stella ella ola for the win

hello once again!


ah it is so good to blog. blogging is ... probably therapeutic for me, actually. i hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as i love writing them! 


the last week has been great! this is not unusual, which is a huge blessing i have been reflecting on lately. just think. i'm in the philippines with 4 other amazing people, able to serve with people who love Jesus from across the world! CRAZY. just blows my mind sometimes. 


this week we started - and completed - another vbs! this week's vbs was with the kids in the ambiong church. pastor sam's church plants hadn't done a vbs in ambiong before, so this was a first for everyone. we had a decent turn out of about 30 kids for the week, with 8 teachers. not too bad, if i don't say so myself! 
kuya ralph and i were teaching partners once again, with charis joining us to make the ultimate dream team! ;) just joking, working with anyone here is a joy. charis, kuya ralph, and i DID have a particularly excellent time together though, i'd have to say! we were working with the "primary" class, kids aged 7-9. we had 10 guys in our class and 4 girls. distinctly different than my schooling experience, as some of you may know! (i went to an all-girls school, for those of you who are unaware). 

not sure what i'm doing, but this is the best i have for a class picture, sorry!
our classroom was the roof! awesome :D

oftentimes during vbs, we have trouble filling some of the time in the "classroom" section (as opposed to the large-group-theme-song-etc time). the kids don't have a long attention span and you can only colour bird bookmarks for so long! so this time, charis and i decided to try stella ella ola as a game to play. for those of you who are unfamiliar with stella ella ola, it's a game where you sit in a circle and "pass the clap" while singing a short ditty. whoever's hand the clap lands on when the ditty is over is out, and elimination occurs until a winner is found! it's an easy game usually played by elementary-aged girls in north america, so charis and i thought it may be a long shot. surprisingly, the kids LOVED stella ella ola - no, seriously! it was unbelievable how much they enjoyed it! -, and we played it a LOT more than we had originally intended. that was fine, though, and totally worth the repetitiveness because we were blessed by the kids' joy, smiles, and laughter. who knew that my childhood fun would end up being a winner across the world!

rockin the hippie look as we play stella ella ola

last sunday was Easter, as i hope many of you know! we had a sunrise service to celebrate the rising of our Lord, so that was cool! it was also VERY early (5:30am). we were pretty tired at the end of that day, let me tell you! 
we also watched a movie called "to save a life" with the youth later that day. for those of you who haven't seen it, i recommend it very highly. while it may not be the most impressive or highest grossing movie, it makes a number of very good - and powerful - points. i may be biased on this one, due to my past and the bullying i experienced, but it is nonetheless a movie worth seeing. 

as the sun burns a hole through my camera,
my heart sees the beauty of God's creation

the mountains and the clouds in the background - WOW.

for those of you who are wondering, our time at the bibak Bible church was a lot of fun! we ate completely delicious - and normal - food, and enjoyed listening to ashley tell the congregation about her connection to the church, as well as some of her history. 
adventures occurred too! we were asked to participate in an igorot (traditional filipino) dance with some half-naked men (they were dressed traditionally, for the dance). my team is mennonite. mennonites don't dance. it was an adventure. 

not our team, i know. the men and women did an
 igorot dance for us before "asking" us to participate

last tuesday, we were invited to a local girl's 18th birthday party! now THAT was an adventure, even more so than the igorot dancing! brady and jonas were asked to participate in a filipino tradition in which 18 men and 18 women waltz together, as well as the 18 men dancing with the birthday girl, and each of the 18 women giving the birthday girl well-wishes and a candle for her birthday cake. it felt more like a wedding than a birthday party to most of us, though, as there were about 200 people there and the birthday girl was wearing a dress deserving of grad. crazy! we had a good laugh over brady and jonas towering over all the other people and dancing with 18 girls they had literally never met. 

jonas and brady in the waltzing circle. so proud of our boys!

the classic cute team picture that makes my blog post complete
(this was at the birthday party too, by the way)

my apologies for the length once more. we have been up to a lot! 


all the best to each of you, 
tejal :)