Nate and I were so thrilled to have my parents come for a week. This was their first trip to the Philippines, and we were excited to show them around and to introduce them to the people we have grown to love.
After our drive back to the church, the Bible school students had a beautiful welcome sign and a song they had created specially for them. They are so thoughtful!
On Thursday evening they had a welcoming service for them as well.
It was our final week of the 1st semester, so they were patient with us while we finished up our last classes.
Bro. Ariel took my dad around the neighborhood in hunt for some old used tools. My dad is a carpenter, really a jack of all trades, and he loves to collect tools from different places he visits. Bro. Ariel even took him by the Emergency facility where he works.
My dad celebrated his birthday here. Before he had arrived I asked Bro. Ariel if he could find me a Filipino plumb bob. He found several and my dad was very excited!
When the students found out it was my dad's birthday they wanted to do a little something for him. So they had us act like he was going to play ping pong with the guys, but they all started singing Happy Birthday. Then, they all came by with little handmade cards. They are so fun! My dad was surprised and enjoyed that very much.
Earlier in the day, we went to the mall and my dad picked up a hand saw and asked all of the students to sign it. They had a great time helping us celebrate his birthday.
On Saturday we introduced them to the beautiful Calamba saints.
We had a very sweet service in Kay-Anlog, and thankfully the spiders were not in service with us this time. 😀
Our young people had a new church sign printed. It looks wonderful and stands out to the rest of the neighborhood.
On Sunday it was Calamba's turn to have a welcoming service.
Our church was very excited to meet them. They had a banner made and had special little gifts to hand out.
We were very excited to introduce them to the Calamba saints and their beautiful Calamba Smile.
When we arrived back home from service, Bro. Abante brought my dad some of his tools that he has been using since the 70s. My dad had been blessed with tools on this trip, for sure!
We had a wonderful time with them and were sad when they left. 6 days just isn't long enough, but we are thankful for the few days that they were here.
Several days later my dad sent us this photo of the collage he had made with all of his goodies from their trip.
It will always be a memory of the precious people of the Philippines.
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