SonQuest Rainforest Camp - April 15-18

As I have continued my search to find places to serve, imagine my thrill when there was an announcement in the bulletin at church about the summer kids camp coming up.  Four days of SonQuest Rainforest, a vacation Bible school (VBS) program that would be a whole lot of fun.  I thought, hey, I love VBS, I can help at that for a couple of hours a day. I emailed the children's director and volunteered my service.  When I went into meet with the children's director, Len, she seemed very surprised and pleased that I was volunteering...and more appreciative than I thought was necessary.  Must be a cultural thing I thought.

I went to the meeting a few weeks later with the other leaders, and as I opened my file and looked at the schedule, I realized this was a 4 day SLEEP over camp a few hours away, not a morning-only VBS as I was expecting!  No wonder Len was so appreciative!! (I can hear you all chuckling AT me right now!)  Okay, so it was going to be a whole lot more work than I thought it was going to be, but still a whole lot of fun.  My years at camp (since 6 months old) were going to be very helpful, and I knew I was going to have fun. The camp was in Laguna, a few hour drive away.  Have a look  http://www.re-creationcenter.com/.  The air was fresh, less humid and clear of smog. 

So at 6:30 am April 15th my wonderful husband took me to church by taxi, and reassured me I would have fun and make friends, even though I did not know anyone yet.  And he was right!  I was in a cabin with a cabin leader (Sharon) and 8 girls age 12-13.  I was the counsellor for the oldest group - 16 girls and boys 12-14 years old.  It will be hard to explain just how much fun I had!  The four days included 5 sessions around the SonQuest Rainforest material, water balloon fights, swimming in a pool with a great slide, devotions, skits, songs, really good food, campfire with smores and much more.    Camp is pretty much camp everywhere.

The kids were a fascinating mix of nationalities - Filipino, American, Norwegian, French, Chinese, Malaysian, and from Hong Kong.  Along with that, there were some kids that obviously came from wealth and had never cleaned a cabin before, and there were others who were sponsored to come to camp and lived in various projects in the shanty areas.  Many were eager to learn the parables and how much God loved them.  I will never forget the look in some of their eyes as they hungered for more.  Others had the attitude of many 13 year olds, and were more concerned about what they looked like....but that is what being 12-14 years old is all about for some.

Some highlights I want to share with you:

• it is amazing to watch kids who have never experienced a camp fire and smores to just stand in awe of the flames and heat, and to drool over the food - it really is the simple things in life and I pray I never loose the enthusiasm and joy in the simple things that we so often think we have seen often enough.
• you can get to know adults while filling hundreds of water balloons - take every opportunity to do the little things and chat with those around you.  Everyone has a fascinating story.
• you teach very well by your actions, not just your words - through saying grace before each meal as a cabin (holding hands Post family style) and pouring water into the girls glasses before I sat down, it was a joy to see the girls starting to pour water (serve) each other, and being willing to pray by the last few days. 
• 100 kids can learn five Bible verses in 4 days - ah, a personal challenge I felt and will remember when I think memorizing God's word is just too hard.
• always sponsor a child or two or three to go to camp - having watched the impact of camp on those who were sponsored, it is money that multiplies and multiplies and I will not hold back.
• do not be afraid to share from my heart - this I learned two ways - one, when I did share from my heart it opened the door for girls in my cabin to share more deeply, and two, from one sponsored boy who shared out of his diary in front of the whole camp.  He read the part a few days before camp when he and his family were praying that a sponsor would come and give so that he could go to camp.  They had almost given up hope when three days prior to camp he found out he had a sponsor and could go!  Then he shared how God has used camp to touch him and change his life.  His sharing impacted me because I saw the power of faith and prayer, and sponsorship and how his sharing impacted the other kids around that campfire.  
• at 46 years old, four days of camp is probably all I can handle!  

I have many more stories, but that is probably enough.  Here are a few pictures of these wonderful kids as we rode back on the bus (before they all fell asleep!)

And to answer your question, YES, I am ready for next year!!


P.S.  The fire in the shanty town in Quezon City is not near us (this is an immense city), but many are homeless and now in emergency shelters set up in schools (schools are now on summer break). We will share more as we hear more..... keep these people in your prayers - they have lost the little that they have.

A Taste of Manila......The Grocery Store

Many have asked whether there are "different" things for sale in our grocery store. The area we live in certainly does cater to the western shopper and has specific shelving where you will find high priced reminders of homelands around the world such as the US, Canada, England, France, Japan, etc. Aside from that there are certainly many different items to choose from and different ways of approaching the sale of food. I thought this may provide a little bit of entertainment to your week.......

The Grocery Store and Pharmacy - Observations and Oddities

1. The general rule we live by is "if you see it and would like to have it at any time in the future it is best to buy it immediately as you will likely never see it again"
2. When you purchase fresh vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, beans, etc you must take your produce to a central area where a nice young girl weighs it and places it in a bag with a barcode attached. This adds a lot of time as there is only one girl and a line of people with armfuls of fruit and veggies patiently waiting.
3. The people of the Philippines love corned beef hash..... seriously.... an entire row is devoted to this.... 20 or more brands and types.
4. Ice cream is another favourite item and is consumed in large quantities (it is hot here). A somewhat related item is the amount of TV advertising devoted to ice cream. I think every second commercial but Linda reminds me that I do tend to exaggerate things. It just seems like every second one. One of the local favourites is Ube flavoured and is a bright purple colour. Ube is a purple yam... I have not yet tried it but will soon enough.
5. There is a large sign above the small hand carry baskets that asks that you "do not place your dog in the baskets". No kidding
6. There are normal shopping carts but all four of the wheels rotate in any direction as opposed to the rear two being fixed. This is brilliant and makes the shopping experience enormously more fun as the cart can be spun in a circle (albeit with Linda yelling "stop that".... still fun)
7. There are small shopping carts that are roughly a third of the size... I thought cute little carts for the kids. The adults use them! The first time I saw it in action I thought it was a joke as you really have to bend over just to get to the handle. It is quite common and still a little funny.
8. This week the cereal aisle had interesting selections. For some reason there was a real "chocolate theme". Cereal is not as popular as it is in Canada and is relatively expense. This week they had Chocolate Frosted Flakes, Chocolate Chex, Chocolate Corn Pops, Chocolate Pebbles, Chocolate Lucky Charms, Chocolate Koko Crunch and Chocolate Cheerios.
9. There are many flavours of potato chips that even Linda is not excited about. The three most popular Pringles flavours are Grilled Shrimp, Seaweed and Soft-Shell Crab
10. Most things are behind the counter in the Pharmacy..... simple things like Claritin that you would expect to choose from a shelf and be on your way.... not here... you must line up and request them from the nice young girl who will ask "how many would you like". The first time this happened I was unclear how to answer the question. It became clear as I composed myself and responded "Ummmm I don't know... ten?". She takes that information and returns with the number of pills in the tinfoil and plastic enclosures and hands them to you in a bag.... no packaging or instructions.

Hong Kong March 21-25

One of the great things about living in Asia and Jeff having to travel and Linda not working is that Linda gets to travel with Jeff sometimes (NOTE: for all Manulife employees viewing this, all travel conforms with global travel policy).  Recently we headed to big, busy, organized, clean, easy-to-get around, modern city of Hong Kong.  Here are some highlights:

Monday
Jeff - went to work
Linda - played

Here are some shots of the Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong's oldest (1830s) and most important Taoist temple.The temple is named after two gods - Man, the god of literature (all you english majors take note) and Mo, the god of war (not Springfield taverns). 

This picture is of the inside ceiling where you can buy an incense coil that will burn for up to 3 weeks and will bring about the fulfilment of your wishes.  With all of the altars, candles, incense, offerings of fruit, flower, and more, it was an experience that encompassed all of my senses.

I then  wandered the city, and took the ferry over to Kowloon. 

This is a shot across the harbour back to Hong Kong.  It was very cloudy the days we were there so I will hope for better pictures next time.

I love the contrast of the two boats in this picture.....the old and the new....THAT is what Hong Kong is

Tuesday........Jeff - went to work....Linda - played

Rode the ferry for 45 minutes to Lantau Island to visit the Giant Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.  These are shots of Hong Kong from the ferry.  After the ferry ride, there was a 40 minute bus trip over hills like Bolivia but with greenery.

The Giant Buddha is the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha, and though it looks old, it was built in 1993.  Very impressive......

After a walk up the stairs, a look around, and a walk back down the 260 steps, I walked to the Po Lin ("precious lotus") Monastery.  Established more than 100 years ago, its main temple in the following pictures holds three buddhas representing the past, present and future.With the many gardens surrounding the temples, it was a very peaceful place to spend a few hours.

This shot was for Jeff, and all who have played guitar with him over the years!  After a delicious vegetarian meal at the monastary, eaten family style with people from all over the world,  I headed back to Hong Kong by gondala and ferry.  It was a wonderful day! 

Wednesday.....Jeff - went to work.....Linda....played, including riding the subways once again.  Hong Kong has a fantastic subway system that made it so easy to get around this immense city of many islands

This shot is from the top of Victoria Peak (392 m, 1286 ft), which is best reached by the tram built in 1888.  The rails go up a 45 degree angle and shortened the past 3-hour trip by cart to a 8-minute trip.  I spent a few hours exploring up there and enjoying the view.  After the tram ride down, I walked back to our hotel to explore more of this amazing, diverse city.

Wednesday night

Jeff - got to play!!!!!!

Linda - continued to play

At last Jeff was free to explore Hong Kong with Linda......

We hope you enjoy these evening shots as much as we enjoyed the night together.....

Thanks for listening to our travels....or we should say Linda's travels....oh, and yes, Jeff got lots of important work done!  Happy to Easter to all...we miss you all  very much, especially during this time of year.