Staff Blog

A new craze has hit the shelter.  And it is one I cannot understand in the least.  The current trend on the playground involves beetles.

Step 1: Catch the beetle that you fancy most.

Step 2: Attach string to the leg of your choosing.

Step 3: Run!

There is NOTHING about that that is in any way appealing to me.

Okay, okay, if I could get past touching the beetle for the length of time it would take to tie a string around its leg, it MIGHT be kind of cool to have a pet on a leash that would fly alongside me.  Operative word being might.

And yet, it is an activity that currently captivates the attention of many of our children!

Check out the pure joy on the face of one of our newest kids!

The beetles (yes, more than one) are on his finger here...

In flight...

Mind-boggling happiness...

Happy Summer all!  May yours be filled with joy...and bugs, if that is what it takes!

Our kids are incredibly gifted in many forms of expression.  They dance with a fluidity that astounds, and tumble and flip in a way that looks effortless.  They pick up song lyrics crazy fast and belt out those lyrics without abandon.  They smile readily and are prone to giggles.

We have some talented artists among us as well.  Recently the kids were having fun decorating our driveway.  Many were content with just autographing the cement, others were more focused in their artistry.  

 My favorite decoration, however, was the one you see below.  "Marty love Jesus."  That was written, not entirely grammatically correct, but quite neatly, by a 5-year-old.  You can see his proud little feet at the top!  :)  I was taken aback when I spotted this message among the flowers, butterflies and names that surrounded it.

The message was so simple, so sweet...so perfect.

 As adults we worry about raising the children around us in the right way, being a good witness and teaching them about Jesus.  This message was fulfilling for me---this little boy gets it, if he does not get anything else in the world, he knows the most important thing.

 And to tell you the truth, I was humbled in that moment as well.  I was brought back to the heart of why we do what we do here at CSC.  We do this work because we love Jesus.

 Lindsay love Jesus too!  :)

Our kids go in waves with their favorite activities.  For quite a while, everyone was into waveboarding.  Sometimes it's playing marbles and sometimes it's rubber bands.  The current craze is a game called "Juggling".  The kids take turns kicking a ball in the air. The first person has to kick the ball once, the second person kicks it twice, and so on.  They have up to 3 tries to get the desired number of kicks in.  Sometimes they also have contests to see who can get the most number of kicks in one try.  I haven't asked everyone, but the highest number I've heard is from Maricris.  She kept the ball in the air for 60 kicks in a row!  Amazing!  

Mothers' Day is a time to focus on our moms, their love and the great contributions they have made to our lives. Let's take some time to think about the aunties at CSC who take on the role of substitute mothers for our children. Most of these women have children of their own, so their work with the CSC kids is a testimony to the depth of their reservoir of love. CSC relies so heavily on the contributions of these workers, women to mother the motherless children of CSC. God bless them, especially on this Mother's Day.

Last week I was walking into the Duterte House and was struck with what an incredibly beautiful building it is. It made me realize that you, the blog reader (or Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube follower), have probably never seen some of the "nooks and crannies" of CSC. So I decided to do a photo walk yesterday to try and capture some of these "places unseen." Hopefully these pictures help to communicate (1) how well CSC takes care of their facalities (2) how safe, secure, and protected these kids are and (3) that the only way these buildings and walls could have been built was with the generous donations from CSC supporters all around the world.

The Duterte House

The Cherne House

The Eicher House

Trees in the yard (the colored specks are kites).

The walkway that connects the infirmary with the Duterte House (and three boys flying kites).

The view from the infirmary.

The infirmary.

Iso, short for isolation - This is the place kids stay when the are first admitted to CSC (or are sick). As you can see, it sounds worse than it actually is. :)

The water tower in the back yard of the infirmary.

All of the walls around CSC have barbed wire to keep intruders out.

The main gate to CSC.

The hallway into the Children of Hope School. Daniel, one of the CCHS guards, is writing my name down in the "log book." Every person that comes and leaves CCHS is recorded in this book.

The main area in CCHS. This area is partitioned into classrooms during the school year.

The guard house and motorcycle parking at CCHS.

An interesting side note - It's rare to see a motorcycle bigger than 125cc here. Lindsay and I have a Honda XRM. It doesn't go very fast, but on an average week we spend around $2 on gas. :)

While these buildings and structures are incredible, it's what they hold that is truly beautiful: