Thanksgiving Day

Although Thanksgiving is not a holiday in the Philippines, we invited our Ilokano teachers and some other friends to join us in a special Thanksgiving meal. We had to be a little creative, because some things are not available here. Our menu consisted of: turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans, fried okra, "sweet potato" casserole (made from orange komote - pictured above), stuffed eggs and two pumpkin pies (made from the karabasa - that's the big squash in the picture).

A few of the big supermarkets in Manila had a small selection of turkeys available. We had to purchase the smallest one we could find, because our only cooking equipment right now consists of a toaster oven and one gas burner. Needless to say, we had to do some serious juggling to get everything cooked and hot before serving. Somehow Sarah was able to make it happen.

One lady was especially intrigued with the stuffed eggs. She said it looked like they had eyes! :-)

A United Methodist deaconess who lives down the street from us opened her home to us for the meal. She and some other residents there are also Ilokano-speakers, and so the meal also served as an opportunity for us to practice hearing and speaking the language a little.

R.G. attempted to bless the food in Ilokano. He made it through the first half of the prayer, and then had to finish in English. Afterward, the hostess spoke up and said (sympathetically), "He's trying his best." We all laughed. To R.G.'s encouragement, another Ilokano lady told one of the teachers that his pronunciation was good and did not have a "foreign" sound to it.

It was also enjoyable to tell a little about the story behind Thanksgiving Day, and why we celebrate it.

Of course, we greatly missed being with our family back home. But we thank God for His faithfulness to us, and for giving us many new friends who have blessed our lives. We are truly thankful!

An Ilokano Meal

Last week we were invited to eat lunch and visit with the family of Faith, one of our Ilokano teachers. We ate a delicious Ilokano specialty known as "pinak-bet" which was prepared by her grandfather. It consists of several vegetables cooked together and mixed with chicken meat. They also fed us some other traditional Filipino dishes.

This gave us an opportunity to practice both hearing and speaking in Ilokano while in a more normal setting. They were both amused and delighted while listening to our "baby talk" in their native language. It was a very valuable and enriching experience for us. We are thankful for teachers who are willing to go out of their way to help us learn.

Sowing Gospel Seeds

Although the primary focus of our time here in Manila is on learning language and culture, we also want God to use as as witnesses for Christ. Before coming to the Philippines, our friend, Pastor Darrell Stetler II, gave us a box of metal tokens. One one side of the "coin" is John 3:16 (in Tagalog/Filipino) and on the other side it asks the question, "Where will you spend eternity?" (John 3:36).

We have enjoyed giving these to taxi drivers each week along with their fare. The response has been very positive. Usually the driver's face will light up, and as we leave the cab, he will still be sitting there reading the message on the coin. It seems like such a small "seed" to sow . . . but in reality, it is the indestructible Word of God which will not return void.

Rizal Park (Luneta)

In some of our spare time, R.G. has been reading a history text book written by Filipino authors. It gives not only a helpful overview of the history of the Philippines, but also a Filipino perspective on those events that have shaped their nation as we know it today.

Last Saturday we took a little trip across town to Luneta and visited some old historical sites

along with one of Manila's newest tourist attractions (Ocean World).

Luneta / Rizal Park

Rizal park is named after Dr. Jose Rizal (1861-1896). Dr. Rizal is known as THE national hero of the Philippines (though they have many other national heroes). He was a multi-talented man, educated in Spain, who became an eye doctor, linguist, writer, inventor. His writings gave voice to the desire of many Filipinos for freedom, and it was on account of those writings that the Spanish government arrested him and executed him by firing squad.

Statues depicting the execution of Dr. Rizal on the very site where it took place. His death was one of the final catalysts which set in motion the Philippine Revolution.

"My Last Farewell" - the last written words of Dr. Rizal before his execution -- a very moving and inspiring expression of patriotism and love for his fellow citizens.

Filipino national flag

Rizal Park is like an oasis surrounded by the steel and concrete of a big city.

Rizal monument

BTW - This is very close to the spot where the Chinese hostage crisis took place just a few months ago.

We then took a guided horse & buggy tour of some other historical sites, etc. in the area.

The horse looks really thrilled . . .

Manila Hotel - according to our guide,

Gen. Douglas MacArthur once stayed there for a period of time.

Old U.S. military barracks from WWII era.

We enjoyed getting to see some of the places in Manila that we had not yet visited.

River View

Another River View

Passenger Ferry

Entering China Town

Along the streets of China Town

One of the many market places - the blurriness of this picture might be because it was raining sheets of water around this time! :-(

Morning or afternoon rains are almost a daily occurence during the rainy season.

Passing by Malacanang - the official residence of the President of the Philippines

Looking out at Manila Bay while waiting for the rain to let up

One of the many commercial vessels in Manila Bay

We also enjoyed touring the Oceanarium at Ocean Park

Manila Bay at night

New Church Plants in the Mountains

Rev. David Yucaddi took Tim Keep and R.G. to visit a couple of the new church plants up in the mountains.

The mountain roads can be quite rugged in places!

Along the way we came up on a mudslide that had completely covered the road. People were working trying to manually clear the road enough for traffic to get through.

They were able to clear enough of a path that vehicles could climb over the mudslide and continue on their way.

We enjoyed a visit with Pastor Benjamin and his wife at Hapao, where a new church has recently been built.

Pictured below is the place where Sis. Margie Yucaddi (David's wife) is planting a church. The upper part of this little building is her living quarters, and the area underneath is where she holds services. Already she is having as many as about 40 people to attend. Already, there has been a noticeable change in what has been a very rough and even dangerous community on this mountainside.

Please pray for our church planters and pastors who are working tirelessly to bring the gospel to these remote communities.

Meet and Greet Time

We received a warm welcome from the students and faculty at the

Philippine Bible Methodist Shepherds College. Here we are with two of the students, who presented us each with a fragrant lei made of flowers

which they had gathered from one of the trees on campus.

R.G. and Sarah with the National Executive Board of the Philippine Bible Methodist Church

Board of Trustees for the Bible Methodist Gospel Light conference

R.G. preaching Sunday a.m. in Banaue