Staff Blog

God is good! And, He is good all the time.

Cebu Children of Hope School is a living testimony of God's goodness. Almost all schools in the Philippines are temporarily closed and students stay at home either doing on-line classes or answering modules but CCHS students are still enjoying happy times with their teachers and classmates even in the midst of this pandemic. Everyone is having fun and is learning something new. They look forward to being in their respective group every day.

Preschoolers are among those students who are experiencing God's goodness. Every morning they would show up with a smile on their faces. They are always excited about activities prepared for the day. They find every activity in class fun, especially playtime.

Preschool playtime has always been the most awaited time for every student. After eating their snack they usually hurry back to class for playtime. It is indeed a happy and busy time for everyone. The fun leveled up when four boys from the Toddler Group joined preschool playtime. These boys were overjoyed when they learned they are a part of this great group. Their smiles and the sparkle in their eyes show their excitement from deep within. At times they keep moving around the room because of so much joy in trying new toys and navigating how to use some of the things that are in the room. 

 It's wonderful to have these boys be a part of preschool class. Playtime would never be the same without them.

This morning we opened another 50kg sack of rice. As we did, I couldn't help but stop to wonder, "how many bags of rice have we consumed since all of this started!?"

On March 28th, CSC will hit a tremendous milestone. It will be exactly one year since we entered a state of lockdown. On the same day in 2020, governments around the world were scrambling to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus, and the Philippines were implementing some of the strictest quarantine measures imposed by any country. This meant extremely limited mobility, increased difficulty in obtaining goods, as well as fears that the outbreak would quickly overwhelm the country's already strained health care system.

Above is a picture of our first batch of lock-in workers taken March 27th, 2020.

Leading up to the 28th, we'd started stock-piling supplies (food, medicine, etc.) and preparing our employees for a lockdown that we thought, at the time, might last a month, maybe two. It was March 6th, 2020 when the first known case of coronavirus was recorded in the Philippines, and when we at CSC started planning for a "worst case scenario."

By the grace of God, we've endured. I say that because it is truly only by the grace and mercy of Our Lord that we've been able to make it this far. God sent the right workers, gave us generous donors, and sent us folks who would support us through their prayers, time, and treasure. Looking back, I know we could not have done this if God had not assembled all of us—all of you—to do the very best for these precious children we care for. THANK YOU!

I could try measuring our past year by the sacks of rice we've eaten, or the kilograms of fruits, veggies, and meat our aunties and house parents have prepared. I prefer, instead, to measure it in the smiles of our kids and workers. I prefer to step back and count all the victories, big and small; the number of school lessons our kids have completed (we have a record number of high school kids on the honor roll this year, by the way), the number of inches that Jerald has grown, and the number of hours our leadership have been in meetings to ensure everything keeps working.

This year has provided tangible proof of what Paul writes in Galatians 6:9 when he says, "let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." We look to the future with hopeful eyes, praying that the day will soon come when lockdowns and quarantines can be lifted. In the meantime, let us not grow weary of doing good.

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4)

^“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Handling the medical department during a pandemic is a huge responsibility. It was terrifying to hear Covid-19 reaching Cebu and the plan for eventual lockdown. Even with plans in our hands, we are still caught with so many surprises. The promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 has been our constant comfort, strength, and encouragement in the medical department as we face the many challenges during this pandemic. Looking back, when we were confronted about the virus people had little knowledge of, we were anxious and confused. We asked ourselves if we will be able to take care of all the children and employees entrusted to our care. The lockdown period, which we anticipated to last for a month, has been ongoing for almost a year now. We prayed that every flu-like symptom, especially in the first month, is just a simple flu, and the children and workers will just respond to medication. We made sure employees who are locked in had their maintenance meds and would be able to cope with the 12-hour shift each day. We constantly reminded our lock-out personnel to practice standard health protocol to protect themselves and their families. When we are terrified, God has reminded us to be strong and courageous. He constantly brought us back to His Word and reminded us that we are under His wings. He assured us that...

Under His wings, we are PROTECTED.

Even when we had emergency runs for lacerations for our two little kids and an admission, God restored their health and protected them from possible infection because of outside exposure. We have less sick kids during the year compared to our recorded illnesses in the past years. Our sick children also responded well to medications given by the doctors.

Under His Wings, we are PROVIDED.

We couldn’t thank God enough for using people and agencies to give and provide every need we have in the department. We were able to secure free tests for all our employees who came to serve during the lockdown. We had the means to quarantine our workers for 14 days prior to working through the CCHS facility. We were able to procure PPEs even during the scarcity of supply in the city. We were provided with doctors who were willing to answer our queries even at 2:00 AM, and we were able to avail of the home services for laboratory tests and eye check ups. We are grateful that we have workers who are committed to serve and be with the kids for 3 months and even longer. Lastly, God has given us wisdom to respond to every child’s medical or health needs and to come up with the health and safety protocol for the shelter. 

Under His Wings, we are PROMISED. 

Despite the uncertainties the pandemic brought, we are continually assured that His grace is more than sufficient to meet the needs of our children and workers. His promise to never leave us nor forsake us holds true in every situation we have faced. We thank God because in all of these, we are assured of His presence.

Indeed, under His wings, He covered us.

Do you ever have those times at your job when you look around and you are simply amazed at all the wonderful things happening? When you see coworkers overcoming huge obstacles to continue to do their jobs with excellence? That is how I feel right now.

Amazed and thankful.

The teachers I have been fortunate enough to work with for the past three years are coming up on one year of being locked in at the shelter, one year of educating the CSC kids in the living rooms and offices scattered around the shelter. This is not easy but the teachers have not used this challenging time to complain or only give 50%. The opposite is true. These coworkers, my friends, have met this challenge with energy and dedication. They have helped me problem solve how to daily transform living rooms into classrooms and then back to living rooms, making sure that all the resources needed to help kids learn are present and mobile. They have supported each other when COVID or death has struck their family and they haven't been able to be present because of government restrictions.

They have thought of new ways to bring school lessons to life, enabling their students to understand concepts deeper through creative, hands on activities. As an example, last week our two third grade teachers worked together with their students to create the CCHS Mini Snack Bar. Their unit in math was on money and decimals. What better way to grasp these concepts than to run a little store for the day and interact with money in a real way?

Not only was this activity helpful for the third graders, but the other classes benefited by learning about money, making choices, practicing how to speak with confidence as they made their order, and understanding what you can buy with 5 or 10 pesos.

As schools all over the world are trying to decide how best to educate kids during this pandemic, be rest assured that the kids at CSC are continuing to make great gains and thriving largely in part to this amazing team of teachers. CSC is filled with these kinds of dedicated and knowledgeable people in every department!

It has been 10 months since lockdown was implemented at CSC. A lot of growing pains have happened since then with the multi-disciplinary team, individually and collectively. For team members who were locked-in, that is about 300 days of living out of a suitcase, living with about 130 children and adults, requesting personal toiletries once a month with others buying it for you, yearning for your “own space”, missing face to face conversations with family and friends outside of work, and did I mention having your patience tested and tried? 

On the other side of the coin, we have members on the multi-disciplinary team who work from home. One of the challenges included having to learn how to provide a remote service. Turning over or overcoming barriers in communication and technology was also highlighted. I can imagine the heartbreak of the frontliner to face the transition of not being able to see the children and directly work with them.

As leaders, we also battle to protect our frontlines in this pandemic, and I believe it starts with Connection. Keeping the morale and camaraderie high, training relevant, supporting and redirecting team members to keep their eyes on the goal has been a learning experience for me. In pursuit of deepening our connection with each other as colleagues, we are reminded that our identity and value is in Christ and that although challenges seem to limit us, we train our eyes to see beyond and steward the opportunities, skills, and talents that we have in our hands.

Despite these challenges, God is good and kind. He has given us creative ideas to implement, grace to talk about difficult matters, hope to put one foot in front of the other, and assurance in the sovereignty of our King when in doubt.

I hope that these pictures will bring a smile on your face and give you a closer glimpse on our journey as a team through this pandemic. Thank you to our family, friends, and stakeholders who continually remember us in prayer and partnership. Your connection matters to us, too. 

Christmas Tree Contest: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

House fathers hanging out.

Normal meetings these days.