Non-stop Sunday

Sunday is a pretty busy day when you are sharing life with a Pastor and his family. The day started (for most of us) with our 7.30 am breakfast at Choi and Alma's home. I say most of us, as the very energetic Spidey & Sam hit the local market at 6.00 am. They bought some lovely fish which was prepared for tea - 6.00 am was too early for me!

We piled into the Jeepney after breaky and headed to Church. We were greeted by the kids from the Nasisi feeding program. There were about 70 or so of them there. They were dressed so beautifully. The Filipinos certainly know how to put on their Sunday best. In stark contrast, the Australians did their very best to look as neat and tidy as they could. Clothes were swapped and borrowed between rooms. I managed to scam a belt from Pastor Choi which was a bonus. 

Tess - One of our helpers at Choi & Alma's - with her three children 

Church here is a very lively experience, with a worship band that pump out the hits. It was an extremely warm day and around 150 people were crammed into the little building. It is an experience not to be missed. We were all welcomed and invited up the front. We were each given a special presentation of flowers that were placed around our necks. Nicola was delighted as she was introduced as a 15 year old friend of Hannah's. Nothing like buying back a decade or so. 

It was my task to preach. I preached on courage and made reference to Moses, Joshua, Solomon and Paul. At the end I invited anyone that wanted prayer to come forward. There must have been 30 or so people that came forward. It was a terrific experience. People are hungry for God in a way that I don't see back home. 

After church we waived good-bye to the Nasisi kids. They all crammed into the Jeepney and headed home. We all crammed into Trikes and headed to Graceland. It's a fast food place here in Ligao. Fried chicken, noodles, burgers and ice-cold full strength Coke!

                     A drink run

           I'm going to Graceland 

A bit of cheeky security at the burger joint

After lunch there was around 45 mins down time before Pastor Choi and I headed out to San Ramon for the afternoon outreach service. While we headed there, the rest of the team went back to church for a sports and fellowship afternoon. They played basket, volleyball and badmitten. 

San Ramon is a little outreach in a very rural setting. There is a feeding program there as well. They lost their building during the typhoon in December last  year. It's now been semi-rebuilt and is designed to withstand a typhoon and be a community gathering space in the event of another typhoon. 

      The San Ramon church building

    A bit of soup cooking for the kids 

        The Sunday school program

It was a wonderful time out there. There were around 25 adults and 40 children. No technology - just a couple of guitars and a drum box. Similar response to the morning service - lots of people came forward for prayer which was fantastic. 

After church out there we headed back to Ligao and joined the others for the remainder of the sports and fellowship afternoon. 

The young professionals and our boys

                  Jenny & Hannah

Home for tea and a chat and then off to bed for an early night. We've got breaky at 6.15 am and we are due at the National High School at 7.00 am tomorrow. 

I'm not sure what the nightly routine is like in the other rooms, but in mine (It's me, Charlie and William), we kill mozzies for 15 minutes or so and then the boys wrestle until someone gets hurt or something gets broken - the joy of brothers sharing a double bed! It was an action packed day with so much happening. Many wonderful and unforgettable experiences.