Child of God
a fun-loving cheerful group of L9s
from the Church of Holy Spirit
a Catholic parish in Singapore
This blog journals our mission trip
to Bicol in the Philippines
pervious posts
A Short Dona Mercedes Welcome
Mass, a New Phase and Goodbyes
MISSIONARIES' DAY OUT
STORM ADVISORY #1
Typhoons and Calming the Waters
DON'T BE ALARMED
Day 3
Spirit Filled Day
Day 2 Pictures
Reunions and First Meetings
November 2008
December 2008
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
October 2009
Mission Formation
Mission from Glen Koh's Blog
Mission from Kelly Tseng's Blog
Catholic Church in Singapore
Mission from Mark Lee's Blog
Mass, a New Phase and Goodbyes
MISSIONARIES' DAY OUT
STORM ADVISORY #1
Typhoons and Calming the Waters
DON'T BE ALARMED
Day 3
Spirit Filled Day
Day 2 Pictures
Reunions and First Meetings
in his time
October 2008November 2008
December 2008
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
October 2009
links
Mission InformationMission Formation
Mission from Glen Koh's Blog
Mission from Kelly Tseng's Blog
Catholic Church in Singapore
Mission from Mark Lee's Blog
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008
10:42 PM
Day 2 in Dona Mercedes, was pretty much the same as Day 1, with a difference: work on the chapel was nearly completed under the stewardship of Kenneth Toi, while the teams running the kindergarten and elementary schools (led by Jamie Bong and Timothy Low) were beginning to communicate more effectively with the young people. The outreach team, led by Jonathan Chng and Mark Lee, respectively, continued their delivery of supplies and relief goods in the far-flung hamlets, making morning and afternoon rounds of 10 houses each. Unfortunately, Jonathan was unwell in the afternoon that he was not able to continue leading his team. She was replaced by Jamie Bong.
There are many more stories to be told about this day, like how the outreach team led by Mark (and included Samantha Chia and Glen Koh, accompanied by Uncle Al), practiced their christmas carols along the way, stumbled upon a house with a karaoke set where they had a whale of a time singing, sang carols and checked blood pressure in several houses that they visited, strayed into Camalig town, and trekked for over an hour before reaching their first house in the afternoon. They also had a bonus: they passed by two waterfalls, including the Busay falls, which is supposed to be one of the more famous ones in teh region.
Jamie's group, which also included Bryan Chin and Cecilia Mahimy (Michelle Looi had dropped out in the afternoon to help out in the chapel), accompanied by Uncle Anthony, came across a 99 year-old woman who was overjoyed because nobody ever visits her.
The trekking groups saw how hard life in the mountains was. Jamie and the rest of the trekkers would be able to tell their stories in their respective blogs.
Another inspiring one was that of a villager who saw his reflection on the marble-tiled sanctuary in the chapel. Apparently, nobody has ever cleaned the sanctuary the way Justin Chan had cleaned it up inch by inch, layer by layer.
The team left Dona Mercedes by 4.30pm and motored off to St Benedicts Academy for an early evening carolling with Sr Analisa and the students, including some interaction. It was back to hostel by 6.00pm, and dinner as usual at 6.30. Night prayer was led by Glen at 9.00. It was pretty much slack for the rest of the night, with a big twist: lights down was set at 11.00. Sigh. But it was for our own good, as the next day promises to be our toughest day yet at Dona Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was put into the sick bay, and is recovering well from the flu, while Sr Angeline had Pamela Tay have a warm bath also at the sick bay, so that she won't aggaravate her sore throat.
Planning for the Farewell/Thanksgiving Dinner is also underway, with Gerald Joseph, Jacintha Tan, Michelle Looi and Cecilia Mahimy plotting the entire programme. What a programme it is going to be. And three students from Republic Academy will be awarded scholarships!!!
Before I end this blog, I must report this heart-warming incident at Guinobatan East School while we were on the way to Dona Mercedes. Mark Lee, Timothy Low and Brian Chin asked the jeep driver to stop for a while, while they got down to seek out the Gr V-Special Class that they had lessons with. Apparently the class was having a Christmas Party on Thursday and they had invited us to come for their party. So our guys wanted to know the time. The guys saw the class doing some gardening work, and seemed oblivious to the Holy Spirit boys' approach. Then one girl looked in their direction, and on recognising Timothy, screamed out: "Timothy", and the rest of the class looked up and the single voice was followed by a joyous cacophony of childish joy. They dropped their tools, and ran and approached our boys. You should have seen the faces of those kids - and the reaction of our boys. Such was the impact our boys have made in this little town.
Continue to pray for us as we wind up our mission on Wednesday.
2 comments
Day 2 in Dona Mercedes, was pretty much the same as Day 1, with a difference: work on the chapel was nearly completed under the stewardship of Kenneth Toi, while the teams running the kindergarten and elementary schools (led by Jamie Bong and Timothy Low) were beginning to communicate more effectively with the young people. The outreach team, led by Jonathan Chng and Mark Lee, respectively, continued their delivery of supplies and relief goods in the far-flung hamlets, making morning and afternoon rounds of 10 houses each. Unfortunately, Jonathan was unwell in the afternoon that he was not able to continue leading his team. She was replaced by Jamie Bong.
There are many more stories to be told about this day, like how the outreach team led by Mark (and included Samantha Chia and Glen Koh, accompanied by Uncle Al), practiced their christmas carols along the way, stumbled upon a house with a karaoke set where they had a whale of a time singing, sang carols and checked blood pressure in several houses that they visited, strayed into Camalig town, and trekked for over an hour before reaching their first house in the afternoon. They also had a bonus: they passed by two waterfalls, including the Busay falls, which is supposed to be one of the more famous ones in teh region.
Jamie's group, which also included Bryan Chin and Cecilia Mahimy (Michelle Looi had dropped out in the afternoon to help out in the chapel), accompanied by Uncle Anthony, came across a 99 year-old woman who was overjoyed because nobody ever visits her.
The trekking groups saw how hard life in the mountains was. Jamie and the rest of the trekkers would be able to tell their stories in their respective blogs.
Another inspiring one was that of a villager who saw his reflection on the marble-tiled sanctuary in the chapel. Apparently, nobody has ever cleaned the sanctuary the way Justin Chan had cleaned it up inch by inch, layer by layer.
The team left Dona Mercedes by 4.30pm and motored off to St Benedicts Academy for an early evening carolling with Sr Analisa and the students, including some interaction. It was back to hostel by 6.00pm, and dinner as usual at 6.30. Night prayer was led by Glen at 9.00. It was pretty much slack for the rest of the night, with a big twist: lights down was set at 11.00. Sigh. But it was for our own good, as the next day promises to be our toughest day yet at Dona Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was put into the sick bay, and is recovering well from the flu, while Sr Angeline had Pamela Tay have a warm bath also at the sick bay, so that she won't aggaravate her sore throat.
Planning for the Farewell/Thanksgiving Dinner is also underway, with Gerald Joseph, Jacintha Tan, Michelle Looi and Cecilia Mahimy plotting the entire programme. What a programme it is going to be. And three students from Republic Academy will be awarded scholarships!!!
Before I end this blog, I must report this heart-warming incident at Guinobatan East School while we were on the way to Dona Mercedes. Mark Lee, Timothy Low and Brian Chin asked the jeep driver to stop for a while, while they got down to seek out the Gr V-Special Class that they had lessons with. Apparently the class was having a Christmas Party on Thursday and they had invited us to come for their party. So our guys wanted to know the time. The guys saw the class doing some gardening work, and seemed oblivious to the Holy Spirit boys' approach. Then one girl looked in their direction, and on recognising Timothy, screamed out: "Timothy", and the rest of the class looked up and the single voice was followed by a joyous cacophony of childish joy. They dropped their tools, and ran and approached our boys. You should have seen the faces of those kids - and the reaction of our boys. Such was the impact our boys have made in this little town.
Continue to pray for us as we wind up our mission on Wednesday.
2 comments