This beautiful place is Abundant Place in Silang, Cavite - about 2 hours outside of Manila, Philippines.
After a long time in dry dock, in phase 5 I was told that there was no room for me in the school in phase 6 and I was given the choice of choosing a work department onboard (engine, galley or cleaning angels) or to join a challenge team. I had no real excitement for either option and prayed asking God where He wanted me to be. I felt Him reminding me of my original reason for joining the Logos Hope - the desire to do ministry, to reach out to people and bless them in His name. Here He was, giving me an opportunity to do just this... so I went.
God prepared a spot on this 8 person team specifically for me. The pastor requested a pianist, an Australian and a French speaker and I was a unique package of all three things in one person! So it was decided...
After a six hour journey through the floods in Manila and surrounding areas, we arrived at a place that rivals what I imagine the Garden of Eden to have been! Green and beautiful, it was a peaceful place. We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Dong, his wife Cecille and their three children: Sheryl (20), Hanz - though we call him Cocoy (17) and David (8) and the host of others who live and work at the premises.
We were there from Aug 15 - Sept 9.
The church is part of the house building while a handicrafts shop (items made on the premises) is at the front with an outdoor dining room area and out the back is a prayer garden, where the general public is free to come in and spend time at their leisure.
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Fun times with Anna, Laura, Enoch and Anthony.
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The living room - the sink also served as our room for
parties at teeth-brushing time in the evenings! |
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This is the dining room where we ate most of our meals.
It also serves as a cafe for customers.
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The Garden of Eden - Silang style!
Chairs and decorations could be put out to
make this an ideal location for weddings.
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Outside in the Garden of Eden with tables and
chairs, this also makes a fabulous and picturesque
dining room!
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Such a beautiful place - this is a reflection of
a wonderful sunset, I think! I couldn't see the
actual sunset itself, but it shows promise,
don't you think!?
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We had the opportunity to go to Batangas - a group of small fishing villages a few hours away. We took a bus and then a fishing boat (the one you see behind us). It was wonderful to be sailing again after many months of living on a ship out of the water.
We enjoyed getting to know the villagers and having times of fellowship. There were 2 Christian communities who were not united. We talked and prayed with each of them and helped them to connect.
We were there for one night only, and that evening we held a Bible study. The previous challenge team from the ship that had visited had done the same, but the youth had refused to attend. We were excited that they came along to ours and had a great time connecting with them.
One family was persecuting the Christians, however through forming relationships with the guys in our team, when we needed an extra few beds for the boys, the son of this family volunteered his house. Ps Dong checked with his father, as in the past this family had been extremely unfriendly, however the man welcomed them in and enjoyed great conversations and a Bible study with the pastor the following morning where he gave his life to Christ!
We also went to a memorial for someone who had passed away a year ago, and after a few people shared testimonies, 20 Catholics also gave their lives to Christ and became Christians!
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Boarding the fishing boat to cross to Batangas
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We visited Ate (Sister) Nelli quite a few times to spend time
with her and encourage her. She was recovering from a
stroke and loved to sing with us!
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Sheryl - the pastor's 20 year old daughter.
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The whole Logos Hope team, the pastor and his family,
Ate May and her daughters and a random friend - our
last night together.
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Ate May is a friend of Pastor Dong. A very well-off lady,
she is extremely generous with all that she has. We spent
much time with her at her house (above) and her resort
(below), enjoying special dinners, fellowship, Bible studies
and just a lot of fun.
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our team at Ate May's resort - we spent a night here and
enjoyed swimming in the pool the next morning!
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In the jeepney on our way to World Vision for a Bible study.
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Talking and praying for the ladies who work at the local
World Vision centre.
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We visited Sonya's Garden, one of the top
tourist sites in the area. Pastor Dong's handicrafts
are on display all over this place and we spent an
afternoon just enjoying the beauty.
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In most of the countries the ship has been to, dogs are usually
unclean and not the kind you want to cuddle with. I really
miss having animals to play with, especially my own little
Billy from back home, so I was delighted to meet these
two friends and we enjoyed cuddles and playing for an hour or so!
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Hanz (known affectionately as Cocoy), is the pastor's 17
year old son. A brilliant self-taught guitarist, we had so
much fun playing music together! I was able to teach him
much of the theory basics behind what he knew practically
and he improved very quickly, immediately putting into
practise each new concept I taught him. |
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More beauty at Sonya's Garden
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This was my little nook for quiet times. Just a
bench in the store, I enjoyed the curtain around
it - when I enclosed myself within, I could enjoy
some peace and quiet with nobody any the wiser
that I was inside!
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On the drive to Tagaytay (Sonya's Garden) - off the coast
is an old dormant volcano. It's supposed to be beautiful,
but was too costly for us to go.
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Fun posing with a random hat we found!
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We planned an International Night - a typical cultural event that the ship puts on in many ports. We had planned to have it outdoors and started the set up - you can see the band here. However just as we had finished bringing out all the instruments and heavy equipment and setting up all the chairs, it started to rain! Thankfully, with 20+ people helping out, everything made it back inside quickly and dry and we set up again, this time inside the church!
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Playing with a random pigeon I found wandering around!
I guess he wanted to be part of the show, too... ;) |
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| The evening started out with a time of worship with the band. |
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Then we did a drama and I shared a testimony
and message, presenting the gospel. |
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People also made dishes from their different
countries - this was a French-style pasta. Yum! |
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We then introduced the ship with a small drama and
interview about our different countries. |
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We had some cultural items - Yves (French businessman
staying with the family) and I sang a French song, there
was a Danish blessing song, some Filipino tinikling dance
and more! |
I had a great time chatting with Yves. The pastor had requested a French speaking person in the team, as Yves had been living there doing business with the pastor (his handicrafts business supports the church) and had very little Tagalog or English so found communication a great challenge.
Yves is a very curious and spiritual man, and while he believes in God, he believes God to be very impersonal - the far of deity in the sky, and doesn't understand how a God that big would be interested in our human lives. From observing the pastor's life and that of both our teams, Yves had many questions and we spent a few hours each day in conversation. Yves made clear from the beginning that he wanted my honest opinion about anything and I was not to worry about offending him or stating an opposing opinion. We would talk and debate, he would go away and consider what I had said and then bring a dozen new questions the following day.
For Yves, the understanding of God as our heavenly Father and the relationship of father and child, meaning that we can express ourselves freely as a child would with their father - this was something new and incredible for him. It began a journey of him beginning to 'dare' to ask God questions and await a response!
One of his other stumbling blocks on his way to Christ, is the thought of Christ as Lord as well as Saviour. Yves thinking was that if Jesus is God, then God is higher than Lord. Once I explained that it was more in the 'master' kind of way, of surrendering our lives and decisions into His hands, Yves understood a little more but still didn't see why one would choose to do this.
After our discussion, I had many more thoughts that I decided to put into a letter for Yves as I express myself clearer in writing than in spoken conversation. I challenged him and reminded him that although God is patient, time is running out (Yves is nearly 60) and that if we don't make a decision on this side of death, the decision will be made for us and we won't like the outcome. So I wrote an example prayer that Yves could follow or could make up his own if he decided to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
Yves did not make that decision during our time together, but I have peace that I did what God asked me to. Now Yves is open to talking to God and expecting to hear back - that is all that is necessary! God will do the rest Himself.
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We finished the evening with a good old-fashioned
Australian bushdance where I taught everyone
the heel and toe polka! So much fun, they
asked for this time and again during our
three weeks at Abundant Place! |
The youth had a public holiday, so one of the leaders asked if we could plan an event for them. We decided to do an overnight camp. So approx. 30 youth came at 4pm on Sunday afternoon and we did some interactive games such as you can see here (racing, jumping over bamboo). That evening was some sessions, worship, message, hang-out time and lights out at 11pm.We had planned to wake them up at 5am for an exercise session, but they were all awake by 4am! So we hauled ourselves out of bed and I took them through an hour of exercise and aerobics before breakfast.After breakfast and showers, we had more sessions of games, teaching and singing before they left at 11am - an exhausting but fun weekend!
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| Designing our team poster for 'The Dogs' - yes, we had a chant too! |
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| Morning push-ups - most couldn't manage more than 5!! |
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| Finishing off with a good old Aussie nutbush! |
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| Human pyramid |
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| Spelling words with bodies: can you see the J-E-S-U-S? |
In my own studies, God had been speaking with me about a subject on and off for the past few months. I finally got it all together and felt that I should write a sermon about it - that sometime in the future, it may be needed. That evening, the pastor asked if I would preach at the mid-week service the following evening! It seemed that I had to write that message a little sooner than anticipated! However it went well, God spoke powerfully to me as well as the congregation and it was an encouraging time of being used by God.
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At Batangas outreach - goats were everywhere! Cheap source
of milk and eventually perhaps they become dinner... |
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| Beautiful sunset in Batangas |
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| Impromptu singing and games with the village kids |
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| Rice fields. |
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Oxen ploughing the fields. The villagers
exist on a diet of purely rice and fish. |
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| Family and LH team |
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Family: Pastora Cecille, Ps Dong, cousin Anthony,
Cocoy, Sheryl and me. |
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David! The pastor's adorable 8 year old. Although shy at
first, after a week he would freely hug me and thought that
my lap was more comfortable than a chair most of the time! |
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Amazing fun times. I have Filipino family now -Sheryl, Cocoy and David feel like my brothers
and sister. I had break a few weeks back and
I spent the weekend with them again and then
they came to the ship to visit us last weekend.
It was sad to say goodbye for the final time... |
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| We enjoyed a bonfire until 1am on our last night. |
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