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.
Writing Things Down
One of the things that we haven't been very good at CSC over the years is documentation. Actually, we are pretty good at the documentation needed for our children: birth certificates, medical reports, child study and developmental reports, pictures, etc. But we haven't spent much time putting down on paper the history of CSC. Working with kids in the way that we do, we move from one big thing to the next. Children come and they go and new ones come. Events occur but we don't have time to sit and think about them and their significance.
I've been thinking a lot about this lately. We need to get these things in writing. We need to document the ways that God has worked and blessed us in this ministry. We need to put our memories in written form so others can be edified, and even entertained, by them. CSC is an amazing ministry that has enjoyed God's favor for 35 years. People have made huge contributions with their time, talents and treasures. Children have blessed lives here and in the homes and communities where they have settled through adoption. Hurdles have been overcome. Prayers have been answered in miraculous ways.
So, with some fear and trepidation, I am going to begin work soon on this huge project. I will be assembling written materials, pictures and newsletters. I'm going to interview people who have been on our staff or our board, or who have been close to the ministry in different ways. I'm going to pick their minds, looking for stories and accounts that will help tell the story of CSC's first 35 years. It will be a big job, and I worry that I won 't be able to do justice to the people and events that have been used and shaped by God through our history. For Marlys and me it has been a tremendous ride. I want the book to accurately highlight that ride, and the rides of others who have helped make CSC work so well since 1979.
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Students Show the Things They Have Learned
The end of the school year is only one month away for the students of Children of Hope School. They have worked hard and learned a ton of great things.
Recently, they took some time to share some of the things they have learned. During the math and science day, each level presented things they had studied. Some of the Level B students have been learning about systems of the human body. They explained the workings of the skeletal system and the digestive system to all the other students. They did a great job identifying the bones!
There were many highlights during the reading and writing day. Many students shared stories and poems they had written. Check out one of the students reciting the poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Wind.”
In between the presentation by students were games. The tongue twister challenge was a blast. See if you can do any better than the Children of Hope students!
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Julieto and Classmates Skip Prom
In the
Philippines the school year is winding down.
It is time for exams and celebrations.
Julieto is in his fourth and final year of high school. It is traditional to have prom near the end
of the school year. All of Julieto’s
class has decided to skip prom. They are
giving all the funds set aside by the school for prom to the Haiyan/Yolanda
typhoon victims in Tacloban City on Leyte Island. The funds were used to buy clothes, food, and
materials to build shelters. Julieto
heard of a school in Tacloban City which has to meet in a tent, because the
school building was destroyed.
The global outreach for the Haiyan/Yolanda typhoon victims has been astonishing. It includes Julieto and his classmates opening their hearts to help in a tangible way. They are more than happy to forgo their prom party to help fellow students on another island.
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Competition
I'm not a competitive person. Maybe that's why I have enjoyed only limited success in sports. I just didn't have that fire in my belly, as they say. Maybe, on the negative side, I have missed opportunities to better myself by not being competitive, but on the positive side, I haven't felt a great need to compare myself with other people very much. And I hope that it has allowed me to find enjoyment and excitement in the accomplishments and talents of others. I say "I hope" because I see this as the key to leadership, and one that I want to get better at.
But there are different kinds of competition. Today I experienced a competitive dilemma being played out in the lives of some poor people here in Cebu that takes competition to another level entirely. Together with our two social workers, Carmelita and Chris, I went to the northernmost part of Cebu to distribute some cash assistance to three families whose homes were damaged in the super typhoon. The typhoon hit about four months ago and all of these families still have to live someplace other than their own home. And here's what makes it worse. Two of the families have seen their neighbors receive assistance from the govenment while they were passed over. It is a sad situation when families have to compete for limited assistance funds or building materials. When you see your children or grandchildren suffering while others have a solid roof over their heads, its hard not to feel bitter. Its hard not to feel competitive. Some people I met in Tacloban talked about inequities in the distribution of food and water after the storm surge hit that city, and how hard it was to have to compete with neighbors for basic, life-saving commodities. What a different type of competition this is than a game of basketball or a battle for recognition at work. I'm sure it would get a fire going in my belly!
We were able to make up for some of these inequities by giving money for building materials and labor to these families. Thanks to all who allowed us the privilege of helping these people who suffered huge loss in the typhoon, and then came out on the short end of the relief assistance.
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Camp 2014!
Camp was a blast! The 38 kids had a long list of favorite activities—swimming, good food, beach combing, games, chapel time, and on and on. They had so much fun they did not want to leave.
The Central Baptist work team, yet again, led a great camp for the kids. Many new kids have arrived at CSC since the last camp in 2012, so it was a fun new experience for them.
One of the highlights was the baptism on Sunday. Eleven people, nine kids and two adults, were baptized by Pastor Joel and Pastor Chuck in the ocean on the southern tip of Cebu Island. It was a wonderful demonstration of faith and a great example for the younger kids.
After the three hour bus ride home, the kids were already sharing their excitement for the next camp—two years from now.
Thank you to
the Central team for another wonderful camp to the kids of CSC!
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