That is a random but decent summary of life's happenings here! Things are going well and spring break is on the horizon. We are all super excited about break. I am headed to Thailand to visit the Dunn's that week! I couldn't be more excited! Prepare yourself for adorable pictures of elephants and beautiful scenery.
This the summary of most of 3rd quarter. We have two full weeks left until spring break. What a great semester it has been! Check out a photo summary of all we have done:) We have a variety of people here at Faith, including business kids. This helicopter is owned by a parent of two business kids and they picked their kids up because Pope Francis was causing some serious traffic jams. Talk about a funny way to interrupt practice! Goodbye helicopter! We had the rugby girls flip over the cones to find words. They had to rearrange the words to figure out what verse it was:) 1 Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things,holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. We had a black and white themed practice! Varsity players are in black and JV is in white. Our official varsity team picture Guess who won their big end of the year game??? Coaches in our last huddle Sometimes in PE class, we get to do fun things like have a golf competition Or play battleship! Sometimes the art teacher comes by and plays paddle sports with us. Then, we pretend to be pickleball ninjas. Filipinos are obsessed with selfies and selfie sticks, so I figured it was the perfect chance to test one out. Apparently I'm not very good at it since I managed to get the pole in the picture. "Coach, let me show you how to do it!" Aren't they gorgeous?! This is my entire 3rd period class. My classes vary dramatically in size. 4th period has 19 students. With the new semester brings an entirely new weight lifting class. We had a playground tag workout. What a fun way to exercise with a fantastic group of students! They work very hard in class and push themselves everyday We have been learning about plyometrics (jump training) and we happened to have our high jump mat out for the track team, so we decided to see just how far everyone could jump. So fun. We do not have big boxes to do box jumps (more plyometrics) so we sometimes stack our flipping tires on top of each other to make it high enough. These guys are always challenging themselves to go higher and higher. One of the really cool things about this semester is having 5 girls in my weights class! 7 boys and 5 girls makes for a fun class Some of the singles (especially our two Canadian Chinese girls) wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year with some authentic Chinese noodles, so we hit Chinatown. Manila boasts the oldest Chinatown in the world! This is a noodle artist. We watched him for a solid ten minutes, just marveling at his talent. If you haven't ridden a trike yet, it's my firm belief that you haven't experienced life fully yet. It's so fun, especially on cool, beautiful evenings in Chinatown. We triked over to the old Spanish side of Manila called Intramuros and loved the beautiful buildings, music, and streets. This is one of the gates at Fort Santiago. Many people have died on these grounds, which is a bit creepy as you stand there taking pictures. So pretty though. Notice the picture in the wood. I took on a role as the French 3 independent studies supervisor because the teacher had a baby boy at the end of last semester. She comes in every other Friday to check progress and I hold the baby. We have a good time together. Who knew that part of being a certified teacher would include literal babysitting! I love this place!
That is a random but decent summary of life's happenings here! Things are going well and spring break is on the horizon. We are all super excited about break. I am headed to Thailand to visit the Dunn's that week! I couldn't be more excited! Prepare yourself for adorable pictures of elephants and beautiful scenery.
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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. Some happenings since my last update. Touch rugby is in full swing! We do a themed practice once a week and this particular week was crazy sock day! We love to keep things fun with "We wear pink" Wednesday, neon Friday, and Christmas day. These girls are so fun! Our first game with my sweet varsity girls. We are improving and having a blast. A tradition at Faith is that the varsity players have a night on the town as a bonding night. We went to dinner at Subway (a rarity here), did a picture scavenger hunt, and then went bowling. Whitley and I got to visit a shelter for girl's that have been abused or raped. What an eye opening experience it was. These sweet girls have been through more than I'll ever know and yet they are the kindest kids you'll ever meet. They were excited to spend an afternoon with Teacher Taylor and Teacher Whitley (Titles are important in this culture). We colored, listened to them make music, and played board games. These girls all come from crazy backgrounds and many have been saved through this program. What an incredible thing they have going. Because of the nature of the girl's background, many come in pregnant and have their babies while at the girl's home. We got to meet two of them and just marvel at how beautiful they are. It's amazing how something so beautiful can come from such a bad situation. Pray for these young young mom's who are usually around 14 years old. Pray that they learn to raise their children in a way that honors the Lord. I got to be a chaperon for our high school banquet. I loved getting to see our students dressed up and looking so much older. We had a fantastic evening filled with music, laughs, and great food. Sadly, this is the best picture I got. There are some advantages from living in the tropics. You see some amazing sights and this flower is no exception. I just had to share because it caught my attention. Sheer beauty. What a Creator we serve. There is also a downside to living in the tropics, such as the diseases that you can get. The night of banquet I began to feel sick and was sick as a dog for a week. The next weekend it was confirmed that I did have Dengue Fever. Basically, the disease attacks everything, but the worst part is that it attacks your blood. Blood cells start dying and your platelet count drops dangerously low. Internal bleeding can happen in severe cases. The Lord was gracious with me and I had a mild case. I missed a week and half of work and am slowly gaining my energy back. Some people say it took them six months to feel a hundred percent again. I seem to be recovering faster, but am not even close to 100% yet. Pray for a full recovery of my energy. This picture is from the final stage of the Dengue. It is a rash and it's oh so fun! Thankful to be better and back at work! The other major downside is that now my roommate has it and another friend appears to have it as well. Pray for their recovery and that it stops spreading. In the middle of being sick, I attempted to start a somewhat complicated unit with my PE 2 students. It was bowling, shuffleboard, and ping pong. I couldn't get it completely going before I got too sick to work and they played so much shuffleboard with their subs that they were begging to do something else. It's been fun to do a very outside the box unit with them. Who would have thought that I'd ever be teaching bowling to MKs in the Philippines!? Keeping up with my family is always a challenge but one I have loved. I am enjoying pursuing those relationships more intentionally and I'm so thankful that my grandparents get to be a part of that. They have been involved in my life since day one and have loved me so well. I am so thankful for technology that allows me to hear from and occasionally see them. My Mamaw gets a shout out from her thanksgiving day facetime on Mom's phone. I don't always get to see her, but when I do, I see half of her. I love you!
Thanks for checking in and seeing a little bit about life here. We have two more full weeks of school before Christmas break. I can't believe the year is halfway over! My, how time flies! Pray for our very stressed students as they prepare for finals and that we all get some much needed rest on break. I decided to update with pictures again. I think they show life here so well. They are not in a certain order. Life here is going well and I am loving my job still. I still find myself asking, "How did I land this job right out of college and get this opportunity? I love my job and my students. Who gets to do that in their first year?" Check out the pictures and let the captions tell you the story of life here.
While all of our other varsity teams traveled to other countries for their championship tournaments, we hosted the girl's volleyball tournament and got to watch a lot of volleyball. Sadly, they lost, but we had a great time watching them! Our girl's soccer team won their conference while in Chang Mai, Thailand. So proud of our students! We are ready for the next sports season. I'll be the assistant coach for Varsity Girls Touch Rugby.
What a fantastic break it was. We had a lot of time to recharge and refocus as we head into the second quarter. I am incredibly thankful for my supporters who make all of this possible. You have made it possible for me to have my dream job and get to pour into the lives of some amazing teens. These students will go all over the world and come from varying backgrounds. I have had the opportunity to meet several of the students' parents and hear about their ministries. These missionaries are doing all kinds of work all over the Philippines, and we get to be a part of that by working with their children. We consider it a high honor to get to be involved and have an influence in their precious lives. All of this is made possible by those supporting and praying for us back home, so thank you.
I could write about life here or I could just show you. So follow along with the picture captions! As you can see, a lot has been going on at school. We always have something and it is so much fun. The kids are a blast and seem to actually enjoy most of school. I didn't put up any pictures of athletics but we have games every week for Soccer and Volleyball and it is so much fun to watch the kids I teach play. I have students on every single sports team between my girls in PE, my boys in weight lifting, and my freshman advising position. They are such great kids. We have one more day for spirit week and I'm wearing a Spiderman T-Shirt. I cannot go all out because I have to teach in the sun. We start a unit on swimming/water safety in one class and football in the other class. I have also been going to a women's bible study for staff and am loving it. These ladies have welcomed me with open arms. They are wonderful and encourage me greatly. I'll attach one of the only pictures I have from that study in closing (the host has cats and I like to mess with them:). Thank you for your prayers, emails, and kind words. Y'all encourage me everyday.
School has kicked off and it is going incredibly well. I have fantastic students who are incredibly respectful and ready to learn. My classes are very diverse in sizes. Periods 1 and 3 have 6 students and periods 2 and 4 have 18 and 20 students respectively. So, basically I am teaching the same lesson to 6 students and then to 20ish students for both team sports and individual sports. This has made me stretch my brain a bit on how to accomplish that. It will remain a challenge throughout the year. My weight lifting class has 9 guys in it and they are also great students. We are learning all about the main lifts, how to lift safely, how to vary workouts, and how to work opposing muscle groups. One thing that I love about the weights class is that you can make it has hard or easy as you like and the guys are always pushing it and working really hard. I told them to do Russian twists at one point and they could add weight if they wanted to. I look up at one point and see one student using a big olympic plate to do it. I laughed at it because I was not expecting him to use such a big plate. The picture captures just how hard the guys are willing to work in that class. I am also the Freshman class adviser and while it has had a rocky start because I don't know what I'm doing, we have had fun. We kicked off the year with the first ever Freshman orientation and we had the students do an English barn dance. They were incredibly shy at first but seemed to really seem to enjoy it in the end. We just finished up our student council elections and have our reps for that. We vote in the class officers next week. We started off the first official day of school with a flag raising ceremony and they have the 5th grade class parade the flags of all the countries represented. It is quite a sight to see the whole school together too. It was definitely an exciting way to begin the school year. I have joined a women's staff Bible study on Monday nights and am loving going through 2 Samuel with them. The women are pretty great and wonderful friends of mine. Another fun thing has been spending time with the staff members that are single. We do a lot of things together and often go shopping together. This last weekend we went to an open air market and sampled foods from all over the world. My mouth was very confused as I tried fish, breads, fruits, veggies, desserts, meats, drinks, etc. My favorite was Japanese pancakes. Basically it's like a pancake with a topping of some sort in the middle and you eat it like a muffin. I had one with chocolate chips in the middle (I have to counteract all those workouts somehow!) and it was fantastic! It was definitely one of my favorite foods I've tried here. I just wanted to say thank you so much for those of you that have prayed for the beginning of school and that things would go smoothly. I am loving it and have been working hard but enjoying all of it. An intern in my department asked me how I was liking it and I said, "You know, I work hard and it's sometimes a lot, but since I love it, it doesn't really feel like work." I will leave you with a few pictures of the fun sights and sounds of Manila and some of the hilarious advertising you see. I wanted to take a minute and introduce you to my new home. I am in Manila Philippines and let's just say, it's quite different then home. I spent a week with New Tribes Mission and now I m at Faith Academy. New Staff Orientation is over we had a blast. Here are most of the newbies. Love these folks. I will be teaching PE 1 and PE 2 which I am now translating into team sports and individual/lifetime activities respectively. I will also teach one class of weights. The PE classes will be 9th and 10th grade girls only and I believe weights will be mixed grade and gender. I have been asked to step in and help with curriculum development, so I am starting the process of digging through all the material that they have for PE in hopes of keeping the good and throwing out the bad. I am so excited about this task and also overwhelmed at how much I need to get done. The weights class is a little bit less up my alley but I will learn as I go and ask lots of questions. As it turns out, I am the only full time PE staff member and so I will also be the department coordinator. This year proves to be a busy one but I would never have dreamed of the doors and opportunities God has opened already. I am too young and inexperienced to be given these rolls in a big school in the states, but they are super excited to have me here. I've had parents and students alike approach me on campus and say how excited they are to have a PE major teaching those classes. How can you beat having excited students? Here is my office space, which I am so thankful for. I will be spending many hours here. My two roommates and I also have this really cool house that we love. It has been a work in progress to get everything up and running such as gas, wifi, and the washing machine, but we are thrilled with the house itself. It's beautiful and spacious. It is in a quiet neighborhood about a mile or two from school. We have many neighbors that are Filipino and many that are Faith Academy teachers. The one thing I do not care for is dogs that run around in the neighborhood. Dogs are genuinely mean here and are not treated well. They are often kept as pets only for protection purposes. The people often throw rocks at them to keep them away. While, I do not desire to hurt the dogs, I am grateful that if you bend down and act like you are picking up a rock, they run away and leave you alone. That has proved very helpful. The roosters also run on Filipino time and crow at 5am. While that is good when school starts, it is rather early for me now. School starts at 7:10 every morning, so we will have an early day. The sun is up and shining at 5:30 am, so that helps. The city is not very pretty at all, but the countryside is gorgeous. I wouldn't trade the view from my office for anything. I can't wait to update more, but I'm off to prep and write curriculum. Paalam! (Goodbye!)
*Note: The opinions and views expressed on this blog do not represent those of New Tribes Mission.
I am home! It's been so nice to be home and see family and friends for one more week. My relatives for the most part are all either in town or coming. I leave on July 9th and have begun packing and getting ready to go. My training in Florida was so good and helpful. I learned a ton and met some amazing people. I definitely chose the right missions agency. I am so thankful for them. My housing situation has been fixed and we are able to keep the house we were planning on moving into. I am so thankful because of how soon we are moving in. My roommate has a co-worker that waited for an hour and half for the person to meet her and agree to sign the contract. Our stuff has been moved in as well and it looks like we are all set to go. I am so blessed by this roommate. She has set everything up and worked so hard to make it all work. Support raising is still moving forward, which is encouraging. If I am calculating correctly, I am somewhere between 80-82% funded. That is encouraging to me. It seems that the closer I get to leaving, more and more unexpected financial needs come up, so I am hoping that start up type cost goes down once I get there. We shall see. Tomorrow my home church, Wayside Chapel is doing a prayer send off in both the 9:15 and 11am service. I think it's a great way to end my time at Wayside. Feel free to join, even if you don't go to Wayside normally. We'd love to have you. Well, I'm off to work on packing. Know that I am so thankful for those of you that keep up with me and encourage me. I could not do it without y'all. Keep praying as time draws near to leave. Life is bit chaotic but I wouldn't change a thing. I am so blessed. Prayer Request: 1. For time with friends and family as the day draws near to leave. 2. For preparations and stress as I try to make sure I have everything I need. 3. Support raising continues. I am currently in Sanford Florida doing Pre-Field Orientation with New Tribes Mission. It has actually been a great time and I am really loving the people here. I was not really excited to come because I only have a little time left at home, but it's turned out to be a very good time to rest and re-focus. It's very busy, but there is also a lot of down time in the evenings. We are learning about cross cultural interactions, support raising, conflict resolution, Bible study tips, and even taxes. I bought my plane tickets for Manila this week and it is confirmed that I am leaving July 9th. The day after I bought them, I got word that my housing situation in Manila may fall through. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we are working on a plan B and trying to make sure plan A can happen. I am off to another session, but wanted to give a quick update as to what's going on with me! Thanks for all your prayer and support! Y'all mean the world to me!
Prayer Request 1. Housing. We would love to keep plan A and for that to work out smoothly. Above all, we want to be where we are supposed to be. I am supposed to move in July 16th, so there is still some time. 2. My time here in Sanford. I am learning a ton and would like to soak in all the important parts and also continue resting. 3. Support raising is at 75%, so we are at the goal for leaving, but I would love to be closer to 100% before school starts and life gets insane. From the sunshine state, Taylor The countdown to leave has begun as it is less than one month away. I got to go up to Seattle, WA to see two of my siblings who live there. The picture below is just a glimpse into just how pretty it is up there. It was a nice break from the heat that is San Antonio. I am back and in town for two weeks until June 22nd. I am headed to Sanford, Florida to go to training with New Tribes. We will cover Biblical training and also cultural training. I get back from that training on July 3rd and my departure date will most likely be July 9th or 10th. I say most likely because I am on the cusp of being able to buy my plane ticket, but am not there yet. I need to be at 75% to do so and am currently at about 64%. God has been so good in showing up and encouraging me here. I am so blessed by people who have come along side and joined my support team. I look forward to seeing how He moves and finishes fund raising. My hope is to be buying the plane ticket in the next week or two. Currently, my time is filled with preparation to move and seeing people who I won't get to see for a long time. Prayer Requests: 1. Fund raising is priority now as time draws near to leave. Thank you so much to all who have already contributed. What a blessing you are to me! 2. Time management while I'm home. 3. Peace about all the unknowns. |
AuthorI am a Texas girl living in Manila Philippines. I work at Faith Academy and teach physical education to third culture kids (mostly missionary kids). I work for Helps Ministries and Wayside Chapel EFC in San Antonio. Archives
August 2018
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