holy week

Here in the Philippines, the week before Easter is referred to as Holy Week,

and special church events and worship times are often scheduled 

in Protestant churches.

 We had the joy of spending part of last week at our church Holy Week Retreat.

Can you pick us5 out of the group photo above?

 Meals for the whole group were prepared in the little church kitchen.

 Kuya Ojie and Harold (above) are preparing camote, a popular Filipino vegetable, for dinner.

 Inday helps with dinner prep too.

What a great time to fellowship together, and to bless the people of God!

Michael, Amy and Elise join with a group of other youth in prayer

It was special time to focus on the Word,

to pray and worship together,

and to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Easter,

the resurrection of our Lord!

"If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; 

if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? 

The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching 

but whether or not he rose from the dead."

-Tim Keller