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.
Bikes abound in Cebu
Getting people from place to place is only one of the many uses of bicycles here in Cebu. They are used for hauling hardware, ice, bringing pigs to market and delivering products to stores and food outlets. Bikes with sidecars are the only form of public transportation in some parts of the Philippines. And adapted bikes are often used as food stands on street corners and sidewalks around the city, where vendors sell fruits, vegetables, snacks, cooked meat and ice cream.
Of course, the bike pedalers who are the most important to us are the CSC kids, who love to ride around the CSC grounds. They come in all sizes, but they love to bike! Thanks to our generous supporters, they have quality bikes to ride, helmets for their heads, and a safe place to learn and practice.
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Eicher's Pancit Recipe
When we were still in the Philippines, I always loved watching Auntie Febe in the Eicher kitchen making all kinds of foods. But this particular meal and this particular batch of pancit canton was extra special because it happened to be for the sweetest little lady's birthday party.
She watched as the aunties washed and cut the vegetables, cooked the meat, simmered the sauce....
and then went about the task of getting all those pancit noodles into that one pot. There are a LOT of noodles required to feed this big family.
Pancit canton is and will always be one of my favorite dishes from the Philippines. The noodles soak up all the flavor of the broth where the veggies and meat are first simmered. It's just plain old nooddle-y comfort food. Squeeze a little calamansi on top and you're good to go.
Delicious pancit, coming right up!
Eicher’s Pancit (also known as Bam-i)
2 lbs. uncooked noodles – Auntie Febe used a combination of pancit and vermicelli
4 cups sliced mixed veggies: cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, and green onions
1 lb. lean pork, cut into very small pieces
½ cup oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 pork bouillon cube
6 cups water
1. Soak the vermicelli in water for about 5 minutes or until soft. Slice and chop the veggies.
2. Brown the pork in the oil with the soy sauce, garlic, and onion.
3. Add the water and bouillon cube to the pork and bring to a low simmer. Add the vegetables and cook for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add the uncooked pancit noodles and soaked vermicelli. Simmer over low heat until the noodles soak up all the broth.
You can buy pancit noodles at many Asian grocery stores.
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ILLEGAL!!
The picture above looks seemingly harmless, doesn't it?
Well, beware! If you are found at CSC with such an item in your possession it will be confiscated forthwith and you will have to submit to an inquiry.
:)
The "elastico game" was the trend of the moment. Games tend to move in cycles here, you will learn why below. The rules, as best as I understand them, is that you put a rubber band on the ground. Then you put your hands together, your right thumb over your left thumb with your pointer and middle fingertips touching and you slap your hands on the ground just behind the rubber band. The rubber band then jumps! Of course, you want the rubber band to go far and if your rubber band goes the farthest, you win all of the rubber bands!
Can you imagine why this game is now outlawed?
Yep. You guessed it. For some reason, there were arguments over who actually won and whose rubber bands were whose. Some kids had many, many, many and some had few. It reached a point where the game seemed to involve more fighting than fun.
So, intervention was necessary. The picture above is only a fraction of the stash collected!
:)
It won't be long until there is a new game trending. The creativity amongst our children is astounding! Already I have seen a small group of kids throwing blades of grass over a roped off area of the yard, trying to be the one who threw the farthest.
They are getting wiser...it's got to be impossible to outlaw grass...
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Leaving on a plane
It sure seems like we've said a lot of goodbyes lately. People come and go: adoptive parents, CSC kids, visitors, staff. And, of course, for each "goodbye" there is a corresponding "hello." But goodbyes can be hard when they involve people we love: family, friends, co-workers, children. Sometimes we can find comfort in knowing that we'll see them again, maybe even soon. But with some of those leaving, particularly children going for adoption, we do not have that assurance. But that is part of life at CSC. People leave. We can take heart in the words of the song we always sing when people are saying goodbye:
God will take care of you,
Through every day, o'er all the way.
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.
God's rich blessings on all those who have taken a seat at the picnic table to hear the song and to receive the hugs from children, workers and staff as they prepare to leave CSC. We know its not an easy place to leave.
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My moment for the week
This week has barely begun, but already I have had a moment. What I mean by moment is an experience that hits me wherein I understand why I have been called to serve at CSC and I feel immeasurably blessed to be serving at CSC.
In reality, these moments can be found wherever you look at CSC. I don't say this to downgrade the significance or value of these moments, rather I say that because I feel like this place is special for that very reason. Sometimes I think that CSC is in the palm of His hand.
The boy in the picture below is a special little guy. He and his siblings have been at CSC for a bit over 2 years now. They were admitted to CSC by police escort because their parents had so severely abused them. The police were protecting them until other intervention was found.
This little guy is the youngest of the group and as he ages we get to know him a little bit more. He is delayed in many ways. He was over 1 year old when he came to CSC but he was not yet walking and didn't for quite some time after. Socially he is also not on the same level as his peers. He was not able to self-soothe when he arrived; whenever he was upset he would grab his own hair and pull it so hard. Similarly, his response to others comforting him has been atypical.
However, recently, this little guy has changed so much. He is AFFECTIONATE now! I shout that because he greets me every morning I arrive to the shelter. He runs over, puts his arms up and lets me hold him. He really and truly wants it! I did not believe I would see the day that he sought such attention. And in the picture below you can see him reaching up to hold my hand.
That is a BIG moment....
I paused when that happened and I pause again as I look at this picture and I am reminded once again of the good that is done here.
This little boy has so many people fighting for him to succeed---to overcome the pain and suffering he should never have had to experience. And he is succeeding!
And there are so many people that love him. And he knows love now too!
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