C.I. Outing

Each March, during a week of break for Singapore schools, our church has its C.I. outing.  "C.I." stands for Covenant Instruction--the classes that are taught to the children and young people each Sunday.  So this is an outing for the children and some of the youth, as well as their parents.  This year we went to the Singapore Science Center.

The first stop was the Human Body Experience, a special exhibit at the Science Center.  You enter a set-up of the human body by entering the mouth and climbing up the tongue, then slide down the throat and walk around inside the body.

The boys entering the mouth

Inside the body

The girls and Jason in the brain

After that, the group split up to go separate ways throughout the Science Center, including the water play area on a very hot day!

Jael and Jason having fun together

Some spent a little while on crafts.

The girls played games when they were finished inside.

We met back up again at lunchtime for a meal and devotions.

Kong Wee led devotions, trying to talk over 

at least 100 other people who were sitting near us!

And a couple more pictures taken before we left for home...

Church Visitors

Each year CERC requests a delegation of church visitors from the PRC to meet with the Session (council) of CERC.  This year the delegation was Rev. Koole and Elder Dave Kregel, and their wives were able to come with them.

The church visitors, our family, Jim VanOverloop, and two couples from church spent a day in the historic city of Malacca, Malaysia.

The streets of downtown Malacca

These colorfully decorated rickshaws are everywhere.

Buying the popular dessert cendol from a small shop along the street

Walking along a narrow street in Malacca after touring an old home

The ruins of St. Paul's Church

Malacca was ruled by the Dutch for about 150 years beginning in the mid-1600s, and the Dutch influence is still seen in the city.

We saw this Delft inside a museum.

A windmill in the center of town

All this Malay language--and then "Jonker Walk"!

Another day our family went with the Kooles and Kregels to Gardens by the Bay.

Inside the Flower Dome 

(a rare opportunity for Jason to wear a sweatshirt, so he took it!)

Great place for the owner of a landscape company and his former employee

The Flower Dome was decorated for Chinese New Year.

It's the Year of the Monkey.

Mary Kregel and Jessica

That's the walkway from which I took the previous picture.

Rev. & Pat Koole

Their last night here there was a farewell dinner at church for the church visitors and Jim VanOverloop.

 

Elder Kregel and Rev. Koole had to read poems 

to their wives, written by one of the young men here.

One verse of the Kregels' poem

Rev. Koole spinning a wheel to discover what his prize was for reading the poem

Jim had to do Charades and chose Joanne and me to guess.

The visitors also had other times of good fellowship with the people here.

Visiting at Lee Yang & Joanna's wedding dinner

Visiting and playing games in a family's condo

Dinner with the Teo family

(Notice the cake--Pat Koole had at least four birthday celebrations while she was here!)

We are thankful to the Kooles and Kregels for coming to Singapore and also to the PRC for sending them!

More Visitors

February brought a lot of visitors from Michigan to Singapore!  This was because of a wedding in the congregation here.  This is also the normal time of year for the annual church visitors from the PRC, and Rev. Koole and Elder Dave Kregel, along with their wives, planned their trip around the wedding.

All the visitors with Lee Yang & Joanna and Joanna's family

At the wedding dinner

The first ones to arrive in Singapore were Kelly Kaptein and Jim VanOverloop.  I will write this post about their time here and do more on the church visitors next time, Lord willing.

One of our first activities together was that East Coast Park bike ride we have come to love!

One of our kids' favorite babysitters from our days at Faith Church!

We saw this monitor lizard near the bike path.  I didn't take the time 

to get a closer picture because it was starting to move away.

The next day we met a few people from church at the zoo.

Megan, Emily, and Jessica

Elder Leong with the youngest ones:  

Noah, Jael, Gabriella, Megan, Jason, and Elijah

Waiting for the sea lion show to start

The whole group minus Dorcas, who took the picture

Both Kelly and Jim kept busy with other people from church also and really enjoyed the fellowship with the saints in Singapore.

And one final random photo of Jim and Emily enjoying durian ice cream in a nearby mall!

"God be with you till we meet again."