* Gabaldon Trip - part 1

You are invited to take a trip to Gabaldon with us!  We will leave about 1:00 or 2:00 PM Saturday.  If we leave at that time then we arrive in Cabanatuan at about supper time.  We can stop for supper at the mall and then have just a short evening in the hotel.  So we have our bags packed, Daniel has his work and outlines ready, and we head out about 1:30.  First we drive through Manila traffic.

We are on the EDSA.  Someone here joked to us those letters

 stand for "Every Day Stuck Again!"

From the EDSA we head north on the NLEX - North Luzon Expressway - a new fast tollway that cuts quite a bit of time off our trip.  No, we aren't in Chicago!  (The billboards are too big. :-))

Toll Booth

Oops, we missed getting a picture of the sign that says, "Prohibited: Slow moving vehicles, Smoke belchers, Dilapidated vehicles, Motorbikes smaller than 400cc..."   We cruise along the NLEX for an hour or so, and then have another smooth, fast, 20 minute ride east on the SCTEX - Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway.

The expressay is one of the few places we see speed limit signs.

That's kilometers per hour, not miles per hour!

  

The rest of our trip is along two lane highways, through farming country and various towns.  We see a lot of people working in the rice fields.  It looks like they are pulling seedlings out of tightly grown patches, so they can be replanted farther apart.

5:30 AM Sunday morning and time to wake up!  We head off at about 7:00 AM for worship in Gabaldon.  The drive takes about an hour and we will enjoy some quiet pastoral scenary along the way.

Mama Carabao and calf

The lush growth of the rainy season makes the mountains feel closer.

We drive through the streets of Gabaldon to get to church.

The Church Building

Thanks for coming with us on our trip!  Next time we will tell you about our day of worship and fellowship there.

    

* 6M

The men have started a Metro Manila Ministers' Monthly Monday Meeting (6M).  (You can tell they had fun with that one. :-))  They had their initial meeting with two pastors and an aspiring student this past Monday, August 23.  They decided meeting times and the direction they wanted to take.  They will meet to study Dogmatics twice a month (every other Monday) in the church building of Christian Faith Ministries in Batasan Hills (where Pastor Andres is minister).

 

Pastor Oseas Andres and Pastor John Flores

Taking turns on their respective Mondays, for now Rev. Smit will teach Introduction to Dogmatics and then Anthropology, and Rev. Kleyn will teach Theology.  This is with a view to these men sitting an examination in the future sometime.  We pray that it may be God's will to so bless the work that these men and their congregations can join with the Berean PRC in establishing a denomination here in the Philippines.

      

* Ibe's 2010 Visit Home

The Ibes (Bro. Vernon, Sis. Melody, and Martyn John) arrived in the Philippines for a two month "mini-internship."  They were here from June 7- August 9. 

Exhausted but happy arrival at the airport

Visiting at the Smits one night

Sem. Vernon Ibe giving a word of edification at Berean PRC

Some shots from their last Sunday.  It was MJ's first birthday and also baptism for Emily Deasis, daughter of Emman and Susie.

Rev. Smit and Seminarian Ibe

Grandpa and Grandma with their baptized granddaughter

(3 generations of the covenant!)

The Deasis family and relation

MJ's birthday cake

Smile!

Bidding the Ibes God-speed

May God bless the Ibe's in the last years of training, that they may be used here for His glory and the gathering of His church.

  

* Daranak Falls

This past week was a vacation week for us.  We just did a couple of day outings, and then also got some things down around home.  One of the outings was to Danarak Falls only about an hour's drive from here.  We took along Beth Hunter and three of the Smit children - John, Jay, and Irene.

Crossing the river to get to the falls

This big tree must have fallen here.  They left it as a place to jump from into the river below.  Too bad we didn't bring our swim suits.  We didn't realize you could swim here.

See the tree sticking out over the river?

A second falls further up the path

There was even a "playground" there with a balance beam and a swing.

Just to let you know, he didn't go all the way across - chickened out!

Yes, the "little" kids had a chance to play on the swing too. :-)

     

* Ocean Park Aquarium

Someone recommended Ocean Park Aquarium in Manila as a nice place to visit. So on July 29 the Smits, Beth Hunter, and we had a day outing to the park.  A fun day.

Lining up for the tickets

Looking at the crocodiles

 Crocodile looking at us and thinking about lunch

Big overhead aquarium

Fascinated

Family picture.  Which way do we look?