The Mercers in Manila

School is now in full swing and right now it is very challenging academically. We have 21 hours of classroom time per week plus devotions and preaching in the mornings. This is all graduate level work so the guideline is that we are supposed to have 2 hours of homework for every hour of class time! That means just the academic load is 63 hours per week! I have papers due just about every day until mid-October which is our first scheduled break. October is also supposed to be our first international outreach trip. I'm currently praying about several possibilities. There is a new outreach in Myanmar (Burma) that Glen Nabarrete went to last year, there is a new church in Mongolia that Pastor Scott encouraged me to go to (and to take James if possible), and there is a new work in Hong Kong which probably needs help too that Sam Ng is praying about going to.

I will probably attend my first cell group meeting this week even though Pastor Joey Bonifacio, the leader, is still in the U.S.A. Satomi will also attend her first women's cell group this week. I am happy to see her getting plugged in. I have been hanging out with my classmates of course.

Here is a class picture that one of my classmates (who owns a photography business) took last week. Click on the picture if you want to download a full-sized version.


Here is the VLI (Victory Leadership Institute) building we meet in every day.