Another week, and this week has been seeing the rains more often - the rainy seasons are in and you get the occasional waddling through muddy, murky waters that fills your slippers as you make your way around. It also means extended time for story telling after kids club since the kids hang around as they wait for the rain to clear up a little, before heading back home!

There is always something magical about story telling and a big book, which seems to gather all the kidsʼ attention at a time, who are ever so eager to know what happens when the next page comes.

We had a coloring competition for the kids too - “My Timor, My future” was the theme, to let them know of the possibilities of having tall skyscrapers, and city looking buildings, that they know exists not in their nation, that Teacher LS was explaining, they could just possibly be able to see it in their lifetimes if they believe and work hard towards developing this nation together.

So they colored to the city looking picture I drew a couple of weeks back, and it was amusing how all of them took much time and effort to do up the picture, since they rarely do, with regards to coloring on the worksheets they work on before the kids club lessons begin. Perhaps the word, “competition” made them serious about their coloring and I still havenʼt have a clue yet, as to how to pick the winners yet, since they all look so nice.

While I was working on the storyboards of Siko and Bobo one of the days, this young boy came up to me, as many of them has seen me draw and stood there and just wowed at what they saw and said how nice it looked. He browsed through the entire drawings I had and he asked if he could have a piece of paper and a pencil, and he picked the picture that he liked most, and decided to start tracing the picture out.

It took me by surprise, because no one has ever asked and done what he did, but what was more surprising, was the picture he chose to replicate! It definitely wasnʼt one that I would choose, I mean I thought I had much more interesting and better looking pictures around, but he chose the one that I thought was actually the “ugliest” and the one that I was probably the least confident about.

So he drew the picture of Siko growing fat, and found a marker later, to trace it out, to look just like the one I drew. It was encouraging to watch him draw, that at times, the best way to learn, is simply through modeling after something that is of your interest. I started drawing too, through modeling what I see from a picture/book, and tried to replicate it as best as I could!

It is always humbling to have someone replicate something that you drew, regardless if the person was just a kid, but the entire incident made me redefine again what beauty meant and that it is always different to the eyes of the beholder.The picture that I thought was ugly was pretty in his and it felt like a God moment - to realize and to look at things, through His lenses and not mine and the importance and roles of models/modeling.

I took a hand at trying out, how to cut your own hair too, ever since I heard Francs doing it, I have been toying with the idea and since it will be the only chance to try it here and should the experiment fail, Iʼm away from home, no one would know right! It turned out alright, and it was actually real fun doing it.

This is my favorite baby from church - called Judah, who is a friendly baby that lets you carry him and smiles at you every time you make him happy enough :) Naza is in the picture, because she always catches me with the kids that I keep going “so cute” and she will go, “take picture!”.

She has been attending church with us more often lately. Since most of the people here come from a Catholic background, we donʼt go on insisting that they have to attend the Protestant church but we focus on studying the bible together, that draws us together, in regards to the teachers that we disciple.

Often, the gradual transition and transformation happens, when they become convicted enough by God, they make the switch to attend the Protestant church more regularly. All these doesnʼt go on easy, because of the persecution, verbal accusations that they receive at times from their own family, friends or just the community that they live in.

Things to pray for:

- Pray for Naza as she embarks on this journey of faith, as she digs deeper into seeking more of Him. She is down with Guardia (a stomach parasite) right now and pray for healing to be upon her

- Pray for the entire team and the local teachers too, for good rest every night and good health and for us all, to be focused upon Him as we share our lives and journey together. I believe God is moving among the local teachers, each in His special ways individually, pray that they will draw closer to Him as He draws closer to them.

- 2 teams will be coming in December, one from COOS and another from Kum Yan
Methodist, pray that God will use them in a mighty and powerful manner, that the
message of “I am Special”, will be brought to the children, that the kids will know that they are His precious sons and daughters. Pray that the team themselves will experience God in a whole new ways and be touched by Him :)

- My mom and sis who are visiting - I am actually really apprehensive about my mom! Pray that God will grant them the grace that the trip will a great one, to be able to view the
work here as not as hardships, but a focus unto the beauty of what God is doing in the midst of the people and in this nation. Pray that both of them will experience God in a whole new manner and a touch from Him and to know of His love for them.

- Cocoon as they journey on as an NGO (yes thanksgiving to God for a smooth and fast process of registering), that we will be open to any new ways of doing things/ programmes (eg. Soccer league for the kids?) that is upon Godʼs heart. Pray for His wisdom and revelation to be poured forth.
Alrightys, that shall be it for now! Thank you for praying, keep it coming! Loves,
Joy Joy