back for 3 weeks...

a few thoughts:

-it's wonderful to be home. love the people. love the food. mostly the people.

-i have new perspectives on things:

*like hunger.

*like the value of spending time with people.

*the simplicity of love

*the Church...
-my prayer is that i will continue on with Christ, no matter what. that i'll continue doing what i did in the philippines - and even before i came: just living and loving as best i can.

-i sure miss some people though...

for olya

my lovely Olya,
may you be strengthened.
may you never get tired of seeking and being with your Lord.
may you find joy in the small things.
may you love in small ways.
may God be everything...

miss you.
may you come back soon but
may you run until the race is done.

your roby

home.

It was a privilege to serve the Lord in the Philippines
Although I am glad to be home, I'm also missing my home in another country.
There is much to think about, so much to say.
But I am thankful.
So very thankful.

I will miss this one the most...

dear mom,

i am not afraid to travel to bicol.
if i do die, i know where i would go.
and i also know that GOD will take care of
those who are dear to me...
even though it may be hard.
don't fear.
and if i live,
i'll see you in a month.
waffles? wraps? sour cream?
and i'll make you some sinigang soup.
love you much,
your daughter in the philippines,
robynn connie

travelling...

Kuya Gabby - eating Jollybee french fries...for breakfast. ew.

Beautiful Ate Carmel...

Ate Pen drinking her morning coffee (which she did spill all over the van).

______

one of my favourite things to do is travel.

my biggest reason:

fellowship.

i love talking with people!

getting to know thier thoughts,

their habits,

their dreams,

their insecurities,

their joys,

their frustrations,

their ________ .

love it.

i'll be travelling to bicol, philippines

with many people.

we leave tomorrow at 5am and we'll arrive

at 7pm.

nice 12 hours...

plenty of time to chat.

this is one reason why i'm so glad i'm crossing cultures -

i learn so much from a different culture!

the more i chat

the more i see

that GOD is in every culture -

but HE looks a little different...

i'm excited for tomorrow to chat -

with JESUS with skin on...

a filipino,

a friend.

poverty

I still don't understand poverty.

Some blame it on the government.

Some blame it on the laziness of people.
Some blame it on the previous generation.

Some blame it on fate.

Some blame it on God.

I don't know....
But I think I've been learning that it doesn't matter who's fault it is.

It only matters,

what is done...

It's repeated over and over in the Bible:

"Love."

I do believe and am learning that it is

LOVE that CHANGES people...

Ate Pen, the woman I work with, is someone who loves.

She loves people more than most.

She is indeed doing what she is called to do...
she inspires so many people
because of Who is living through her -
she inspires me.
She has changed me,
because of Who is living through her.
Sobra mahal ka sha.
She is one who is helping end poverty...
because of Who is living through her...

Mondays - Day Off!!

Mondays are the hardest days - but they can be the best days. It is my "day off" so I can decide whatever I want to do... I say it is the hardest day because I am alone for most Mondays.

This Monday I decided to first wash my laundry...by hand. I don't usually wash all of my clothes, just some of them. But I decided to try to discipline myself...and I enjoyed it.

I then "escaped" to one of my favourite places in the city - the ocean! It's literally 15 min. away from my place so I can ride 1 jeepeny to sit by the ocean. It's wonderful...

and hot!

Since my love of cooking has flourished I made a pot of sinigang - a traditional Filipino soup. Once of my favourites. My roommate, Lerma, had some with some rice...I ate some with a slice of bread...

At the end of the day I drew a picture. I love drawing - it is so relaxing...

I hope when I get old like this woman with wrinkles I can still smile on Mondays - but I hope I spend them

with someone...

thoughts on starbucks

I took Ate Pen out for starbucks.
On our walk there we stopped at a squatter area where we have a couple families that we have been sharing the gospel and some food with. I sat with 3 dirty kids and tried all my best Tagalog questions to get to know them. It was late at night so we squatted near their house where a candle was. It was so peaceful just sitting with them and watching them laugh with each other. Their smiles so big...
I watched Ate Pen loving these kids...so beautiful. SO so beautiful. Her love for these people, the people who are poor and literally helpless, is probably one of the most beautiful things ever. Even more beautiful than the mountains in B.C... Her heart has been given to her by God. She is a vessel of His and she glorifies Him in such powerful ways...
I love her.
We then made our way to starbucks... I must say that after sitting with those kids who hadn't had supper and may not have breakfast, the starbucks didn't taste the same...
I knew this would happen. I'm not angry at my western culture for how much money we have and spend and keep to ourselves...I'm not. I just want to be wise when I return with where I spend my money...I see money in a different way...
I see people in a different way.
I see the poor in a different way...
oh thank you Lord!
Ate Pen and I decided that next time, starbucks would not be our first choice...
Still learning...I'm so young.

You know it's hot when

the crayons you are colouring with
mould
to
your
hand.

you wake up and your
hair
is
soaking.

you take a cold shower and you
still
feel
hot.

you walk a block and the sweat flows freely
down
your
back.

you drink 5 glasses of water and you
still
feel
thirsty.

you hold a kid and you can let go
because
they
stick
to
you.

everyone has
three
showers a
day.

the candles have melted sitting
in
the
window sill.

you
wish
for
snow...

19

Celebrating my birthday in the Philippines was...
quite the experience.
Woke up at 1:30 am and recieved a text from a special friend at home saying "Happy Birthday". I smiled and went back to bed.
Woke up at 6am, brushed the ants off my body, and headed off to the office where we had a breakfast fellowship for all the youth leaders from our partner churches.
They sang "Happy Birthday" in Tagalog to me...
Had lunch.
Ate Pen and I then went to the Divisoria
(a huge market where you can buy anything and everything for extreamly cheap)
and we visited a friend's house right near the place.
Now this was an experience...
let's just say I ate random tasty food in a random sketchy house with a pig's head one inch from my plate and Ate Pen kept poking the tongue with her fork while I watched lizards and cocroaches crawl across the room while 2 older men (one was gay) served us more and more food...
I then went home and went out with a friend to celebrate...
I will probably never forget this birthday!

miss?

My mother sent me this picture...
It was taken the summer before I left for the Philippines. On a lovely, chilly Sunday afternoon I decided to sleep out on the grass instead of napping inside.

There are some things I miss about home,

although I am completely content here.

But if I may, I will rant about what I do miss,

for I do love my home in Canada,

as well as my home here...

15)I miss homemade meals. And waffles.
14)I miss going for long drives.
13)I miss the fields.
12)I miss Wednesday nights at the Bridge on 20th.
11)I miss prayer meetings in English.

10)I miss fresh air.

9)I miss Tim Hortons.

8)I miss snow. yes.

7)I miss hugging tall people.

6)I miss my bed.

5)I miss hot showers.

4)I miss not being stared at when I go places.

3)I miss going for a good run.

2)I miss my piano.

1)I miss people...good friends and family...the most.

--valentines 2009--

One of my favourite youth...

I love her

and my heart breaks for her.

Free Time in Macau, China!

I spent a wonderful week in Macau, China! Ate Pen and Ate Carmel are my two wonderful friends...we grow and change and challenge each other - in the good and the bad times.

Classic Chinese. Couldn't help myself...

Macau's streets. With the bikes. The thousands of bikes.

On the gondola. A good 30 cents CAN to ride it. Too bad Ate Pen's fear is hights. Haha!

I love the random art. Asian art.

The trip was indeed amazing...I'll write more later of what I learned/what I was challenged by/what I enjoyed/ect.

The Lord spoils me...

my heart

could BURST!

Waiting for my team to come...
waiting...

roommate!!

The Lord has answered my long awaited prayer of blessing me with a roommate!
Miss Lerma is 20 years old and is the fiancee of one of the guys on my team.

She is gentle and quiet, so beautiful, and a wonderful person to be with.

She's teaching me how to cook and to speak Tagalog

while I teach her some English and give her a place to live.

It is wonderful...

-isaiah 58-

+

A Canadian young man with orange hair reminded me
that optimism not only brings more out of life
but it is also Biblical.

"Be joyful always."

How I want to know the One who brings life...

Beauty in Bicol

They said I couldn't go because it was too dangerous for a foreiner...too many rapes and kidnappings even in the last week...
I'm glad they changed their minds.
We went to Bicol to chat with some pastors (meaning: Ate Pen talked for most of the time and we gave her support). Kuya Doy drove the 12 hour drive both ways (well done, Kuya Bogart) which was such a blessing to Ate Pen.
The trip was... ... .....

This woman here is the most beautiful Filipino I have met so far. She told me that once she became a Christian everything changed - she had joy, health, love for others and could speak English all of a sudden. She's 64. She is indeed beautiful. I hope I can look like her when I grow up...

The sand was black and the shells were plenty.

This was the first time a white person had visited their island...what a privilege.

The one in the middle is the one responsible for the sand in my Bible.
The one holding the pitcher of coconut juice is mysteriously innocent.

"Makulit" (ma-KOO-lit)

tagalog word for: annoying and irritating, but not used in a negative way.

The kids. It started with one and by the end of the day I counted more than 30 just following me. We played "duck duck goose" and sang kareoke on the beach while the tide went out...

This boat is similar to the one we used to get to the island. We went across the ocean at 3am in the dark...with the waves...and Ate Pen can't swim. And my imagination could see sharks. Sketch? The Lord was with us.

Their back yard.

Eating area.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." - James

on the roof

For many reasons, I enjoy being alone.

For many reasons, I dispise being alone.

For now, I shall enjoy being alone,
knowing that I am not truly alone,
and knowing I won't always be alone.

I look forward to
"standing shoulder to shoulder with someone;
fighting the worst that satan can do to us."
-Randy Alcorn, Safely Home

balut

Buying the egg. (Very cheap).Imagining eating the egg. (This was on New Years Eve.)

Excited.... (In Ate Pen's parent's house, with her brother, Julius).Opening the egg. (And then drinking the "juice" which actually didn't taste that bad..)

Alright - stop there. That does NOT look like a normal egg.

So yah. Balut is a duck's embrio. Basically they wait until the day before the bird is supposed to hatch and then they cook the bird - and eat it. You first crack open the egg, drink the "juice" (the duck's pee and other), and then you pop it in!
Cute little ducky... yah right. The taste of the egg itself wasn't bad. I personally just swallowed the duck after one chew. Interestingly enough, Ate Pen is full Filipino and this was her very first time eating balut (hense, her expressive faces).

The "after-you-eat-balut-face".

syndrome.

So I was just told I have "Missionary Syndrome".

Alas.

The symptoms:
-I've felt guilt for owning things, yet
-I've been prideful for trying to live off of nothing.
-I've felt shame for having too much.
-I've felt useless.
-I've been bord.
-I've been extreamly lonely...
-I've been confused
-I feel emotionally tired most of the time

May the Lord be gracious.
May I learn to CLING to the LORD.
May He be my everything...
even if I am diseased.

please...

please pray.
thank you.
thank you.

cut

First time to get a hair cut here.
Memorized all the Tagalog words,
"Not too short."
"Just a little."
"Don't cut my bangs."
"I don't want short hair."
Then the guy spoke English.

And he was gay.

It was quite the experience...
to say the least.
I've never had such a glamerous hair cut
and for only $6 Canadian...

Many of the workers came just to watch.
(Apparently the colour of my hair is...different.)
Haha!

It turned out just fine,
and I walked out giggling
for it was only the Lord and I,
sharing the experience together...

Team Retreat!

The day started with a beautiful wedding... A Russian couple came to have a beach wedding!

We had a lovely day together as a team... I love Ate Carmel - she has the genuine joy of Christ!

Mom shot.
Murray shot.

I haven't yet learned to climb a palm tree - but I can sure hug one! [And then get my legs and arms scraped up - then go swimming with my cuts in salt water...smart, Robynn.]

Greg and Sarah - a couple from Canada - truly have their hearts set on serving Christ here. They are a wonderful couple...

The ride home - I scored a free coconut by doing what Ate Pen has taught me: by asking. The drive home was a blast: I'm sure we sang worship songs for at least two hours - all 12 of us in the van. :)

One always needs a jumping picture wherever one goes...

Although I am very thankful to be here, I do miss everyone...