It's good to be back!

Kid’s Sunday School

After 3 months, it’s teaching time for me once again and I was just excited to see my students. I was assigned to handle the 7:30 a.m. Sunday School. As expected, there were only a few kids who attended since most of them come at the 10 a.m. service. But still, it was a great time for Sandy, Xyve, Sophia, Joshua, Teacher Elsa and meeh!

The kids w/ Teacher Elsa

The kids w/ Teacher Doths
At first, my students seemed to be so shy and quiet as we were starting. But as we go along and especially towards the end of our class, I didn’t know anymore who to give my attention to. They seem to all want to share a lot of stories to me.

Our lesson is about “Friendship”. Each of the kids excitedly shared about their close friends when I asked them if they have one and why did they consider them as friends. They really have interesting answers.

The bible story is about the kids being hindered to come to Jesus during the time when He was busy accommodating older people and their concerns. But as we know, Jesus asked the kids to come to Him, as He said “Let the children come to me.” The story ended with the children feeling so happy as they felt Jesus’ love for them.

My students seemed so glad to know that Jesus is a friend to children like them. I emphasized that they too should love Jesus and should be a true friend to others. As the teacher, I did learn something, too. It’s about being a true friend to my students also as I become a channel of God’s love to them. Indeed, there is an unexplainable joy in loving others unconditionally.

I also taught the kids a song which is related to our lesson. It’s a classic kid’s song entitled “Jesus loves me”. Just a trivia: This is the first song that I learned when I first attended Sunday School at age 7. (Hmmm..not so long time ago. hehehe!) It says:

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so…

I was glad that they learned the song and the actions easily. Then it’s crafts time for the kids afterwards. I saw how they enjoyed arranging the pictures and coloring them. How creative they are! I also asked them to memorize the verse. I said that we’ll be reviewing it again in our next meeting.

It’s snack time for them after finishing the crafts and then we closed in prayer. Hopefully, the kids enjoyed our time together as much as I did. (“,)

On to Cavite City

Changed role during the 10 a.m. service. Back-up singer this time. (Or just feeling? Hehehe…) It’s really a great priviledge to be a part of this team and I just pray that our songs would always be like a sweet-smelling aroma as we lift our voices to God.

After lunch, our Music Ministry team headed to Cavite City. We’re expected to be there by 4 p.m. As usual, Mark was the designated driver and Angeline, the guide. James, Bob, Carlyn, Mich, Olive, Elaine, Ate Lucille and meeh were the ever supportive passengers (haha!)

We also brought with us some instruments like the snare drum, bass guitar, beat box and the bamboo which has small shells inside (Sorry, I forgot what it’s called). Obviously, it’s jamming time once we get there. But we’re also expecting to do some other interesting activities.

When we first went there last month, we got lost somewhere in Imus (hehehe…). But thank Heavens, we made it perfectly this time! (We’ve learned our lesson already) I was just a little sad that I missed to take a picture of the sea view that we passed by, just before entering Cavite City proper. I really like that view. Well, hopefully I would be able to take a picture of it when we go there again next month.

We arrived right on schedule. It feels great to receive a warm welcome from our brothers and sisters there. Pastor Philip, Kuya Jun and Luvve prepared the programme for the afternoon's fellowship. We started with an opening prayer and then it's icebreaker time for us. The game is called "Inverted Charades".

The Facilitators
We're divided into two teams then we're asked to pick a representative. Our team picked me to be the representative. (uh-oh...) Oh well, I'm up to the challenge. hehehe! Bob is the representative of the other team. Our task is to guess the word being flashed by the facilitators as our team mates are giving clues by acting it out (no talking allowed).

I was first to guess the first word! 1 point for us. (yes!) My team mates were all so happy because we easily got ahead of the other group. They said I was good at guessing, but I think it's really because they were good actors and actresses. hehehe! And so, our group won with 8 points while the other group with only 2 points. Nice game! =)

Then we come into some serious matters after the fun icebreaker game. It was time to brainstorm for a name of our group. It was our Pastor's vision for our Church in Bacoor and Cavite City to merge into one group and together stage a concert that will allow us to reach people for God.

There were a lot of suggestions that came up. I also gave a suggestion. Actually, our Pastor voted for my suggestion. But after the voting made, it was Olive's suggestion that got better votes. It was a good name as well - "VOC" which stands for "Victors on Calvary". Pronounced as "vox" (meaning "voice"). Our next assignment is to create a design for our logo. Hmmm...I might also submit a design if ever I would have the time to create one. hehe...

For our next activity, Pastor Philip divided us into 3 groups - Musicians, Singers and Dancers. But instead of assigning us in each group, he allowed us to choose freely where we wanted to join. I was torn between the singing and the dance group (whew!) I love both. But then I just decided to join the dance group since there were already more people in the singing group. This will also be our permanent group for the coming concert.

The Musicians

The Singers

The Dancers (my group)
For our starting activity as a group, we were given a problem to solve. The goal was to bring out creative ideas in us. It was a challenging activity for all of us. During the time the representatives presented each of the group’s solutions, we were amazed at the creative answers. Some suggestions were even funny and others, somewhat weird. Hehehe…

After all those mind-boggling and energy-consuming activities, it’s chow time! Tita Susan prepared some delicious lumpia (w/ matching spicy vinegar. Yum, yum!) and “tahong”. It was an early dinner for all of us. We all had a great appetite after all of the activities we did. I was surprised at myself because I really do not eat “tahong” unless it’s baked. But Ate Lucille asked me to try some, and I did. And guess what? It tastes delicious! I lost count how many I ate. Hehehe… I think it’s the best “tahong” I’ve ever tasted. Perhaps it’s because they’re fresh. Pastor Archie said that the “tahong” from Cavite City are the best. I think I would have to agree to that. =)

After resting for a while, it’s another team-building activity game for us. We’re again divided into 2 groups. We were asked to form straight lines. The instruction is for the last group member to trace at the back of the person in front the picture being shown by the facilitator. The person being traced on must be sensitive enough to distinguish the figure, so that he/she could also trace it at the back of the person in front of him/her. This process continues until the front-most person receives the trace.

I thought it was just simple… I was sooo wrong. Carlyn was the last person in our group and I was next to her. She was tracing the figure at my back but she was having difficulty since she didn’t know how to draw. Waaaah! I really couldn’t figure out what she was tracing at my back. I thought it would take us forever before the first person in our group receives the trace. Good thing there was a time limit. Hehehe…

When the time was almost over, I just made a guess on what Carlyn was trying to draw, and it went on upto the first person. When the time was up, we were asked to show all our drawings. The picture to be guessed was a three-dimensional shoe box. I just couldn’t believe that our group won! The judges said that our drawings were more similar to the figure compared to the other group. Hmmm…God’s favor must have been with our group today. Hehehe!

We ended our gathering with a Praise and Worship led by Angeline, while Carlyn and I were the back-ups. It was just sooo great to be in God’s presence.

The tambourine dancers
At the end of our singing, Pastor Philip spoke and asked each of us to come to the front as our way of re-dedicating ourselves to the Lord. We did as he said and each of us was prayed for. I closed my eyes and I could only hear the musicians playing the song “One Desire”. At that time, I could already hear some sobbing around me.

Then I just felt Pastor Archie laid his hand on my head and began to pray for me. I prayed too from my heart as I just surrendered everything to God and dedicate myself and all that I have for Him. I suddenly noticed the tears flowing down my cheeks and I was already crying quite uncontrollably. It was truly an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit as each of us humbled ourselves in God’s presence.

It’s just amazing that each one of us experienced the same thing. I believe it’s God’s way of annointing us as we prepare for the concert – all for His glory.

We left Cavite City at around 8:30 p.m. already. Though quite tired, it was a marvelous experience for all of us.

Home

Now, I’m back home preparing to bed. As I contemplate on what happened throughout the day, I felt so blessed and so grateful. Indeed, it’s great to be back to teaching again in Sunday School and to visit Cavite City once more.

I just look forward with gladness to the coming days…I know that great things are going to happen soon. (“,)