We are working hard in rugby and doing some serious circuit training. I took some fun pictures and thought I'd share:)
My favorite photo from the circuit training. This is the sweetest student you'll ever meet and I told her to get aggressive with the punching bag and this was the result.
One of my freshman said she was pretending the punching bag was my face. So we posed for that!
We have a form banquet at the end of of the year and this is the roommates all dressed up for it.
My roommates friend Sarah came to visit. This her on the left, Kelly, and my friend Chelsea on the far right.
For Christmas break, several people took a trip up to Sagada and saw the rice terraces of Banuwe on the way. Beautiful.
Mark, our elementary music teacher and VP: Emily, our second grade teacher, and their friend Betsy. We got to ride on top of a Jeepney (World War 2 Jeep painted and used for public transportation) for three solid hours through the beautiful mountains and rice terraces. My favorite part of the trip. We serve the ultimate Creator.
One of the tourist attractions of Sagada is the hanging coffins. 400 years ago, the people believed that the higher you were to heaven physically when you died, the better chance you had to get to heaven. Notice the chairs hanging on the right side as well. They would sit the dead person on the chair and allow rigor mortis to set in and then folded the person into a short coffin. Some of these coffins are short. They believed that you came into the world in the fetal position and that you should leave that way. The longer coffins are from the western culture beginning to influence thinking.
The beautiful mountains of Sagada after a hike up the mountain. So pretty.
You meet people from all over the world when you travel. I sat on a two our three hour jeepney ride (on top of course) on the way back and got talk to this lady, Miriam (on the left). She is from Switzerland and I got to ask all sorts of questions about life and culture there.
I had another first experience. I got to attempt surfing. The key word there is attempt. This is on the east coast of Luzon just south of the city of Infanta. It was also cool to see another coast line and explore more of the Philippines. I'm afraid I am not much of a surfer but it was a fun experience.
My last act of 2014 was to go up to school and see the amazing view of the city as everyone launched fireworks. What a view it was. I had been told that New Years in Manila is a must see sight. It's better than NYC from what I can tell. The entire city launches fireworks and since Faith Academy is on a hill, we had a fantastic view. This photo was taken by Don Mackay.
The last week of break was spent at the New Tribes Conference where the NTM missionaries from all over the Philippines get together to encourage and update each other. It was my first time and I got to meet a bunch of the missionaries from all types of fields. We have pilots who fly all over and take supplies and people to the jungle and anywhere they need to go. We have teachers, nurses, translators, church planters, admin etc. It was so good to see what it is our mission is all about and meet some of the church planters who are on a 20-30 (or longer for some) year journey with a people group/tribe that have never heard the gospel. The stories are amazing and if you ever want to hear some of them, just ask. Not only does Faith academy support these missionaries kids, but also many of our kid's parents do these jobs for other missions. It is so encouraging to step back and see the big picture of what God is doing in the Philippines as a whole. That gives the support missionaries (such as I) such a drive to keep doing what we are doing. Thank you for being a part of that through, prayer, support, and encouragement to me.
The last week of break was spent at the New Tribes Conference where the NTM missionaries from all over the Philippines get together to encourage and update each other. It was my first time and I got to meet a bunch of the missionaries from all types of fields. We have pilots who fly all over and take supplies and people to the jungle and anywhere they need to go. We have teachers, nurses, translators, church planters, admin etc. It was so good to see what it is our mission is all about and meet some of the church planters who are on a 20-30 (or longer for some) year journey with a people group/tribe that have never heard the gospel. The stories are amazing and if you ever want to hear some of them, just ask. Not only does Faith academy support these missionaries kids, but also many of our kid's parents do these jobs for other missions. It is so encouraging to step back and see the big picture of what God is doing in the Philippines as a whole. That gives the support missionaries (such as I) such a drive to keep doing what we are doing. Thank you for being a part of that through, prayer, support, and encouragement to me.