The Reason I'm in the Philippines

Dear friends and family,

At the beginning of this month, I reached the halfway point of my one-year internship here in the Philippines. I can't believe it's been 6 months already! In contemplating the last 6 months, I realize that what's always got me through both the joyful and the difficult times is the children that I'm blessed to work with everyday. I thank God for each and every one of them. As an expression of my appreciation, I've created a video dedicated to them and the immeasurable impact they've made on my life. However, this video is for them and about them, so this time you won't find any pictures of me in it.

This video is best-viewed on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHFwLXzFvg0

Our final DVBS took place in another remote area called Olongapo. Children came from all over to the church where we hosted the program. Some kids even hiked down a steep mountain each morning just to join us! I'm thanking and praising God for the impact we were able to make in the lives of these children - even if we could only spend a week with them. Not only were the children a joy to serve, but the environment also offered us some incredible sights and adventures. We were able to swim in the river, to eat fruits I never knew existed, and to hike a mountain just to visit the families of the children in our DVBS.

Our team hikes a mountain to meet the community.

Dirt roads in Olongapo lead to the small village where we held the DVBS.

Excited children line up hours before the start-time of our program.

Games and activities in the hot, hot heat of the day.

Our summer minsitries are now over, and June is "back-to-school" month in the Philippines. Our regular ministries with the urban poor in Metro Manila are resuming once again. The day care will officially begin on June 8th, and we're already recruiting more helpers/teachers and planning a revised curriculum for the school year. I've also enjoyed returning to the feedings and programs in Alabang and Sucat. Just yesterday, we took 15 street children from Sucat on a roadtrip to a place called Tagaytay. Here they enjoyed a nature hike near a volcano, a huge picnic on a hill, and even horseback riding! All of these experiences were a first for most of these kids, as they typically never venture beyond the squatter community they live in.

So great to see the Sucat community kids again!

In addition to a healthy meal every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday,
we're also giving vitamins to the kids in the Sucat community and
monitoring their health and weight.

In other news, Jared and I will be moving to a new apartment this week! We actually plan on moving our church and our team office to a new location. The only reason Jared and I chose our original apartment is because it was in the same building as our church and office. However, the new apartment will be just a one-minute walk away, and thus still situated near the squatter communities we're reaching out to in the city. If you'd like the mailing address of our new apartment, just send me an email and I'll gladly pass it along to you.

Thanks so much for reading! Take care and God bless!

Three DVBS's Down, One More To Go!

Dear friends, family, and framily (ie. the ones who are too hard to distinguish whether they're just friends or more like family...which probably refers to the majority of you),

April was a month full of excitement with so many DVBS camps (Daily Vacation Bible School). This is our way of reaching out to street children during the Filipino summer. On the rooftop of our building, we held a DVBS for the impoverished in our own community. I've really been looking forward to this DVBS, because we already have such tight-knit relationships with the kids. Not only do many of them attend our regular programs, such as the daycare and feeding initiatives, but these are the children I greet each day whenever I step outside onto the street.

Us crazy teachers singing and dancing on the rooftop.

The equally-crazy kids love dancing along with us.

Children from three nearby squatter communities came to enjoy a week of games, songs, crafts, stories, plays, food, and absurd amounts of fun. I'm sure even us teachers enjoyed the activities as much as the children. I could tell many stories of kids who experienced new found joy and friendships, and who really fell in love with Christ. The kids are thankful for the type of Saviour who leads people to care for them in a world that often seems to hardly notice them. We also want to thank God and give Him all the glory for guiding us and making this event such a success.

Nicole is also one of my daycare students.

Also, with regards to our community, please pray for more male role models. Most of the congregation in our church are women and children. One of our daycare kids - a 5-yr old named Princess - has a father in jail and a mother who works during the day and thus can't look after her child. Princess's mother has been worried about how she would take care of her daughter from the start. When she gave birth to Princess, she couldn't afford the hospital costs to deliver her with any aid from a doctor or nurse. Today though, she often tells our team how happy she is that we're here to help look after Princess, particularly through the daycare. Without a father figure, Princess clings tightly to myself and the other male teachers/helpers.

Princess (5 yrs old, bottom-left corner) - whose father is in jail
and mother struggles to earn an income during the day - is kept
off the streets through our Daycare and DVBS programs.

After the DVBS in Manila, we travelled to a rural area called Bataan for the next DVBS. However, instead of our team running the program, we encouraged the youth leaders of the local church to teach the kids and run the activities. Only myself and two other Filipinos from my team (Che Che and Rico) went to Bataan to help assist the DVBS - to encourage and empower the teachers as opposed to running the show. I admire the youth there for doing such a great job, and I was honoured to help!

Hiking to the Bataan DVBS site, some use umbrellas to combat the oppresive heat.

As the only foreigner there, I completely submerged myself in the community and culture. I felt blessed to meet many families who graciously opened their door to me, and I was able to really grow through new understandings of Filipino culture and language. I was even very inspired by the children there. In one of the remote tribes I visited, the elementary school only goes up to grade 4. Any child older than that has to walk for 2 hours just to get to the next closest elementary school. Many young children do this walk everyday, to school and back home again.

Notebooks, pencils, and hygiene supplies are packaged for each child in the DVBS.

DVBS teachers and students enjoy a meal together.

Zaira (nicknamed "Sy Sy") - my new best friend in Bataan,
we were truly attached at the hip ever since we met on the first day.

Thanks for reading my blog! Please keep my team in your prayers as we leave tomorrow for another rural community called Olongapo for our very last DVBS. Also, pray for the 120 children that we hope to include in our program there! Take care!