Staff Blog
I recently came across this letter that I wrote 16 years ago. I was amazed how much it applies to our current situation. I made a few small changes to "bring it up to date," but mostly it can stand alone, reflecting the similarity of our situations both then and now.
Dear Friends,
A few years ago my brother Dave sent me an advertisement from the St. Paul paper announcing a B.J. Thomas concert coming to a casino in Minnesota. It was meant as a joke, but it brought back a flood of memories, some of them pretty grim ones.
In 1978 a small group of us were trying to raise money to start a ministry in the Philippines. We were concerned about the needs of homeless and hungry Filipino children. But none of us had experience in fund raising! We tried everything, from donut and candy sales to supermarket collection cans and marathons. Finally, after having raised almost nothing for our efforts, we got the idea to have a benefit concert. We decided to have B.J. Thomas come to the Minneapolis Auditorium, and one of our group members put up the money to book him and his group and to pay for the initial promotion of the concert.
The concert was a disaster. The auditorium held about 10,000 people;
less than 3,000 showed up. I'll never forget the feeling of standing in the lobby waiting for the crowds that never came. We couldn't pay the orchestra, the ticket office, the printer, the radio stations or the newspapers. There we were, a group of youngsters with a desire for a ministry in Cebu, surrounded by angry, threatening creditors. It seemed like our organization and our dream for an orphanage were dead. But for some reason we didn't give up. We still felt called to the Philippines and a ministry to homeless children. Somehow we managed to placate the creditors, make small but consistent payments, and pull ourselves out of the hole that the B.J. Thomas concert had put us in. Within a few short weeks we received a donation of $40,000 from a Bethel College student and we were on our way to Cebu to begin the ministry. All our plans and efforts to raise funds had netted us a pile of debts and a load of frustration. But God's miraculous work in the heart of a young man resulted in enough money to purchase property in Cebu and begin the work.
That has been a lesson we have learned so many times over the years. God reminds us that this is his ministry and that He will provide the resources. He is continually touching the hearts of people, who respond with gifts of prayer, money and time. We know that it is not just the words that we write or the quality of our visual presentations that bring in the funds. It is how God uses those efforts to bring people into the CSC family. Our efforts are inadequate, even pathetic at times. But God takes our faith and commitment (although sometimes found lacking) and makes something great out of them, in the work of the ministry in Cebu and in the promotional efforts in Minnesota.
This fact has kept us going through difficult times over the past 37 years. In recent weeks we have been discouraged over the behavior of some of our children. Some have been unruly, others disrespectful. Some have been unloading some of the emotional baggage that they brought with them to CSC. And, at the same time, we have been concerned with the financial situation of CSC as we approach the year-end needing a miracle to meet our income goals for 2016. But our discouragement is tempered by the knowledge that God directs this work, that He gives compassion and perseverance, not only on that night in 1978 when we limped home from the Minneapolis Auditorium, but every day since.
Thank you for your part in helping us with this ministry for the past 37 years. When the raindrops were falling on our heads, you were there to put up an umbrella of love and solidarity. We need your prayers and your gifts to be able to move ahead with this God-inspired ministry.
Sincerely,
Paul Healy
Cebu City
Teacher Amanda
Yesterday we celebrated Teacher Amanda's
22nd birthday. Amanda graduated from college this May and arrived in Cebu the
beginning of June. Just in time to start the school year at Cebu Children
of Hope School. Amanda has adjusted well to life in Cebu and is a great
addition to our school. She has a contagious positive attitude about everything
and is a wonderful teacher and team member. We are thankful to have
her at our school this year.
As we were celebrating her birthday last night, I couldn't help but think about how our stories are some in the same. Seventeen years ago I arrived in Cebu after graduating from college the month before. The school was opening for the first time and teachers were coming together from the U.S. and Cebu to start Children of Hope School. I was young and excited to be in Cebu.
What was a one year commitment for me has turned into 16 additional years and counting. Days full of blessings and learning and growing experiences. Daily seeing God's hand at work in my life and the ministry of CSC. Not to mention marrying my husband from Cebu and the joy of having our first child together. God has blessed me in ways I never could have imagined at the age of 22.
Thank God for Amanda today as you think of her in your prayers. Pray God would give her wisdom and strength for the year ahead of her. Pray He would guide her steps for the future He has for her.
Thanks Amanda for sharing this year of your life with us at CSC. You are a wonderful addition to our team!
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Thanks Grace!
Last August, Grace arrived at CSC having committed to giving a year of her life to this ministry---whatever that might entail! And she did just that! Grace has spent the last year creating and implementing a daily educational experience for our toddlers, she has spent time teaching and encouraging our children's musical interests by facilitating individual voice and piano lessons. Grace also built relationships with our kids by just being on the playground with them having fun. Additionally, she has been a great help to the Child Development department in keeping good records on the infants and toddlers she oversaw.
Below you will find some pictures of how Grace spent her time at CSC.
To you, Grace, CSC thanks you for your service. You have left a mark on this ministry in more ways than one. You have a place in the kids' hearts because of your investment in their interests and your time spent helping them hone their talent. And for our youngest residents, you have helped them learn and have taught them that learning is fun!
Please keep Grace in your prayers as she embarks on her next journey!
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Meet the HR team
I'm Marcel, the guy on the right! I am happy to be back in Cebu after spending the past year in the States with my wife and her family. It was great to meet so many of you while we were there. Upon returning to Cebu I have joined the Human Resource Team at CSC. We are working together to make improvements for all of the workers and processes for the organization. I am excited to be a part of CSC and work alongside Joel and Peter!
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Friendship Knows No Boundary
Friend. Pal. Buddy. Comrade. Everyone has one or maybe more. It is a need in human life. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” One can’t go through life alone.
The recent CSC banquet’s theme was: Friends. CSC, in its entirety, has many friends all over the world. Different connections, but connected nonetheless. CSC is standing because of its many friends supporting, loving, and praying.
Inside the four walls of CSC, friendship starts. The kids come from different backgrounds, but it is amazing how quickly they form a bond; a bond they keep forever. Distance is never an issue between friends. Whether it is 10,000 miles or a couple of staircases away, they find a way to exchange a few words and be in touch in each other’s lives.
At CSC, when you get sick and if it is contagious, you are put in isolation. Now, the word isolation seems scary because you are separated from your friends. However, most of the kids like to be in “iso” because they get to watch movies all day long, which is the only entertaining thing you can do when you get sick.
Being sick and being in “iso”
did not stop these two friends from having a little chat. The girl on top is sick while the girl on the
bottom is well. There are no visiting
hours in the infirmary, but that did not mean she could not visit her friend. They found a way. And to top it all, she was not scared that she
might get sore eyes from the friend she was visiting.
That’s how friends are.
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Erna!
Erna is helping out at Cebu Children
of Hope School for a couple of months. She is assisting in preschool
while Teacher Junelyn is on maternity leave and helping out in a number of
classes in the afternoons.
Erna lived at CSC years ago. She and her sister were adopted by a family in the United States in 1999.
It's great to have Erna back with us at CSC for a couple of months. Thanks for sharing your gifts and talents with the kids at CSC Erna!
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