2009 NYI Convention is here!!!!

Yes, we have been at the Manila site for the 2009 Global NYI Convention since last Saturday, and all we can say is.... God is good all the time! The Church of the Nazarene holds a General Assembly every four years; members come to one place from all around the world to worship together and conduct business. But this year, for the first time, NYI (Nazarene Youth International) is holding its convention in 8 different sites all around the world, connecting by video-conference through the internet!

And we have the amazing privilege to be part of this historic event! Brian is the site coordinator for the Asia-Pacific convention site, which is being held here in Manila, Philippines. Many times delegates elected to the General Assembly cannot attend because of finances and the difficulty of obtaining visas. Since it's very difficult for NYI in Asia-Pacific to ever get together, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and spend extra time together before the General NYI Convention started. So, our 30 delegates and 40 visitors from 14 different countries gathered on Sunday, and we have been enjoying worship services, workshops, and fellowship with each other. Then last night, we held our first meetings with the other Asia-Pacific delegates at the General Assembly site in Orlando.... and everything worked!!! The internet worked, we could see each other, hear each other, and understand enough to elect a new Asia-Pacific Regional NYI council for the next 4 years - God is so good!

We've also enjoyed some of the General Assembly services which can be viewed anytime at the Church of the Nazarene website. You can also view many of our regional activities from the past few days at the Asia-Pacific NYI website. The theme of our regional site has become "Up all night" since daytime meetings in Orlando are in the middle of the night in Manila... but our delegates are so thrilled to be part of this event and have a voice (many countries for the first time!) that no one has missed a meeting yet! :)

So, to our friends and family who are in Orlando now, we miss you, but we wouldn't trade this experience for anything. God is moving in mighty ways among the youth leaders of Asia-Pacific, and we're so blessed to be a part. We'll write more soon, but I need to get some sleep before tonight's meetings... hope to see you on screen at some point! They will be showing a glimpse of our site at the NYI service Friday morning at 10:30 (Orlando time) and Friday afternoon at the 4:00 service, a drama group from a local church in Manila will be performing. Keep praying for our internet and our eyes to stay open! How great is our God!

Tagaytay

When Julie's parents and sister were visiting, we took a two day trip to Tagaytay and stayed at Sonya's Garden. Sonya's Garden is an incredibly beautiful Bed and Breakfast that we have been wanting to go to ever since we moved to the Philippines. We had so much fun walking around the beautiful flower gardens, eating huge meals with food fresh from the garden, and enjoying the peace and quiet... If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Philippines, Sonya's Garden is a must!







Justin loved the unique shower... he could have stayed in there all day to play with the pebbles. :)

This is a picture taken at Taal Volcano in Tagaytay. I really won't do justice describing this amazing landmark, but I'll try... it's a lake inside a volcano inside a lake inside a volcano... just click on the link to get the amazing story. :)

We moved!

We moved... down the street. :) Before we came to APNTS, we felt it was really important to live on campus so we could develop relationships with our fellow students. Although living on campus was the ironic reason Julie just finished her Master's degree, we really enjoyed our time and the opportunity to live in such a multi-cultural environment. But since Julie is finished and didn't want to take any more classes, we decided to look for a place to live off campus for our last few months in the Philippines. God worked out some incredible living situations for us as soon as we started praying about it, and we're currently house-sitting for some missionary friends that live less than a 10 minute walk from the APNTS campus. When they return in July we'll rent a small house in the same neighborhood. We're having so much fun living in a new place, but I think Justin is enjoying it even more....

He loved helping pack (and un-pack) boxes before we moved.

Having access to a washer and dryer where we're house-sitting makes Julie so happy she could almost cry, but it was also a great place for Justin and Grandpa Dwayne to chat. :)
Aunt Terri has lots of cool things in her house that Justin loves... he was very proud of himself when he learned to get in this rocking chair by himself.

He LOVES having a small yard to play in and a place to use his new swimming pool. :)

He also has space to play on his new tricycle from Grandpa Dwayne.

We're so thankful to see how God continues to provide for all the small details of our lives - please continue to pray the we will have the support for our daily needs. :)