Yes, you have guessed it (I think there has been a leak). We are off to Hong Kong for the next 18 months. Our things have been packed and shipped. Have you always wondered how someone would pack a hockey stick? Here is the answer:
We were quite impressed with the creativity of the packers - in these containers are a chair and valet:
We have had a very fascinating year in Manila, and we hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about it. Thanks for joining us on the journey. We will add one more post reflecting on the year soon....
In anticipation of the next 18 months in Hong Kong, we have started a new blog at
Here is a game for all of you....we are moving to another place and you are going to have to work for the answer. We are going to give you some clues, and then please make your guess on the poll on the right hand side of this page. Some of you already know where - don't tell!
Ready?
22 degrees 15 minutes north
114 degrees 10 minutes east
733 km of coastline
12.2 million cellphones
more than 200 islands
10 % Christianity
$323 billion GDP (2010 estimate)
Have fun and good luck!
Love you all
Linda and Jeff
Today I had the joy of picking up a parcel that had been mailed to us, and experienced another process in the Philippines (like our toaster story of many months ago). We received a notice in our mail box last Friday that a parcel was ready for pick up at the Makati Post Office. This notice was on stock printed in 1979 (that is what it said in the bottom corner - I am not making that up) Hmmm....should have been my first clue that this was going to be interesting!
This was my first trip to the actual post office. Easy to find, and from the outside it looks like it was built in the 1950s, when most of the Ayala neighbourhood was first built. When I walked in I realized that the inside had not changed since the 50s. The original hand painted signs were hanging over the extensive counter areas indicating what happened where. There was no technology in sight.
I went to the "Parcel" area, and handed my notice to man #1. He checked my identification and recorded it on the notice. He signed the notice and then I signed the notice. He handed my back the notice and waved me to man #2.
I handed the notice to man #2, who looked it over and received my 40 peso payment (just over $1.00 Canadian). He wrote a receipt for the 40 pesos, and put the original notice in a box. With my receipt in hand, I was waved over to another man, man #3.
Man #3 took my receipt and headed into the back warehouse area (that we could all see into) and searched for my parcel. When he returned, he asked if he could open it. (As an aside, my heart was warmed to see Canada Post identification on the parcel!) I had noticed that all of the parcels picked up before mine were opened so I said sure. He fought with the bubble wrap for a bit (scissors were nowhere in sight), and once opened, called over man #4 who had just been standing leaning against a wall. This man looked at the contents. Not sure what he discovered because the items were all wrapped in Christmas paper.
Things must have been okay because he picked up my original notice from the box where man #2 had placed it and passed the parcel and this notice to man #5. This man had an immense ledger book. He found the notice number in his ledger, added some details to the line in the ledger, and had me sign the ledger. I was then free to go with my parcel.
So - two signatures and five men later, I was on my way, chuckling as I went.
Oh, and as I left I realized that this was the only place in Makati (or metro Manila, or most of the Philippines) that I had been that did NOT have any security at all. Go figure...
Ah, the Philippines!
Love you all (and the postal system in Canada)
enjoy this shot of the wiring even in Makati central business district!
Welcome to our first update and observations of 2011!
The other morning, out front of one of the buildings of Jeff's work, some men were cutting the grass. Sounds normal enough, doesn't it. The manner of which they were achieving their task was not normal (in Jeff's eyes). They were sitting on paint cans while pulling the grass out with their hands and creating neat little piles with this grass. I know they have whipper-snippers...not sure why they weren't using them.
Yesterday Jeff was relieved to see actual speed limit signs being put up on a major road on his route to work. The speed limit is 60 kph, and the police have reported in the paper they have started to enforce it!
An interesting indicator of the depth of corruption in this country - an organization was encouraging businesses to sign a declaration that they would not be involved in any corruption or bribery. So far, 343 companies had signed and they were hoping to reach 1000. Only one of the largest ten companies in the Philippines had signed, and NONE of the ten largest construction companies had signed. Good luck, Philippines.
A week ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Asian Pastors' Conference that was held here in the Philippines. This is a yearly gathering of pastors (and their spouses) from English speaking international churches from across Asia. We all headed down to a resort in Anilao (diving area!) for the week. What a privilege to have Earl Palmer be our guest speaker (http://www.earlpalmer.org/) and we worked through Philippians. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with these pastors and their spouses from Hong Kong, Japan, Guam, Malaysia and other place. So much to learn about multicultural international churches existing in countries that are not Christian. (and we had the opportunity to snorkel and dive!)
A few weeks ago Jeff and I went to the American Memorial Cemetery in Metro Manila. This cemetery has the largest number of US military graves from WW II, with 17,202 plain white cross and star of David markers. Along with those, the circular walkway also lists 36, 285 missing Americans and Filipinos (plus a few other nationalities - we found one Canadian).
While we were wandering and quietly reflecting on the effects of war - and how little we knew about the war in the Pacific, appropriately, this flew overhead:
The Global Peace Index for 2010 was just published, a ranking of 149 countries on a number of factors about its internal and external peace. The Philippines was country 130 while Canada was number 14. Quite a difference! We found it interesting to note the US was ranked 85, while Bolivia was number 81. Go Bolivia! To see the index click here.
Speaking of peace, mothers stop reading now.
For the rest of you, we had another horrible incident yesterday not far from our home. A bomb was placed under a seat on a bus, exploded, killing five and injuring 13. It has been five years since there was a bomb explosion in Metro Manila, so as you can imagine, security is much tighter today.
That is January in the Philippines - never boring. Love you all
One last shot of a typical neighbourhood (not in Makati, the city we live in)
There are many things through the year that people share like "just wait, in December the weather will be cool", "ah, after Christmas everyone leaves Manila and traffic will be less" and "fireworks are out of control New Year's Eve". Well, we can now say that we have experienced all of those!
The weather is beautiful (not hot and humid by Manila standards...) - a mid-20s temperature, nice breeze and little humidity. In other words, the perfect Canadian summer day (in 'winter' in Manila). People here are wearing sweaters, but somehow our Canadian blood just doesn't need that yet!
Traffic between Christmas and New Year's was amazing - fewer cars, buses, and jeepneys made travel a whole lot easier! Unfortunately, the lack of traffic meant that the traffic cops had very little to do other than pull over white drivers and try and charge them with something. You can ask Jeff about that sometime....
As for the fireworks and other celebrations, wow! By 4pm the noise of the city was crazy... booms almost continuously though it was a mix of firecrackers, fireworks and guns being shot into the air in celebration. Jeff heard on the radio by that time of day there were already 250ish reported cases of gun shot injuries from people shooting into the air (and forgetting that bullets need to end up somewhere thanks to gravity). The warnings in the paper for people NOT to light firecrackers and fireworks while holding them in their hands were graphic, yet somehow this still happened....numerous reports of injuries including fingers and whole hands being blown off.
We spent a normal Wolfe New Year's Eve, stayed inside and watched it all from the 37th floor. We could not count the number of places we could see with fireworks around the city - when we tried to count, we usually got up to 35 or so, and then lost count. This went on from dusk (6pm) until after midnight, and just built louder and louder as the evening progressed. At midnight, it was like the city was being bombed (WW II all over again...but a history lesson is for another day...did you know that Manila was the most bombed place anywhere during WW II???). At midnight, the fireworks were lit from the top of the shopping mall right outside our building...enjoy just a small portion of that:
Best we have ever experienced!
So now, 2011 is here. Have you taken your moments to reflect on 2010? Those who know me well will know that I have spent a bit of time on that reflection, especially in light of the unique year it was. What did God reveal to you in 2010? Be honest....I am sure there were good things, and there were not-good things. Every year has some of both...and I believe we can learn from both. I have many many many things that God revealed to me during 2010...a year when life seemed to be stuck in pause...unable to go back and struggling to go forward. (too many lessons to list here -there may be a book yet-my life on pause)
One of my biggest revelations of the learnings this year came to me Nov 30th - I was reading 2 Cor 4:1-5:10 and was struck by the first verse - we serve through His mercy, so should not lose heart. Oh, did I lose heart many times in 2010 (did you?). Then what really struck me was v 7-9 - we have this treasure in clay jars so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us...we are afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. I lost count of the number of times I was perplexed and though not driven to despair, definitely was not overjoyed and optimistic! I spent much of the year easily cracked and broken, shattered at times emotionally and spiritually.
My mind then turned to other passages that talk about God as the potter of my fragile clay jars: Romans 9:21 - the potter has the right over the clay to make what He wants; Isaiah 64:8 - we are clay, the LORD is the potter and we are the work of your hand; and Jeremiah 18:1-6 - can not I do as the potter...break you down and reshape you? Ouch.... of course my creator, the potter, had the right to break me down, but wow, that was tough. Upon further reflection and deeper honesty, I discovered a list of things that were broken away from me, shattered from my life before Manila, had to be ripped out of my being so that God could remold me. It is extensive, but needless to say it involved things like staying where it is comfortable, fearing reaching across all boundaries, not being in control (very tough for me), holding back from things that are hard, not wanting to ask too many questions or appear like I do not know (ouch...yes, a pride sort of thing), and so much more.
So 2010 was the breaking down - of all I knew, was comfortable in and built my confidence around. So many parts of me that upon reflection seemed to get in the way of people seeing God's power at work as they just saw me working and serving. A tough year, at times a lonely year, yet one that I obviously needed. Now the rebuilding is beginning and we will see what 2011 brings. The passage that started all of this imagery of my 2010 states "we walk by faith, not by sight" (5:7) and that will my 2011 I pray. That as God remolds me, I patiently allow Him to do that as I walk by faith. A treasured gift this season is this figurine, the Angel of Patience. She now sits in our home where I will always see her....and I will be reminded to have more patience in 2011 as God remolds me.
So what did God chip away from you in 2010, and how is He remolding you in 2011? Would love to chat with you about it....
Love you all (that did not change in 2010, other than become deeper and deeper as we missed you)
Linda
Christmas 2010 was an unique one for the Wolfe family. The weather was hot and there was no snow. We spent time scuba diving, eating and hanging out in Dumagette area of Negros Island for six days then returned to Manila for the second week of our two weeks together. Here are some thoughts on our Philippine Christmas:
Chris:
My experience in the Philippines and the Filipino atmosphere in general has been quite fascinating. For the entire time here I have been interested in this country. The dynamic here is such a contrast to Canada and western society. The people here are very nice (from what I've seen) and full of energy and pride for their country. I have had the pleasure of learning more about their country and their history and I now see why the people have such pride. The trip to Corregidor Island was such a great experience. This island was a major point in the Pacific war during WWII in the Philippines so being the history lover I am I was in my element. While taking in the new Filipino culture I have greatly enjoyed seeing my parents again and will greatly miss them when I return home. I have had many new experiences while on Christmas break here. One example of this was diving on Christmas Day which was new for multiple reasons and is an experience I will never forget as well. Overall a great time with family in an intriguing society that I must return to someday.
Sarah:
This Christmas break has definitely been different....other than Sarah has caught the normal Christmas Break cold (just started a couple of days ago). Here is her Christmas in pictures!
(oh, and by the way, Sarah made many friends while she was in Manila...as we shopped and walked down the street, groups of young Filipino men would all wave and say hello to her! I think she could have returned to Canada married if she had wanted to)
Jeff:
It is often said that "home is where the heart is" .... well for us home is where family is. It was such a wonderful pleasure to spend the Christmas vacation with our kids (actually interesting and mature young adults). We missed our extended family and friends throughout the past year so it was a real treat to spend quality time talking, joking, laughing, sharing...... We were able to share the experience of scuba diving which has become a real favourite activity of both Linda and I during the last 12 months. Living abroad in a different culture is a series of highs and lows and this past two weeks will act as a rejuvenating boast to my spirit. Highlights for me were sharing good meals, conversations and swimming alongside my new friends the Sea Turtle.... miss you all.... all the best for 2011 !!
Linda:
Christmas in the Philippines arrived with a flight from Toronto via Hong Kong when Sarah and Chris fought their way through the crowds and emerged from the airport. Not even security guards with large guns could keep me from getting to the middle of the street to give them HUGE hugs. Two days later we took a 1 1/2 hour flight south and spent Dec 21-26th at the Atlantis Dive resort in Dumagette (click here to see it!) Top Chef food, incredible diving, superb service - actually, I cannot say enough good things about this dive resort....but perhaps I was experiencing it all through my rose-coloured "kids are here!" glasses. Sometime in the next few weeks I will share more from the resort and the dives.
Back to Manila for the last week together - we explored, shopped the mall of Asia (where this was taken),
ate in a variety of restaurants, more shopping, cancelled one walking tour because of a full day of hard rain, and much much more. We spent one delightful dinner bringing our Philippine friends Guy, Linda and Gigi together with Sarah and Chris - dinner on the roof of Gigi's home overlooking the city - it was great to have all these people finally meet each other!
New Year's Eve we did the typical Wolfe thing and stayed in....fireworks from the 37th floor were the best we had ever seen....they went on for hours and hours, and at times we could count up to 20-30 different spots where fireworks were being set off. (pics of this later also) New Year's Day we had our Christmas turkey meal, with Christmas napkins (thanks, Mom) and the fake pumpkin pie we discovered at Thanksgiving.
Christmas 2010 in one word? Joy - joy in the simplicity of being together, joy in experiencing new things with people you love, joy in the greetings from family and friends far away, joy in technology that brought us from the beach to Christmas dinner in Ontario via Skype, joy in the memories of Christmas past, and joy in hope of the Christmases to come. Joy - springing from the birth of Jesus Christ and what that gift of love means. As I have often said, it is the simple things in life that make the difference. My simple thing that changed Christmas for me was being with my family....what was yours?
Love you all, really missed so many things from home this Christmas (wax dripping on our hands during the Christmas Eve service, shovelling, scrapping the cars, cold, etc)
Linda, Jeff, Sarah and Chris
In a country where the fir or pine tree does not grow, there seems to be some confusion about the colour of the Christmas tree...for your viewing pleasure, here are just a few examples of what is decorating stores and malls, and for sale:
If you don't know what to do,
hang flat screen tvs!
...or add any toy you can think of!
The typical Filipino decoration is a star in a circle like this one....
quite beautiful, actually
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas full of the joy and hope of the gift of Jesus....we certainly did, and will share the pictures and stories soon of Christmas on the beach and under the water.
Miss you all, especially at this time of year,
Linda, Jeff, Sarah and Chris
