December 2018 Summary

Wycliffe 2018 Christmas Greeting

Thank you to all the passionate, dedicated Wycliffe partners around the world 
who have played a role in advancing Bible translation. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orAvtptH2l4)

As referred to in this year's greeting, I also cherish my
 hand-carved  wooden nativity scene from Cameroon.

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Kangaroo Book Club Storytime on December 1

Kangaroo Book Club - December Storytime craft related to The Legend of the Poinsettia.

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola,
dramatized with green weeds placed around
 baby in manager - tops turning beautiful scarlet red.

Other Christmas stories were shared.

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 FIA Elementary Chapel on December 5

 Since Christmas IS Jesus' birthday, what gifts would He want?

"The Friendly Beasts,"an old French carol. Each student
 read a verse and five held an animal (donkey, cow, 
sheep, dove, camel) who told about its gift of service to the
Christ child. Sometimes you have to make do...our stuffed
moose was the closest thing to 4-legged brown animal we
had to a camel, so I told student to cover the anthers
with his hand.

Sharing the book: A Birthday Party for Jesus by Susan Jones.
The forest animals provide packages to celebrate Jesus labeled: 
Hope, Peace, Faith, Charity, Friendship, Mercy, Kindness, 
Honesty, and Love.

Opening three packages with symbols of what Jesus wants
from each of us for His birthday...year round.
1 - Fruit: Jesus wants our daily words and actions to reflect fruit of the 
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23a)
2 - clock / watch / calendar: Jesus wants us to spend time with Him 
in Bible reading and prayer, and in service to others 
(Matthew 25:40 "...when you did it to one of the least of
 these my brothers, you were doing it to me."
3 - Heart: love with all heart, mind and strength and love neighbor as self (Luke 10:27)

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Community Service Club (CSC) on December 7

These 10th and 12 graders that I coach in storytelling

I coach these 10th & 12th graders at Faith
International Academy in storytelling for
community outreach.

First visit to Brokenshire Hospital
pediatric activity room.

In December at Wireless Elementary, FIA high school students shared:

Bright Star, Bright Star, What Do You See? by Cassandra Maxwell; The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs; Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell with stuffed animals/puppets. Community Service Club also launched ministry to children in hospitals.

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CFC Children's and Family Outreach 

on December 9

My puppet "David" led the children in singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.  This program included:

* PAPER CUT: Pilot's Wheel. Psalm 32:8

* Bird PUPPET laying EGG: message in egg - 

What does Jesus want for his Birthday?

* BOOK: A Birthday Party for Jesus by Susan Jones.

* GIFT PACKAGE OBJECT LESSONS, children unwrap: 
1-fruit; 
2-clock/watch/calendar;    
3-heart (shaped box, clear cover. picture of Jesus inside heart). 
The same scriptures and lessons were presented as in FIA Chapel.

INVITATION PRAYERS: give heart to Jesus or renew commitment to Him.

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Preschool / Homeschool  Storytimes  
This school year's theme thread of animals continued during the three Christmas season sessions with stories of animals at Christmas. 

This is the Stable, Cynthia Cotten and Delana Bettoli (Kindle). Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale, Martin Waddell.  Bright Star, Bright Star, What Do You See? Cassandre Maxwell. One Shining Star. Anne Kennedy.

The Christmas Bear, Anne Mangan. Biscuit's Christmas, Alyssa S. Capucilli. The Little Christmas Tree, Mercer Mayer.  The Animals' Christmas Eve, Little Golden Books (Kindle).

Merry Christmas, Curious George, Margaret and H.A. Rey. The Friendly Beasts: An Old English Christmas Carol (YouTube). Night Tree, Eve Bunting. The Perfect Christmas Tree, Igloobooks.

Our craft during the last storytime of 2018 was a jingle bell tied to
a plastic cup, decorated with foam animal stickers. The older children
 were good at swinging the bell and catching it in the cup.
I was not on this day...oh well, it was fun for all of us.

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FIA Staff Christmas Party

On December 14, Faith International staff and spouses enjoyed good food and  
fellowship at "Tiny Kitchen."

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                   Other December Gatherings

I enjoyed several other small group December gatherings including a birthday dinner with my housemate and friends.

Birthday dinner with Naomi (with cake/candle
in front of her).

Wycliffe/SIL missionaries share Christmas day dinner.

SNOW on Christmas day in Philippines.
We have to use our imaginations a bit 
when living in the tropics.

Missionaries and a friend share a post-Christmas lunch.

New Year's Eve

My housemate Naomi and I hosted a New Year's Eve Party  -  inviting Faith International Academy and Wycliffe/SIL missionaries and families to our house to share games, snacks and fellowship. Before midnight we shared praises from 2018, prayer concerns for 2019, and Mr. Park led us to the throne of prayer.

Our special guest who stole many a heart  was "Hazel," the newest addition to the Park family. 






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"7.0 magnitude earthquake shakes southern Philippines" 

On December 29th, we were surprised with a 7.0 earthquake. I thank God for His protection. No injuries have been reported to my knowledge. I heard that the tsunami warnings were cancelled after two hours.

I have a new appreciation for this phrase since December 29th. I’ve been through a number of earthquakes in my 2+ years in the Philippines…sometimes we stayed in the building and sometimes we exited. Saturday’s swaying sensation seemed a bit longer than other earthquakes, so I looked around to take cues from Filipinos. When I saw people rushing out of that third story Abreeza Mall discount “Book Store” and other stores, I followed their lead though I did not see or hear anything falling…down the corridor, turning right at the evacuation route sign, through a zigzag hallway to stairwell door held open by a clerk. Stairs are problematic for me, but God enabled me to maintain enough speed as not to hold up others who were behind me. (A relief!) 

People were calm, orderly, polite, fell into line with no shouting or pushing. When outside, I discovered that the mall was being officially evacuated. I didn’t know the magnitude of this quake at the time and didn’t need to, I simply trusted the instincts/knowledge of residents who had lived through many more earthquakes than I and who knew the evacuation routes of the premises.