bathing is like here. I have a bucket, and a smaller dipper. I fill the bucket with water, and splash it on myself using the dipper. Once nice thing about a dipper bath, is that you can let the water sit out and get a little warmer, so it's not such a shock to splash cold water on yourself. Also, you waste a lot less water bathing this way. I quite enjoy my bucket baths. I have one every night, one in between classes in the morning, and one in the middle of the day to cool down.

One of the students gave me a bar of soap today. I didn't understand at first, I thought he was playing a joke on me, trying to say that I'm smelly! But Ate Mona explained later that his father works in a soap factory! So sweet little Jules was giving me a gift. What a blessing to receive a gift from small hands that have so little already.

I love my students, I love my classes, I love the squatter village kids, I love the Superkids, I love the youth of the church, I love the leadership of the church, and I love my God for bringing me here.

"Good morning class..." "Good morning Teacher Angela!"

Today was my first day teaching, and it was a total success!! None of the kids died, or got hurt, or cried, and they were all dismissed with smiles on their faces :D So... better than I expected!

I took over Ate Beth's grade 2 class today because she was at an orientation. It was only a half day of school anyway so it wasn't a big deal. Starting tomorrow and for the rest of my time here I'll be teaching the grade 3 Reading class at 9:00, and the grade 2 Reading class at 11. So that leaves me with an hour long break in between.. I'm sure there will be more work to be done tomorrow, but I'm going to try to sneak away to watch some of the Boston/Vancouver game. I can't believe that the team I've been cheering for all along is playing for the Stanley Cup tomorrow and I'm not with my family to see it. Kind of sad.

After school I'll have an hour to bathe, rest, and get lunch, and then I'll join the youth to prepare for our ministry in Gruar. My favourite squatter!! I don't know what our ulam will be tomorrow, but the cooking will commence as early as 11 in the morning and then we'll start bagging it all in the afternoon so we're ready to drive there for 5 ish. I'm so excited to see Mae Mae again! We didn't get to go last week because it was raining too hard, so I've only seen her once since I've been back- the day I got here. That's what the picture is from. I'm still in my travel clothes, haven't showered or anything, but I was so excited to see her and the other kids I had to go!

I'll be waking up at 7 or 8 tomorrow to go get breakfast and eat and pick my stories for the classes and I'm already tired at 11:30 so I should really go to bed. Goodnight!

stuck in bed.

yes, I am stuck in bed. So why not take this opportunity to write a little catch up post? It's not even so much gross, as it is truly impressive the amount of phlegm I'm coughing up these days! Just where does it come from, I'd like to know? I'm like an endless pit of mucus, every day I could fill a cup! (Nasty enough?) Like I said, I'm stuck in bed, so I'll attempt to gain some entertainment from the thought of you cringing and imagining the expression on your face as you read.

Lisa and I had planned to go to a large, wonderful market called Greenhills today (Lisa is the 19 year old daughter of Pastor Ding and Ate Mona), but Mona advised that I not go. I've had this awful cough for 4 days now and recently with the addition of diarrhea and a fever, I haven't been feeling so hot. I tried to make it but I'm too dizzy even to walk around the church so it's a no-go.

I was up at 7 this morning for the parents orientation. We went through the school handbook and discussed boring school things, but I saw some of the students I'll be teaching which makes me so excited. I was also introduced to the parents so now they'll know who the crazy white girl teaching their kids how to read is. The church offers schooling for preschool and grades 1 through 3. There are ten grade three students enrolled, and everything I've heard suggests that they're a really good group.

Yesterday was cool, after church I went home with the Teodoro's (the pastor and his family) and had lunch with them :) Their dog, who bites everyone and is usually very protective and mean actually let me pet him! Lunch was great and then I went back to the church to hang out with a couple of the girls. We got some Sprite and borrowed a movie and watched in my room with the fan on. It would have been really good, quality bonding time if the movie selection had been a bit better. One of the girls picked Scary Movie, and I knew it would be crude, but I did NOT remember it being as bad as it was! We were laughing of course, but I don't think we'll watch it again haha. This is an extremely modest culture so Scary Movie was rather shocking...

I tried turning the air-con on for half an hour to cool down my room, which was glorious, but as soon as I turned it off it went right back to being hot, hot, hot. I'm sucking back gatorade and trying to work up an appetite but so far, wala pa. With the humidity it's a cool 44 degrees. Not all that great when you already have a fever!! Anyway... sleep well, Canada, God bless you!

You're looking into my heart.

Agh... God keeps on ripping my heart. When I close my eyes and think about it I get this picture of a heart that's being clawed at, peeling back layers. Remember Eustance, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? Remember when Aslan had to peel off the layers of his dragon skin by using his lion claws, and it was so painful, until finally the last layer was gone and all that was left was naked, humble Eustance...? That's me!

I've just come home from the children's program in Quezon city. I still have to process what I really saw there. Picture the island you sometimes see between different directions of traffic. You know, that little space in between, it sometimes has grass growing or trees in it? Picture instead rows of tents, as far as you can see stretching down that skinny island space. Picture children sleeping out in the open there, just laying in between lanes of traffic. They truly have noting. They don't even have enough to pay the minuscule rent to live in a squatter village. Just small children... please imagine. They are 5, 6, and younger. One of them just lost his mother, she was hit by a car and killed- right there where they all live. They're so small. My heart grieves for the little girls. How safe could they be? The literally live ON the road, and who's keeping watch over them with all the people around? Lord, please keep those children safe from harm... pray for them. That's all I can say right now. Thanks for praying.

Ange.

...dahil sabi ng Panginoon.

I was a wreck this sunday! I bawled through most of worship and again through the offering.

Jane is on the dance team. Last year when we met her, she was having a problem with her hip. She had so much pain that it made dancing impossible, and even walking to church was a struggle for her. She was truly in agony and her faith to be healed started to suffer as the weeks went by. We laid hands on her as a church and prayed many times, and a couple of the guys provided money to take her to get an MRI. Nothing was figured out, and when my team left in May she still hadn't been healed. I was ecstatic this year to come back and learn that she is completely, 100% healed now. She doesn't not suffer problems with her hip anymore! When she came out to dance sunday morning during worship I dissolved into tears. How great is our God! His spirit is so tangible at A New Hope. His praises shouted into the air, it's an atmosphere of praise!

I'm a frequent crier during the offering. Imagine spending all this time with kids who you know have next to nothing, then imagine the blessing to see them come to church. It might be an hour walk in the heat to get here, but they manage, because they can feel God when they come, and He is reason enough. Then you see them pull a couple coins from their pocket when the music starts to play. Two pesos, which is 4 cents CAD. It always makes me think of the story of the widow who gave so little- only a couple copper coins, but in such faith. What she gave was more valuable to the Lord. When I see those precious little kids walk up to the offering box and drop it in I want to sob and sob. They are so beautiful. 4 cents is all they have to give, but they do it. In that way, they are bigger than me. My selfish heart can learn so much from them.

I hope and pray that you're blessed by hearing about these kids.

On a personal note, I'm seeking God's direction for my life in my time here. I believe that now, with none of the comforts of home, or distractions around me, I can focus really intently on listening for the voice of God and where He will lead me. I want my life to have purpose and meaning. I want to DO something worth while! I need to figure out what I'm good at, what are the gifts and abilities God has already given me? It is no coincidence that my time here overlapped with the Danish team by 3 or 4 days. They have inspired me, and I've had some really good talks with a few of the girls. So please pray for me that I will have open eyes, ears, and a heart that is soft. Thanks :)

Last night I slept at the church with one of the Danish girls, she kindly invited me for a little sleepover which is SO nice because I've been a teeny bit lonely without my team. She and her team left about an hour ago (it's 4:30 in the afternoon here.) so now I'm ready to fully move in. Staying with Treesa and her family has been wonderful, they are so kind and welcoming- she even took me and her son to the pool yesterday! But it's always hard living out of a suitcase, and I've been anxious to get settled in at the church. I hung out with the girls before they left, ate lunch with them, and typed out the class lists for this year's school term. School starts next week so lots has to be done! In about an hour I'll go with two other members of the church to do a children's program at a new church in Quezon city. It's only 2 Americans and 1 Filipino, none of whom have experience in children's ministry and they are trying to start a church there. They really need a lot of help so Mona and Ding have been taking just a couple people once a week, starting a month ago. It's a new project which I'm really happy to have a part in.

I should have a shower before we go, I'm crazy sweaty and I think I'm starting to smell. haha.

I'm not very tech savvy...

just trying something to see if it works