* Delegation Visit (6)

The time has come and gone for the delegation of Elders Perry Van Egdom and Glenn Kooima to bid us farewell and begin their journey home again.   Here are a few pictures of their last few days here.  First of all, a few random shots.

The men have been fascinated by the jeepneys here - even wondered if it were possible to bring one home to Northwest Iowa.

The amount of traffic on the streets of Manila is always something to behold, and both men decided early on they would be very content to stay away from the driver's seat.

The house lizard is a common sight and a good friend to have in order to keep down the bug and mosquito population.

Not too far from Antipolo we were able to show the men some of the numerous rice fields here.

Now to fill you in a little on this past Sunday - a Sunday I'm sure the men will not soon forget.  We attended the First Reformed Church of Bulacan in the morning, and the Berean Protestant Reformed Church in the afternoon.  The delegation was able to have the unique experience of four worship services in one Lord's day.  They were also able to witness an adult baptism, followed by the baptism of five of that family's children.  It was a full, but  most enjoyable day in the Lord and in the fellowship of His saints here.

The church building of the First Reformed Church of Bulacan.  The church is located about 1.5 hours from home, so we had an early start to the day, leaving home around 6:30 a.m.

Getting ready for the 1st worship service to begin.

At both the FRCB and later the BPRC, the men were given opportunity to give greetings and speak some words of encouragement.  Both of them did so in both churches, with words that were a blessing to us all.  Here Bro. Glenn does so in the FRCB.

A group picture of the First Reformed Church of Bulacan.  The men thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know the members.  They also commented on the hearty singing and on the presence of a good number of children and youth.

A delicious meal was served, after which we soon left for the worship services of the Berean PRC (which began at 1:00 p.m.).

We arrived in the BPRC at 12:45.  Here the congregation begins gathering for their 1st worship service.

Between the two worship services (the 2nd one begins at 3:30 p.m.), the delegates were able to observe the Tagalog catechism class that the elders lead on the Heidelberg Catechism.

Gifts of appreciation were given to the delegates - good momentos of their time in the Philippines.

After Bro. Glenn gave greetings, it was Bro. Perry's turn to do so as well.  What they said once again served to encourage us all in the work and cause of the Lord here.

The Berean Protestant Reformed Church.  The men were again encouraged by the evidence of the Lord's blessing in giving many children and young people to this congregation.

We took Bro's Perry and Glenn to the airport at about 4:45 this morning.  They are due to fly out of Manila at 8:00 a.m. our time.  We hope they have a safe journey home and can soon be with their families again.

We cannot express fully our appreciation for their visit.  We and our families enjoyed having them live with us in our homes, and accompanying us to meet the churches and fellowships we are privileged to work in here.  Their visit will no doubt help them in their understanding of our life and work here, but it also helps us in maintaining good contact and communication with our churches.  We appreciate the men's willingness to come here, and also the sacrifice of their families as they did this work on behalf of the churches.  Once again, a sincere thanks to them and to the whole denomination for this concrete evidence of your support.
 
 

* Delegation Visit (5)

The last few days Glenn and Perry have been busy doing family visitation, visiting Faith Academy school, and fitting in a little sightseeing in the city.

Ready for Family Visitation at the Kleyns

A train ride into Manila

View of some of Manila's traffic

A pedal-powered tricycle

Chowking

Manila

The next few days will be busier, with the Berean PRC consistory meeting tomorrow (Saturday) and visits on Sunday to both the First Reformed Church of Bulacan in the morning and the Berean Protestant Reformed Church in the afternoon.

Again we express our thanks that the men could come and have come, and that thereby they have been able to learn firsthand about our work and life in the Philippines, as well as to meet fellow saints here.
 

* Delegation Visit (4)

In the past few days, Glenn and Perry have had the opportunity to look around Metro Manila a little, including our neighborhood (Beverly Hills) and our city (Antipolo).  They were also able to meet some of the Bereans.  We'll let the following pictures tell the story.

A tricycle ride was first, as we had some errands to do in Antipolo, including a stop at the Post Office.

Perry (himself a mailman) was glad to meet the Postmaster at the ACPO.  (I think she's the lady with black hair.)

We opted for a jeepney ride on the way home.

But what's so funny?

The jeepney ride involved taking four different jeepneys.  We waited here for our second one.  Now that they've done it once, they could easily figure out on their own which jeepneys to catch ..... so they say.

Tuesday night was the Berean PRC's weekly Bible study.  At the moment, the BPRC is watching the DVDs of the seminary's conference on the KJV.  This week we watched Prof. Gritters' speech regarding Bible translations.

Visiting afterwards, while eating a snack ..... or is Glenn trying to feed it to someone?

Pictured with the Berean PRC's Consistory members.

L to R: Bro. Glenn Kooima, Bro. Dick Espiritu, Rev. D. Kleyn, Bro. Rod Bongat, Bro. Perry Van Egdom, Bro. Sonny Umali, Rev. R. Smit.

 

 

* Delegation Visit (3)

Time for another brief update.  This time concerning Monday's activities.

Perry and Glenn accompanied us on Monday to our 7M (Monday Morning Metro Manila Monthly Ministers' Meeting), which meets twice a month.  Up to now we have used this time to review Reformed Dogmatics, but recently we also began teaching Homiletics.

Glenn and Perry outside the CFM's building in Batasan Hills, where we met

Rev. Smit leads the men in our study of Reformed Dogmatics

(reviewing Soteriology)

Enjoying meryenda (snack) and conversation between the Dogmatics and Homiletics sessions

Getting ready for Rev. Kleyn's class in Homiletics

Rev. Kleyn "in action"

Back: Rev. Kleyn, Perry Van Egdom, Rev. Smit, Glenn Kooima, Pastor John Flores

Front: Pastor Oseas Andres, Pastor Leovy Trinidad, Pastor Ronald Failano, Bro. Arnold Gutierrez

Our delicious lunch - macaroni salad, fresh mangoes, and sandwiches

Heading home

Ready to face Manila traffic again

On a lighter note, Perry discovered a snack store in our neighborhood (a sari-sari).  Norma's Store seems to provide him (Glenn too) with a good reason to take a walk, get some exercise, and reward himself with a drink!

Refreshing!

Relaxing!

* Delegation Visit (2)

Today (Sunday) the two visiting elders were able to accompany each of us missionaries to different churches/fellowships.  Mr. Perry Van Egdom accompanied Rev. Smit and his family to the All of Grace Protestant Reformed Fellowship in Gabaldon.  Mr. Glenn Kooima joined us in our visits to the Maranatha church in Valenzuela in the morning, and to the Berean PRC in Cubao in the afternoon.

Visiting before church with Pastor Leovy Trinidad

inside the church building in Valenzuela

Group Picture after the worship service

We enjoyed a delicious lunch, with all the members bringing a variety of dishes for us all to taste.

Even a Coke!

A time of fellowship and becoming better acquainted after lunch

A picture with the Consistory members

Chatting a little outside church before we departed for the Berean PRC's 2nd worship service

We arrived in the Berean PRC about 2:45, in plenty of time for their 3:30 p.m. service.  Here Glenn meets Bro. (and Deacon) Dick Espiritu.

Glenn chatting with a number of other men from the Berean PRC.  From Glenn's left: Bro. Ben Felix, Bro. Eric Mescallado, Bro. Carlito Apostol, and Bro. Jun Villegas.

The Lord willing, both Glenn and Perry will be able to visit the Berean PRC again next Sunday. 

On our way home from the Berean PRC, we gave a few others a ride.



In all, we covered a total of 50 miles today (Glenn's guess was close, at 60).  We left home at 8:30 a.m., and arrived back again at 7:30 p.m.  It was a full but enjoyable day for Glenn, and for us all, and certainly an encouragement to us and to the saints here to have a member of the FMC visiting us and them, and receiving a small taste of the catholicity of the church and body of Christ.