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Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Handling the medical department during a pandemic is a huge responsibility. It was terrifying to hear Covid-19 reaching Cebu and the plan for eventual lockdown. Even with plans in our hands, we are still caught with so many surprises. The promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 has been our constant comfort, strength, and encouragement in the medical department as we face the many challenges during this pandemic. Looking back, when we were confronted about the virus people had little knowledge of, we were anxious and confused. We asked ourselves if we will be able to take care of all the children and employees entrusted to our care. The lockdown period, which we anticipated to last for a month, has been ongoing for almost a year now. We prayed that every flu-like symptom, especially in the first month, is just a simple flu, and the children and workers will just respond to medication. We made sure employees who are locked in had their maintenance meds and would be able to cope with the 12-hour shift each day. We constantly reminded our lock-out personnel to practice standard health protocol to protect themselves and their families. When we are terrified, God has reminded us to be strong and courageous. He constantly brought us back to His Word and reminded us that we are under His wings. He assured us that...

Under His wings, we are PROTECTED.

Even when we had emergency runs for lacerations for our two little kids and an admission, God restored their health and protected them from possible infection because of outside exposure. We have less sick kids during the year compared to our recorded illnesses in the past years. Our sick children also responded well to medications given by the doctors.

Under His Wings, we are PROVIDED.

We couldn’t thank God enough for using people and agencies to give and provide every need we have in the department. We were able to secure free tests for all our employees who came to serve during the lockdown. We had the means to quarantine our workers for 14 days prior to working through the CCHS facility. We were able to procure PPEs even during the scarcity of supply in the city. We were provided with doctors who were willing to answer our queries even at 2:00 AM, and we were able to avail of the home services for laboratory tests and eye check ups. We are grateful that we have workers who are committed to serve and be with the kids for 3 months and even longer. Lastly, God has given us wisdom to respond to every child’s medical or health needs and to come up with the health and safety protocol for the shelter. 

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Under His Wings, we are PROMISED. 

Despite the uncertainties the pandemic brought, we are continually assured that His grace is more than sufficient to meet the needs of our children and workers. His promise to never leave us nor forsake us holds true in every situation we have faced. We thank God because in all of these, we are assured of His presence.

Indeed, under His wings, He covered us.

 

Biking is Fun

Oct. 19, 2015By: Joel Reasoner

Learning how to ride a bicycle is an early moment of accomplishment and freedom for a child.  It is difficult to balance and pedal all at once while steering to avoid obstacles and other people.  Of course a child will be proud of themselves when they learn how to put it all together to ride a bicycle down the driveway.  Guiding the bicycle where to go starts to give a child an idea of freedom. 

 

I enjoy riding a bicycle.  I must confess; I have more than one bicycle.  Watching a child wobbling along on two wheels finding their sense of balance brings a smile to my face.  When they finally get the hang of it I will shout for joy along with them. 

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This little guy is learning how to balance without the complications of pedaling. 

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This guy is hesitantly figuring out how to start from a stand still.

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This young lady took a few pointers from me and in an afternoon put it all together.

 

It is so much riding around!  It is even more fun with puddles!

Creatures!

Oct. 14, 2015By: Shari Reasoner

Creepy, crawly creatures are everywhere here in this tropical climate.  And everything that crawls seems to come in gigantic versions; big moths, big spiders, big geckos.  The kids (OK it's mostly the boys) are fascinated with bugs and seem to go in seasonal cycles playing with different insects as the bugs hatch and find homes in the vegetation. 

Recently spiders were all the rage with the boys collecting certain kinds and then conducting spider fights on the bristles of brooms.  One day I drove by a large group of school kids at a roadside vendor who was selling something in plastic bags about the size of rulers with something small and black in each bag.  The kids were buying the fighting spiders on their way home from school!

bugs_210bcfb85b5For the last couple of weeks the boys gravitate to the flowering plants as they enter the school gate in the morning.  Praying mantises have been emerging and the kids want to see how many they can find.  They don't use them to fight (thankfully), but are eager to carry the cool looking bugs around during the day. Impromptu mini-science lessons have happened with the appearance of these green creatures like learning that the female mantis eats the head off the male!  

praying_mantis_2So if you are into bugs, Cebu is the place to be.  Hang out with the kids for a while and you'll learn new and creative ways to play with bugs. 

Busy with Birthdays!

Oct. 13, 2015By: Peter Arneson

It’s a busy birthday week! Today is Tuesday in Cebu, we just finished birthday parties on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights. We have a small break and then, coming up we have two more celebrations on Thursday and Friday! Whew!

There are times (this week for instance) when I think it might be wiser to celebrate once a month for everyone who has a birthday that month but not most of the time. For these kids who have had very few special moments just for them, an individual birthday party, celebrating them seems more than appropriate. Here are a few photos...

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Monday's birthday was especially exciting because the birthday girl turned 18. The picture below is of her reading a wonderful letter she wrote thanking her house parents, care givers, and God for the love and provision she's recieved while at CSC.Monday_Bday2315fa9f979

Auntie Warlita Retires

Oct. 9, 2015By: Marcel Pacada

DSC00067Auntie Warlita has worked as a nurse at CSC since 1997.  She has taken hundreds of children to the doctor in the past 18 years. Lovingly taken care of and prayed for the kids and the ministry of CSC.  Her love, dedication, and Godly example was a great encouragement to everyone she came into contact with. All of us at CSC were blessed to have her be a part of our lives the past 18 years.

On September 30th we had a farewell party and lunch for Auntie Warlita hosted by the nurses. Uncle Mitch shared about Warlita followed by a lunch with many of the CSC workers.  A wonderful time of fellowship, laughs, and appreciation to Auntie Warlita was had by all.

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Thank you for your ministry to CSC Auntie Warlita.  May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!

Reading for Everyone

Oct. 6, 2015By: Shari Reasoner

The final activity related to CCHS's Reading Challenge was a trip to the Cebu City Public Library, so the kids headed out to visit the library one day last week.  The trip was meant to be the kids' reward for doing such a great job during the Challenge, but another underlying purpose was to expose them to the idea of a public library.  Unlike most communities in the United States, the existence of public libraries in the Philippines is rare, so most people have little or no opportunity to avail themselves of the multitude of services public libraries provide.  The Cebu City Public Library is the only public library in the city of 870,000 people! 

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When we got to the library, the head librarian welcomed us and explained what a public library is.  Then the kids were allowed to browse through the books in the children's section for about thirty minutes.  Great fun!  Most of our children have not had the opportunity to read books when they arrive at the shelter.  The idea of being able to look at and read books whenever they want is a foreign experience, so they thoroughly enjoy our school library and the mini-libraries in the classrooms and houses.  This was another chance to be exposed to books in a different environment. 

While we were at the library, we learned about a program to bring books into the communities in the city.  Books bags are distributed by the library to kindergarten and first grade students and their families for them to keep at their homes for one week.  The book bags are returned after a week and the family is given another bag for the next week.  It's sort of a creative revolving check-out system.  Coupled with the book bag distribution are sessions teaching the parents how to read with their children.  It was encouraging to hear the public library is reaching out into the communities in this way.

The kids are still pumped about reading and continue to challenge themselves by reading a lot.  Right now they are into book series and books related to what they are studying in science class.  Maybe that will shift to books about countries and people around the world since United Nations Day is coming up.  We'll see...