Coming Home

hey everybody. sorry we had no blog for the past week. i couldn't get online.

we're here right now at LAX (L.A. Airport) waiting for our boarding time. It's now 9pm Monday, and our board is at 10pm. We've had such a great time here in the States... but home is where the heart is!

So to all our friends who supported us, through financial blessings and prayer, DAGHANG SALAMAT SA INYONG TANAN! (Many thanks to all of you)

And to the guys in Cebu, see you VERY soon.

P.S. - ang pasalubong sa June pa moabot... bleeehhhh..

Almost Last Leg

We are preparing for our Thursday trip to California which would be the last leg for this year's tour :)

Here is the summary of the stuff we've done:

Apr 22 - we played for Lawtey Correctional Institution (a prison). it was the most responsive audience since, guess where, the other prison in North Carolina. Hahaha. It is a "faith-based" prison, meaning a lot of Christian influence.

Apr 23 - we played for the Wed night service at University Baptist Church for their singles ministry. 

Apr 24 - then the next day, we played for the chapel for University Christian School, both High School & Middle School chapels.

Apr 25 - CLF donor's banquet at First Baptist (Florida). we got to connect with a lot of our CLF supporters.

Apr 26 - traveled 6 hours to Montgomery, Alabama to Thorington Baptist Church.

Apr 27 - played for the church in the morning. Then we all went to Wyvette's house that night to have fellowship with our host families.

Apr 28 - drove back to Florida again and we're staying here until thursday.

Pls continue to pray for us as we prepare for California. Miss you guys. See you SOON!

more pics: adousa.multiply.com

What a week!

Let me recollect as much as i can. Here we go...

Apr 13 - we played for Baymeadows Baptist Church in Mandarin area. It was a good time. And then they took us to Sakura (a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you; very mesmerizing). 

Apr 14 - Kuya Les (& Patring) arrived form Cebu. In the afternoon, we "auditoned" for First Baptist, that's right, "auditioned". Thank God they were pleased with what they saw (& heard), enough to let us play in the main service (which is about, hmmm, only 8000 people).

Apr 15 to 17 - Orlando. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Check them at adousa.multiply.com

Apr 18 - we're back in Jacksonville & then we split up into 4 houses again where we'll be staying for a week.

Apr 19 - did soundcheck at FBC High School bldg. The 4 guys went to the zoo in the afternoon, probably excited to find their long-lost relatives  :)

Apr 20 - we played for the FBC High School. then we had to rush back to the main auditorium for the main service. FYI, First Baptist Church in Jacksonville is not 1 bldg, it is many bldgs. hehehe...

Anyway, it was really exciting to be playing for such a big crowd. A lot of people came to us after and told us how they were blessed. Praise God!!!

In the evening, we played for Gardenview Baptist Church. We met a lot of new friends there. And they were very excited about the videos we showed. They want to come out and do missions trip. Wow!

That's all for now. Thank you so much guys for your prayers. Keep it up. We have a few more weeks to go. God bless!

this week

the next day, we moved out...

Tuesday - we played for Mandarin Christian School (K-5th Grade) and they really got into it. We talked to the kids afterwards and they we're all high-fiving us, and saying they wanted to play like we do. It was flattering...

Then we went to see Ptr Wayne Dinsbeer (Stef Dinsbeer's dad) in his church called Baymeadows Baptist Church. We had dinner at his house before splitting up to our houses. A couple of the guys (Matt & Eph) are staying at the church. They're in the room called Prophet's Chamber  :)   I know what you're thinking. They must be prophets!!!

Today - we played for Baymeadows Christian School (K-6th Grade) and again it was really fun to play for the kids.  It seems they can really get into it quicker than the adults... hmmm

Then we had lunch with some friends here. Tonight we are joining  Bible Study at Baymeadows, we won't be playing though.

Tomorrow - we will play for Mandarin Christian School, but this time for the 6th-10th Grades (High School for us). So continue to pray for us. Our schedule is getting filled up daily. Praise God!

We miss you all there in Cebu.

more pics: adousa.multiply.com

also, there are a lot of changes in the sked on the left (more invites, check 'em out)

Promiseland Baptist Church

Hi y'all! hmmm... Looks like we're catching up to the Americans' slang now. hehehe..

Alright, here is the update on the last few days:

Thursday - flew out of San Antonio to Houston to Jacksonville. We met with Promiseland church members and made new friends. We stayed in 4 different houses  :)

Friday - we played for Promiseland's Singles Ministry. It was connecting time once again. FYI, Promiseland has been supporting our ministry for a looooong time, so it really felt like we knew them all these time. [P.S. the family that hosted Matt & Eph let them use a truck. "'giro kaayo si Matt!"]

Saturday - Lee & Katie (& Kayla) Tilka took us to an RV (Recreational Vehicle, kanang balay nga naay ligid) Camp in Daytona. It was a lot of fun. We played basketball, had hotdogs, & swam in their HEATED pool. It was very refreshing.

Sunday - we played for Promiseland's 2 services in the morning. And in the evening, we got invited to play again for their evening service which had a baptism and communion. It was GREAT! I think Adoration needed that spiritual boost. We do have more than a month to go...

Monday - we spent time with our host families coz we're moving out again the next day...

Brownsville, Texas

We've had a blast here at Brownsville. We met some old friends, and made new ones too...

Friday 7pm - We played at First Baptist Church. There were a lot of Filipinos at the "concert."  It was fun to play a long set, which we've haven't done in a long time.

Saturday night - we joined a Filipino community Bible Study. There were Filipinos from  different churches here in Brownsville & it was fun talking to them. We were surprised because a lot of them spoke or understood Cebuano, so it was fun.

Sunday - we played at First Baptist Church during their morning worship. After the service, the band and about 30-35 Filipinos went to a buffet restaurant and had lunch there. I guess the owner was happy  :)

Anyway, continue to pray for us. We're going back to Jacksonville on Thursday to play in a few more churches there. God bless!

Travel

... about 4am early. We had to leave for Jax airport at 4am coz our flight is at 6am. we had an uneventful trip (Jax - Nashville - San Antonio).

When we arrived, there was Ken & DJ waiting for us. It was great to connect with friends we don't see all the time. For the basketball guys out there, we went to see AT&T Center, home of the San Antonio Spurs. Then the 5-hour drive that followed, as you can guess, we were all sleeping (try waking up at 3am) most of the way.

When we got to the Soria's house, waiting for us was TINOLANG ISDA, SINUGBA, AND KINILAW! Yahoo! Oh how we missed them. Thank you uncle Glen for preparing that...

We miss you guys. Pictures & a video were just posted so check them out. Send us some more pics too, pls, esp from Quest...

adousa.multiply.com

Too Long...

Im so sorry guys for not being able to post the last few days. I will try to remember as much as i can  :)

We were in Jacksonville, Florida for 8 days but we all stayed in 3 different houses. The guys stayed at Aaron Tison's home (some of you guys may know him), the Cagases stayed at the Newmans, and the Tilkas (minus Kuya Les) with the Kays. Kuya Les had to go back to Cebu for 4 weeks to attend to church and office stuff, so we will try to manage the next 4 week without our leader. hehehe....

Wed - we attended a Communion Service @ First Baptist Church in Jax. FYI, it is a HUGE church, not just building-wise, but member-wise too. It was a great service, remembering Christ's death & resurrection since it was Good Week.

Sunday - we attended Access Church, a strategic partner of North Point in Jax. They were so happy to hear that we were partners with NPCC in the Phil. They are doing pretty much the same things Quest is doing so everyone there be encouraged, we are going in the right direction.  Then in the afternoon, we went to Stefanie Dinsbeer's house, remember her?

Monday - we visited CLF main headquarters. We got to meet Patti, Carl, & Jack Cummings (boss ni Kuya Les :)    Then they took us to Wasabi, a buffet Japanese/Chinese restaurant. KAON NA SAD! hahaha

Then that night we said our thanks and goodbyes to our host homes because we will be leaving early on Tuesday to fly out to San Antonio, Texas... 

South Pointe Fellowship (& Florida)

Last Sunday, we played at South Pointe Fellowship (Pageland, South Carolina) during their morning worship. Most of you know Gary Pierce, he is now the Worship Pastor and the Student Pastor for South Pointe. We had a great time there. It is a growing church. Morgan and Vaida (& her dad) were there too to "support" us! Thanks gurlz.

After the service, we had to hit the road again because Florida was about 5-6 hours of driving. So we needed to leave early to get there for a dinner meeting with friends from that area. Praise God for the safe travel. We got there about 7:30pm and we meet the folks at Cracker Barrel. For those who know what I'm talking about, the guys had a blast trying to solve the "Peg." We got to meet Lee (Les' brother) & Katie, Aaron Tison, the Newman's, and others too. It is warmer here than North Carolina, so it's pretty cool!

We are staying with the Newmans, the guys at Aaron's, and the Tilkas at the Kay's. This afternoon, Les "left" us to go back to Cebu for 4 weeks. Pls pray for his safe travel.

We miss you all and pls continue to pray for us.

FYI - in case u missed it, here is the new link to the latest pictures: http://adousa.multiply.com

Washington, DC

Wednesday - We left the hotel @ Virginia & drove 4 hours to Washington, DC (the US Capital). It was a very nerve-wracking experience (driving 75mph [120kph] in a 6-LANE Interstate Highway! And it's not like there wasn't any other cars, it was cars everywhere you turned! Thank God we didn't get into any accidents.

After settling in the hotel, which is actually in Maryland (another state w/c is pretty close), we rode the Metro (subway station) to the center of Washington, DC. We went into the Museum of Natural History & we had a blast. "Dinosaurs," "Mammals," "Gems," etc. It was all in there. And we got to see the Capitol, the Washington Monument, & a lot more places we only saw on TV & the movies. We were all blown away!

We had dinner @ a Mexican restaurant with Les & Saralee's college friend who now lives in DC. By the way, there are a lot of honking and crazy here in DC, too (murag Cebu).

Thursday - We went on a tour around Washington (our tour guide's name was Jimmy, pretty cool guy). We got to see a lot more historical & famous places. I can't write everything so i'll let the pics speak for themselves. Some of the places we visited: Arlington Park, Lincoln  Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Printing & Engraving (where they "make money," literally), and of course, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave (WHITE HOUSE)!

IMPORTANT: the old link was starting to get full so i made another multiply link to put the rest of the pics. its - adousa.multiply.com

BGEA, WorldHelp, LU

Sorry for the long layoff from posting, we have just been on-the-go the last few days. Anyway, here are the latest events (or as far as i remember them).

Tuesday - After playing at Samaritan's Purse devos on Monday, we got invited to play at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) staff devos for Tue. But since we were about 2 hours away, we had to leave at 4:30am, yup you read that right, 4:30am from Newland. Praise God we got there safely. It was great and people came to us and asked us a lot about our ministry. But then, we had to leave ASAP because we had a lunch meeting. So after the devos (9am), we stopped to eat for a few mins, then drove fast to Virginia (about 3.5 hrs away).

We went to WorldHelp Main Offices (Lynchburg) to meet with Vernon Brewer (President of WH) and we got a tour too. Then Kuya Les & Ate Sara took us on a tour through Liberty University, the largest Christian school in the USA.  That's it for Tuesday...

Samaritan's Purse

... we woke up early because we are playing at the Samaritan's Purse Staff Devotions. They had great equipment so we did our best to do them justice. Shen gave a small talk about how OCC helped their church. By the way, Operation Christmas Child (OCC), the shoeboxes, is a branch of Samaritan's Purse.

Then we got to eat breakfast with Kirk Nowery & Gary Lundstrom (in Samaritan's Purse chain of command, they are number 2 & 3, only Franklin Graham is above them). So naturally, we were privileged to have eaten with them. Not to mention the food was GREAT, as always.

We are now resting for another big day tomorrow. We will be playing at Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) main headquarters, for their staff devotions. We have to leave here at 4:30AM, yup, 4:30AM tom. Then we ride up to.... hmmm.... i'll let you check the next post for that  :) 

Pray for us!

Sunday

Hello everybody. it is now 3:15 pm Monday 3/10 (by the way, there was a time shift here in USA, so Pinoys are only ahead by 12 hrs only, not 13hrs anymores, okies?)

Yesterday, we played  for 2 services at Mt Calvary Baptist Church in Banner Elk, NC. It went well. Matt gave his testimony. And we got to connect with the people from the church. Some of them are coming to the Philippines this June or July so pls pray for that too.

We had lunch at this Mexican restaurant, and PRAISE GOD! We got to eat fried TILAPIA, and i mean the real thing. All it lacked was some vinegar, soy sauce, and sili... hehehe

After lunch, the guys from the church invited the band to play basketball with them, so we did. It was probably the first time since we arrived in the States that we actually had sweat. so it was good.

When we got home, we were all ready to dive in the bed and zzzzzzz..... also, because of the time shift, it was weird because when it was 8pm, there was still SUNLIGHT!

So we rested and on the next day..

SNOW DAY

Today is Sunday 5:54am (we just moved an hour for Daylight Savings Time) preparing for Sunday Service.

Yesterday, we had a very...brrrrrr.... COLD day! It started out with us hauling & chopping firewood in the house. Then we headed out to Blowing Rock, NC (which is a tourist attraction here). On our way we passed thru MAST STORE, built in the 1800's. So as you can imagine, floors are creaking everywhere  :)    That's when the snow started to really fall.

At Blowing Rock, the guys played in the falling snow (with the wind gusts hitting us straight in the faces), throwing snow balls, & visiting some stores. Some of our friends came to visit us & so we had more time to play... On our way to sound check at the church, we stopped at another church and sled in the snow. It was an adrenaline-filled experience. Not to mention really cold...

For those that can relate, the high yesterday was 4 degrees Celsius (39F). That is not typo, 4C was the high... and because we are used to 90F (32C) weather, you really feel for us... brrrrr.  BUT, we had a great, great time. Lots of pictures. And did I mention it was cold? :)

some pics will be from the Linville Caverns we visited last Thursday. it was cold (again), and very wet. i will let the pics speak for themselves... hehehe

Pray for our ministry today. We'll be playing in 2 morning services.

link - melshenvjynz.multiply.com

Prison Ministry

We went to Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution last Thursday and sang to about a hundred inmates. This has been one of the most impacting ministry events we've done so far! At first we were all scared (because as you know, these guys are in there for a reason). But just seeing the inmates listen to the music & the Word, and to see them smile, it was a blast! After the presentation, most of them approached us and talked to us, and some of them were teary-eyed while talking to us. Matt gave his testimony & it was great. He even prayed with a guy after the presentation. Too bad cameras weren't allowed inside. There was even a Fil-Am inmate we got to talk to.

For a study in contrast, their kitchen was almost like a student cafeteria (i think it was cleaner than most restaurants in Cebu, seriously). The "cells" (if you want to call them that, it was more like rooms) had their own bathrooms  :)  And security was SUPER STRICT! and many more...

Our next ministry is Sunday at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Banner Elk, NC. Pls continue to pray for us...

As usual more pics & videos at melshenvjynz.multiply.com

Walnut Grove (& misc)

We just finished ministering to Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church. It was a small church of about 40-50 people but it had a very warm atmosphere. Very nice people.

Yesterday, was sort of a rest day for us. We did laundry and went to the store to get some pants for the guys. Very cheap (second-hand stuff). Then we did some packing for our BalikBayan boxes (oy, ngisi dayon mga taga-Cebu)!

Then this morning, a couple of the guys went to ship the boxes out and the others hauled firewood for the house. Also, this morning something funny happened. FYI, the four "single" guys are staying in another house. Someone saw them going to this house, and because our guys were not familiar, CALLED THE POLICE! A policeman showed up at their door (and the owner was not there yet), and Eph had to do some explaining.. hehehehe... he was so nervous he didn't get a picture with the officer.

Pls continue to pray for us. we will be playing inside a prison tom. pls pray that the inmates will be touched by the songs.

more pics will be posted, as soon as i see more comments...  hehehehe

Back at Poppy & Mimi's

We are now back at the Tilka's house (in the mountains). This morning we went to Biltmore House, the biggest house in America. You can check it out at biltmore.com.

We had a great time at Tri-City last Saturday when we played during their International Banquet. We played for 45 minutes and everyone was impacted by the video we showed about Irene's story. Praise God for that!

Then Sunday, we played during the morning and evening services. We made a lot of new friends, as well as bonding with the old ones. It was a great experience. Pray with us that many people will be touched not just to give to missions, but also to be involved in a bigger way! till next time.

GIC

We just finished playing for Day 1 of GIC (Global Impact Celebration), the Missions conference of Tri-City Baptist Church.

Yesterday we played for Tri-City's Christian School and we had lunch at their cafeteria. Then at night we had a get-together with the people who went to Cebu on Missions Trips. There were about 25 of us in the Beasley's house.

This morning we had our eyes checked by Dr. Reeves and thank God everyone had "beautiful" eyes. Lunchtime, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings (MeL's favorite place) and we had a blast... as in BLAZING!!!

Then we went to Tri-City to setup our booth for the GIC conference. We played a couple of songs. we had a little trouble at the start but it went smooth after. More pics (AND NOW VIDEOS) on my multiply. Check em out.  God bless y'all  :)

Bunch of Pics

we just uploaded a bunch of pics, and i mean a BUNCH! here's a few of them.

check them out  -   melshenvjynz.multiply.com/photos

Moving Again...

Hello people. Its now 9am Tues here in Alpharetta, Georgia. It is raining here and very cold, as usual :) We will be leaving in a few minutes for Tri-City Baptist Church in North Carolina. It is about 4 hrs of driving from here.

Sundays @ North Point was very good. We got a tour of the whole campus (which is what they call their church since its so huge) in the morning. Then we went to one of their other campuses, Buckhead Church (about 20 mins drive from North Point). It is a high-tech bldg complete with all the lights, screens, audio stuff... wow!

Yesterday was part 2 of the conference & we split up during the breakout groups (KidStuf, Children, Service Programming, Small Groups, etc) so we can cover more topics. We had "Chick-Fil-A" for lunch :) the best chicken sandwich there is!!! I will be posting some more pictures (and possibly video) soon!

[for cebu people, i wont be posting any more pics until i see some from there too. para fair, di ba? i'm serious]

Anyway, continue to pray for us. Our first ministry date is on Thursday.

THE TOUR BEGINS...

Sundays@NP

We will be leaving in a few minutes to attend Sundays @ North Point here in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is one of the highlights of the trip. We expect to learn much from our new strategic partner, North Point Community Church.

We had a get-together last night with the Global X: Team Philippines last night at Matt's (Hulgan) place. We had so much fun. Everyone played on Rock Star (XBOX 360) and the Wii (Microsoft version of PS3). It was a great time. Pictures will be posted later. I will try to post some videos on YouTube and try to link the next post to it, so you guys can see us IN ACTION!

See you later. Miss you all!

Atlanta, Georgia

Its Saturday morning now in Atlanta, Georgia. Its still cold here, though. We will be meeting the North Point guys that came to Cebu. They will take us on tour this time. hehehe

In review:

Wed - we went to GrandFather Mountain, North Carolina. It was very windy that day (hapit mi mapalid, seriously). and also, as usual, tugnaw kaayo (very cold). we had lunch at their version of Larsian.

Thu - we went to Hawk's Nest Ski Resort. we didn't go skiing, but we did go snow tubing. everyone went down (including Kuya Les & AQ). And did i mention that it was cold...

After lunch, we were introduced to S'mores (marshmallow, hershey chocolate bar, and graham cracker all in one).

Fri - left Poppy & Mimi's house at 7am to drive down to Atlanta. its almost a 5-hr drive going down. MeL drove the other van. And except for the early exit on the first turn on I-85 South, everything went ok (Praise God).

We also got to meet Boyet & Bona and they took us to Ryan's Buffet (kaon na sad) & our first experience of Outlet Shopping.

Last night, we got to meet Billy, Matt (& his wife), Victoria, & Levy (u guys probably know her).

So, that's all for the past few days. God bless you guys. We love you all!

for more pics: http://melshenvjynz.multiply.com/

Snow & Rice

8:49am. still very cold here. brrrrrr.

yesterday, we got our first snow experience. we were on our way to the music store when the snow started to really fall down. we all ran out to experience what snow is all about :) we might be bringing some snow home too. hahaha..

after that, we all went to our 1st Wal-Mart visit. everyone was so surprised how the money here really goes a looooong way. and oh by the way, almost everywhere, drinks are free refills (sa ato pa, BOTTOMLESS). then last night, most of us got to talk to our family through skype so they're good for the next week :)

the best thing is, this morning Mimi (Les' mom) fixed RICE for everyone. YES!!! everyone was so happy to taste our national food again. but their rice is not ganador or NFA, its more sosyal (jasmine).

hope to hear from you guys...

more pics on http://melshenvjynz.multiply.com/photos/album/15/Adoration_USA

Its...rea...lly...cold.... here...BRRRRR!!!

sorry for the late pics. something went wrong with the internet at the airport so it wasnt uploaded. anyway, i got it now.

its now 9:52am. and its -8 degrees Celsius (for you Americans its 20F). Very cold. Brrrr...

its a rest day for us, so we're all just hanging out. We plan to go to Wal-Mart & a music store today. Keep posting comments. We miss you guys there in Cebu.

WE'RE HERE

Yahoo! After almost a day of flying, waiting at airports and trying to act calm :) , we have reached L.A. Airport.

We are now waiting for our connecting to Dallas which will then connect us to Charlotte, North Carolina. Another half-day of flying. Whew! America is THAT BIG!

Thanks for your prayers, guys. There was very little trouble (except for Eph's pedalboard, w/c we had to wait for half an hour to appear... hehehe) No problems at Immigration & Customs... pero nervous a little bit (which reminded us of VISA interview).

Here are a couple of pics (HongKong & LA airports). We'll post some more later. keep in touch.

D-Day

The day has finally come. We are excited, packed (almost), and ready to go. Even though we are excited to go to the States, we are sad to leave Quest behind esp now that we have all these new environments (2nd service, Waumba, UpStreet).

It is now 1pm here in Cebu. Our flight leaves at 7:50pm for HongKong and then... the 14-hour flight to L.A.X. (USA). Pls pray our safety, and also for the loved ones that we will be leaving in Cebu.

Alright, watch out for the next blog (which will have pix hopefully). God bless you guys. Don't forget to comment!

Almost... (pt 2)

Thank you so much for your prayers & support. Everything is coming together at the perfect time. God really taught us about something called FAITH. He has provided for airfare and most of the needed expenses. We will be trusting Him to provide for the rest of the funds for ground and travel costs.

Our schedule is posted on the left side of this blog...

Continue to pray for us as we prepare this week for the trip. God bless you all!

Almost...

This is the first post of Adoration's trip to the U.S. of A.

We will try to write as often as possible :) (with pictures, of course)

The band will leave on Feb 17 Sunday. There will be 10 of us (Adoration, Les, Brad, Nikki) going. It's gonna be exciting (maybe a little scary..hehehe) but with your prayers and support, we know all will be well.

So pls keep in touch & write us.

[FYI: to comment - click on post title (ex."Almost..."), click on Post Comment, Choose an Identity - Anonymous. Then fire away. Don't forget to put your name]

God bless.