The Faith of the Abandoned

The first week of class in our orphanage I had the kids write a journal entry in response the the prompt, "What has God done in your life?"  To read many of the responses was moving to say the least. Answers such as, "God rescued me and gave me a new family and lots of brothers and sisters."  The stories of the children here at Love the Children are so breathtaking. Such bittersweetness to hear of their suffering but to see the hand of our gracious Father in protecting them.  One story from Ralph, a 14-year-old boy who had already left an impression on me, really stood our with his depth and wisdom.  Ralph's story started out like this:

"God is really good in my life..." He goes on to tell how God rescued him from a broken family. God brought him here and gave him a new family, he says. In his journal he writes, "God brought me here and I received Jesus into my life... Jesus gives me a new heart and teaches me to love people."  He tells about how though he now has struggles and problems, all is okay because Jesus is with him. He ends his journal by quoting Jeremiah 29:11.

Ralph was a child of parents who separated before he was born. He then was handed off to a grandmother who was unable to afford him, so he was sent to LTC.

The depth of understanding and simple wisdom with which he grasps the love of God leaves such a mark on me. Oh, to live life with that sort of gratitude. To live with the knowledge and reality of Jesus as our rescuer. To live not demanding an understanding or explanation for life's circumstances, but simply to live in love and obedienceto our sweet, sovereign Savior.

Ralph's humble statement about Jesus teaching him to love others really left a impression on me. Because, you see, I observe Ralph with such... appreciation? "Ate" love? Inspiration? The exact word doesn't come to me, but I can describe it this way: I watch Ralph, a leader of the younger children, interact with his group of little ones. Like an older brother, their "kuya." Indeed, he plays gently, rebukes sternly, and always, ALWAYS, greets me with a beeming smile and, "Hi, Ate Julie."  He works every day making peanut brittle, carries with him a maturity surpassing that of any 14-year-old I know. He is all but typical.  

I have felt since I met him that the Lord indeed has something special planned for Ralph. I feel sure that with the serious reverence and love for the Lord that Ralph already posseses, he will see the words of Jeremiah 29:11 come forth in his life.

Oh, and I did not mention what an incredible singer he is! I look forward to hearing that voice everyday.  To look at Ralph and know his story is a privilege I did not want to keep to myself. Like all the children here,their stories should be told, and their humble devotion to God a challenge to us all.

Praise the Lord for being our rescuer. He rescued these children from lives on the street, being left as loan payments, and attempted murders at the hands of their parents, and he has rescued us all from a life of sin and separation from him. Indeed, He is worthy.

-Julie

Saturday (College and High School) Fellowship

    This past Saturday, my team and I started having a Saturday Fellowship with high school and college students . Our plan for the remainder of our time here is to teach the gospel and how it applies to missions! For our first Saturday Fellowship, we were nervous about how many, if any, students would show up. As it got close to starting time, a few of us walked around campus and reminded people and invited others to come. About 15 minutes after it was time for it to start, only one person had come in, and I started to to feel a little discouraged.
    After about 15 more minutes of waiting; however, we had a room full of close to 30! We introduced ourselves and then we sang a few songs that the students knew. I shared my testimony and talked about how growing up in a military family made it difficult for me to be in church and really trust God.
    After I gave my testimony, one of the students shared his testimony and talked about his experience being in a military family. We could both relate. It was so cool to see how God used that tie to encourage both of us  through each other's stories.
    Julie began the topic of "What is the gospel?" and we dug through scriptures that explained what the gospel is and why it is important. The students got really involved, asking questions, and sharing their own thoughts on the subject. I really enjoyed the conversations that were brought up by the students during this time. We enjoyed a few snacks and spent some time fellowshiping with one another.
   The night ended well and we were pleased with the turn-out. We will have this time of disciplining and fellowship with the students for the remaining three Saturdays. Please pray that God will bring more people to this fellowship and that we can all grow in our walk with the Lord. Pray that God will speak through us and that he will receive all the glory and honor.

-Brittney

The Work of the Spirit at Home Visits

   Every Saturday, our team at LTC goes out into a nearby community and visits new believers that are members of a local church. Every week, we are left with impressions of their hospitality and warmth toward us. We are always treated with potatoes, cassava or bananas, and always some type of soda.

   Today was probably the most encouraging day for me with community home visits.

Our first visit today was to a widow in Baliok (a community in Davao). She has six children who all live in Manila. She has a sari sari in the front of her home.

    After introducing ourselves and listening to her sweet testimony, we began a Bible study looking at Genesis 22 when Abraham offers Isaac to God as a sacrifice. Our team was discussing this passage the other day, what an incredible display of faithfulness and obedience to God. Man, even now thinking of it I am amazed. No wonder Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness.

   Anyway, so here we are sitting around her table in her dining area. And as Jeffrey, our friend and supervisor at the orphanage, interprets all of our questions and comments, I wonder to myself if this woman thinks these four Americanas are simply full of it – as if we could have anything to teach her about faith.

I shared with her how much it means to me that Abraham always knew God would provide the sacrifice, yet he acted on what God requested of him anyway (Genesis 22:8). I told her how significant I thought this was – that no matter what we are going through; God always is the one who provides strength or whatever it is we need to get through our situations. Not confident that what I was saying was making any sense, I asked her what the Scripture meant to her. I looked down at my Scriptures. I looked up.

She was wiping tears from her eyes.

She began to share just about the grace of God in her life through many trials and how he has always seen her through. She shared about the strength God has given her. I sensed that this widow, who now lives alone and looks forward to visits on the weekends from children, experiences much loneliness.

We gathered around her to pray, and as I put my hand on her back I felt her quiet sobs. After our time of prayer, she joyfully served us pansit and sweet macaroni (not sure how used to that Filipino dish I will get).

Just before we began reading Scripture I felt led to just pray for the blessing of God’s word. We had already spent time praying, but I felt I should pray again.

The Lord just gently reminded me today that I need not rely on anything – any sort of planning or preconceived ideas about what he will do – but to allow his Spirit to have freedom and authority to reign and lead us. When I though surely this woman could get nothing from this awkward conversation because of all the translation, God was at work.  And I left with the peace that we had accomplished what we were supposed to accomplish. May I never limit when or how he will move. To him be the glory!

The team with a family from home visits

King Over the Flood

   When we say that God is the king of the flood, do we understand the magnitude of that statement? This week my team and I experienced the meaning. The heavy rains that came to Davao early on the 29^th brought with them flood waters that damaged the community of Matina, a place far enough from the orphanage that we were oblivious to the disaster until our volunteer coordinator explained it to us.
   The flood waters came from the mountain runoff and rose above first floor levels of hundreds of homes. We had no idea that the flood had come until later in the day when we learned about the waters that had risen at one in the morning. Instead of doing our usual VBS type work in the communities closer to our home, we helped the orphanage gather up loads of donation items to transport to Mantina. On the way, we saw different signs of the flood, trash thrown about, water damage, and a taxi nose down in a ditch. It wasn’t too bad until we slopped into one smaller community that was situated by the river that had flooded. Just taking a look at the buildings told us how high the waters had risen from debris and discolored bamboo. We met with a pastor of the church in the little community and he began describing the flood. He told us that many were able to go to their second floor to escape the waters that rose within a time frame of ten minutes, but that some, mainly small children and elderly, were not able to survive. The death toll from the flood was around thirty people the last my team asked, but I feel that the number now is higher.  It was difficult to understand how so many had died until we worked our way father into the community. We walked ankle deep in water and mud the whole way, and everywhere we looked trash and dirt and mud covered the floors of people’s homes.
    The faces of the people who lived there were grave and desperate as they waded around, trying to piece back together their lives. We slipped around fairly often, because we weren’t as nimble as our Filipino friends, and we had to be extremely careful, because there were sometimes sharp objects hidden beneath the coat of mud on the ground. After finally making it to the church we were going to help clean up, most of my team had removed their flip flops to better walk in the sludge and mud was flung up our backs from just walking. The church was covered! All of the items that could be saved when the family was awakened by the flood were stacked in the attic where the family had to sleep until the flood subsided. A thick layer of mud covered the floor of the church and every other item that had been underwater. We spent the afternoon taking pieces of plywood debris and using them to shove out the mud. It was a dirty afternoon, but it was nothing compared to what the inhabitants of that community were facing. It wasn’t just a visit for them, their lives had been drowned in a flood no one expected to happen. 

Scraping mud out of a flooded church

Some of the damage in Mantina

Community Outreach

    For our Tuesday outreach we tried to make it more interactive to get the kids involved in the Bible story. It was so cute to see them act out the story of Jesus’ birth from the wise men following the star to the birth in the stable. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, if the laughter was anything to go by. They are remembering the songs really well and participating more and more each time we come. I am excited to see what God it doing in these children’s lives through our team.

    Every time we go to outreach one of the older kids goes with us to translate. We headed out like our previous Fridays but when we met up with the Pastor of the local church, she brought us to a new place.          There were so many children, too many to count and too many names to remember them all. But one face I remember well. A five-year-old little girl stood in front of Brittney and started to sing her a song. I leaned in close to hear and was amazed at the little girl’s angelic voice as she sang, “change my heart oh God…” She sang another song with Brittney and then said a verse and walked away. We did not see here again the rest of the time we were there, not during the songs or the games or the Bible story.
    When it was time for the Bible story, all of the children gathered around and listened intently, even the adults were listening. When the story ended, we sang a song and then we had our question and answer game. Hands shot up to answer questions and we took the pictures of the winners so that we could give them prizes when we return next week. I can’t wait to see what God will do and show me through these children in the weeks to come.

Community outreach in Mantina

-Robin

Americano Breakfast

    A few weeks into our trip, we were asked to prepare an “American breakfast” for the children at the orphanage.  My team and I wondered what we would cook that could be considered American. A few of us voted for grits, but whenever I told one of the kids that I liked grits, they asked, “What is a grit?”  Grits were out of the picture.
    So, once we thought about what would be the most practical thing to prepare, eggs and toast seemed to be the perfect meal. We planned to be in the kitchen at 7am Saturday morning, but whenever I went to the laundry room at 6, the lights were on in the kitchen, so I woke my team up so we could begin cooking. My team and I went out to the chicken coop and scooped up close to 50 eggs. Once we got the eggs, we went and milked a goat for some milk. That was a challenge. After we gathered our milk into buckets, we had to walk a mile back to the orphanage so we could begin to churn it into butter for the toast. The toast had to be cooked one at a time over a fire, which finally set ablaze after we rubbed two rocks together for about 20 minutes. One of the pieces of toast burst into flames and we sadly had to waste a whole bucket of goat milk to put the flames out. That was a sad day. My team’s motto: “No use in crying over spilt milk.” Joke lang!
     Okay, so although my story does sound completely convincing, that’s really not how the morning went. We prepared the eggs over the gas stove and toasted the bread in a skillet and in a wok. Simple enough, huh? And of course after that, we had to prepare rice. What is a Filipino meal without rice? Yes, in America we like our eggs and toast with grits, but rice is a great substitute. Believe it or not, if my team and I don’t have rice at least 3 times a day with every meal, something is wrong. We feel empty on the inside…really. We’re becoming more and more Filipino the longer we’re here. When we first arrived, we thought it was strange that they always wanted rice, but now we crave it as well.
     Once breakfast was prepared, the children set the table and seemed really excited about their “American breakfast.” I guess you can say that we brought a taste of America to the children here, if you consider eggs and toast to be American.  It’s good so that’s what matters the most. Even Ate Susan, the cook, loved the meal, and that’s saying something, because she is an awesome cook.  So even though we didn’t really have to collect the chickens’ eggs, rub rocks together to make our fire, or waste a whole bucket of goat milk on the inflamed toast, we still had an adventure and a great time serving the kids. It’s always an adventure with my team. 

The kiddos enjoying their Americano breakfast

-Brittney C.

A miracle.

I hear her sweet squeaky voice, she is quietly singing one of her favorite songs. I praise God the sound. At only six years old she has already experienced so much hurt in her life. As a small child her parents separated, causing her mom to become mentally unstable. She even tried killing her own children not just once but three times.
When this little girl first arrived at the orphanage, she was afraid of everyone. She would not talk. And she would cry every night. She was only 5 years old, and already scared of life.
When my team first arrived, she was too scared to come near us. And she did not show any affection towards any of us. After a few days she warmed up and began talking. It is difficult for her pronounce words as she has a cleft palette. I think this is another reason why she is so shy, in a country where being the same is valued, she stands out as being different.
The other day she surprised me by crawling up into my lap and speaking to me in Bisayan, so I began to teach her English words. I also began asking her questions as I did so her face began to light up. Suddenly she was full of words to say!
Three nights ago, everyone was getting ready for bed and she put her arms around me and squeezed so tightly that I could feel her little heart beating. Then, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek and said, "I love you." in the sweetest voice, I think I have ever heard.
People kept telling me that I would come here and that the people would steal my heart- it's true. Being here has helped me to see the hurting world through God's eyes. This little girl is still alive, not just be chance but by the grace of God. She is here to be loved on and taught that she was created by God, that salvation is hers to have.
Her adorable squeaky voice, tiny arms, and her sweet crooked little smile has won me over and in just one week I have experienced one of God's many miracles!

Love the Children

     The children here are so talented, you can really see that God has blessed this place and the people here. All the children sing and dance.  They are constantly singing and playing whenever they get the chance. I love to wake up in the morning to the sounds of the children singing and playing their music. Everyone from the smallest to the oldest sings and there are multiple bands here that the children are a part of. The younger boys called the Joshua Band, have preformed for us many times the song ," I try to be perfect." They sound great! The older boys have a dance group called the Ground Shakers. they are preforming and practicing all the time.'


      My favorite time of day is the afternoons when we have free time. The kids will pull out their guitars and we gather at the gazebo. This is usually where we will just sit and chill and sing every song we know. This is also the time where they share about themselves and their experiences as well as their future plans. They all want to go to America.


    On our days off when we are around the city, we see all the kids and always think of the ones back at the orphanage and how much we miss them. At the end of the day we cant wait to get back to them, And the great part is they miss us too, they are always waiting at the gate for us to get back. 


Robin

Love The Children, Meet the Team

Robin

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2

Brittney, University of Southern Mississippi

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."-Matthew 5:8-10

Julie, North Greenville

“A father of the fatherless and a judge for widows, Is God in His holy habitation God makes a home for the lonely; …God is to us a God of deliverances.”  Psalm 65 

Brittney, Holmes Community College

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. Proverbs 31:25

 

   Yesterday was the first day of school for our children here at the orphanage. Because of the cost of the uniforms and school supplies the orphanage is now homeschooling. A school is going to be built adjacent to the compound at the end of this month and hopefully be completed in August.

   We began with an hour of English. I reviewed basic phonetics and the sounds the English letters make. Then I had each child write down some facts about themselves. Many want to be doctors and scientists. The second hour was math- some of them loved it and some of them hated it. I split them into small groups to practice with the addition, subtraction, and multiplication flash-cards we brought with us.

   Today in school I created scenarios of going on a picnic and going to the beach to show the children how math applies in everyday life. It was so fun! Everyone made up how much things would cost and how much money everyone had with them. (Two millionaires, and one that only had 5 sentimos!)

   These children are very smart and eager to learn. Education is a privilege to them and I must say I feel incredibly blessed to be able to be teaching them! It could be intimidating to teach them with the language barrier that is between us, but I have seen God's hand in it all. He has made me patient when I wanted to scream. Creative when I had run out of ideas. And energetic when my mind was screaming for nap time.

   As I stop to think of being here, not a full week yet, I am overwhelmed by the grace of God. May He get all the glory for bringing us here and living powerfully in us!

Please pray for...
The school building for the children.
Continued finances for supplies.
Energy for the team! (Morning starts at 4:45!)
Unity among everyone.
And for the health of each of the team members.

Thank you for your prayers!

Loving on Those Children!

Brittney, teaching the children how to write their names.

The people of the Philippines have an amazing ability to improvise. Since my team has arrived, we have seen just how hard life is for the majority of Filipinos. People here do the best they can with what they have to get the job done. It seems like the everything is made out of tin, concrete, and bamboo. This has given me a new worldview, it is not just the lack of having but the creativity to use what one already has.

The streets are crammed with tricycles and motorcycles with extra seating for passengers. (This is two of their forms of public transportation.) The sidewalks are vendors selling fruits, barbecue, raw meat, and even shampoo. Everyone and everything is close together... and a little crammed!

The Love The Children Foundation building, is nicer than most of the other houses in the neighborhood. Because it is built to hold many children it is much larger than the surround buildings. Although there are a few obvious repairs needed the campus as a whole is well maintained and cared for.

Day to day life is different here. Bucket baths are a part of life here. Washing clothes means going down by the river and washing them by hand. (A weekly task.) Rice is eaten at every meal along with a small portion of vegetable. (Whatever was the best price at the market that day that could be bought in a bulk quantity.) Even with all the hardships that seem so evident to me Filipino believers are faithful in praising God for the work He has done in their lives. Since our arrival we have experienced many things, the heat and sweat that seem to never end, schooling the children, and working in the kitchen. Cleaning is an all day activity when you have 30+ kids in one house!

Rice! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sometimes for a snack!

Community outreach is something that we do in the late afternoon each day in different locations. On Saturday we do house visits, and during the weekdays have VBS in different neighborhoods located near the orphanage. The children love the music and games. Even the adults like to sit in and listen. Please pray that we will be able to communicate the truth of the Gospel not just to the children but to their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents that standing in the sidelines listening.

God is giving us strength. Strength to wake up early. Strength to love the children. Strength to hand wash our clothes. Strength to share God's Word!

Thank you for your prayers for our team!

Brittany