Staff Blog
Every year CSC children, 10-year-old and above, look forward
to summer activities. Summer activities schedule is in the month of May. This
year before January was over, the children approached me with a list of
activities they want to be in. I tell them to wait in February. I will have the
list of names of the kids who will be in the summer activities. In the list
they could also put down 3 activities they preferred by numbering them 1 to 3. Kids were so excited. They continued to ask
what activities were available to them. “Is there basketball?” Is there
baseball?” “What about music?” “Will we have the same teacher for music as last
year?” “Is swimming every day?” “Is it okay to have two activities to enroll
in?” Even the 9-year-olds and below were curious to know when summer activities
would be. The questions were usually “Is May after graduation?” “Is it far
away?” “When will it start?”
After the lists were out to the homes, the next questions
asked were “Who is in basketball or soccer or music or etc.?” Another one was
“May I change my activity?” “I like that activity, why is it not in the list?”
“I would like to be with so-and-so, may I transfer to that one?” When
confusion, agreements and activities were in place, thirty-six children were enrolled
in various activities this year. There are 3 in soccer, 8 in basketball, 1 in
table tennis, 7 in cooking, 9 in music, 1 in badminton, and 7 in swimming.
The other day, I was the watcher for basketball. Early in
the morning while I was up putting my bags at the child care office, one of the
girls asked if we could leave earlier than the time we were to leave. When
asked why, she said they did not want to be late. Their coach made them do push-ups
according to how many minutes they were late. So we did and we made it!
It was the first time I was watcher for basketball this
year. I was pleasantly surprised at what happened before lessons were started.
The head coach told the kids who were there to sit down, bow their heads and he
prayed for them and for the morning ahead.
After praying, he proceeded to talk
to the kids about discipline, practice and preparing for things in the future.
He told them Noah did not start building the ark when it started to rain. Noah
was ready with the ark and he was safe, together with his family, when the
rains came. He finished his talk and encouragement to the kids by telling them
to always practice what they learned, to be prepared, to do everything they
could to come early to basketball lessons. When they do that, the lessons they
learned will help them face difficulties, or trials that would come to them later
on. He reminded them not to forget God will always be there to help them if
they ask.
Pray for Rovelito
Hi from Cebu. Rovelito is having surgery tomorrow (8:00 am Cebu time - 7:00 pm MN time. He is nine years old and suffered severe burns before coming to live at CSC. They will release contractures and do a skin graft. He will be hospitalized for five days and will have to wear splints for several weeks in our infirmary. Please pray for him!
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Sonia
Please pray for one of our employees, Sonia "Suzette", who had a mild stroke last night and is currently at a local hospital. Thank you.
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Lena keeps on washing
Next year we will be celebrating the 40th year of CSC's ministry in Cebu. The actual anniversary date would be May 4 as that was the day in 1979 that three of us stepped off that plane at the Cebu airport. But in March of next year there will be another important anniversary at CSC. March 1 will mark 30 years of faithful service for one of our most stalwart employees, Elena (Lena) Gomera. Lena has been washing clothes at CSC for all of those 30 years.
Through good times and bad, in good and bad weather, during times of political unrest and financial difficulty, Elena has washed clothes. No matter what else our kids need, they need clean clothes to wear. The babies need clean diapers. School kids need clean uniforms. Beds need clean sheets and pillow cases. Lena has provided that. It's by no means a glamorous job. She might be the most "taken for granted" worker at CSC. Most of her time she is in the washroom, unseen by the kids, staff and visitors. But she is washing, load after load, eight hours a day, six days a week. We are fortunate to have an employee like Lena who is faithful, dependable and solid. Thanks Lena for a job well done for almost 30 years!
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Calling All Mathematicians and Scientists!
There was A LOT of excitement at Cebu Children of Hope School this past Friday as the children participated in math and science culminating activities. In the morning were the math activities. The children were divided up into four teams (Levels A1 through C3) and they did a "math relay." The first station was the puzzle station where the children had to work together as a team to put together a puzzle showing a famous mathematician (Euclid, Descartes, Newton, and Pascal). After they completed the puzzle each person on the team had to answer an "easy" math question in order to then proceed to station two. At this station the students had to grab different random objects that, combined, would measure exactly one meter. A math question concluded this station as well but this time it was a "medium" math question. At the third station the team leader had to guide each team member as he/she walked on a line blindfolded. This was followed by every child having to answer a "difficult" math question in order to proceed to the last station called Across the River.
The afternoon was equally exciting as the children competed in science activities. My favorite one was the Ping Pong Hop. Each student had to blow a ping pong ball from one cup to the next, with the successive cups being further away from each other. The other science-themed activities were building a paper tower that could withstand the weight of 5 heavy books, making water rise using a cup and a candle, and a version of cup stacking that tested the children's quickness.
I am surrounded by a great team of teachers who work together to make CCHS a remarkable school, giving kids the skills they need so God can use them in great ways. If you are reading this and you have never visited CSC, please contact our Minnesota office. It is a trip you will never regret!
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Carnival fun with CBC
Although the Central Baptist team that was here recently came primarily to do a camp for our kids, they also helped us put on a spectacular carnival. Our kids were joined by the younger children of our workers, and were treated to booths prepared by our Child Development team, led by CD Director Eunice. There was face painting, a lollipop tree, bowling, a toilet paper toss, a fun bouncing space ship, a clothespin drop and build-a-crafts. Food booths included cotton candy, popcorn and ice cream. There was even a horse drawn carriage ride for the younger kids. It was a great day with amazing weather, and lots of energy from the Central team.
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