October Break!

This year for October break, we headed out of the city with another family. We spent several days at a retreat center-- Rizal Recreation Center, ran by long-time missionaries Joe and Ruth Mauk.

While we were there we enjoyed losts of green grass and beautiful tall coconut trees!

The second day we were there, we were able to have front row seats while some Filipinos were "harvesting" some coconuts! This included a REALLY long bamboo pole, with a knife on the end, a loud THUD as eight to ten coconuts came crashing to the ground, and then six inch DENTS left in the ground from the impact of the coconuts! :) Quite fun! ~ just don't stand too close!

Most of the time our kids spent their free time running around barefoot (a rarity) and being able to go down the waterslide!

Towards the end of our visit, Mr. Mauk demonstrated his "Top" to a Filipino school group that was visiting. It is said to be the worlds largest Top!

JV Boys- Soccer Season

This season Erin enjoyed the opportunity to coach the JV boys soccer program at Faith.

What a great opportunity it was to mold their lives and their skills for Christ!

At the end of the season the boys (JV and Varsity) were able to partake in a ministry trip down south-- to bless other teams and share God's love.

Erin has several more ministry opportunities on the horizon. Please pray with us as we plan and prepare for-- a soccer clinic at an international school, down south; a tournament with other Filipino schools in November; Saturday soccer games for elementary and middle school kids at Faith- beginning this next Saturday.

A4J-- up and running!

With the onset of several Typhoons through Manila last month, the news of A4J beginning, kind of got skipped over! So, we'll back up a little and share how that ministry is going.

On September 13 around 470 local kids showed up to be a part of A4J- our local "Sunday School" Bible club.






We passed out all 400 t-shirts that first day and those who didn't get in were still able to enjoy some fresh fruit and a gospel bracelet.



After Typhoon Ondoy came through and swept away thousands of homes, many of the local missionaries have been sharing their resources to help these families to begin again. Some of these families are our A4J families. We are planning a "feeding" in an updoming Sunday, A4J meeting. Someone offered their time and resources and we are planning to feed all the children and their families a warm and nutritious meal. Pray with us for an effective outreach to their parents as the Gospel will be shared to them as well!

How do I describe the things God has done?

How do I describe the things God has done?
GOD is GOOD. He is loving and compassionate.
This last week Typhoon Ondoy came over us, disguised as Tropical Storm Ketsana and dumped 15+ inches of rain in just a few hours.
The aftermath was a destruction of homes and the loss of many lives...
How is God good in this? Let me share the ways...

· An American friend, woman, missionary and mother of five-- Rides with a friend on his motorcycle as close as they can get before she has to swim through chest high murky water to get to her daughter who was waiting in the hospital to have her appendix removed. Meets her son “on the way” who happened to be waiting in traffic trying to get back home. They walk together and safely arrive at the hospital. Her daughter is doing well and recovering... God is Good.

· We watch from the fourth floor of our building as a landslide comes down the side of the hill behind us. God directs the flow down the driveway missing the parked cars and building. One car- in its path gets dirt in front and behind, but not into it... God is Good.

· Two single teachers head out early in the morning to run an errand, before the storm hit. The rains come, the streets flood and they must abandon their car and set out on foot. Texts are sent, calls are tried to be made, a friend is out looking for them... SIX hours later they show up at our building, soaked head to foot rejoicing that they made it back... God is Good.

· Volleyball teams and Cross Country teams were housed and taken care of as they couldn’t return to the school. Parents were separated from children or homes. All were reunited... God is Good.

· Thousands of people volunteered to shovel, wash, carry, clean, move, wash again... the homes and belongings of those that were flooded. People gathered supplies to distribute to the impoverished families whose shacks were completely wiped out. Medical teams gave of their time and resources to help the sick or injured. God is Good.

· The Filipinos across the city and across the nation gathered together to share their resources and to assist their “brothers”. The Filipino spirit to help and carry each other’s burdens is something to be honoured. Their perseverance and enduring spirit is commended. Their SMILE and compassion is an example the body of Christ should remember... God is Good.

This is only a FEW of the stories... there are hundreds more... there are stories that will make you cry such as a family of 11 all lost but one, families who struggled daily to survive—lost everything. But still, God is Good...

There is still much to recover and replace. If you feel led to help families—Missionaries and Filipinos alike—to rebuild their homes, you can send your financial gift to:

First Love International

PO Box 15836

Loves Park, IL 61132 USA

(815) 229-3065

Firstloveinternational.com

Please label it—FISH FAMILY and FLOOD RELIEF. They will send it to us and we will pass it on to families that are in need.

One last thing~ from a friend who’s first floor filled with five feet of brown murky flood water...
“...I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Phil 3:13b-14”

Typhoon Ondoy

This last weekend of September we were hit by a good size storm-- turned into a Typhoon just after passing over us. We recieved 15+ inches of rain in one day, when normally we only receive roughly 12 inches in the whole month... AND it was at the end of the month, so much of our normal rain had already occurred.
A large portion of Metro Manila has been flooded with huge damage to many homes and businesses.

I'm trying to get some pictures pasted on here, but blogger is not cooperating. :/

So I will post some links for now:

This is a great video showing the flooding in the are we live in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V6uRHxtQUM

Here is a news link with details of the area:
http://www.philippinesnews.net/story/548106

When you here the areas of "Marikina, Pasig, and Cainta" that is our neighborhood.

The Fish Family is safe and doing well. We were without power for 3 days. We have food and water, enough for several more days. We had no flooding in our home, thankfully.
The hill directly behind our building had 2 good sized landslides-- wanted to paste those pictures on here. No damage to the building or cars, but we were blocked in for a while.

Please be praying for the thousands of families that have lost their homes and belongings.
Pray also for the ongoing need of supplies of food and water to be replenished.

School at Faith has been cancelled for the last 2 days. Not sure about tomorrow. Many areas of the city are still flooded, but water has receded a good amount.

We'll post more later if we can.

First Day of School!

"Quick" picture before we headed out the door...

Summer ended for us on August 5th. The next morning we set those horrible alarm clocks and got up at 6 am to be ready for the first day of school!

This year Paul is in Middle School-- 6th grade; Samuel is in 4th grade; and Amy is in 2nd grade.

Another year older. Another year to make memeories.

Paul's Birthday

The end of July was Paul's 11th Birthday. Yeah!
He has entered middle school this year. (6th grade)
Such an awesome young man!
God has great things planned for him.
We are privileged to be a part of his life.








Happy Birthday Paul!

Summer 2009

This summer was lots of fun for the Fish kids! From camping, to bike riding, book reading to lots of Baths!! There were lots of good "summer memories" made to be stored up for later times... Now school is back in session, but below are lots of pictures of summer memories....




Once a week the library would open for a few hours for everyone to come in and check out books or return books. We had lots of fun finding fun books to read. THIS summer Paul had reading "requirements" since he would be entering Middle School. This of course was no difficulty as he is an avid reader and enjoys a good book (like his Mom!) Samuel on the other hand (shown above) could leave reading far behind if he had anything to do with it... He'd rather be out swimming or bike riding!



This Summer Paul and Samuel got to both attend camp in the same week (pictures below) and that left Amy home without any big brothers to "pester" her! So Mommy and Amy left Daddy to "wing it" on his own and we had our own little adventure for one night--- including FOUR baths at a nearby hotel! We don't have a bathtub so this was literally one of the biggest highlights for Amy!



The boys were at camp for 5 days and 4 nights. It really was not that long, but for Amy it seemed like a really LONG time... here she is anticipating the arrival of her brothers, coming back from camp...




Here is the "camp" bus pulling into the school parking area-- over an hour late...





Mommy and Samuel-- after his first experience at camp. LOTS of good memories and even tears on his part that it was already over. I'm so glad for him that he had such a great experience. He and his brother ended up not being in the same cabin-- which made Samuel a little apprehensive, but trusting God-- it all turned out well and he had a super time!




Paul turned ELEVEN this summer! Time continues to go by and we must celebrate each moment as it comes-- before long our oldest son will be heading off to college. But for now he's here and we are enjoying each milestone that he reaches and get to experience with him.
Here is Paul with his sister, Amy as she gives him his birthday present.



Paul and Samuel (too cool to hug, like their sister above)...

Blowing out eleven candles on his "Peppermint Angel Food Cake with White Chocolate frosting" (its gone now...!!)

Family picture 2009

Fish Family June 2009

Graduation Day!!!

That long awaited day finally came...
They walked through the doors of the new auditorium as the first class to graduate there...
When they came back out the doors, they were forever changed...

Out of 70+ students 10 of them received Outstanding Awards in various areas... 7 of them received sholarships from Faith Academy's various scholarship funds.

They were congratulated as being a class with 9 students with a GPA of 4.0 or higher--- lots of leadership skills--- and a class that caused some of the least amount of trouble.

All of the students have a special place in our heart...

Most of them we may never see again...

The Long Anticipated Senior Trip!!

May 23rd we woke up bright and early and met on campus at 5am (!)...
We loaded 80+ people onto two buses and started off on our journey...
3 hours later and one bathroom break (plus coffee!) we made it to the port and began loading into 3 large "banka" boats....



After getting off the bus-- we loaded our luggage onto a van-- then walked down to the boats-- unloaded the luggage from the van-- rode the "Banka" boats for an hour-- then transferred 80+ people to smaller boats to get to land... :)

The students had a blast enjoying the sun and each other! Some of these pictures I borrowed from our class ;)

Our last night there we were able to enjoy dinner on the beach! Tons of fun!

One last "group" photo before we headed back to the "real" world!

Thanks class of 2009 for such great memories!!!