Touching Base!

Hi folks. Well, as promised, here is a few recent 'catch up' news items from Sefton Village.

* Visit of my family!
We had a great time with my family. Mum, Dad, Paul, Ashley, Nathan & Aaron all came to Sefton ... along with Monica Jack (my cousin's wife). We had a good mixture of mission/ministry along with some good old family time.

I am so proud of Paul & Ashley for bringing the boys here. They will never forget their trip I am sure. The boys made a great friendship with Pepito and it was a very sad day when they left.

Dad & Paul did a lot of preaching and sharing in the churches and at the Bible School. Monica sang every day I think ... in the churches, hospital, jail, Fire Centre etc. She went home hoarse ... but happy!

We loved having the gang here. It was great for Mary to have Mum, Ashley and Monica here. They enjoyed a good blether over a cup of tea on many occasion. We will never forget their visit.


* Visit of Dave & Madeline Russon from AoG World Ministries
The day we said goodbye to my family was the same day as we said 'Hi' to Dave & Madeline. We drove with them up to Sefton Village where they spent 6 great days with us. They spent individual time with all three families at Sefton ... and we ate so much along the way!

Dave and Madeline also ministered a lot - in the hospital, jail, st a Youth Camp and also at Cornerstone Utd. on the Sunday. Dave's message was spot on ... we need to sow our seed on fertile ground which the Lord will show us.

Their visit was a great blessing to us as a family. They encouraged us so much and we know that they are right behind us as a family and also the ministry at Sefton Village. Their counsel and advice was wise and we felt the benefit of their long journey here. Lydia and Josiah thought the world of them and Madeline was great with them. Madeline and Lydia still keep contact via text (and I'm not joking!)

* Visit of Gillian Saunders
Two weeks ago we had the blessing of having Gillian stay with us for 6 days. She is truly a friend of Sefton Village and she has visited us many times before. She has really helped Pastor Jun set up Powerhouse Kids Club and she was able to bring advice and wisdom to the team again.

It was good to see here again .., it was 2 years since we last saw each other. Unbelievable! Again we had lovely times of recollection as well as planning ahead. We took Gillian 3 times to the new Italian Restaurant in Santiago ... the owner is an Italian and he was amazed at the way Gillian spoke fluent Italian (without an English Accent!!) The food was authentic too by the way!

* The Pointon & Kerr families
Keith and Anne are doing well and have found their niche here at Sefton. Keith is doing a great work with the Cornerstone Pastors and runs a cell group for them every week. He is also very involved with the Bible School where he teaches various subjects, including English. He also preaches around the Cornerstone Churches every week and has a real burden for a German inmate at the local jail.

Anne is also doing great. She teaches English every day at the pre-school as well as teaching English once a week at the Bible School. She also is getting very involved in the Children's Home now and helping Mary a lot.

The Kerr family are adjusting to Filipino life .. not easy I can tell you! Their house is looking lovely and lots of their bits and pieces have arrived from UK. Madeline has been going to school for the last couple of months and is making some friends. Pray for her as it is not easy. She and Lydia are always together ... either best friends or best enemies! Usually you can find them dressing up, playing school, splashing in water somewhere or pasting on make up! Ariella is just beautiful and always has a smile for Uncle Mark.


Matthew is finding out what the Lord wants for him here. There are many avenues where he, and myself, feel he can really help us. He is going to take charge of all visitors and missions teams that come to Sefton Village. He will be in charge of Maintenance at Sefton and will be team leader to Heny, Jonathan & Edward. He will also be in charge of building projects in the future. He has a burden to help in the ministries in the Fire Centre and he will be responsible for the PE for the Bible Students every Wednesday afternoon. He will also be in charge of organising the Cornerstone pastors. Someone said that trying to organise pastors is like trying to herd cats! Matthew will also be helping is in the 'tecky' side, hopefully getting a website up and running at some point. So he will be a busy man!

Claire is finding her feet as a teacher in the pre-school. Things are a bit different here and it takes time to get behind life here. Claire has been spending a lot of time at KMGLC and has been getting to know the teachers. She will be responsible for the Christmas Program at the school this year and Mary says she has lot of good ideas! Mary and Claire are also spending time getting the plans and ideas for the new Elementary School organised. We are hoping to have grades 1-4 by June next year and there is much to do. Pray for them as they work out the way ahead.

Check out their blog for more news from Sefton - www.leekerr.co.uk

This blog is long enough already and my fingers are getting sore! I will blog about the following soon:

* Fantastic ministry opportunity at the hospital
* Nagassican feeding program for malnourished kids
* FEBC Update
* August Manio
* Great opportunities to minister to thousands in Santiago
* New kids in Children's Home

I am going to blog about the challenges of being good parents this week, so to bless you I have put a video of wee Josiah singing the grace this morning. He's a wee peep! Enjoy!

The Pringle Place!

Don't know why it is, but Sefton Village seems to be just as popular as Disneyland HK! Even though we are 'in the sticks' and literally hours (8) from Manila, the road to Sefton Village is always busy! We seem to have visitors, friends and family almost on a monthly basis! Our supply of Angel Delight, Salad Cream, Bisto and Tetley T-Bags never seems to diminish!

We were eating Pringles on the way up to Santiago and they have the catch phrase 'Once you pop ... you just can't stop!" And it's true! They are hard to put down after you peel back the wrapper. Claire was telling me that scientists did an actual experiment to find out why Pringles were so addictive. Well, sometimes I wonder if we should do an experiment about Sefton Village! People come ... and want to come back. And back again (with friends!) Why is Sefton so 'addictive'? Why do people always want to come here? We are in the middle of rice fields in the hottest valley in the Philippines. There are no tourist spots or nice beaches here!

Maybe you are reading this and you have been here already ... can you answer the 'Pringles' question for us???? Go on ... leave a comment for our survey!

Well, the Kerrs have arrived safe and sound and are settling into their new home, new surroundings and new lives. They have done so well. They arrived last Thursday near midnight but all of them slept well that night. And they have adjusted to the time difference with little problems. Amazing really ... but I guess that's what you call grace.

I showed them where to buy all the stuff they will need for their house and we shopped for two days solid! We managed to get 95% of what they needed so we were very tired ... but happy! We drove back up to Sefton on Sunday morning and the kids were great. It is a 7 hour drive and this time it took much longer as the people in Munoz decided to have the town fair right in the middle of the town and right in the middle of the main road! So there were tailbacks for miles. We were stuck for two and a half hours! Ah well, at least Matthew and Claire got to see the Philippines at its best! Can you imagine having a funfair right in the middle of the A92 in Scotland????? MMmmmm ... don't think so!

We arrived safe and sound on Sunday might and over the last few days they have been busy unpacking and getting organised. They have seen the great metropolis of Santiago. Keith and Anne have been great at helping out. The ex-pat community is growing ...

Next week more Brits will swell Sefton Village. My mum, dad, brother Paul and his wife Ashley, my two nephews Nathan and Aaron and my cousin's wife Monica will be arriving for a family trip to the Philippines. Mum & dad are regulars but it is the 1st time for the rest. Lydia and Josiah are totally excited about seeing their cousins here at Sefton. Every day Josiah wakes up and says, "Is Nathan and Aaron coming?"

The day they fly home we will be driving Dave and Madeliene Russon back up to Sefton. Dave is the new World Ministries Director for AoG and they have never been to Sefton. So we are looking forward to seeing them again. Two weeks after that we have Gillian Saunders from Bolton coming for a week. She is no stranger to Sefton and is a good friend. She help set up Powerhouse Kids Club here in Santiago so she will be checking out how things are going.

In December we have a short visit from Maureen and Brenda who are great friends form Cornerstone Singapore. They know Sefton Village well as they helped cover for us during our last itinerary. They are both very special and it will be good to see them again.

And then, before we know it, it will be 2008! And probably people from all over the world will (slowly) make their way to the 'Pringles Place'.

A Warm Hello from Alison Tait ...

Hi everyone ... well, true to her word Alison Tait is going to do the first ever 'Guest Blog' on the Real Deal. Alison, her husband Michael and niece Jemma Rose have been here at Sefton for the last week and we have had a great time with them. Here is what she wants to share ... well done Alison!

" A warm hello from Sefton Village - a place where you never know what will happen next. This is our third visit here and we always enjoy spending time with Mark, Mary, Lydia and Josiah and our Filipino friends. We have also enjoyed fellowship with Keith and Anne, who just cooked us Paprika Beef and trifle for tea. It's very hot here - some rain is always welcome. There is so much to tell you about, but here are just a couple of highlights.

On Tuesday we set off to a local school where we met the Cornerstone team who fed around 700 children some rice mixed with lots of nutritious ingredients (5 hours of cooking was eaten in 15 minutes!) The teachers were desperate for us to do a programme for the children, so pastor Jun spontaneously arranged some games, singing and prayers with the children. They loved it and their smiling faces showed it. That's when you know you're in the Philippines - when unplanned stuff happens with such blessing.


Today (Wednesday) we had an early start, first to the Cornerstone office for a short time of worship and prayer, before about a dozen of us went to the local government emergency hospital. We were told that the patients would be laying in the corridors but nothing prepared me for the smell and to see these people, most of them on drips, laying on their own camp beds outside, with a small roof covering them. The team went in twos into different wards and corridors, getting to know the needs of the people and praying for them. They did this with such love and respect for these patients honouring the name of Jesus.

Sefton is a colourful place in many ways with beautiful people...

Be My Guest ...

How are ya?

So much has been going on over here and it is hard to stop and catch a breath! Mary has been ultra busy with the start of the new school year and it became even busier because one of the Teacher's assistants started a new job without informing us! We are so glad Vivian could step in to help ... she has done amazingly because she cannot speak Tagalog. What a gal!

So Mary has to do interviews ... yyeeeuuuchh ... not what we wanted on top of everything else going on.


Josiah is doing well as school. After 4 days he is going into the class alone and really enjoying it - especially the stories (in Tagalog!) and the songs! Funny story: they were playing this game where the kids have to shout out their name when the teacher points at them. Well, at home wee Josiah has convinced himself that he is a certain cartoon character, and as Teacher Mary Jane pointed at him he shouted, "I am not Josiah ... my name is Pingu!" LoL!!! Wee Josiah, sorry Pingu, is a scream and I think his sense of humour is going to put a smile on many faces throughout his life.

The new students at the Bible School are doing great. I prayed for 40 students ... and that is the exact amount we got! We have 26 full time 1st years, 10 full time 2nd years and 4 part-time students. I will get a picture of them for the next blog. We had our 'Welcome Party' last night - what a laugh! We all enjoyed it so much. Pictured below is Philip, one of our new students, going through the pain of the 'stocking' game! Now, what kind of farmyard animal does he look like???!


I have a favour to ask you. At the right hand side of my blog, just under the pictures, there is a new wee graphic saying 'Please Sign our Guestbook'. Sometimes, as I write the blog, I wonder "Who is actually reading this?" I look at the Cluster Map and see many dots all across the world, but I have no idea who you are. A few people put in comments, but usually nobody leaves their name.

So now ... here's YOUR chance to sign our Sefton Village Guestbook and let us know who you are. Just click 'Please Sign Our Guestbook' and away you go. I would love to know who you are and you can even leave a wee comment there. Maybe you have some ideas for my blog that I could integrate? Let me know. You can also see other people's entries.

Can you take 2 minutes and sign our guestbook for us ... please??

Will blog again pretty soon. So much to share. Right now I have a Leaders Cell group to go to and then a Leaders Meeting to lead. Pray for us as we seek to serve and honour the Lord in everything that we do.

Oh, by the way, did I mention about you signing our guestbook???? ............

The Start of the Scottish Invasion!

Well, I am back from Manila (in one piece!). Crazy, crazy people on crazy, crazy roads. Seems like the most logical and acceptable place for some Filipinos with big cars to overtake is

* just before the brow of a hill
* at the outside lane of a hidden bend
* on the hard shoulder when all the rest of us have stopped for roadworks

Yup, I think we have seen a few 'near misses' in the last few days ... but praise God we are still in one piece. I am not joking! Had to laugh though. Many cars in Manila had these car stickers ...


...so funny!

We had a great service at Cornerstone United on Sunday. We had a lot of people there and we had the visit of a YWAM team. A local Pastor spoke about how we need to live in the grace and power of God. Really exciting to be there.

We left on Sunday afternoon to go to Manila. Wow, what a long drive. Monday was the first day of classes here in the Philippines and I think that every car, truck and bus was on the same road as us! We arrived there at 11pm, but safe.

Had a great time with my wee girl in Manila. Lydia behaved so well and really enjoyed herself. She thought she was a really big girl because she helped her daddy and took care of him! (I am only 38 ... not 83!!!) On Tuesday Vivian arrived and Lydia was over the moon to see her 'Aunty Viv-ee'. We left for home on Tuesday afternoon .. and we had a traffic-free journey! Bliss.

From now on it's all systems go as far as visitors are concerned. Vivian is here now and we are also expecting an Australian couple from John Partington's church in a few weeks. I am going down to the south of the Philippines to the island of Palawan to preach at my friend's church. On the way back we will pick up a team of 5 young adults from Cornerstone Singapore. They will be here for a week's mission and will minister in the church and at our various ministries and outreaches.

I will drop them off at Clark airport on July 2nd and then continue down to Manila to pick up a team from Fraserburgh. My cousin Elizabeth and her husband John are coming out with their two beautiful girls Libby & Milly. Another family is coming with them - David & Grace Strachan and their two kids and last but not least is a lovely young lady from Fraserburgh AoG called Kirsty. Lydia and Josiah are so excited to see their 'sorta cousins'!

They will be here until the 19th July and on the 26th July more friends will arrive - Michael & Alison Tait with their niece Jemma. They have been such a blessing in so many ways to Sefton Village for many years and this will be their third trip. It is always great to hear their enthusiasm and encouragement as they see what God is doing. Michael and I also share a love of good food ... believe it or not!

They will leave on 14th August and we have no visitors until October 2nd when some of the Ritchie tribe arrive. I am so delighted that my brother Paul is coming out with his whole family - Ashley, Nathan & Aaron. I am looking forward to some 'nephew time'. My mum and dad will be coming with them (their 123rd trip!!!) and also my cousin Alexander's wife Monica will be coming. She is so gifted in singing and songwriting and she has made two beautiful CD's.

Of course, at the end of September the newest part of our Sefton Team will arrive - the Kerr family. They will be doing the Missions Course at Mattersey and then coming out to join us here. We are about to start renovating their house next week. Please pray that all their practical plans will go smoothly and that everything will fall into place. They are so brave and we know that they will be such a blessing to Sefton Village.

There is word that my other brother David might be coming out with a friend at the end of the year ... so it is all systems go!

And that's not all ... it seems like Sefton Village is in hot demand for Missions Teams. In March, a team from Mattersey, led by Dr John Andrews, will be coming for a fortnight. In April, our good friend Pastor Steve Ritchie is working on sending out a team from Fraserburgh AoG. There has also been contact from a three churches in Scotland who are in the planning stages of sending teams out from their churches next summer.

Phew. It's all happening.

Please pray that, for every person and every team, they would be a blessing ... but be blessed. They would give a challenge ... and be challenged. Be an inspiration ... and be inspired. Bring change .... and be changed. For every sacrifice they make to come here ... God would send the fire on their altars. For every hope and vision they have ... God would do more.

This is my hearts desire ....