I was greeted warmly by the participants. One priest who actually saw me at the Diocesan Headquarters of the Central Church of the Philippines asked me why I was going. I started speaking to him in Mandarin, and He dropped his jaw and said to me, "okay, I get it" in Mandarin.
We all went up to our meeting room a little before 7 for dinner. It was good, but unfortunately I can't eat most of it (shellfish allergy), but that's okay I ate enough.
After dinner the opening Eucharist was celebrated. We started by singing lots of praise music. The Liturgy of thenWord began, and I was able to hold my own and understand most of the sermon that the bishop from West Malaysia offered. It was good to be with everyone and receive communion together.
The diocese of central Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, West Malaysia, Los Angeles, California, Long Island, Melbourne, New South Wales and Sabah are all represented. No one from Hong Kong or Taiwan registered.
After the Eucharist we were broken into table groups to introduce ourselves and state prayer requests. At my table all spoke Mandarin. As it was already after 10 at night and I was tired, I began in Mandarin and asked if I could switch to English. They were all accommodating, and we're complimentary about my Mandarin.
We prayed for each other at the table and then went to our rooms.
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Location:Manila, Philippines
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