Well, I have been home for a week and 5 days now. It hasn't been too difficult a transition for me. I remember coming back from Mexico when I was there for only a week a couple years ago was a very difficult transition...coming back from such extreme poverty and seeing how we live such wealthy lives while taking that for granted. I found though that after that trip I have tried to stop taking my blessings for granted! I thank God each day for my country, my family, and all that He has given me. We are truly blessed in North America.
So, in the Philippines, I have learned a lot of things that will stay with me forever! I have learned to listen more than I speak. I have learned to trust more in people and more in God. This was really necessary in the Philippines because our schedule changed almost daily. Sometimes we would go to bed at night and have no idea what we were doing the next day, but it would always fall into place! I think I have learned to love more, but it has been hard coming home because I think my younger siblings are sick of hearing about the Philippines all the time!! I learned that I am really good at adapting to new situations which I didn't think I was before. I don't really like change at home generally, but in the Philippines I really embraced it and learned to roll with it. :)
I met so many incredible people in the Philippines. My host family was a huge blessing to me. Their hospitality and kindness was amazing. They really showed me what Filipino life is like! They gave me many new experiences, especially pertaining to food! Los Banos Christian Reformed Church was also a huge blessing to me. Every Sunday and Wednesday night service (and every random day in between that I was hanging out at LBCRC), I felt so welcome and like I was a part of their congregation! The youth at LBCRC were so encouraging to me. I have never met a youth group who is so musically talented!! A different team of youth led worship each Sunday morning and Wednesday night, and it was always SO GOOD! They are so involved in the church...that was really encouraging to me. The Filipino people are so helpful and very, very hospitable. They loved answering any questions I had. Even Filipinos who weren't my specific hosts or even connected with the CRC would answer any question and were so hospitable to us!
As far as my expectations being met, I went to the Philippines trying not to have expectations because I really had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what it would look like or what the people would be like or anything, so I was just really keeping an open mind. Even day-to-day in the Philippines I had no idea what to expect because our schedule changed so much. At first, there was so much free time because we were being quarantined for the swine flu...and then at the end of the summer we were super busy, so it kind of balanced the summer out. But at first, it was difficult for me having so much free time when I just wanted to DO something! But I learned to let go and let God!
This experience increased my sensitivity to the needs of Christians in other countries. Prayer is such a great need all over the world, and (in general) we are not really people of prayer in North America. So that is something I need to work on!
This experience increased my compassion for the needs of those who live in third world countries. My heart really goes out to the poor in the Philippines who have no home or who lives in horrible conditions. Specifically the urban poor children...especially those who beg. And also, the orphans. In the future, I want to work with the urban poor and/or orphans.
This experience gave me new insights into mission work. I really loved seeing all the ministries in the Philippines...just seeing a vibrant CRC church there was really cool. I feel like if I had gone somewhere else, I would see mission work by CRWM that looks COMPLETELY different though.
Anyways, in conclusion of this blog, I had an amazing experience in the Philippines. It really confirmed my call into mission work. So now I just have to see where God is leading me and where He wants me to go!! I am really excited about the future! But for now, I have the enthusiasm and not the skills haha. So I'll just finish my schooling and see what happens from there!
I made so many amazing friends in the Philippines who I will never forget. You know who you are!!!! I miss them a lot actually. I find myself a lot of times during the day thinking about all of our good times and wishing to be back there. I know that I will see them again someday, though! I would definitely go back to the Philippines given the chance.
Thanks for reading my blog!!!!! This will be my last post on this blog, but probably not ever haha! :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Some Pictures
Teaching at Grace Christian Community School in Calauan, Laguna. Ate Nicole and I were teaching English to this grade 3 glass. We were teaching nouns and verbs at this point. 
The view from the window of our home in Pasay City which is in Metro Manila South. We stayed here for only 4 days I believe, but it was a very poor neighbourhood. The houses were stacked on top of eachother, that's how little room there is there!
Me with J.P. and John, two of the orphans at the orphanage in Manila.
Me with J'Lou and Pat-Pat, the two kids that lived at Contilu, the guesthouse where we all stayed together when we were in Los Banos after leaving our host families.
Ate Nicole and I are on our rented motorcycles in Bohol! :)
Me planting rice :)
MY FAMILY IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!! Pastor Benjie, Ate Malu, Kuya Jai, Ate Hapi, Kuya Joshua, and I after church on my last Sunday in the Philippines.
Holding a starfish in Bohol! This was the first time I have ever seen an ocean :)
Leading the Advice station at the National High School in San Pablo.
Ate Nicole, Matt, our boat owner, and I when we went fishing for tilapia somewhere in Bicol.
Doing our drama about what happens when HIV gets into your body. Unfortunately, I was diarrhea in this drama haha.
Visiting a native Filipino tribe who are now Christians. This was probably one of my favorite parts of our trip, although it's really hard to pick a favorite . They sang us a song in Tagalog which was very moving.
I tamed every cow I met in the Philippines haha :)
Nicole and I reading to a little boy on the beach in Bohol.
At an orphanage in Manila.
MY FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE PHILIPPINES! This is at our good-bye party at LBCRC. It was very sad.
A group of us after we did our seminar with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship youth at a church in Bicol!
Doing the "Advice" Station at a high school in Bicol!
Riding a carabao!!! :) It was raining haha. Clearly I am loving it.
Visiting a mayor while in Bicol.
Doing the advice station at a high school. I think this was also in the Bicol region. Monday, August 3, 2009
Ice Skating, Teaching, and Going Home
Sorry I haven't blogged in a long time! We have been very busy. It is crazy that I will be home in 3 days. I am really not ready to leave. We are all very sad whenever we think about it. So I will start with last weekend:
We were in Pasay City in Metro Manila South from Saturday night until Tuesday morning. We stayed at Grace From Heaven CRC there. We did a presentation after church for the youth and other church leaders that went really well despite the fact that we had none of our supplies with us! We weren't expecting to do a seminar. I made a powerpoint presentation on Saturday night though, so that was really helpful. For the rest of Sunday, we hung out with the youth from that church which was really fun. On Monday, we toured around the neighbourhood where the church was. It was pretty crazy. A big group of kids followed us around because there was no school for them because the president was giving a national address. I wish I could describe the neighbourhood, but I just can't! A lot of poverty. It really made me want to work with the urban poor...the urban poor kids in particular. We saw one lady's house who attends Grace From Heaven CRC that was smaller than my living room, and she is a single mother with five children living in that house. After walking around the neighbourhood, the deacon ladies took us to Mall of Asia. We went ice skating on the skating rink there! It was pretty crazy...we were ice skating in shorts and t-shirts. Some of our new friends from that church came too. We also rode a mini ferris wheel at the mall haha and got Krispy Kreme donuts.
On Tuesday morning of last week, we were picked up by Ate Gladys and Matt and B.A. We toured around "Old Manila" for awhile, then went to the CRWRC and CRWM offices to meet some people and look around there. After that we went back to Los Banos and had a going-away party for Eric. It was really fun! We also had a campfire and made s'mores which our Filipino friends had never had before, so that was pretty cool. Ate Eena and Ate Kaygee loved cooking marshmallows.
On Wednesday, we had a tourist day with all our friends. We went to see an underground cemetary, then went to a road which sells hundreds of "slippers" which is what Filipinos call flip-flops. Afterward, we went to the Bravo's and watched Ice Age 3 and played with Maurice, a little 2-year-old who lives with them. He is very cute! We stayed up late on Wednesday night because Eric left at around 3 a.m. Thursday morning. It was so sad. We were really sad all day Thursday and anytime one of us girls would mention it, we would all get tears in our eyes at the thought of leaving the Philippines.
On Thursday, without Eric, we did two seminars at the National high school in Calamba. We went to Ate Gladys's after that and did laundry and made lasagna for dinner. Then we went to a cultural dance show at UPLB which was really, really cool! I loved it. On Friday morning, we taught at Grace Christian Community School in Calauan. We mostly taught English. It was really fun. Nicole and I were partners, and first we taught grade one's, so we read them our kids books. Mine is about a lazy boy named Juan who turned into a carabao haha, and Nicole's is about eating your ampalaya which is a bitter vegetable here, or else the ampalaya will eat you haha. They liked the books. Then we played Simon Says, did some spelling bee thing, read some English words out loud, and wrote some random sentences on the board that they had to copy to practice penmanship. The sentences were about "ipis" which are cockroaches haha. After that, we taught grade two and did much of the same thing. Then we taught grade three, and we ran out of English to teach them. We taught nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then we did some Math multiplication questions, then taught them about Canada, then taught them about photosynthesis haha! It was really fun. After that we came back to LB and shopped a bit. Then at Contilu that night, we had a really cool dinner where we didn't have any utensils or plates or anything. We ate off of large banana leaves all with our hands. It was fun! After that, Nicole and I played piano for the ladies there and we played and coloured with J'Lou, a 4-year-old adopted girl there. She is super cute.
On Saturday morning, we went to Grace Christian Community High School and coached some first-year girls in basketball and volleyball. That was really fun. Afterwards, we went to Calamba and hung out with the Bravo family. We had a meeting at LBCRC at around 6 to talk about our presentations and then I went to the Garcia's for dinner which was really great! I will really miss them! On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and had lunch there afterwards. We napped in the afternoon and played pool and had dinner with everyone at Contilu. Today we have been doing last-minute gift shopping for our families. We have a going-away party at 4 at LBCRC. It's going to be horrible leaving! Tomorrow we are going to compile pictures onto CD's and Wednesday we are doing a debrief thing with all our peer educators and us. Then our flight leaves at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday! So see you all really soon!!!
We were in Pasay City in Metro Manila South from Saturday night until Tuesday morning. We stayed at Grace From Heaven CRC there. We did a presentation after church for the youth and other church leaders that went really well despite the fact that we had none of our supplies with us! We weren't expecting to do a seminar. I made a powerpoint presentation on Saturday night though, so that was really helpful. For the rest of Sunday, we hung out with the youth from that church which was really fun. On Monday, we toured around the neighbourhood where the church was. It was pretty crazy. A big group of kids followed us around because there was no school for them because the president was giving a national address. I wish I could describe the neighbourhood, but I just can't! A lot of poverty. It really made me want to work with the urban poor...the urban poor kids in particular. We saw one lady's house who attends Grace From Heaven CRC that was smaller than my living room, and she is a single mother with five children living in that house. After walking around the neighbourhood, the deacon ladies took us to Mall of Asia. We went ice skating on the skating rink there! It was pretty crazy...we were ice skating in shorts and t-shirts. Some of our new friends from that church came too. We also rode a mini ferris wheel at the mall haha and got Krispy Kreme donuts.
On Tuesday morning of last week, we were picked up by Ate Gladys and Matt and B.A. We toured around "Old Manila" for awhile, then went to the CRWRC and CRWM offices to meet some people and look around there. After that we went back to Los Banos and had a going-away party for Eric. It was really fun! We also had a campfire and made s'mores which our Filipino friends had never had before, so that was pretty cool. Ate Eena and Ate Kaygee loved cooking marshmallows.
On Wednesday, we had a tourist day with all our friends. We went to see an underground cemetary, then went to a road which sells hundreds of "slippers" which is what Filipinos call flip-flops. Afterward, we went to the Bravo's and watched Ice Age 3 and played with Maurice, a little 2-year-old who lives with them. He is very cute! We stayed up late on Wednesday night because Eric left at around 3 a.m. Thursday morning. It was so sad. We were really sad all day Thursday and anytime one of us girls would mention it, we would all get tears in our eyes at the thought of leaving the Philippines.
On Thursday, without Eric, we did two seminars at the National high school in Calamba. We went to Ate Gladys's after that and did laundry and made lasagna for dinner. Then we went to a cultural dance show at UPLB which was really, really cool! I loved it. On Friday morning, we taught at Grace Christian Community School in Calauan. We mostly taught English. It was really fun. Nicole and I were partners, and first we taught grade one's, so we read them our kids books. Mine is about a lazy boy named Juan who turned into a carabao haha, and Nicole's is about eating your ampalaya which is a bitter vegetable here, or else the ampalaya will eat you haha. They liked the books. Then we played Simon Says, did some spelling bee thing, read some English words out loud, and wrote some random sentences on the board that they had to copy to practice penmanship. The sentences were about "ipis" which are cockroaches haha. After that, we taught grade two and did much of the same thing. Then we taught grade three, and we ran out of English to teach them. We taught nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then we did some Math multiplication questions, then taught them about Canada, then taught them about photosynthesis haha! It was really fun. After that we came back to LB and shopped a bit. Then at Contilu that night, we had a really cool dinner where we didn't have any utensils or plates or anything. We ate off of large banana leaves all with our hands. It was fun! After that, Nicole and I played piano for the ladies there and we played and coloured with J'Lou, a 4-year-old adopted girl there. She is super cute.
On Saturday morning, we went to Grace Christian Community High School and coached some first-year girls in basketball and volleyball. That was really fun. Afterwards, we went to Calamba and hung out with the Bravo family. We had a meeting at LBCRC at around 6 to talk about our presentations and then I went to the Garcia's for dinner which was really great! I will really miss them! On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and had lunch there afterwards. We napped in the afternoon and played pool and had dinner with everyone at Contilu. Today we have been doing last-minute gift shopping for our families. We have a going-away party at 4 at LBCRC. It's going to be horrible leaving! Tomorrow we are going to compile pictures onto CD's and Wednesday we are doing a debrief thing with all our peer educators and us. Then our flight leaves at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday! So see you all really soon!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
