Back From Our 3 Week Trip to Hawaii

We just returned back to the Philippines from our 3 week trip to Hawaii. It has been about 8 months since we've moved to the Philippines, so it was great to reconnect with Hope Chapel West Oahu, our friends and our family. Lynnette may be taking a teaching job in Quezon City that would require a 3 year commitment, so it may be a while before we can come back to Hawaii. We're hoping and praying to be able to come back to visit again next year. 

It has been an encouraging trip, we feel refreshed and refueled...and full (DJ gained about 5lbs by stuffing his face with juicy steaks, burgers, plate lunches, sushi, shave ice, and Korean and Filipino home cooking). 

We hung out with a lot of people, sorry if we couldn't get to see some of you, and we wish we were able to spend more time with everyone we did see. We didn't always remember to take pictures of everyone we met up with or everything we did, but here are some that we managed to take.

Thank you to everyone for making our trip an incredible experience, we will really miss all of you!

In addition to the parties, dinners, lunches and coffees, there are also pics of BBQ and Valentines's Day with DJ's parents, Lynnette shooting a gun for the first time, sitting in staff meeting at Hope Chapel West Oahu, and the Kokohead head hike (where DJ proposed over 4 years ago). 

Praise Report (January 16, 2012)

1. We miraculously and officially recieved our missionary visa and ICard today (2yr. exemption)! A long awaited approval. (A special thank you to our friend for supporting our visa fees.) A tremendous answered prayer! 
2.  Got to IChat with my mommy and sister for the very first time today. It was hilarious (mom being a non computer person).
3. And ended our day with our first official session of Tagalog class of a 3 month (3 times a week) session! 

It was a long but prosperous day. :) Salamat Po for your continuous prayers and support. We are so very grateful for your generous love and support. 

Hope Chapel Metro - Minichurch Outreach Update

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_1-YS1ai1U?rel=0&hd=1]

Thanks so much to our friends in Hawaii and the Arise women's ministry at Hope Chapel West Oahu for donating hundreds of bags of toys and supplies for children. We were able to pass them all out in Timog area in Quezon City, Philippines, praying with the kids, and sharing God's love.

Newsletter 1.1.12 - Happy New Year Everyone!

Here are our top 5 highlights of the past year and some 2012 New Year's resolutions! Also, catch a glimpse of how some Filipinos celebrate New Year's Eve...it's insane.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl20YA0e0TM?rel=0&hd=1]

Donations From Our Church in Hawaii Have Arrived!

5 big boxes arrived at our place today full of ziploc bags containing supplies and toys for our outreach project to children in need! Thank you to Grace Alarcio, Sarah Siu and Shari Lau for making sure the boxes got here and to the Arise Women's Ministry, at our mother church Hope Chapel West Oahu, for your generous hearts!

Our outreach will be Thursday, January 5th. We'll be passing out these ziploc bags of hope to the street children in the surrounding areas near our church. Feel free to join us!

Hope Chapel Metro Story: Nadine Martinez

Here is a short video of Nadine Martinez, a member of Hope Chapel Metro. I filmed this testimony for our Christmas service. Lynnette had a chance to minister to her the first time that she visited our church. This is Nadine's journey of faith, it is a story we can all relate to in some way. 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-GNMCp_f4?rel=0&hd=1]

Top 5 Highlights of Hope Chapel Metro Christmas Service

We just had an awesome Christmas service at Hope Chapel Metro here in Timog, Quezon City. Here are our top 5 highlights of the night:

#5: Snow!...snow? Yes, snow in Quezon City! Yes, that's right we had it snowing big fluffy snowflakes outside the entrance of church. It reminded me (DJ) of growing up in the Great White North (Canada), except warm...actually hot, no frost bite...but maybe some heat rash.

#4: Filipino Food! Delicious food to eat while enjoying the rest of the night! BBQ sticks, pancit, lumpia shanghai, puto...and of course some 3 in 1 coffee.

#3: Great Message. Pastor Nolan preached it like no other, reminding us of the incredible gift given to all mankind...Jesus.

#2: Orphanage Presentation: After service, we were blessed to have an unexpected visit and performance of songs and dance by some children from a Quezon City orphanage.

#1: New Beginnings. At least a handful of people surrendered their lives to Jesus and received the gift of grace, forgiveness and the beginning of an incredible journey of walking out the divine purpose God has for them. Simply amazing.