Staff Blog
For most people, getting on a plane to Cebu City, Philippines is a glamorous occasion. It’s exciting to see a place on your itinerary that many people have never heard of…a place that’s exotic, tropical and far away.
Mitch and Ruth Ohlendorf are on their way to Cebu as I write, but I doubt glamorous is a word they’d use to describe their departure. Their year of home assignment in Minnesota, USA has come to an end. They packed up their lives (again), left two beloved sons behind at college and returned to a ministry that moves quickly and requires incredible flexibility, diligence and commitment.
Mitch and Ruth leaving Minnesota is another sacrifice in a long list of sacrifices they’ve made for the homeless children of Cebu. They’re not jet setting off to see a far-off world for a couple weeks. They’re returning to their call. They are the hands and feet of so many who care about orphans. Mitch is our Cebu Executive Director and Ruth is Outreach Director.
Here's a glimpse into their call to CSC via a short interview:
How did it first hit you, "I want to work for CSC?"
Mitch: When I was in Cebu the first summer on a short-term mission trip. I was in a group of seven that wasn’t working for the shelter, but we were based there with social time at the shelter. I knew that first summer, at least by the end, that God was calling me to this work. I didn’t have a moment where I fell to my knees or saw a blinding light. It was a progression that happened as a result of the whole experience.
Ruth: I grew up not wanting to work with “snotty kids!” But then I saw these big Americans working with and hugging the most malnourished in our community. Here are these handsome men and beautiful women coming to our country and doing this hard work. This changed my attitude towards the children, and I couldn’t help falling in love with them. You could see the physical difference in the children after they came to the shelter.
Looking back at this point, what are some highlights of your time at CSC?
Mitch: Certainly the development of our facilities. It’s a highlight to work hard with those who made it possible through giving. Of course, it’s thrilling when very large sibling groups or children with special needs are placed for adoption. Those children who had equal opportunity at CSC, but less of a chance at adoption due to various circumstances. Being part of that process. Any day spent doing things with the kids is a highlight for me.
Ruth: Looking back the first heartbreak I had was when a girl named Arlie left for adoption. When I started working full time at CSC she was one of the kids who would go around with me in the village. When she left I could hear her calling to me and that was really sad, and I really missed her. When Arlie returned to Cebu a few years ago that was so exciting. Since she left in 1983 I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again. When we said goodbye back then we never knew if we’d see a child again. Now, kids come back, but that wasn’t always a given. Being able to see them and knowing how they are now is a highlight.
When was a time it really struck you you’d changed a child's life?
Mitch: Any time that I do the matching work for a child. It’s a very burdensome, weighty time knowing I have the responsibility of choosing a family for a child--a family for the rest of their lives. It also hits us when we see children at home after they’re adopted. Seeing the ways they’ve been blessed and even challenges they’ve gone through, seeing them continue in the Christian values that they learned while at CSC, especially as they start their own families. It’s important to see the cycle of abuse, crisis and trauma being broken. Sometimes you see what the kids have come from and wonder how they can break out of that, but many have. A boy named Mark having a hole in his heart and seeing him rescued from that and having the life he has now. A girl like Anna. She would be dead if CSC hadn’t stepped in. She and her sister both had sepsis, she survived but her sister didn’t. Everything we do each day, whether major like placing children for adoption, or spending 5 minutes giving special attention is changing their lives.
Ruth: Roselyn and Julieto, two of our Teen Home residents. I encouraged Roselyn to think about going back to school after it became clear she had just settled on being a beautician. She want back to high school and now she’s in college and almost graduating. Julieto saw this and wanted to do the same thing. Roselyn became an example and now Julieto is graduating from high school. We have outreach kids (children who were returned to their birth family) who have graduated from college. With CSC’s help, they’re able to make this happen.
What does it mean to you to be called?
Mitch: To do what you would not otherwise want or feel equipped to do. I think if you didn’t feel called you wouldn’t be in the ministry as long as we have. There are many encouraging things, but there are also many discouraging and difficult things. Being called is about persevering.
Ruth: Hard to see kids make the same mistakes others have made. Instead of learning, they repeat them. But if you’re not there for them, they don’t have any other family. You are their family. I think that’s what calling is really about at CSC.
What would you tell a young person who is interested in a career in missions?
Mitch: It’s a chance, along with many challenges, to live a life filled with incredible blessing and reward and joy. You’ll have done something that’s changed a lot of lives.
Ruth: You’ve heard the phrase you receive more than you give. CSC is very much that place. You can never give more than you receive. There are times you don’t feel good, and going to the shelter makes your day. The kids are excited to see you. They just make you smile.
Well, Mitch and Ruth Ohlendorf make us smile. We are thankful they followed God to his work for them at CSC.
The Waiting Game
The other day Marlys and I were waiting to talk to Jenny's doctor. We had been told that she was in and that we could see her at 3:00. We waited and waited. It wasn't until 4:50 that we finally were able to see the doctor, after almost two hours of agonizing boredom.
As I was sitting there on the hard bench, I thought about Marlys, and the hundreds and thousands of hours that she has spent waiting in doctors' offices, laboroatories, hospital rooms and various other waiting rooms over the years. The number of times that she waited for several hours would be too many to count. Most doctors in the Philippines do not take appointments, so its first come, first served. And many times the doctors get delayed and are very late in arriving. Another factor is that we have always tried to provide our children with the very best doctors available in Cebu City. And these quality doctors are usually the busiest. So she often had to wait. Sometimes for most of a day. These days we have several nurses on our medical team that can share the waiting time. But Marlys still is one of our "waiters," sitting in crowded and noisy waiting rooms, holding babies or trying to keep active children occupied. She does it for the sake of these kids, and I'm amazed at how she has been able to do that for all these years.
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A few minutes at CSC
The best time to visit CSC is between 3:30 pm (kids get out of school) and 5:00 pm (the bells ring for the kids to do chores or go in the house for bathtime and getting ready for supper.) If you are here between these times you will see a yard full of kids doing an amazing number of different things. It never ceases to impress me how many things can be going on in our playground at one time!
I took a few minutes to take some photos this afternoon. I know I missed some of the action but we had kids busy playing with basketballs, soccerballs, foam bats and baseballs, frisbees, playing the infamous "rubber band game", catching bugs, swinging, climbing, practising their gymnastic skills, biking, taking some time to be alone, visiting, and last, but certainly not least, trying to decide if a tantrum was in order or not....
Spoiler alert - apparently it was.
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The History of Wishing
We've got a great history of wishing at CSC. Even before web sites, Amazon.com and e-mail announcements, we had lots of things that we wanted for the ministry. It was just that we didn't have a way to make those wishes known to lots of people - certainly not in a timely way. We usually just put an occasional blurb in our quarterly newsletter or mentioned these things in personal letters to our families and friends.
It has been fun watching how people have responded to our special projects list on our CSC website. But this isn't just a recent phenomenon. Since the very beginning of the ministry we have seen people respond in amazing ways to the things that we have needed and wanted:
- Way back in 1980 Sandy mentioned in a letter to her family that we really could use a vehicle to get around in. We were starting to take in kids with medical and mobility needs, and public transportion was not working well for us. Sandy's brothers responded by providing the money for us to buy a brand new Ford Fiera jeep. It lasted us for more than 20 years!
- Shortly thereafter, one of our board members was visiting Cebu and he noticed how badly we needed another bathroom. Perhaps he had to stand in line with the kids and staff to use the one bathroom that we had in our only home. We figured that we would need $1,000 to build a new one, and when he got back to Minnesota the money had already been donated!
- As our ministry grew, our list of supporters also grew. Our stateside office was in need of some software to help us manage our address list and keep track of donations. Software was very expensive in those days, but a dear friend of CSC gave $6,000 so we could get the very best software available at the time.
- Another time, a generous supporter asked us to make a wish list of items that were not on our budget, but that we felt would really help the ministry. We made a pretty long list of things, including recreational equipment, a computer, a vehicle, books and bunch of other items. After receiving the list he told us that he would buy everything on the list!
- We had a visit several years ago from a supporter who lives in Manila. He asked us to name a current need for the school. Shari Reasoner thought for a few minutes and mentioned some curriculum needs at the school. When pressed for an amount, she made a educated guess of $11,000. Our friend said he'd double that amount!
- We were invited to join a baseball league in the city but we didn't have any gloves, bats, or other equipment. A supporter who loved our kids and baseball saw to that need, and donated everything we needed to outfit a team. And a generous lady in Cebu had fancy Twins uniforms made for us for free! We were the best looking team in the league.
- The mere mention of the need for things like a televisions/VCR, growth hormone medications and wheelchairs resulted in donations of each of these items. One lady heard that we needed a wringer washing machine and she gave us hers and had it shipped to Cebu! One short-term missionary had come out with two computers, huge portable units that were the most streamlined models available back in that day. When he went back to the States he left one of them for us. Need any musical instruments? Well, a xylophone would be great. Ok, I'll send you one!
Each step of the way, for 34 years, God has given us the basic needs of the ministry, and the desires of our hearts for special things that have enabled us to offer our children the very best care possible. We have had a long history of wishing, and seeing those wishes fulfilled by generous friends who hear and respond.
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Teacher Tam
Tammy Vosika is closing out her time at Children of Hope School after teaching here for eight years. Tammy started at CCHS in June of 2005, but her relationship with CSC started a long time before that. She had visited CSC a number of times and her family adopted four brothers in the late 90s, so she had deep connections before even starting her teaching time in Cebu. Now she is leaving, heading back to Minnesota to start a new chapter in her life. Wow! Will she be missed!
Tammy has touched hundreds of kids' lives throughout her time here (she counted about 250 kids have passed through the doors during the time she has worked in Cebu), but Tammy has made the biggest impression on the older kids. Tammy taught in level C (grades 4-6), so she had the kids as they studied the harder stuff at the elementary level and as they headed into their teenage years. She taught American Studies to the kids after they were matched with their forever families, contributing to the kids' transitions to their new country. Tammy became known as the cool science teacher. Truth be told, Tammy was terrified to teach science at first, but she grew to really enjoy it and she helped develop the curriculum for our school.
Tammy is a fun person and she loves games, so she often has been the one to encourage the school staff or kids to try a new game. Tammy's gentle spirit has been an encouragement to her fellow teachers. Her pure love for the children has been evident each day. Thank you, Tammy. God's peace to you as you go...
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Opening up
Our kids have been opening up a lot lately. A dental team from Lindstrom, Minnesota has been here taking care of their teeth, and it has been an interesting time of bravery, fear, trembling and lots of hard work. Dentist and great friend of CSC Matt Struve, reports that they treated 250 teeth, with fillings and extractions, and cleaned the teeth of most of the children. All in all Dr. Struve and his team did thousands of dollars of free dental work and blessed us all with their compassion, generosity and friendship. On their last night at CSC, Matt gave demonstrations to the kids and staff on proper brushing technique, and gave out awards in three categories: Clean Mouth Club, Bravest and Most Helpful. Many thanks to Matt Struve, his son, Evan, and his two assistants, Anne Renaker and Brenda Birk. Anne, Brenda and the Struves attend Lakes Evangelical Free Church in Lindstrom.
Check out some additional photos posted by Matt Struve.
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