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.
Hanging Out Time!
Eight years ago today I arrived in the Philippines to begin my work at CSC. It's amazing how it seems like such a short and long time ago at the same time! I can still remember that trip so clearly, but yet it seems as if I've always been with CSC.
Recently I did a count, and, if my count is correct, 241 kids have been a part of CSC during my eight years here. Some for just a short while and others for the entire time I've been here. What a blessing it has been for me to have each of them as a part of my life!
Now my time at CSC is ending. In three short weeks, I'll be moving back to Minnesota. While I'm excited to see what God has in store for my future, I'm going to miss everyone at CSC so much! My goal this summer was to spend time with all of our 7-year-old and above kids outside of the shelter. I made a list and very slowly I've been working my way through it. Often, when the kids see me, they ask, "Is it my turn?!" It's been so much fun to hang out with them! Here are some pictures of our outings!
1. Lunch at McDonald's
2. Lunch at Jollibee! This guy was so excited to "eat outside" that he hopped, danced, and cartwheeled his way across the yard as he yelled, "Yeah!!! Jollibee!!!" I love his enthusiasm!
3. Glow-in-the-Dark Mini-golfing!
4. Nail Polish & Cupcakes Party! I took all of the 7, 8, and 9-year-old girls to my house. For those who wanted, I let them try to put the nail polish on themselves. Let's just say it was a bit messy, but so much fun! (I had to do a few fixes. The girls would come up and ask me to "erase" the messed up nail polish!) Then we headed out to a cupcake store. The blackforest cupcakes were the most popular choice...I think the cherry on top had something to do with it!
5. Dinner at Davinci's Pizza!
6. A Narnia Party! We have a sibling group at CSC that has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Several months ago, they made the connection that they were the same as the family in the Chronicles of Narnia movie. We decided that someday we would have a "Narnia Party". This last week, we finally got around to it! The kids all created props for their characters (swords, shields, crowns, bow & arrows, etc.) and I was Mrs. Beaver. We watched "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and acted out different parts of the movie! The evening was filled with laughter and fun!
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Tropical Trees
There is a great variety of trees here in the tropics. Some provide shade, some give us fruit and others have beautiful flowers.
The Kalachuchi trees not only provide fragrant flowers that are used for decorative leis.........
they are among the best climbing trees in the Philippines and CSC kids are the best and most adorable climbers.
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Sibling love...
Isn't there a saying...siblings who play together...
No, there probably isn't, but there should be. I love watching how our sibling groups interact with each other, love on each other and even keep after each other! :)
I happened to catch some beautiful sibling footage earlier this week. Check out the video below!
This older sister is letting her youngest brother push her on the swing. I love that she is letting him feel "big" and she is caring for him at the same time. You will hear her laughter throughout the video, but you will also hear her kind of shout every time she thinks she is about to run into him! She keeps a watchful eye and you can see her trying to slow herself down often! I love that this little boy wants to play with his sister---I'm sure he would have kept pushing her except he was called to take a bath. Duty calls, you know!
No surprise that I would get a kick out of such family dynamics, being a marriage and family therapist after all; however, who wouldn't consider that moment in time precious?!
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Basins
Plastic basins are used for all kinds of things in Cebu City. They are used for flowers, food, fish and bread, or for washing. They are everywhere in the city.
Of course, we have some pretty cool uses for basins at CSC, too. Basins make great bath tubs and swimming pools for our precious children!
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Old Blue and me
Old Blue was sold today. Jerry Salgo, our Transportation Director, showed it to a guy this morning and he agreed to buy it, with all its flaws and limitations. It is the end of an era. Amy Luck, who has driven Old Blue a lot in the past several years, called me up this afternoon, delighted that the guy bought it primarily to bring his dad to kidney dialysis. It seemed fitting that this old clunker still had some good work to do in its final days. 
The guy's going to pay for it on Monday morning. So right now Old Blue is in our car park at the Teen Home, waiting for its new home. Considering all the repairs she has needed in recent years and the times that she failed us along the way, I was expecting to be happy to see her go. But when I pulled into the Teen Home today and saw her there, I reacted in a different way. I won't say I got weepy, or even misty-eyed, but I did reflect on the many kilometers that Old Blue gave us over the years, since we purchased it from missionary friends Howard and Marilynn Plucar. I thought about the number of staff members, kids, short termers, visitors and friends who have piled into that car over the past years. The car failed us many times, but it came through more times than that. It gave all it had for CSC, and we need to remember her for that, not for her failings in old age.
Maybe one of the reasons that I got a little bit melancholy is that one of our child care workers is planning to retire. She has worked for us for something like 27 years and she is tired out. She has held, fed, bathed and cuddled hundreds of our kids. She provided one on one care to Luke for years in his upstairs room. Now she's ready to move on, kind of like Old Blue.
Old blue has dents, engine flaws and makes some very strange noises. The turns and hill climbs that used to be simple now require a strain. I guess the truth of the matter is that I feel like Old Blue sometimes these days. Old, faded, cranky. I don't want to be that way, but after 34 years on the job I sometimes feel like I need an overhaul. I'm a lot more tired at the end of the day. Sometimes I forget things that people tell me. Running after kids is something that the old joints just don't allow. The day will come when it will be time to retire. I am a grandparental figure for the kids now instead of a parental figure. One of kids, known for her rather brutal honesty said to me the other day, "Uncle Paul, your hair is white and your teeth are yellow." Yikes. I'm Old Blue.
I hope that, like Old Blue, when my days of service to CSC are done, I can know that, in spite of some failings along the way and limitations of age at the end, I gave all I had for the ministry. That's all any of us can aspire to. It was great that, in the last month of Old Blue's service, she was used a lot, to bring kids and staff to and from summer activities. She performed well. She finished strong. Hope I can do the same!
Farewell, Old Blue. Bring that old man to his dialysis safely, like you've done for our kids and staff over the years!
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