Staff Blog

Well… O.K. Let’s give credit where credit is due. 

God did it. 

We went into our final days of 2014 needing $50,000 more in donations. That’s a huge number! I have to admit I was doubtful we would meet budget. However, the gifts that arrived on the last few days of 2014 totaled $54,000, just over the amount we needed!

As we look to 2015, we think about all of the CSC kids who will leave us to join their adoptive families and all the children who will come to us for care. We look forward to continuing to provide food, shelter, medicine, education and love to the children in need in the Philippines. We are so thankful for the amazing supporters that keep this work going. You make such a difference!  

Happy New Year!

This morning I had the honor of eating breakfast with 45 amazing donors. CSC held it’s second annual Shareholder Meeting today. This shareholder group consists of donors who have given a total of $50,000 or more in gifts OR 150 or more lifetime gifts. I was calculating what that looks like and realized that in order to hit 150 lifetime gifts, it equals monthly gifts to an organization for at least 12 1/2 years. That’s a really long time. And a serious commitment to a ministry.

I was honored to be in a room with people so dedicated to helping the children in Cebu. In a way, everyone who gives to support the ministry is a shareholder. Whether it is your first gift or your 200th gift, you are investing in the work of changing lives in the Philippines. Thank you for your support!

As I was getting ready to leave the office at the end of the day yesterday, the phone rang. I picked it up to greet the caller. The voice on the other end of the line told me that he was calling because he wanted to give half of everything he owned to CSC in his will. It took a minute for that statement to sink in. Half of everything he owned?
We chatted for a while and he explained that many years ago he traveled to Cebu, where he saw indescribable poverty. He hadn't forgotten. He shared that while he wasn't a rich man by any means, he wanted to do what he could to leave a legacy and to impact the lives of kids in need. 

At CSC we speak often about the hearts of our donors. These hearts are amazing, generous and responsive! As gifts come to CSC to support the care of our kids in Cebu, time and time again we are reminded that it is not the amount of each gift, but rather the heart of the giver. These hearts change lives and bring smiles to adorable faces like this one.  

My recent trip to Cebu was wonderful, aside from a little sickness and a run-in with some "stink fruit".  If you have not tried "stink fruit" before, don't.  It really does taste like it smells- awful. 

I have known about CSC and worked with the organization for years, but I feel truly blessed to be a part of it as a new staff member. As I walked on the CSC grounds, I kept thinking about how excited I was to connect with what is happening in this little section of Cebu. 

One thing I'm already proud of is how seriously we take the spiritual development of our children. One evening during my trip, I was welcomed into the Eicher home to join in on evening devotions. House father DonDon had already started, so I tried to sneak in the back and blend in. It didn't work very well, as I temporarily disrupted the discussion when the kids started waving and saying "hi Auntie Jill!" DonDon, however, quickly got the devotion time back on track. He was leading the children through a lesson about temptation and doubt. He shared that God has a plan for all of their lives and he talked about the need to trust God with the future. All of the children were really engaged and responded by answering the questions with confidence and by reciting scripture. As I sat there and listened, it struck me how much the staff at CSC care for these kids. They strive to meet all of their physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs. Perhaps that is why you see so many smiling faces.