My first week in the Philippines

It's been a week since I arrived in the Philippines. Felt like a long time ago since I was in Singapore! I guess it's the effect of settling into a new environment, climate et al!




Last Saturday I joined the children's ministry for the first time. We serve the children in Montalban which is a resettlement township for the people whose homes were destroyed by a landslide in the dumpsite area where they were living.

I was surprised to see our prayer meeting location in the morning - a little garden in the front porch of a very kind lady's house! We were glad for the shade in the hot weather. Thank God for small mercies.








We taught the children about the Holy Spirit in preparation for Pentecost this coming Sunday. I prepared an activity sheet for them about who the Holy Spirit is and the symbols of the Holy Spirit.

btw, I learnt that "symbolo" means "symbols" in Tagalog. Having to learn Tagalog now, I'm grateful for words that are similar to their English counterparts! Again, thank God for small mercies.

Therese, Celine and I also performed a skit to demonstrate the point that only the Holy Spirit can change people's hearts. I was stretched to overcome my reticence in acting. We had to improvise a lot and I had fun (eventually). *grin*

For the session with the younger children, Therese prepared a colouring activity sheet. See the beaming faces after having completed the activity!

Here are some shots of Montalban which presented to me a very new and different landscape:



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Earlier in the week, we were in Tagaytay. I must confess sheepishly that it was fascinating for me to see pineapples and soursop other than in fruit shops or supermarkets!



Ready for a pictographic nature's excursion? Here goes:

Pineapple patch

Soursop


Papaya tree

That's all for now! Thank God for the week past. \o/