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.
Biking is Fun
Learning how to ride a bicycle is an early moment of accomplishment and freedom for a child. It is difficult to balance and pedal all at once while steering to avoid obstacles and other people. Of course a child will be proud of themselves when they learn how to put it all together to ride a bicycle down the driveway. Guiding the bicycle where to go starts to give a child an idea of freedom.
I enjoy riding a bicycle. I must confess; I have more than one bicycle. Watching a child wobbling along on two wheels finding their sense of balance brings a smile to my face. When they finally get the hang of it I will shout for joy along with them.
This little guy is learning how to balance without the complications of pedaling.
This guy is hesitantly figuring out how to start from a stand still.
This young lady took a few pointers from me and in an afternoon put it all together.
It is so much riding around! It is even more fun with puddles!
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Creatures!
Creepy, crawly creatures are everywhere here in this tropical climate. And everything that crawls seems to come in gigantic versions; big moths, big spiders, big geckos. The kids (OK it's mostly the boys) are fascinated with bugs and seem to go in seasonal cycles playing with different insects as the bugs hatch and find homes in the vegetation.
Recently spiders were all the rage with the boys collecting certain kinds and then conducting spider fights on the bristles of brooms. One day I drove by a large group of school kids at a roadside vendor who was selling something in plastic bags about the size of rulers with something small and black in each bag. The kids were buying the fighting spiders on their way home from school!
For the last couple of weeks the boys gravitate to the flowering plants as they enter the school gate in the morning. Praying mantises have been emerging and the kids want to see how many they can find. They don't use them to fight (thankfully), but are eager to carry the cool looking bugs around during the day. Impromptu mini-science lessons have happened with the appearance of these green creatures like learning that the female mantis eats the head off the male!
So if you are into bugs, Cebu is the place to be. Hang out with the kids for a while and you'll learn new and creative ways to play with bugs.
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Busy with Birthdays!
It’s a busy birthday week! Today is Tuesday in Cebu, we just finished birthday parties on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights. We have a small break and then, coming up we have two more celebrations on Thursday and Friday! Whew!
There are times (this week for instance) when I think it might be wiser to celebrate once a month for everyone who has a birthday that month but not most of the time. For these kids who have had very few special moments just for them, an individual birthday party, celebrating them seems more than appropriate. Here are a few photos...
Monday's birthday was especially exciting because the birthday girl turned 18. The picture below is of her reading a wonderful letter she wrote thanking her house parents, care givers, and God for the love and provision she's recieved while at CSC.
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Auntie Warlita Retires
Auntie Warlita has worked as a nurse at CSC since 1997. She has taken hundreds of children to the
doctor in the past 18 years. Lovingly taken care of and prayed for the kids and
the ministry of CSC. Her love,
dedication, and Godly example was a great encouragement to everyone she came
into contact with. All of us at CSC were blessed to have her be a part of our
lives the past 18 years.
On September 30th we had a farewell party and lunch for Auntie Warlita hosted by the nurses. Uncle Mitch shared about Warlita followed by a lunch with many of the CSC workers. A wonderful time of fellowship, laughs, and appreciation to Auntie Warlita was had by all.
Thank you for your ministry to CSC Auntie Warlita. May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!
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Reading for Everyone
The final activity related to CCHS's Reading Challenge was a trip to the Cebu City Public Library, so the kids headed out to visit the library one day last week. The trip was meant to be the kids' reward for doing such a great job during the Challenge, but another underlying purpose was to expose them to the idea of a public library. Unlike most communities in the United States, the existence of public libraries in the Philippines is rare, so most people have little or no opportunity to avail themselves of the multitude of services public libraries provide. The Cebu City Public Library is the only public library in the city of 870,000 people!
When we got to the library, the head librarian welcomed us and explained what a public library is. Then the kids were allowed to browse through the books in the children's section for about thirty minutes. Great fun! Most of our children have not had the opportunity to read books when they arrive at the shelter. The idea of being able to look at and read books whenever they want is a foreign experience, so they thoroughly enjoy our school library and the mini-libraries in the classrooms and houses. This was another chance to be exposed to books in a different environment.
While we were at the library, we learned about a program to bring books into the communities in the city. Books bags are distributed by the library to kindergarten and first grade students and their families for them to keep at their homes for one week. The book bags are returned after a week and the family is given another bag for the next week. It's sort of a creative revolving check-out system. Coupled with the book bag distribution are sessions teaching the parents how to read with their children. It was encouraging to hear the public library is reaching out into the communities in this way.
The kids are still pumped about reading and continue to challenge themselves by reading a lot. Right now they are into book series and books related to what they are studying in science class. Maybe that will shift to books about countries and people around the world since United Nations Day is coming up. We'll see...
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