Staff Blog

Many people who are familiar with CSC are familiar with Julieto. He hasn’t been around much the past several months because he’s been working as a baker. It was pretty exciting news when he got his job. You maybe read about it on facebook or heard about it from someone else connected with CSC.

I’ve been looking through old blog posts and seeing Julieto the other day made me think about some of the posts I read. He’s had quite a journey through his time at CSC and it’s been great to get to know him a little bit. You should get to know him better and read these two old posts!

Graduation Miracles

Baking with Jules

As I mentioned earlier he finally got that job as a baker. It’s common for many jobs in the Philippines for people to be employed on short contracts, usually six months or so. Julieto enjoyed his job and recently fulfilled his contract but he’s glad to have a little break. He was working very hard, often picking up overtime shifts and most of us rarely saw him.

That was last week and he’s already looking for more work. Please pray for Julieto and that God will lead him as he looks for the next thing!

I wanted to take this time to highlight one of our missionary staff---Uncle Mitch.  It is more likely that you find him behind the camera, rather than in front of it, so I had to search far and wide to find pictures that he is actually in!  ;)

Uncle Mitch cares for and invests in CSC's children.  And has for quite some time, as you can see!

He represents CSC well in all sorts of occasions.  And is a pro at groundbreaking ceremonies!

He is an organized, polished and entertaining emcee!

He lovingly prays over our kids at birthday parties!  

These are just a few reasons why Uncle Mitch is important to CSC's ministry and to our children.  Next week he will be speaking at GLOBAL, a major adoption conference, held in Manila.  Please pray for him regarding his speech and his time there, but beyond next week, please pray for him as he continues to oversee so many tasks that are integral to the smooth running of this ministry.

Erna Ahlmann is a former CSC resident who returned to CSC for the summer to work at Children of Hope School, filling in as an instructional assistant for a person who was on maternity leave.  Since Erna is an instructional assistant at an elementary school in Minnesota, this was a perfect fit.  A number of cool stories could be shared about Erna and her time in Cebu, so here is one story:

Actually this is going to be more about Tomas Marayan who is affectionately known as Bobong around school.  Bobong has worked as a maintenance man at the school since it opened in August of 1998!  He does pretty much any and everything related to taking care of the facilities.  If we have a question about anything at school, Bobong is the go-to guy.  He also does many tasks that are probably not really part of his job description like serving morning snacks to the kids.

Well, the first day Erna was at school and we introduced her to Bobong, he remembered her immediately!  I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised, but a lot of kids have come and gone over the years and Erna left more than 15 years ago.  But Bobong remembered Erna and he went on to tell her who her teacher had been (Teacher Grace) and where she sat in the classroom.  Wow! 

Later in the day, we had a problem with the laminator and Bobong was trying to fix it.  Erna jumped right in and helped Bobong, fanning him to stay cool and problem solving.  Right away it struck me how significant this day was with Bobong and Erna meeting each other again.  Erna went to Cebu to give back some of the kindness she had been shown.  Bobong had helped Erna when she was a very young girl and his heart is so big he even remembered her after all those years.  Here they were working together to help the children who are at the shelter now.  Priceless.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”      Dr. Seuss

Kind, generous people send all sorts of needed things to the shelter and school.  Earlier in the summer a couple of boxes arrived with an assortment of clothes, toiletries, shoes, toys, books and more.  BOOKS!  We’re always happy to get books at school.  We were curious as to who sent the books since we had not been expecting lots of books.  We were told that, once again, a wonderful friend who is a media specialist in a school had “secretly” given the books.

The kids noticed the books up high on a shelf right away when they came for library and asked if they could check them out.  Since the books needed to be entered into the library system and the usual person who does that work was on maternity leave, the kids have had to wait a bit to check out the new books.  Well, the books are ready now!  Thank you for giving these beautiful books. We are so blessed to have tons and tons of books.

“There is more treasure in BOOKS than in all the PIRATES’ LOOT on Treasure Island.”  Walt Disney

Hellos and goodbyes are rather routine at CSC.  We welcome new kids into our homes, and then serve them in a variety of ways including teaching, playing, sitting, poking at bugs, listening, hugging, healing, caring, and many other things.  Eventually, we have to stop and say farewell to these kids.  This is one of those bittersweet pieces of serving at CSC.  I don't like saying goodbye because these are kids I've grown to know and love.  And yet, I am grateful to know God has answered prayers by providing a family, in his perfect timing and way.  Sometimes it takes a lot longer than we would hope or expect, but God does a lot in the lives of the kids and families during this time.  It's a season of preparation and patience. 

But here we are, reaching a time soon when we will say farewell to a sibling group of 3, after years of waiting.  These are the same kids I took to Manila back in January.  I've also had the opportunity to facilitate their Skype phone calls with their adoptive family, and teach them American Studies.  As a result, I've gotten to know them well.  In the midst of it all, I know that God has ordained them to continue on their way to the next chapter of their lives.  I've been able to witness growth and change in the lives of these 3 young kids and I know they will be a blessing to their adoptive parents and the community where they will live.  While they will certainly be missed around CSC, I know they will be loved and cared for by capable and loving parents.  I have been able to witness the bond the children have with their adoptive family over Skype and I am eager to see them fit together as a family, in the unique ways God has prepared for them.  So while the goodbye may be challenging in the short term, the long term trust and knowledge that God has prepared them for a new life in a different country is what brings comfort and excitement.  I know God will continue to work in this family and use both the parents and the children to bring honor and glory to himself.