The Deniolas

Ricky Deniola was a very capable and quality student of mine in 2001 and 2002. He married his sweetheart, Joyce, in 2002 and graduated from ETCP in 2004. They have been involved in planting an EFCP church in Iloilo for the past three years. We had the privilege of spending an evening here in Cebu with their wonderful family. Their kids names are aptly, David King and Charis Princess. Ricky and I have kept in touch over the past years via email. In my opinion, he and his wife are very gifted present leaders and very promising future leaders here in the EFCP/ETCP.


Ricky shared about his life and ministry with my Pastor's Life and Function class. The students were glued to his every word as he shared in their mother tongue, Cebuano.Ricky is a confident and talented teacher with a passion to someday pursue further studies and teaching.
David King, the serious, concientious big brother and Charis Princess, the charming little princess. . . . .
Ricky and Joyce and children, you are one of the joys that makes our ministry here in the Philippines so rewarding.

Family Picture

Sunday at Mabolo EFC

Last Sunday (Sept 23) we attended Mabolo EFC, and Bevan preached. We enjoy these times of being in the EFC churches and meeting former students, or people we've met on previous trips.

Back to School Again!

September brought the time for school work again. The teachers from home kindly sent along work for the kids so they would be on track for when we arrive home.

Emily is in Grade 12 and working this semester on Physics 11, Chemistry 11, Bible 12 and History 12. Melissa is in Grade 10, and working on English 10, Math 10 and Planning 10. Jeremy is in Grade 8 and working on Math, English, and French. Grace is also taking 2 courses online, so with Bevan teaching and the rest of us "in school" the kitchen table is always covered in books and the computer.

The girls are fitting in their school work around all their other activities, and Jeremy was working mornings at home. But...Jeremy was recently invited to attend school at JCA (Joy Christian Academy). It is a small school (only 7 students this year) that is run by the missionaries for their kids and other foreigners. Jeremy brings his work each day and works on it there. This is working very well and he gets more done over there than at home. :)

School starts a 7:30 am till 2:30. Most schools start here by 7 or 7:30. It gets light here by 6:00 am and dark by 6:00 pm. Plus people prefer to work early when it is a bit cooler, and then have a long siesta in the afternoon. My kind of lifestyle forsure! :)

Jeremy with his good friend, Mark Johnson (missionary kid). Mark lives on campus at ETCP, and goes to the school where Jeremy is attending.

Christmas Already??!!

Here in the Philippines the Christmas Season officially starts on Sept 1 - and lasts through all the "ber" months (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, and DecemBER). I'm not sure if that means the brrr! months as well because for them those 4 months are the coolest! Right on schedule on Sept 1, Jeremy and I heard Christmas music being played in a restaurant. So...as you can see the Christmas decorations are going up and we regularly hear Christmas music - something like "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"!! I thought they started early in Canada!!

The Durian Experience

It was a dark, lonely night. We heard a knock at the door. We went to let in our visitors and were assaulted by a smell like no other! It was the evil durian!!! "Get away! Get that away!" we shouted to our guests. But they wouldn't leave...it was Bob and Jean Nelson and they were on a mission to force us to endure a durian taste test. To which we eventually begrudgingly complied.

Actually that's not what exactly happened, but we did try durian, which is a fruit, and it does smell bad. Supposedly it "smells like hell, but tastes like heaven." I would agree with the first statement but not necessarily the second.

Here is the unopened Durian
There are sections inside.
Bona appetite!

Melissa and I were the only ones who had a second bite, so that tells you how delicious it is. At first it almost tastes a little bit like garlic. It is alright, but definitely not my favourite!!
We ended up giving the rest to Ruth Talio, who really loves it!! I'm sure she enjoyed it way more than we ever would have.

Our Trip to Leyte

So last weekend, our family went on an adventure!! We went to Leyte for 24 hours to visit the family of one of Dad's former students. They had met Glenn and Rayvi on their previous trips and are actually the honorary godparents of their oldest son, Yeshua. His nenong and nanong. Since they are Yeshua's godparents, that means we are his honorary brothers and sisters!! What fun!

Glenn and Rayvi have three sons, Yeshua (5), Yesshaiah (4), and Yosef (2). Raavi's nephew, Lucky, is also living with them, along with their two helpers, Metet and Jehzel. They also follow the Filipino tradition of sharing a house with their parents, so they have one full house!!

Our ferry to Ormoc City, Leyte. (well one that looked like ours...)
Smiles!!

Me and Melissa freezing on the boat cuz of the air conditioning!! The only time we are ever cold here is with too much air con!

Yay for Pinoy Spaghetti Flavoured chips!! They don't really taste like spaghetti though...

Us looking at photo albums with the boys.
Mom and Rayvi.
The boys loved the presents that we brought them!! Emily and Yesshaiah. Yay for riding in the back of trucks!!

Glenn loves archery, so him and Jeremy had some fun shooting a few arrows.
Their helpers: Jehzel (15) and Metet (13) (left to right). They were so excited that we were there, but too shy to talk to us very much!!
Us with the crazy boys!! Jeremy's holding Yeshua and I'm holding Yesshaiah. They are definitely busy!!

Glenn and Raavi
All of us in the pool. Emily with Yesshaiah, Jeremy with Yosef and Yeshua on top of Lucky.
Dad and Yesshaiah

It was definitely a true Filipino experience! We ate their food, slept in their house and used their bathrooms. It was the real thing, although still a higher standard of living than most. Thank goodness we had fans to sleep with at night!!

The living room

Mom and Dad's bed. The mosquito netting was more for protection from falling gecko droppings, rather than for keeping away mosquitoes!

Me and Melissa's bed

The dining room. Notice spoons and forks to eat with...the Pinoy way.

So that was our adventure in Leyte, an island near Cebu.

Fitness First

(We added some new pictures for those who have seen this already)

Our family heading off to the gym. This has been a good break for our mental and physical health.

So this is Fitness First...where we exercise in air conditioning!!

This is our theme....

These are 2 of the receptionists...Sandy is on the right.

This is Jeremy with my mom's trainer, Joanne.

Miko is Melissa and Dad's trainer. (Joanne's fiance as well)

Mom and Joanne

Dad and me with my trainer, Joseph. (we'll add a better picture soon)

Does he look like he's working hard?