Staff Blog

After being in Cebu for a little over four months, I have realized we welcome lots of people. Some people include the many visitors and supporters of CSC.

Over five years ago, I was welcomed to CSC in a very different context. I came with the Central Baptist Church work team. I was embraced by not only the staff members here, but also the kids. I remember stepping out of that van for the first time and being rushed by about 50 smiling and laughing children.

Four months ago, Peter and I were welcomed in a much quieter setting. Joel greeted us at the airport and we then had a quiet lunch with the staff. After packing up all of our belongings, saying our sweet and lengthy good-byes to family and friends, and traveling for over 24 hours, I needed a tranquil welcome. I'm thankful for the low-key greeting we received.

As I think of the many people I've met since December who have visited CSC, I can somehow relate to a piece of their experience. Here they are, for maybe the first time, or the first time in many years, stepping foot onto the campus, seeing the grounds and the people and the kids for real, and taking it all in. When I came the first time, it was all so overwhelming and fun and awe-inspiring. It was also emotional as I thought about and processed the lives of the kids: where they lived, what their lives were like before CSC, how hard so many people work to take care of them, and how they are resilient in incredible ways. I know visitors and guests don't all experience CSC in the same way, but I know people leave impacted by what they saw and experienced. I imagine many leave with a lot to process and digest. It's enlightening for me to reflect back on my time from a few years ago and think about where I've been and how I've changed in light of my experiences.

Soon we will welcome a young lady who will work with us for about 10 days. It will be exciting to have her here and hear her perspective on her time and experience  at CSC. I hope she, and other visitors, have a vivid and meaningful understanding of the work God is doing through so many people and how he is touching so many lives through this ministry.

I think the CSC banquet is always going to prompt a time of reflection for me, at least since attending in 2014. Last year wasn’t my first time there, but it has changed everything.

One year ago my wife Megan and I sat at the CSC banquet pleased to be donors and planning to ask Matt Buley out for coffee to see if there were any other ways we could help; we were picturing something like stuffing envelopes.

This year we watched the CSC banquet from the Children of Hope School library in Cebu through a live feed. We’ve been here 4 months. We did get to stuff some envelopes, but we also ended up moving to Cebu.

Looking back, I’m not really sure how it happened. I had a good job that I enjoyed and Megan was just completing grad school, we weren’t really looking to move to the other side of the world. As best as I can figure, God just had a different plan and it kept getting clearer to us that we needed to listen. We had this growing feeling that God had taken the reins and we were now along for the ride.

I know I’m in God’s hands whether I’m in St. Paul or Cebu City, but it’s felt a little different since the banquet last year. My hunch is that this is a normal feeling around CSC. This ministry has been relying on God to sustain it since Marlys Healy came in 1978. I’m just one of the latest people to get wrapped up in what God is doing here. Through CSC, God is generously providing opportunities for all of us to labor, laugh, donate, and share in the work He is doing in the world. It was hilarious to see the video of Paul and Matt looking for Jared Gustafson and a special treat to see the tribute video about Sandy’s work at CSC, then to look over and see her sitting a few feet away smiling (appreciative, but not particularly thrilled about all the fuss being made over her). I loved watching Pastor Gustafson mark off the banquet attenders on his fingers who were going to donate an extra $100 just so we could set a new donation record.

Thank you for being engaged in this work too! I wonder where the next year will take us!

This little boy came to CSC in 2011. He was not healthy, he was scared.

I worked with him not knowing how to start. He showed a lot of concerns in so many areas.

With the everyday schedule we have for therapy, he and I formed a bond.

If you have been to CSC, you know that it is hard not to have a favorite, but this little guy captured my heart.

Last year, Joel and I went to the States for a one year furlough. It was hard to leave the kids behind, especially the ones I had been working with everyday for 6 years. When we came back to CSC, I was amazed with the many positive changes the kids showed. One especially was this little dude.

He continues to receive therapy at present and is very eager to come to his sessions. Just the other day, he kept on bugging an auntie that he needed to go and see me for therapy. It was in fact not his scheduled time, but what do you do with an eager child? Yes, we did our therapy and we had a great time cutting playdoh!

Now, every time he sees me, wherever he is – at school or at the shelter, whatever he is doing, he calls and shouts out my name, “Teacher Jinkee!!” That, for me, is the most rewarding part of my job.

After being here just over a month I’ve learned a lot! And goodness, I have so much more to learn! I’ve learned and am still learning kids’ names, aunties’ names, rules about the individual houses, routines the kids have, how to ask questions, how to hail a taxi or jeepney, how to grocery shop and cook, how to drive a manual transmission car, what my role is as social work coordinator, the best way to cut and eat a mango, and on and on the list goes. It hasn’t been easy and the learning curve is steep, but I have seen and know God is directing my steps here, even if they’re tiny ones most days.

As I hear about the stories of some of the kiddos who live here, my heart just breaks for them. Here are these precious lives, created in the image of God and yet coming from some situations that may even make your stomach turn. They might never show it on their faces, but some of them have been through rough times. But maybe that’s what one expects when you work at an orphanage in a developing country...maybe it isn’t what you expect. I don’t know. I do know that God has lifted them out of their past, and has placed them at CSC for such a time as this. I get the goosebumps just thinking about that! God saw them through some pretty gruesome backgrounds, but protected them along the way to the point of where they could have a home, clothing, food, proper medical attention, a strategically created school to attend regularly, a safe playground to be silly on, a hug when they’re sad or hurt, a birthday song on their big day, a houseparent to model what it’s like to be a Christ-follower, and overall love.

Wow! What a change for some of these little ones! As I think about how all of these things are possible, I think about the many things that need to happen to make it possible to provide all of this. We need good, faithful caretakers, staff and teachers, as well as many material items to make all of these provisions available to the kids.

Today I was reading on the website about the many special projects CSC has implemented to provide for the kids. I’m not sure why I hadn’t seen this on the website earlier, but it was something I learned today! I learned you can help contribute to something unique, and yet very important to the everyday functioning of this organization. This idea seems pretty genius to me and I love it!

I’d encourage you to go onto the website and see what we have listed. http://www.cscshelter.org/projects It seems there’s something for every interest...from medicine to field trips to birthday party supplies and more. So what about you? What is it that you might be really interested in? If there’s something there that just really leaps off of the page to you, I’d encourage you to stop right now and pray about it. Is God calling YOU to provide for a specific special project? These gifts and donations bless the children here who have come from desperate situations to a life where their needs are met and they are growing in God’s grace and love. And you, as faithful donors and supporters are partnering with us to help provide basic things for the kids. THANK YOU!
I’ll let you know what else I learn along the way! :)

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!