Symanzik Family Update

Beth and I want to thank everyone for all of the prayers uplifted for our family. We have heard from so many of you who have let us know that you are praying for us. And we sure do appreciate it!

Beth and the kids have been adjusting well, though sometimes things are tougher for them. For me so far, the adjustment has been pretty smooth. Whether tough or easy, I know that God's grace is quite sufficient for us and that he will continue to see us through.

We have now been in Davao, Philippines for one month as of yesterday. Please continue to pray for us and our transition. We have been told that we will be in a time of transition for our first year or so. That is just normal.

Please pray that we will find a permanent house to rent soon. We are staying in guest housing now, and although it is quite sufficient and nice, I think that they whole family will be better settled once we are in a more permanent abode.

Please pray for our work here as well. I started working at my assignment two weeks ago and everything is going quite well. Although I cannot get specific on a public website, most of our readers know why we are here and I ask that you take our task to heart. I see the need even more now that we are here.

Please pray that God will be glorified in our personal lives. If God is not honored in what we say and do, what we value and love, and how we conduct ourselves when no one is looking, then everything else is a sham. Please pray that we will grow ever closer to Christ and that the light of Christ will shine through us to those who do not know him.

Thank you for your prayers.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. - 2 Corinthians 1:11

As this holiday time comes we will be celebrating with a tree ( a little live one, it will get bigger each year!!!)....... I brought our stockings over from the states and we will hang those up.
We've done our shopping in the noisy, crowded malls here.
Christmas in the Mall

Christmas in the Noisy Mall

But what our thoughts are continually drawn to is .....the love of our
Saviour Jesus Christ and his blessing of coming to earth to save
us........the peace that only he offers no matter where in the world we
are celebrating His birth....................the love of family and
friends, and how richly blessed we are.
May His peace be your gift for Christmas.

Peaceful sky at sunset

Merry Christmas from us!

I just thought I'd write and tell you that though our kids have their ups and downs with the move over here, overall they are doing very well. It is a blessing to me as a Mom to see how well they are adapting. Praise be to God for his mercies and grace.

Ben in HomeSchool Gym class with friends

Kirsten with Soy Yan and Joy, friends in her 3rd grade class

Mikayla with Danielle, Jean, and Rebekah after the Middle School Choir Concert - all friends in school

Kirsten enjoying fruit

Mikayla practicing clarinet

Ben with a coconut shell just broken open

Bugs? Yes, we have bugs. Little ants like to crawl around in the house though I have declared chemical warfare on them in my kitchen!
We do have a gecko or two in our home that are our friends. All buildings seem to have geckos in them and people just let them stay as they eat bugs. I think ours are doing a great job as the little ants in the bedrooms have lessened tremendously.
We took some pictures of a horned beetle and a snail we saw outside!
Thankfully I've only seen one cockroach so far and that was at the market, not in my house!!!!!

Snail

In the Filipino language, a Christmas lantern is called a parol. There's no greater symbol of the Filipino Christmas spirit than the parol. All through the Christmas season, star-shaped lanterns can be found hanging outside homes and along the streets of cities and small provincial towns, farms and fishing villages. Whatever the material or shape, the parol is a recognizable symbol to all Filipinos and represents the star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to the manger of the newly-born Jesus Christ.

The parol is a main component in the Filipino celebration of Christmas, which has become a Festival of Lights. The festivities cover the months ending with "BER" which are September, October, November and of course December. Christmas music can be heard sporadically in the beginning of September, and one could feel an increasing sense of the coming of Christmas as more and more Christmas songs are blared in the mall, played on the radio, and as more homes, businesses, streets and parks become brightly lit with wonderful colors. The malls and department stores are the first ones to decorate, and showcase their mangers and beautiful parols.

Christmas in the Mall