Staff Blog
God's grace shows itself to me in many ways. Some are glorious and some are not. 
By the grace of God, for instance, I have enough to eat, a good place to live, money for my diabetes medications and meaningful work that provides many emotional, material and spiritual blessings. But just 0utside my office are children who go to sleep hungry, who wake up with nobody to say "good morning," and with only bleak prospects for having their basic needs met. This noon I drove to McDonalds for a late lunch and was heading back to the office to eat. At the stoplight a little boy approached my car, tapped on my window and held out a deformed hand to ask for money. He motioned to his stomach to indicate that he was hungry. In his eyes was a hunger that went beyond his need for something to eat to indicate a hopelessness at life in general. But he doesn't have the luxury of looking at his life reflectively. He was hungry, and was looking at the food that I had purchased at the drive through that was on the seat next to me, food that I could easily do without. I gave him a handful of fries and drove off. On other occasions I might have just shook my head and not given him anything. Nutritionists might say that he was better off with nothing than a greasy fry, I don't know. But as I drove away my mind came up with many questions that I have considered often in my 38 years in Cebu, questions that don't really have answers but weigh heavily on my heart on occasions such as this.
- Why does this little guy have nothing and I have everything? Is there a single thing about how I have lived my life that qualifies me for advantage? Has this little guy done anything wrong to deserve a withered arm and a hungry tummy?
- Why didn't I just give him my whole lunch instead of a few paltry fries? By suppertime I would be dining on a good meal and he would be hungry again. Likely, I just wanted him to go away from my car.
- What does he think about me and what I represent?
- If he ever does look to the future, does he have a shred of hope that things will get better for him? With little or no positive family or other adult influence, with no access to health care or decent education, and with daily exposure to the many dangers from living on the street, is there any chance whatsoever that he will? What will be different for him, his eventual children and theirs?
- What is life like without hope? Can I even begin to understand that?
The disparities of life in a country like the Philippines are hard to grasp. Living here provides graphic proof that God's grace has nothing to do with merit. Not a thing. That kid deserves a break much more than I ever do or will. All I can do, perhaps, is to think about why God called me to live much of my life here and not in the country of my birth. Some people think that, in choosing to live here, I forsook the luxuries of life for the difficulties of the third world. But I live in the lap of luxury here, too. I just have to pay an emotional price for doing so as I come face to face with people who struggle just to stay alive.
I've been dealing with these same questions for 38 years! At CSC we have been able to help lots of little guys like the one I saw today. We have taken in the hungry, the lame, the disfigured, the homeless. We have dispensed food, medicine, knowledge, even hope. But we aren't helping this little guy at all. Except for a fistfull of fries. Of course we can't help everyone, I know that. But that knowledge doesn't remove his image from my mind or, on the other hand, make his life one ounce better.
I pray for wisdom, to accept the things that I cannot change, to be an agent of positive change where I can, and to know the difference, even though knowing that difference does not provide emotional relief from the confrontations with hopelessness that are a part of life in a place like this. I guess the best way to accomplish the dictates of the above-cited Serenity Prayer is to focus on the things that I can change, not on what I cannot. On the tree, not the forest. But I'm very sure that there are things that I can change if I open my mind to them, to see people not as an inconvenience but an opportunity. Maybe I can use some of the incomprehensible advantages that have been bestowed on me to offer some measure of relief and, maybe, even hope to people like the little boy who I cannot get out of my head.
Starting with the Right Mindset
How do you get in the right mindset when you take on a task? Teacher Cora’s class knows what to do. When the students return to class after lunch they start with singing praises to the Lord.
Take some time before you start your next task to start with the right mindset. Praise the Lord!
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English Language Learners
The students at the Children of Hope School always amaze me. Primary instruction is given in English, a second language for them. Learning a second language is not easy. The English language is one of the most difficult languages to learn because of the multiple pronunciations for words, rules, and many exceptions to the rules. I admire these students for their perseverance and courage in the classroom as they learn English.
In our class, we have a morning routine. We gather our
materials, pray, say “Good morning!” to one another, occasionally do a few
stretches to calm our bodies down for class (including one of their favorite
stretches called “warrior pose”), and do an activity that focuses on developing
the students’ oral language in English. As a teacher, I will often give a word
and ask one of the students to use this word in a sentence. Just the other day,
we were doing this activity, and I asked the class if anyone could use the word
“oppose” in a sentence. One student (pictured below) raised his hand with
confidence. He was sure that his sentence would be correct. With excitement in his voice, he said, “I do a
warrior pose!” He had heard “a pose” instead of the word “oppose”. It was a funny moment that allowed for
further learning. By the time I asked the students to use a different word in a
sentence, his hand was raised with just as much excitement. He does not give up when he makes a mistake; he faces each new challenge with enthusiasm. 
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Responsibility
- I will keep my promises.
- I will not make excuses.
- I will do all my work to the best of my ability.
- I will make things right when I do wrong.
- I will know my duty and do my duty.
(Character First! Education Series 2, booklet 1)
The statements mentioned above are not early New Year resolutions. They are some helpful tips students have been learning in order to form responsible habits.
The question is: what is responsibility? Responsibility means knowing and doing what is expected of me. (Character First! Education Series 2, booklet 1)
Wow! Sounds simple and easy, right? That’s what the Group 4 Bible Class students thought at first, but they soon realized the words “easier said than done” are quite true. Amazing! As their teacher, I never expected those words would come from my young students.
Great
realization kids! Keep it up!
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New Friends
Friends are great! It is wonderful to know that someone is excited to see you and spend time with you. You can share stories, ideas, laughter, and so much more.
Within the past two weeks, six new children of arrived at shelter. They are excited to be here, but also a little apprehensive about the who will be their friends. Luckily for them, all the other children know exactly what it is like to be the new kid.
The older girls in Cherne home were having a hard time waiting for their new housemate to come out of isolation. She had a cough and needed to wait a couple days. The girls would sit on the stairs to the infirmary and get to know the new girl.
When she
finally was given the all clear to join the home, she was accompanied by her
new friends to her new home.
Sometime adults worry about how younger children will get along with each other. One of the new boys has an older sister. She is in school all day and he is preschool so he is only in school for a couple hours. Will he be all right without his sister by his side all afternoon?
With the
help of his new friend on the left, there are no worries.
The adults of CSC show love to the children and teach them trust. Sometimes the adults forget just how much the children can do for each other. The love and care for fellow children just as important.
Pray the children will continue to share love with their fellow children. Pray the new children will settle in and make friends. Pray all the children will be able to feel God’s love for them—whether it is from an auntie or uncle or fellow child.
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Bisan Saging, Basta Loving
Most Cebuanos my age grew up with a saying that goes “Bisan saging, basta loving.” This saying means that even when the family is eating bananas all the time, as long as they love each other, the family is okay.
The passage, Proverbs 15:17, “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred” reminds me of that old saying. It also reflects on the situations CSC’s children came from. Not the whole, but the part about bananas and hatred. The kids at CSC have come from different situations of poverty, neglect, abuse, and abandonment. Some of the kids came from loving situations that deteriorated because one parent died suddenly. The one parent left behind could not cope up with trying to earn a living while taking care of the children at the same time. Some of the kids came from broken families. Most of them were abused before being cast aside when a parent got involved in a new relationship.
Bisan saging basta loving. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. Some of these children did not have anything at all, no bananas, no vegetables, no fattened calf, no one to turn to, and most of all, no love, but had an abundance of hatred at times.
Kindness, understanding, patience, hope, faith, joy, grace, and most of all, love. This brings to mind that this is what CSC is all about. It is not because of the beautifully maintained houses, medical building, and school, nor the playground and other things, though all of these have helped. But, it is the people that made the shelter what it is. Feelings of warmth and welcome are created by people who are kind, generous, patient, hopeful, understanding, even-tempered, and most of all, loving. Different backgrounds, educated to the less educated, Americans and Filipinos, people who answered God’s call to pray, give generously, volunteer their time during mailings, and serve on the CSC Boards both here in Cebu and in the US. They came together to serve in a ministry that not only provided a roof over the heads of these children, but the loving-kindness and the grace of God that the children had not experienced before.
At CSC, there is no “bisan saging basta loving,” and “no better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” CSC is a big home, a big family that God has blessed with His love and grace. Thank you Lord for the people who answered Your call to serve in this ministry.
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