We are so impressed with the ministry of the shelter that we want to extend an invitation to you. Would you consider joining the shelter in financial and prayer support? Below are some of the things the shelter is doing. Please spread the word about the shelter and visit their website http://www.cscshelter.org/help/help.php to sign up to support them and receive newsletters.
The Children's Shelter of Cebu:
1. Searches out kids from all over the Philippines who are not being cared for and could be considered for adoption.
2. Intentionally brings in special needs kids and cares for them for their entire lives if adoption is not an option.
3. Provides quality schooling for all the kids at the shelter and modifies for special needs kids.
4. Has over a hundred Filipinos working at the shelter doing various jobs ranging from cooking to social work.
5. Gives the kids back their childhood where they do art, music, and athletics.
6. Gives the kids a schedule they can trust that includes meals, school, chores and play time.
7. Teaches the kids to attach to adults and to trust so that they can be adopted into families.
8. If kids are not adopted before they reach the age of 16 (or 18 if they have younger siblings) they are transferred to the teen home where they continue into high school, college and vocational training.
9. The shelter continues to support kids to help them find jobs, places to live and community once they leave the teen home.
10. And last, but not least, the shelter has taught over 700 kids who Jesus is, about His love for them and how to walk with Him. They learn to praise God, read and memorize His Word and be a part of a Christian community.
Please join Children's Shelter of Cebu as they reach the poorest of the poor, the fatherless and the defenseless with hope and the gospel.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Follow up Prayer Requests
Please pray:
That the 5 kids who were adoped last weekend will adjust well to their new families in the States.
That our churny stomaches will go away.
That God will use our stories to touch the hearts of prospective adoptive families.
That God will continue to bless the ministry of Children's Shelter of Cebu with financial support (the value of the dollar is dropping in the Philippines so they need more supporters), prayer support and adoptive families.
That God will provide families for the older kids and sibling groups.
That God will continue to use this trip in our lives to spread God's heart about adoption.
Praises:
We were pretty healthy on the trip.
We had a great time with the kids and were able to show them Christ's love.
We had safe travel.
We worked well together as a team and each fulfilled different roles.
The adoption forums went well and opened up dialoge about adoption despite cultural differences.
God is using Children's Shelter of Cebu in mighty ways in the lives of hundreds of kids!
That the 5 kids who were adoped last weekend will adjust well to their new families in the States.
That our churny stomaches will go away.
That God will use our stories to touch the hearts of prospective adoptive families.
That God will continue to bless the ministry of Children's Shelter of Cebu with financial support (the value of the dollar is dropping in the Philippines so they need more supporters), prayer support and adoptive families.
That God will provide families for the older kids and sibling groups.
That God will continue to use this trip in our lives to spread God's heart about adoption.
Praises:
We were pretty healthy on the trip.
We had a great time with the kids and were able to show them Christ's love.
We had safe travel.
We worked well together as a team and each fulfilled different roles.
The adoption forums went well and opened up dialoge about adoption despite cultural differences.
God is using Children's Shelter of Cebu in mighty ways in the lives of hundreds of kids!
On the road again. . .
What a long trip home! It took us 48 hours from the shelter to DIA. We flew to Singapore on Sunday and slept for 12 hours in the airport hotel-what a wonderful place! Headed on to Tokyo on Monday and then were delayed leaving Tokyo because a sick woman boarded the plan and Sheryl's professional opinion got her off the plane before we took off. Way to go Sheryl in stepping up to the plate when the airline needed medical personel. When we arrived in Los Angeles our bags were the last of 700 bags to get off the plane and given the hour delay, we missed our plane to Denver. This was not without trying. . . we ran around LAX with like 13 bags on carts to check back in and go through security after customs! Oh well. We got on a later flight but the luggage was put on a different flight that was delayed. I'm still not sure if everyone has their luggage yet! We arrived in Denver at 9:30pm on Monday night (Monday was the world's longest day as we crossed over the dateline in the Pacific Ocean!). Whew! We made it!
Sunday
On Sunday, we woke up preparing ourselves to return home. We packed our bags and headed to the shelter one last time to say goodbye to the kids. We did have time to play a few last games of marbles and tag though.
All of our goodbye pictures.
Before we left the shelter, the kids gathered and sang, "God will take care of you." It was very difficult to keep from crying as we considered being sung to about God's care from orphans. Amazing. It was very hard to leave the kids.
Later Sunday, 5 kids would be meeting their forever families and 2 would be going to Manila for their medical exams to further their adoption processes. Praise God.
All of our goodbye pictures.
Before we left the shelter, the kids gathered and sang, "God will take care of you." It was very difficult to keep from crying as we considered being sung to about God's care from orphans. Amazing. It was very hard to leave the kids.
Later Sunday, 5 kids would be meeting their forever families and 2 would be going to Manila for their medical exams to further their adoption processes. Praise God.
Saturday
What a day Saturday was! We met the kids at the shelter at 7am to take about 25 of them by Jeepnee 2 1/2 hours across the island.
We laughed as the kids passed out in the Jeeps and sprawled themselves all over eachother. Kids will be kids.
When we arrived to MoalBoal, we were greeted by snacks of fresh coconut and a beautiful white sand beach.
The kids swam and splashed in the water. It was amazing, many of them opened their eyes under the water! They searched for hermit crabs and caught tiny fish by hand. They buried eachother in sand and climbed all over eachother (and us!) in the water.
On our boad ride around the bay, we came across a whole bunch of dolphins. They came right up to our boat and jumped, twirled and played in our wake. The kids love them and most of them had never seen dolphins before.
After the beach we took a crazy drive up a mountain to a cave where we waded through cold water to get into the cave. It was amazing and most of the kids liked it. Some thought it was creepy because of the bats and the dripping stalagtites.
After another swim at the beach, we loaded the Jeepnees up again and headed back to Cebu. Once again, the kids slept and we were alert as can be praying we wouldn't get in a wreck given the wild traffic rules.
On the way home we stopped at Jollibee (their form of McDonalds which serves spaghetti and fried chicken!). What a day!
We laughed as the kids passed out in the Jeeps and sprawled themselves all over eachother. Kids will be kids.
When we arrived to MoalBoal, we were greeted by snacks of fresh coconut and a beautiful white sand beach.
The kids swam and splashed in the water. It was amazing, many of them opened their eyes under the water! They searched for hermit crabs and caught tiny fish by hand. They buried eachother in sand and climbed all over eachother (and us!) in the water.
On our boad ride around the bay, we came across a whole bunch of dolphins. They came right up to our boat and jumped, twirled and played in our wake. The kids love them and most of them had never seen dolphins before.
After the beach we took a crazy drive up a mountain to a cave where we waded through cold water to get into the cave. It was amazing and most of the kids liked it. Some thought it was creepy because of the bats and the dripping stalagtites.
After another swim at the beach, we loaded the Jeepnees up again and headed back to Cebu. Once again, the kids slept and we were alert as can be praying we wouldn't get in a wreck given the wild traffic rules.
On the way home we stopped at Jollibee (their form of McDonalds which serves spaghetti and fried chicken!). What a day!
Friday
On Friday morning, Shannon, Claudia, Brad and Kim rode a Jeepnee and a Hobble Hobble (the motorcycle up the dirt road to the shelter) to the shelter to experience the local transportation. What a blast!
Brad and Kim were able to see the kids begin their day at school singing the national anthem of the Philippines. We helped in several classrooms at the school during the morning and here you see the preschoolers singing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."
Sheryl was able to visit all the local hospitals to see the medical care and to gain understanding about why the shelter is in process to build their own clinic on campus. Tammy, Claudia, Shannon and Molly were also about to play with bubbles with the toddlers.
In the afternoon, we took the kids on bike rides. First the 9-10 year olds rode BMX bikes in a subdivision where the Baptist Missionaries have a retreat house. Here Al is helping a little one who couldn't quite reach the pedals!
We also took about 30 10+ year olds to a mountain road to ride the mountain bikes we bought. The kids had so much fun and worked so hard to avoid the dump trucks and motorcycles on the road. The girls rode the bikes up the hill (ladies first goes wrong!) and the boys rode them down.
Here the kids are bursting with excitement as they wait to ride.
The local kids gathered around to see our parade of bikers. There was a stark contrast between the local kids and the kids from the shelter. Our kids had joy in their eyes and freedom in their steps while the local kids carried the burdens of poverty and separation from God.
Praying before the kids ride.
The girls riding up the hill.
The boys riding down the hill.
Later Friday night we had dinner at Teacher Amy's house. It was there that Ruth, one of the social workers who originally started the shelter, introduced Brad to Belot.
She and Brad ate 14 day old eggs. The inside had a little grey bird surrounded by yellow yolk with veins running through it. Brad and Ruth ate an egg each and Tammy tasted the yolk.
During dinner we heard geckos barking or quacking or making some kind of strange noise and we did our best to dodge the bats. What a day!
Thursday
Well, the last few days of our trip were so busy that we were unable to update our blog. We'll recap. . .
On Thursday, we had a busy day. We started off with an adoption forum with the childcare workers at the shelter. Although they were very quiet, they did ask if Filipinos and especially the shelter workers were allowed to adopt the kids from the shelter. This was a major breakthrough because adoption is unacceptable in Filipino culture. Adopted children are considered to be maids or second class citizens. We were able to share with them that if Filipinos adopt Filipino children, it is free! The workers were excited as several couples have been praying about wanting to adopt children from the shelter.
After the forum and lunch, we did art projects with the kids.
The younger kids did necklaces and picture frames with foam.
The older kids made bracelets with their names on them out of beads.
After school we did another adoption forum with more of the teachers and specialized childcare workers. It went well and many great questions about adoption were asked. We had dinner at the shelter and then had the privilege of going back to the school with the kids to hear the praise band play.
The kids played drums, keyboard, guitars and sang. We were so blessed to see their hearts for the Lord and the talents that God has given them. They love to sing praises to the Lord. You can hear the kids singing while they work at school, while they play and while they travel together. How great is that?!
On Thursday, we had a busy day. We started off with an adoption forum with the childcare workers at the shelter. Although they were very quiet, they did ask if Filipinos and especially the shelter workers were allowed to adopt the kids from the shelter. This was a major breakthrough because adoption is unacceptable in Filipino culture. Adopted children are considered to be maids or second class citizens. We were able to share with them that if Filipinos adopt Filipino children, it is free! The workers were excited as several couples have been praying about wanting to adopt children from the shelter.
After the forum and lunch, we did art projects with the kids.
The younger kids did necklaces and picture frames with foam.
The older kids made bracelets with their names on them out of beads.
After school we did another adoption forum with more of the teachers and specialized childcare workers. It went well and many great questions about adoption were asked. We had dinner at the shelter and then had the privilege of going back to the school with the kids to hear the praise band play.
The kids played drums, keyboard, guitars and sang. We were so blessed to see their hearts for the Lord and the talents that God has given them. They love to sing praises to the Lord. You can hear the kids singing while they work at school, while they play and while they travel together. How great is that?!
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