Staff Blog

Life is full of trade-offs.We enjoy some things at the expense of others. That is really true for our CSC staff. And Marlys and I are feeling it in a big way. This  is a great time of year, and we are enjoying spending lots of time with our family. But Christmas is an especially fun time of year at CSC in Cebu. We have lots of fun activities for the children and it is so great to spend Christmas with the CSC family. We will miss that greatly this year. Its a trade-off.  Another is the weather. We miss the tropical warmth of Cebu but like the changes of seasons and the snow that Minnesota offers. We like being involved in the promotion of the ministry and fund raising efforts that support the ministry, but miss the daily work on the Cebu side.

Although the past 35 years of ministry have had a good share of difficulties, and we have missed out on a lot with our families, we wouldn't trade them for anything.  We have had exciting lives directing CSC, and we have been blessed greatly seeing God's hand in the ministry. We have met so many terrific people, and had a chance to invest in the lives of hundreds of kids.  We thank him regularly for giving us the opportunity to serve Him in Cebu!

CSC is full of great people caring for the children.  Child care workers, house parents, counselors, teachers, social workers, office workers, therapists, management, nurses, and guards come together each day for the children.  I am one of these workers, and, as a man, I realize that the men are outnumbered.  For every man working at the shelter, there are five women.

Over the years, the men have started a Bible study just for the men.  It usually takes some creativity to find a good time to meet since each person’s schedule varies.  At times it has been a weekly meeting.  Holidays that land on a weekday are also good days to do something a little different than a Bible study.  When we are lucky to get this, the men usually join together for basketball and food.  These mornings are a lot of fun.  It is always good to spend time with co-workers outside of work hours.

When Matt Buley was in Cebu a while ago, the men were able to organize a morning of playing basketball.  It was fun to see a part-time guard on the same basketball team as the president.  No one in this group is a PBA (Philippines Basketball Association) star.  We just enjoyed ourselves.  Good plays were acknowledged by both teams.  Mistakes were laughed off by both sides.

After several hours of grown men with mediocre basketball skills playing all out, it was time for food.  The morning feast was spread out on banana leaves.  This is a called a boodle fight.  No utensils or plates.  Hands were all you needed to get the food from the banana leaf to your mouth.  It was a fitting way for a group of men to culminate a morning of fellowship.

When I was a kid, my family did not have the luxury of buying me books.  I only received a book for my birthday or as a Christmas present—and even that was not every year.

The kids at the shelter are very blessed to have books within reach. From toddlers to teenagers, these kids are exposed to the beauty of what books have to offer. It is amazing to see how engrossed they are when they start looking at and reading books.

One of the kids I work with in therapy enjoys books.  A lot.  It is easy to tell how much he enjoys books just by looking at his facial expressions. Some of the physical therapy stuff I introduce when working with him is not received well.  He thinks it is hard, uncomfortable or boring.  But when we get to floor time and I incorporate books into the therapy, he does not care what he is asked to do.  He will go on all fours, kneel, or sit cross-legged as long as he gets to touch, look at the books, and flip the pages.

Yes, this toddler’s day looks like this—Read. Eat. Play. Sleep.

For the past month and a half, the older girls of CSC have had the chance to experience "girls night". Almost every weekend, two girls are invited to my apartment for an evening of fun! 

The event starts long before the weekend even arrives. On Monday after school the group for the week is told that they are invited to girls night. Their excitement is immediate, and only builds over the coming days. On Wednesday the girls are given menu choices. I have  a variety of dinner dessert choices that the girls have the chance to agree upon, and then make. Many of the foods on my list are meals that are uncommon here in the Philippines, so I often have to explain what the meal consists of. So far, each group has chosen something that they have never tried before!

At 4:30 on Friday, the girls meet me at the guard shack. From there, we get a ride down the road to One Pavilion, a shopping center near my apartment. I give the girls a list, and they are then responsible for finding all of our needed ingredients. Once we check out, we make the trek to my apartment on foot. It has been fun to provide this experience for the girls, and have the chance to teach them life skills like cooking and grocery shopping. When we arrive at my apartment, I give the girls instructions on how to prepare the food. Everything we eat that evening will be prepared and cooked by the girls. 

Cooking has been a joyful experience for all involved. Jonnalyn and Andrea enjoyed mixing up and frying meatballs. Jannice and Pretchy made some interesting choices in dessert (corn and cheese ice cream!!). Joanna Mae and Hannah devoured their tacos (they each had about 5!). Adelyn and Ven Ven went into a sugar coma with s'mores dip. Cheryl Mae and Sarah got messy kneading cookie dough. 

The final event of the evening includes watching a movie. With these girls, it was no surprise to find my collection of chick flicks exhausted. Like any teenage girl, the girls of CSC are saps for a good romance movie...especially a Disney one! Watching their reactions to particular scenes has been the most entertaining part for me. Cheryl Mae almost started hyperventilating as the kissing scene in Pride and Prejudice approached, Jonnalyn giggled constantly during A Cinderella Story, and Janice melted at the romance in The Lizzy McGuire Movie.

With the rotation of teens finished, I can say that girls night has been a great success! I look forward to many more nights of fun with these wonderful girls!

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran was the last story in our theme on Imagination in reading this quarter and it was the best story I have ever heard for this theme.  When I was reading before the class started, I was fascinated with how the children in the story enjoyed their childhood life and played all day with their neighborhood friends in a village they created from stones, boxes, and desert glass.   Even after the children in the story had grown up and moved away, they still remembered the make-believe village they had created so long ago.  After reading the story, I remembered my childhood days with my brother, sister, and neighborhood friends.  We did not create a village like Roxaboxen, but we played in the mansanitas tree, rode our bicycles, and ran in our neighbor’s garden taking the fruit and vegetables.  I wish I could go back to where I grew up, full of enjoyment and excitement.

Every child has memories of his childhood days.   After we finished reading the story in class, I asked my Level B2 students to share experiences from their childhood days.  They all shared about their life at the shelter.  Similar to my experience, they have not had a Roxaboxen, but they are very happy and enjoy playing with their friends at CCHS. 

In order to experience this make-believe Roxaboxen a little bit more, we made our own small town on a board filled with beads for stones in between houses drawn on the board. 

Everyone was so excited.  While we were making our own Roxaboxen, my students felt like they were in a real place.  They used their imagination to create a great Roxaboxen of their own.  Congrats kids!

Remember!  “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.” So never stop imagining and dreaming.  God Bless!!!!

-Clayd Verzales, Level B Teacher