Carnival Day

Today was the day for the annual carnival. Each grade set up a booth that went along with a "pirate" theme. Also, as is tradition, the Korean mothers got together and sold their specialty--kimbop. Aren't these ladies sweet?!
Some of the mothers were not so sweet. These two moms got together for a sword fight! No, really they were being very lady-like. They almost looked like they were dancing, they were being so nice to each other. I did get this one shot where it looks like they are really fighting to the finish!
The 8th graders always run a jail, where people can pay to put a person in jail for 5 minutes or more. I thought Nate and I could get a cute photo in front of the display.
However, once the students saw Mr. Becker standing close-by they paid to throw him in jail! "Honey, I'm coming for you!" I called. He is saying to me, "See, I thought we were standing there posing for that picture too long."
There was an attempted jail break, and things got pretty wild. Nevertheless, Nate ended up back in the sweaty jail with the other middle schoolers and their teachers.

This was all fun and games, yet the money earned will go toward supporting a local orphanage. It was also fun for community building! That's all for now, until next year!

Mrs. Becker and Her High Schoolers

Here's some of the things I've been doing with my high school students. In our Old Testament class, I had my 10th graders playing a game with Bible verses. They are trying to become familiar with the portions of the Pentateuch while having a fun race with the rest of the class.
It is fun to see them getting excited and working together. Thank you for praying that each student will want to know God more and draw closer to Him.
One night we had the junior class over for a party. We had some great pizza and then played games. I really love these students!
Here is my 10th grade student, Andrea. This year she is my teacher's assistant in Spanish I class. She is from Costa Rica and does a great job presenting Spanish to the class in her native tongue.
Andrea is so helpful to me in class! I praise God for her. You may think she is Japanese, but that is because it is also spirit week at school. One day students dressed up in international clothing other than their "home country." My German student in the front row is dressed Korean, my Costa Rican student is dressed Japanese, and my Korean student is dressed Chinese. Fun times with a great mix of cultures!

Band Concert

A few weeks ago Nate directed the middle school band concert. It was a great success, praise the Lord! Someone made a comment, "That was the best performance I've heard!" Truly I think they get better each year. Nate is such a gifted band director. Here he is warming up the band and giving last minute encouragement.
Mr. Becker did a great job announcing the pieces and helping students to transition. There was one special portion of the program which included students from all three grades (6-8). It was a tight squeeze on stage, but parents really enjoyed it.
Here is one band watching the other one perform. This year we have an intermediate band (grades 6-7) and an 8th grade ensemble (it is their third year in band). We continue to praise God for all the wonderful instruments that were donated!
I had to laugh when I saw all the proud parents taking pictures like crazy! Each one is trying to get a picture of their precious son or daughter.
Take a bow! I am so proud of my husband and of his students! Thank you, Lord!

Happy American Thanksgiving

Hello my friends around the world! We are here in the Philippines not celebrating American Thanksgiving, but we are thinking of our family and friends who soon will be. I truly feel content and I am thankful that my homesickness is gone.

One great blessing was that yesterday, just in time for American Thanksgiving, we received a HUGE package from the U.S.!! It was from a class of precious 3rd graders in my hometown, who pray for us daily. How sweet! They included all the tastes of the U.S. that I miss:
--Life Cereal (cinnamon AND original)
--Wheat Thins (original)
--Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls
--Those little pumpkins you get at Halloween (sweet candy!)
--Many other great treats and nice school supplies we can use.

I was very excited for this package, and NAte and I continue to enjoy it and share it with others. When I first started eating I went a little crazy trying some tastes of everything, but now I am holding back and trying to make the gifts last!

We are thankful for that package and for the 3rd graders who sent it from Omaha! We are thankful for their prayers and for the prayers of many.

Tonight we will eat pizza and then Nate will go to a class while I grocery shop. The good news is that someone new in the community has invited us over on Saturday for traditional turkey and mashed potatoes! That was a surprise invitation, but I would not miss it! Yum!

We love you, Lord! And we love our family and friends!

Today's Thoughts

Hello everyone!

I will write briefly to give you an update for today.

The band concert on Monday went excellent--praise the Lord! I was so proud of Nate and all his hard work with the students. Truly he is becoming more professional and skilled at directing every year. People said things like, "This was the best performance I've heard!" I may post pictures later, but we'll see!

The Becker Baby is almost at 15 weeks. I am in the second trimester now, so I am getting excited to see my belly pop out (I'm still so skinny!). Some students like to comment, "Mrs. Becker, I think you have a little belly!" but I think they are just seeing my poofy clothes or something.

Now Nate is busy getting ready for the Christmas musical on December 7th. Be praying for that with us. Also my high school vocal class is preparing a Christmas cantata for Dec. 14th. We are going to make it an outreach hopefully so pray that people will come to Christ through the music and message.

I'm feeling a lot of homesickness today, but I hope that goes away. Usually that is common when holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas come around and we miss our families! We won't be celebrating Thanksgiving (American) this year, but we can be thankful for many things every day!

We got the bed treated so hopefully all the Buk-Buk are dead and will no longer eat our bamboo.

What else? We miss you lots, so it is always good hearing from you and seeing you update your blogs (if you have one).

Thank you for your prayers. God has given us much grace!

Love,
Jessica and Nate

Joseph and the Tsinelas

A while back I blogged about the day three boys came to our house asking for work. You may remember we set them to work, fed them and read them Bible stories. Well, one boy, Joseph, came to our church and remembered me. He came and sat by me and spoke to me in Cebuano.

I wish I had a picture of Nate riding Joseph to our house for lunch that day on the front of his bike. So precious! Off they went, and I met them at home. While I cooked some lunch, Nate gave Joseph his first trumpet lesson. He is really bright and loved his lesson! (Nate is such a great teacher!)

He also asked if he could borrow (hulam) my bike. It is a little big, but he thought it was pretty cool! He kept going back and forth on our street.
I really had one thing available for lunch--pasta. This seems like a plain and simple meal, but to Joseph, apparently, it was as though I had set out a plate of tofu or sushi or something totally foreign. He was very polite, but it was obvious he thought our food was strange.

I was trying to figure out what he likes! After all, he must be really hungry! I was sorry to say we had no rice (unheard of here) and I finally realized that all my fancy food was just too foreign to him. If all you ever eat is plain white rice and plain bread, everything else that seems simple to me like pasta, will seem too much for him.

In this photo you can see we found something he liked--plain rolls (with no jam or butter). He also drank some milk.

This week I was sure to buy a whole bag of white rice in case Joseph came back. Sure enough, he came to me asking for work. I had a job ready for him to do and he invited his friend Justin. They worked away, and then I gave them food, money and I sent Joseph home to his family with the bag of rice. I am really learning about the kids from those two boys and also from the Filipinos at our church. (We still have lots to learn!)

Joseph has 7 siblings and they are really poor. He has come to our house more than once asking for food or work. Some people in the area will send their kids out for those things, but it is so sad to me and I am still trying to understand it. Justin's parents both died when he was young, so his older brother is trying to support him and the others. I asked if they had money for their school and they said yes, but I think sometimes they miss school.

Maybe someday I will get to meet Joseph's mom and even maybe his dad (but that is another story). I just know that when Joseph works, he is a hard worker and he is so sweet and polite. I had some kids' music (scripture verses on tape) playing while he worked, so hopefully he learned some more truth about Jesus.

Our church is having an outreach to Joseph and the kids in his neighborhood (very close to our house). For Christmas our church is having "Operation Tsinelas" or "Operation Slippers". They call these flip-flops "slippers". Some kids go to school with no shoes or slippers even. Some kids have holes in theirs so their feet touch the ground. Some kids saw this pile of slippers and took another person's home, so they are without some. We are hoping to be a part of this outreach in December.
In the meantime can you pray that God will give us wisdom with how to respond to the kids that come begging at our gate. Pray for Joseph to know the Lord and love Him. Pray for Joseph's family to not depend on him but to depend on God and to provide for them. Pray that the kids will come to know Jesus this Christmas and for our local church as we reach out to them.

All Saint's Day

So sorry about the lull in blogging! Time is really flying by here! November 1 and 2 are holidays in the Philippines. Halloween is not that big of a deal because they have All Saints Day on Nov. 1. It is kind of like a mix between Memorial Day, American 4th of July and Ceremonial Worship. It is really interesting. Here are some sights I saw on my bike ride through the cemeteries. The people visit the graves of their relatives. They light candles for many reasons, depending on their beliefs. Maybe it is for honoring them or for worship or to show their prayers for getting them out of purgatory. I am still learning about the whole holiday.
There was a statue of Jesus I think...on top of someone's tomb. Lots of people were giving offerings to the statue of flowers and candles. I don't really understand it but I just observed this a lot.
This was at the Chinese-Filipino cemetery. They have whole houses for the dead there, and the families all gather inside and have a vigil and eat. They have different views in the Chinese culture I think--about ancestor worship and giving them offerings. You can see the offerings of food on this grave.
The families are all eating and hanging out, like on our American 4th of July, but they are here using the tomb as a table. Interesting. People were pretty friendly to me and no one really seemed too sad. They were all sort of celebratory because it was a time to gather with family.

Here are the children having a picnic by the graves.
In cemeteries where there are no houses for the dead, the living people set up tents and have sort of a camp-out/cook-out together all day. Here are some kids in the tent by their relative's grave.
This was a very common sight. Tons of candles and flowers for sale all lining the roads. They even had merchants from Donut shops and pizza places selling food making money at the cemeteries.
Also very common was to see people walking around with cans of paint. Every year on this holiday the family members paint a fresh coat on the graves of their beloved family members. It was the job of the men to paint and scrub and clean the tombs.
The kids all thought I was a famous person working for a magazine. They thought if they posed for a picture they could become famous too! So here they are being published world-wide on our blog!