Staff Blog

These girls have been helping each other with their waveboarding skills for weeks.  They are all getting pretty good on their own, but they still like to do it together! So cute! 

Throughout our history we have faced changes that have made us think about the future of the ministry. Some have been planned, like new buildings and programs. Some have involved losses of staff or board members that make us realize just how significant these people are to this ministry. Sometimes children will leave and we will think or say, "Wow, things will never be the same around here again!"

In these days we are experiencing all of these losses and emotions. In the next few weeks, six of our children, from two different sibling groups, will be leaving for adoption. A group of four, Jonjon, Jocelyn, Jovan and Jeralyn, will be the first to go, after more than five years with us. The youngest two came to us as babies, and have been with us for important health and developmental milestones. We have great memories of all of them in school,  Christmas programs and musical presentations, as well as their exploits in the nursery, playroom and playground.

Another group of two, Sheena Mae and Angelica will also be departing soon for adoption. The have been at CSC for five and a half years. We have seen them grow into beautiful young ladies, and we think of all the joy that they have brought to our lives. It is hard to imagine life at CSC without them. The same has been true for so many children that have left. A couple years ago we had a sibling group of nine leave, followed by another of six within a few months.

We also have a beloved staff member who will be leaving within a few months. Tammy Vosika, who has taught for eight years in our Children of Hope School, will be moving on. She has been such an important part of our school, and has had a great impact on many students and other teachers, that we wonder how we'll ever replace her and what things will be like after she is gone. The same is true for short-term staff like Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom.

Of course, we've gone though all of this before. We know that God will fill the empty places and bring the people we need into CSC. And we know that God has a great plan for the lives of these children and staff. In the future, children will be leaving who have not even come into CSC yet, who we will wonder how we will replace. And staff members will retire or move on to something else, and we'll feel just like we do about Tammy.

The fact is, nobody is totally replaceable. Everyone, staff, children, workers, supporters and volunteers, has a special place that nobody else can fill. Our history has been one of God providing these people at the right times and for the right period of time, to help accomplish the work of CSC.

It will be exciting to see who the new children, staff and volunteers will be, and how God will bless and redirect those who are leaving CSC.

Something I saw the other day touched me and has stayed with me ever since.  I was driving down a busy road, a road I often travel down.  I was looking straight ahead, intently focused on my final destination.  I don’t usually look around on that road as it is quite familiar to me, and while driving---let’s just say that there is way too much going on to do that without dire consequences!  There was a lot of traffic so I had to come to a stop. 

I looked around then.  To my right was an open space where once there had been trees and dilapidated storefronts.  There was a new strip of concrete, about 4 feet wide probably and about 25 feet long.  I think it will someday be connected with the road I was driving on---the eventual plan is to expand that road---however, for the time being it was set back about 6 feet from the road.

On that skinny strip of concrete, there were about 7 kids, boys and girls, ranging in age from 4 to 12 probably.  They were playing a game, a game that looked to me to be a combination of baseball and kickball.  There were no marked bases---the kids just seemed to know.  And they did not have a bat---they alternately used their arms or legs and they used wadded up paper for their ball.  There were not enough kids to have teams really, but they were definitely playing hard and having fun.

I watched all of that in a matter of a few seconds before traffic began to move again.  I had a mix of reactions to that scene.  I was impressed by their creativity and their energy.  I was saddened by the small and ill-equipped “playground” they were using.  I was aware that there were no adults around and that very small children were playing dangerously near a very busy road.  I was happy to see the smiles on their faces and the excitement they had for their play!

Then I thought of our kids.  They played like this before they came to CSC---for many, it was in even worse conditions.  Sometimes they talk about it---games they played, kids they played with or that they didn’t really play because they were begging or helping their family members earn money for food.  And then I thought of how they play now and where they play now.  They have grass to run in or to crash into when they are still too unstable to maneuver around on Rollerblades!  They have swings and slides and bikes and scooters.  And helmets!  They have jump ropes and soccer goal posts.  They have adults to sit next to, hold on to or talk with. 

Visitors have often described CSC as an oasis, a haven.  When the green gate opens and you enter the facility, what you see is very different from the dirt, and chaos of the busy, city streets of Cebu.  The streets our kids are all too familiar with---the streets that were their playground, their workplace and their home.

Thanks for caring about CSC.  Thanks for giving to this organization.  Thanks for making this oasis an everyday reality for our kids.  They have a safe place to live and play because of you!  God Bless you!

Last night Marlys and I had the chance to attend a capital campaign kickoff for Habitat for Humanity here in Cebu. We attended with Paul and Shari Reasoner. Paul has been working with HFH, with the intention of getting homes built for some of our workers. He has been raising funds in Minnesota, and coordinating with the Habitat leadership, both in Manila and here in Cebu. Habitat is very interested in working with our employees to build homes. It is exciting to see this developing and to imagine what a huge difference it will make to them and their families to have quality housing.

Watching the videos and listening to the speakers last night, I was struck, once again, with just what a quality organization Habitat for Humanity is. They have a great reputation for financial integrity and are meeting basic needs around the world. They are successful because they maintain their high standards, they keep their focus on what it is they are called to do, and they combine compassion with hard and practical work.

I think that CSC has similar strengths to Habitat, though we function on a much smaller scale. I think that our success over the years has been that we have kept our focus on what God has called us to do: to take care of homeless children in the Philippines.  While the needs of children in the Philippines are great, and seemingly insurmountable, we are involved in practical ministry, caring for some of these kids, offering hope and a better future.

I think that, like HFH, people have come to trust CSC for the way we go about our work and the way that we manage our people and our funds. I hope that we will always be an organization of integrity. We certainly are committed to that, from our staff to our board of directors. I hope that when people hear CSC mentioned, they will know easily know what it is we do, why we do it, and how we do it.

The CHS Sportsfest 2013 is history, and it was a great day for everyone.  The CHS teachers planned events that had something for everybody, regardless of athletic ability or interest.  There were coin and egg tosses, cheering competitions, races, hurdles, jumping and lots of other events.