FAMILY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND PARIS - Part 3

Hello again!

I just want to continue my blog regarding our family's vacation in Disneyland Paris on March 10-13.
















On the third day of our stay in Disneyland Paris, we went back to Disneyland Park during the early opening hours so that Jappy and Alyssa can take the rides that they missed especially those in Fantasyland. These rides always have long line-ups during regular hours.



They rode two of the most famous rides in Disneyland - Dumbo, The Flying Elephant and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups.

















We also went with them to the following rides: Peter Pan’s Flight, Le Carousel De Lancelot, and Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.

At 10:00 a.m., the Disney characters are once again out at the park to greet the visitors and take photos with them. We had the chance to have a photo shoot with Mickey Mouse outside his house and Alyssa was able to get his autograph as well.













Then off we went to the other themed park, the Walt Disney Studios. At the entrance, you will see its landmark, the Earffel Tower. The weather isn’t that good coz it was raining a little bit and it’s quite windy and cold. But it’s a good thing that most of the shows and attractions we visited were indoors so everything worked together for good. Praise God!







The Walt Disney Studios has four parts, the Production Courtyard, Toon Studio, Backlot and Front Lot.






At the Front Lot, you will find the entry to Disney Studio 1, usually the Disney characters are here signing autographs and taking photos with the guests. As you enter the studio, you will find various restaurants and souvenir stores. We ate our lunch here before going to the different attractions.
















At the Production Courtyard, the attractions you will find are “Stitch Live!”, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Cinemagique and the Studio Tram Tours. We watched the show “Stitch Live!”, an interactive attraction where Stitch interacts with you through a real time animation. We also watched the show in Cinemagique where the main character went to the different settings of various classic movies.


At the Backlot, you will find the attractions “Moteurs . . . In Action! Stunt Show Spectacular”, “Armageddon Special Effects” and “Rock ‘n’ Roller starring Aerosmith”.


We were able to watch the stunt show “Moteurs . . . In Action! Stunt Show Spectacular”. This is one of the best shows in Disneyland, we got to sit in the grandstand and watched spectacular car and motorcycle stunts being filmed in a village setting.








Next we went to “Armageddon – The Special Effects” attraction where we got to enter a space craft’s control room to experience what the stars of the movie “Armageddon” felt while filming the movie when they were bombarded by rocks from an asteroid causing fire inside the space craft.

At Toon Studio, you will find the attractions “Crush’s Coaster”, “Cars Race Rally”, “Animagique”, “Art of Disney Animation”, and the “Flying Carpets Over Agrabah.” We enjoyed watching the show at “Animagique” where we saw Mickey and Donald and a lot of Disney characters live on stage singing and dancing through the different Disney classic songs in various settings of the classic Disney cartoons. Jappy and Alyssa also rode the Crush’s Coaster roller coaster ride which is inspired by the “Finding Nemo” movie. In the “Art of Disney Animation” you will be able to watch the history of animation and try in your own hand some animation techniques.








We decided to go back to the hotel at around 6 p.m. But we ate dinner first at McDonald’s and had some picture-taking at the vicinity of our hotel where you will see the other Disney hotels and the Hot Air Balloon, that serves as a landmark for Disneyland Paris.






What a day! Whew . . . . But it was another fun day. We truly enjoyed all the attractions in Walt Disney Studios.

Until my next blog . . . . Thanks for visiting! God bless you. . . . . .

FAMILY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND PARIS - PART 2

Our second day in Disneyland Paris was much better because we were able to rest the night before and the weather was much better 'coz the rain stopped and it was a bit sunny. Although it’s still quite cold and windy at times, but being used to a cold place, it’s fair enough for us.

We had an opportunity to have a photo with Minnie Mouse at the lobby of our hotel during breakfast time. After breakfast, we proceeded immediately to Disneyland Park to enjoy the two-hour early opening exclusive for Disney’s hotel guests. We were able to enjoy some of the rides for two hours before it opens to the general public at 10:00 a.m.


Disneyland Park is divided into five major parts - Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland. It is not as big as the Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California so it's easier to explore.





Jappy requested that we explore Discoveryland first, so for our first ride we went to Star Tours, a spaceflight simulator based on the film Star Wars. For our next ride, Pastor Aldrin forced me to join them on the Space Mountain: Mission 2 ride, not knowing how thrilling it was! Huh...... At least, we survived it, although I spent most of the time in it closing my eyes. We all felt dizzy and shaken after the ride but it was our most unforgettable one. Then Jappy and Alyssa rode the Orbitron, a ride inspired by the sketches of a solar system where you pretend piloting a spaceship.






At 10 a.m., the park was opened to the general public and the Disney characters went out to the main plaza to greet people and sign autographs. There was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, and a whole lot more. . . . . Alyssa was able to get an autograph and photo from Pluto.










Next we went to Adventureland, we entered into a replica of an old Arabian town and visited Le Passage Enchante d’ Aladdin where you can discover the story of The Arabian Nights. In this area you will be able to explore different adventures like crossing a swaying suspension bridge, jumping across waterfalls and climbing a tree house called the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.



There was also a replica of a pirate land where we saw a pirate ship and a Skull Rock. We also boarded and enjoyed the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride where the pirates’ life and a pirate battle were relived.

Then off we went to Fantasyland. You will be welcomed in this land of fantasy by the majestic pink and blue “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle,” standing out against the sky.
Inside the castle, the romantic tale of Sleeping Beauty was told through the manuscripts and sketches on the stained glass windows.







We also explored and tried to find our way out of Alice in Wonderland’s “The Curious Labyrinth” and entered the Queen of Hearts’ castle.






Next, we sailed around the world through the “It’s a Small World” cruise, where you will see a replica of children from around the world dancing, dressed in their national costumes.






Alyssa was also able to get an autograph and a photo from princess Ariel, Prince Charming and Cinderella, and one of Cinderella’s mouse assistants.











Our next stop is at Frontierland, which has a Wild West setting.



The first thing we did here is we went on board the Mark Twain and Molly Brown’s steam boat, where we enjoyed a tranquil ride around a river.







We also visited Woody’s Roundup Village in the setting of the Toy Story.















Then we went to Thunder Mesa where Pastor Aldrin, Jappy and Alyssa rode the Big Thunder Mountain, a roller coaster ride, which eventually became their most favourite ride in Disneyland Paris.











Our 2nd day in Disneyland Paris ended by watching Disney’s ”Once Upon a Dream Parade” where we had the opportunity to see most of the Disney characters in their beautiful floats. It was truly an awesome parade and Alyssa and Jappy enjoyed it so much.


Whew . . . what a day!!! We went back to our hotel at around 7:00 p.m. and due to our tiredness we went straight to our room and dozed off to sleep to get ready for the next day’s activities.

Until next time . . . . I will be giving more updates on my next post.

Thank you for reading this blog.

God bless you all!

MISSION TRIP TO FRANCE / FAMILY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND PARIS - Part I

Greetings from Paris, France!

On March 9, a very snowy morning, our family left Vancouver to go on a Mission Trip to JIL Europe (France). This is a very special trip for Pastor Aldrin and me because we will be joined by our two precious kids, Jappy and Alyssa. Their two-week Spring Break in school started this day so we decided to bring them along with us so we could spend time as a family during their Spring Break. Thanks to our RBC Travel Rewards, we were able to redeem points for their plane tickets!

Even though our mission trip in JIL France will officially start on March 14 (Sat), we decided to arrive in Paris at an earlier date so we could have a short family vacation and spend time together in Disneyland Paris until Friday, March 13. We also found it a very good idea to bring our kids with us in some of our Mission Trips, whenever there is an opportunity, in order for them to see what we are doing in the work of the Lord and give them the opportunity to be involved and appreciate it as well.



We arrived in Paris on March 10, Tuesday, at 9:00 a.m. local time via an Air Canada flight. Pastor Vicky Tiesenhausen, our Area Pastor of JIL France, greeted us at the airport, together with some brethren. It was a pleasant trip except for some delays at Vancouver airport due to the de-icing that needs to be done to our plane, but we still arrive in Montreal at just the right time to catch our flight going to Paris. It was a rainy and cloudy day in Paris when we arrived. Pastora Vicky and Bro. Noel brought us straight to Disneyland Paris from the airport. It was almost an hour trip due to traffic. They just dropped us off at our hotel and they went back to Paris.

When we arrived in Disneyland Paris, we can’t check-in at the hotel right away because the check-in is still at 3 o’ clock, but they gave us our Park tickets already so we could roam around while waiting for the time. The weather is a mix of sun, rain and clouds. We went first to Disney Village and ate lunch at McDonalds.

The cost of food in Paris is quite expensive, it’s almost the same price in Canadian Dollars but it is in the Euro currency. A combo meal in McDonalds costs around 7 euro. The exchange rate is 1 Euro = 1.7 Cdn$. If you want to check the website of Disneyland Paris, their website is www.disneylandparis.com. I booked our vacation package through this website and their UK website had very good deals and special offers that made it more affordable for us. We chose to stay in one of the Disney Hotels, the Disney's New York Hotel.



Disneyland Paris has two themed parks, the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios. We visited both parks on our first day just to scout and plan what we will do on the next day. But when it started to rain quite hard, we decided to go back at the hotel, checked-in, and spent the rest of the day resting and sleeping to get ready for the next day. Although we were not able to sleep straight through the night because of jet lag and the time difference, we still tried to sleep the best way we can so we can have enough rest and adjust as soon as possible. Thanks to melatonin!

Our Mission trip in JIL France consist of a JIL 12 Summit on March 14, JIL Paris 18th Anniversary on March 15, a 5 day meeting of the JIL European Management Team (EMT) from March 16-20 in Cannes, and a Joint Anniversary of our JIL Churches in South France (Marseilles, Cannes, Nice, etc.) on March 22. We will be back in Paris from Cannes on March 23 (Mon) and will have our flight back to Vancouver on March 25 (Wed).

We are asking for your prayers while we are on this Mission Trip. I will be giving updates as much as I can about this trip through this blog, so please come back and visit again.

Until next time. . . . . God bless you all!

PRAYER AND FAITH

Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. " (NKJV)




FAITH IS A NECESSARY INGREDIENT OF PRAYER. Before we come to God in prayer, faith must be present. E.M. Bounds said that, "In any study of the principles and procedure of prayer, of its activities and enterprises, first place, must, of necessity, be given to faith. IT IS THE INITIAL QUALITY IN THE HEART OF ANY MAN WHO ESSAYS TO TALK TO THE UNSEEN." I totally agree with this statement. It really takes faith to pray and talk to someone whom you do not see and have not even seen. And it takes even more faith to trust and believe that He can provide answers to the petitions we will utter.

PRAYER IS AN EXPRESSION OF OUR FAITH IN GOD. Praying regularly sends a message to God that we trust Him, that He can do something in every situation in our lives. That's why when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he told them to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Jesus wants us to express our faith to Him each day of our lives through prayer and trust him for our daily sustenance.

OUR FAITH IS BEING KEPT ALIVE BY PRAYER. "When faith ceases to pray, it ceases to live" (E.M. Bounds). Have you notice that the more time you spend with God in prayer, the more your faith gets stronger. And the less time you spend in prayer, the weaker your faith becomes. When we don't pray, we are becoming more susceptible to satan's temptations, we tend to lose our focus on God, and we start to make bad choices and decisions.

OUR FAITH DETERMINES THE ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS. In Mark 11:24, Jesus clearly stated that if we "believe" we can have WHATEVER we ask for in prayer. This is a promise with a condition, and the condition is FAITH. We need to have a strong faith in God first before He can deliver the answers to our prayers. The kind of faith we need to have is the total trust and dependence on God's power and ability to do even the impossible things and fulfill whatever He promised in His Word.

As we have declared 2009 as the "Year of Overflow", let's express our faith in God through prayer and fasting that He can truly provide overflowing blessings in our lives and He alone has the power to release the answers to every petition we have. The more we become faithful in coming to God in prayer coupled with fasting, the more our faith will be strengthened. And when our faith is strengthened, we will please God and this will cause Him to unlock the door of blessings and release the overflowing answers to all our needs and requests.

Let us not get tired of bombarding heaven with PRAYING AND FASTING until we obtain the answers and the OVERFLOW. Believe and have faith that as we faithfully come to God in prayer each day, he is faithful to grant us the answers we need. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (NKJV)

JESUS IS STILL THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

WITH A FEW DAYS LEFT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
REMEMBER:

JESUS IS BETTER THAN SANTA . . . . .

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.
Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks.. and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO
JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.
Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.
Santa is a myth
But Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life
While Santa puts gifts under your tree
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.
It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.

JESUS IS STILL THE REASON FOR THE SEASON . . . . . .

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2008
And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year.

JIL CANADA ANNUAL PASTORS' CONFERENCE 2008

Last December 6-7, the Annual JIL Canada Pastors' Conference was held at the Hilton Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond, BC. It was attended by 46 pastors & spouses coming from the different provinces of Canada.

God has blessed us with his awesome presence especially during the "Soaking in the Spirit Session." All the sessions were truly inspiring and directional. I believed that each one went back to their respective Churches knowing what JIL Canada intends to do and where we are headed for 2009.


Pastor Aldrin taught on the "Character of A Pastor" during the first session. Some practical teachings were also imparted to us on the next sessions - Ptr. Bong Gonzales shared on "How To Minister Effectively", Sis. Millet Figueroa shared some information regarding MIS, Internet, website, etc. Ptr. Aldrin taught how to start a personal blogsite, use windows live mail and Microsoft Onenote and prepare a powerpoint presentation.

Pastor Aldrin also shared the Direction of JIL Canada for the Year 2009 including our Strategies and Action Plans.

After this, we broke out into groups (per area) to discuss the Strategies and Action Plans for each specific Area for the Year 2009.

The Area Pastors - Pastor Evelyn Licayo (Area 1); Pastor Aldrin Navo (Area 2); Pastor Bong Gonzales (Area 3 & 6); and Pastor Mary Juarana (Area 4 & 5), led each group in strategizing and planning for 2009.

Finally, during the Commissioning Session, Pastor Aldrin shared to us about "Receiving the Breath of God - His Holy Spirit."

Also, during this session, the newly appointed Pastors of JIL Canada for 2009 were commissioned by Pastor Aldrin. The Pastors who were commissioned were the following: Pastora Judith Abellanosa of JIL Ottawa West, Ontario; Pastora Edith Catayong of JIL Southeast Calgary, Alberta; Pastor Rex Solo of JIL Notre Dame De Grace, Quebec; Pastora Rowena Jagolino of JIL Toronto (5), Ontario; Pastor George Dela Rosa of JIL Winnipeg (2), Manitoba; and Pastora Delfa Tangonan-Nava of JIL Kitchener, Ontario. Congratulations to all of you and welcome to the Pastoral family of JIL Canada !!!


The Conference was concluded with a Dinner Fellowship on the night of December 7 where a Videoke Singing Contest was held among the Pastors. Congratulations to all the winners !!! You all did a great job!

We discovered that we have a lot of good singers among the Pastors and a number of them were worship ministers before they became Pastors. Everybody enjoyed the evening and had a great time of fellowship and knowing each other. Thanks to our emcees, Ptr. Bong Gonzales and Sis. Jovi Villanueva-Binalla.



On December 8, we all went to Whistler, BC for a sightseeing tour and for fellowship and bonding as well. Everybody enjoyed the Gondola ride going to the top of Whistler Mountain.





We also visited the Olympic Center located at Whistler Village. Truly, it was an enjoyable trip !!!



Thanks to all whom God has used to make this Pastors' Conference a success!!! God knows who you are . . .

Truly, we are so excited for 2009 and beyond for we know that God has still a lot of things in store for JIL Canada. We are not yet done !!! We will continue to conquer Canada for Jesus and even USA !!!

The declaration of JIL Canada and even the whole of the JIL International Operations is that 2009 will be a "YEAR OF OVERFLOW!!!" So JIL people, be ready for the OVERFLOW !!! . . . . It's coming . . . . . God bless you all !!!

WORSHIP NIGHT AT JIL VANCOUVER CHURCH - "UNDIGNIFIED WORSHIP"

Last November 21, 2008, a WORSHIP NIGHT was held at the JIL Vancouver Church. JIL Vancouver 1, JIL Vancouver 2, JIL Burnaby, JIL Richmond and JIL North Vancouver joined together in worshipping God in this momentous event.

The Musikatha Team, composed of Paul (Guitar), Marlon (Keyboard), Graham (Bass), Karmi (Drums), Joanne (Worship Leader), Dinah (Back-up), and Joey (Back-up) led the Praise and Worship. Sis. Edith Mendoza was supposed to deliver the message for that evening but because of the awesome and great presence of the Lord that night, the program was changed by the Holy Spirit and the whole congregation was led into a new level and height of worship - not just into WORSHIP BREAKTHROUGH but into WORSHIP OVERFLOW. We truly experienced a different move of the Spirit of God that evening. During the praise and worship led by Sis. Joanne, I felt so much in love with the Lord - an overflowing love. God also responded by letting me know and feel how much He loves me. When I talked with some of those who attended, they also felt the same thing - an overflowing love to the Lord.

Sis. Edith released a prophetic word that evening stating that the "JIL Vancouver Church is a birthing place. A birthing place for new things . . . . ."

During the Victory Proclamation, everyone was so excited to express their explosive worship to God. The congregation can't stop praising God and even though it's quite late already, nobody wants to go home. They keep requesting for more songs until Sis. Edith ask the Musikatha to sing the song "Undignified." When everybody understood the meaning of this song, everyone started to express their worship to the Lord in their most undignified way. Some of these moments were captured in the video camera and I would like to share it to all of you. But of course, it's different when you're there! I hope you'll enjoy it!





I pray that this kind of worship will not end on this Worship Night but will continue even in our Church activities and services in the coming days.

MAY THE SPIRIT OF OVERFLOW WORSHIP BE EXPERIENCE IN ALL THE JIL BC CHURCHES!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL . . . .


By: PASTOR MONETTE NAVO