Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Happy Birthday Princess Chesca!!!



As you know, Chesca held her birthday party on Sunday, July 27th. But on her actual 6th birthday which is Tuesday, July 29th, we had our simple but meaningful birthday celebration of our little girl. It was a wonderful day and a very memorable one, too! Watch the video and you'll see how she felt. We love our "little sister." She's adorable.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Day 33 - A Sunday with The Alvendias










We were invited by the Alvendia family (Bro. Rey, Sis. Grace, Marlon, Cherry, Glen) to the Community Assembly of God (CAG) church in San Francisco for worship. The pastor's name is Pastor Mary Stewart. Observation: the Church still sings pretty old songs--and we mean old (Alive forevermore....). It's a simple service.

At lunch, they invited us to HOKKAIDO, a Japanese buffet restaurant in Bridepoint Parkway, San Mateo, near Foster City. Tell you what, it's a lot "decent" ambience-wise (for as lack of better term, excuse me) than Beijing Buffet, but the latter has so much more to offer (and the food is great too). Don't get me wrong; the food is excellent--especially the Japanese delicacies. I had a blast! (Ehem, this is Len talking--hear the bias). Masarap!--That's from Jovell.

Right after that sumptuous meal, we went back to CAG for the evening service. Hear this: Bro. Mark and Kuya Arnel opened the church door. Right after that, the alarm went on! Somebody left the door opened and the alarm rang wen they walked in. We had no clue how to shut it off! The police car drove by twice and we really were expecting some police visits. But they did not stop in our location so we just waited for some other church people to come and do something about it. Apparently, it shut off by itself before the control guy set foot in the church.
It was a great time of fellowship with the Alvendias. Cherry let us ride her new car--it's very nice. Glen, the youngest, was driving. Marlon and the parents ride another car. We left the Taurus at the church parking lot. They are awesome people.

Another blessed Sunday for all of us.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Day 32 - FUN at its Best!







Today is the day! Yup, this is Connie's day!

But before the big night, the girls (Len, Jovell, Cheska) went out for a walk in the morning. We then dropped by Sonia's and Melanie's at 34th Ave before heading to the big place--Connie's.

The rest of the gang were there plus some more new casts. Of course, our hosts, Connie and Margaret, Bro. Herb, Jorge, Jen & Jeff, Stan, Marcos. We were able to share the vision with the group after a wonderful dinner. Connie had excellent menu; Margaret's rice was so good; Bro. Herb's steak is always the best.

We get to see Blackie too. He's now 14 1/2 years old!

Bro. Herb has blessed us more than we could imagine. He let us use his car, the Ford Taurus, for FREE for the entire period we'll be here. Amen!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Day 31 - THE SURGERY






As you know, Bro. Mark is scheduled for a surgery on his left shoulder today. We learned that a shoulder has four tendons; Bro. Mark, however, managed to have three of his tendons to be completely torn and was adviced to have a surgery. We went to Kaiser Permanente at around 12 noon. The surgery started at 2pm and lasted for three hours. We were released around 7pm.

This is also the first time for Kuya Arnel to be driving us. He'll practically be the pilot until Bro. Mark is able to steer the wheel again. Thank God for an international license! (Sis. Nora's been interceding all the time! --Wala namang takutan! Haha.)

Ate Junice & Kuya Norman bought us POPEYES fried chicken which we truly enjoyed. After dinner, we watched, "Behind the Mask." Now, everybody's saying, "I want my desk!"

Praise the Lord that Bro. Mark looks the same old him only with an accent of sling. He sure is a tough guy. God is our Healer.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

DAY 19 – Sun, July 06

Worship Service at Crossroads Christian Church
Message: “Are You Really Happy?”
Attend Prayer Meeting at The Gateway (Calvary Church) at Benicia
We met Rich, Bro. Mark’s friend who invited us there.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

DAY 18 – Sat, July 05
















Editing and Printing of Message for Crossroads Christian Church
Jovell’s Tour of downtown San Francisco
Lombard St. (Crooked St.), Coit Tower, China Town, City Hall
Watch “END OF THE SPEAR” – From a true story of 5 missionaries in Ecuador who were trying to reach the Waodani, a tribe of fierce warriors completely isolated from civilization. Wow! Powerful!

Friday, July 4, 2008

DAY 17 – Fri, July 04 (Holiday – Freedom Day Celebration)







4th of July Picnic with Bethel’s Filipino Fellowship at John McLaren Park in San Francisco
Picnic at Ate Junice & Kuya Norman’s backyard
Bro.Mark & me did the grilling…hehe!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

DAY 16 – Thurs, July 03








Went to Deppy in Burlingame, hang out at the Coffee Shop
Girls Day Out with Deppy – shopping at Traders Joe
Mark and me went to BEST BUY & Office DepotWe bought 3 PHILIPS mp3 Player & HP Photosmart digicam

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

DAY 15 – Wed, July 02

Funeral of Bro. Mark’s grandmother, Nana (98 year old), at Windsor California. Dadaanan ni Bro. Mark una ang mother ni Sis. Nora sa Richmond then and mother nya sa Rohnert Park.

Free Day para sa amin nila Arlene & Jovell….yehey! :-D
(Tuesday night pa lang nun sinulat ko ‘to. J)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

DAY 14 – Tues, July 01



What could be much better to start the day than to go to a Bible Study. Yup!….7AM we went to a B.S. of Bro. Mark’s friend, Larry just near where we live here in Daly City. It’s a B.S. for old people (age 50 above kaya alanganin talaga ako dun - wahehe). There were 5 of us (me, Mark, Larry, Bill, and the owner) The owner of the house is an 81 year old piano teacher and he had lost most of his sight (partly blind). Nasa Ecclesiastes chapter 7 na sila and after reading the Scriptures Larry threw in some questions and we had a good discussion. Mark also shared about why we’re here and why we’re staying for a longer period.

Ang maganda nito bago mag-closing prayer, tumayo yung owner ng house (kalimutan ko kasi name eh) at nag-excuse sandali tapos pagbalik may binigay na $100 kay Mark. Haha!…JACKPOT!…I mean BLESSING!…kulang na lang ng 4 zero and $1,000,000 na! Yes!!!

Well…well…well! This is also my “Secretary Day”! We answered some emails and finished the Newsletter para madala kay Cathy. Woowhewh…edit…print…read…edit…print…read….edit…print…read ….edit…print…read….edit…print…read…and finally we have a good copy to print and give to Cathy.

This is also Bro.Mark’s appointment day with his surgeon to find out the result of his MRI. Ayun naka-sked sya ng surgery sa shoulder Tuesday next week.

After we dropped by at Cathy’s house to give the copy of the Newsletter, we head to BORDERS (Bookstore-Music-Café) for our interview appointment with Joseph Pisani from Bethel Church. He was endorsed by Lauren & Ardiz of Bethel Christian Church so he can write an article for us. Ibinili nya kami ng coffee & tea dun sa Café tapos he started the interview with his Sony recorder. He asked us about the ministry and the Mission’s Center.
…..balik bahay.
[Len’s Account]

DAY 14

Today, we are exactly two weeks from getting off the plane in San Francisco. Mostly domestic work day. [Was asked to cook sinigang—again—for Ate Junice. Bro. Mark said I should start charging…heheh]

We went out to meet Joe Pisani, the guy from Bethel, who interviewed us for the newspaper article. We met at Borders Bookshop & Café next to Stonestown. Joe is a Maltese and half European descent.

Borders is a nice bookshop and a lot of interesting books. I saw a few books by Alexander Dumas (Count of Mone Cristo, Man in the Iron Mask, etc). Wonderful!