Staff Blog

In response to the devastation on our island and on the neighboring island of Leyte, CSC has mounted some relief efforts to relieve suffering and give hope. Although we have not actively solicited donations for a major relief initiative, loyal and generous CSC donors have given. The outpouring of love has been amazing. Some of it comes from former residents and their families who want to help birth families. The rest comes from people who have heard about and seen the tragic results of the typhoon that hit our part of the country.

On Tuesday, November 19, Carmelita Baya, CSC's Senior Social Worker, went to northern Cebu to deliver food and water to families known to the CSC family. She and our driver, Edwin Martinez, brought mineral water, canned goods, rice, noodles and dried fish to three families of former residents. Although Cebu City was spared significant storm damage, northern Cebu got hit very hard. The families were thrilled to receive the boxes for good. Their only other option was to fall in line for hours at a government distribution center where they would only be given a small bag of food. One of the women that they visited was standing in the long line when someone came and told her that Carmelta was at her home. When she ran there Carmelita said, "You don't have to wait in line. We came to see you!" All three families have major damage to their houses which was assessed by Carmelita. We will try to help them with building supplies soon. We cannot help all the people who need assistance. We can't even offer aid to all the people we know personally. But we can help some and we are trying our best to do that. We are not a rescue or relief agency, just a group of people who want to help, even in relatively small ways.  

The next trip will be tomorrow. Carmelita and three others will be going to Leyte, the hardest hit of all the islands. Again, we will be distributing food and doing assessments of houses of people we know. This morning we went to the supermarked in Cebu City and purchased food for ten families. This will be a three day trip and the team will be going to several towns with these goods.

Here are some pictures of the damaged homes of the families that we are helping:

A good friend of mine, Howard Plucar, missionary, pastor, blogger and devotional writer, who has lived much of the past decade in Japan and the Philippines, remembered something from his high school football days when thinking about the difficulties faced by hundreds of thousands of Filipinos these days:

"Back about 45 years ago when I was playing high school football, there was a rule against “piling-on” a player who had already been tackled and was down on the ground." 

I can also remember a guy who used to play football at the college where I attended. He as known as "Spike," and I can remember some classic late hits that resulted in "Piling On" penalties for our team. Well after the whistle he would race to downed ball carrier and jump on him with his helmet leading the way. 15 yard penalty. But, as Howard Plucar notes, "it seems there is no such rule for life because life has a way of' 'piling-on' when we’re already down and discouraged.  The people in The Philippines whose lives have been devastated, first by an earthquake and now by the monster typhoon, surely must feel as though life is “piling-on” when they are already down.  Even in our personal lives, we go through periods when we wonder, “what’s next?”,  as we go from crisis-to-crisis ourselves, or walk and pray with family and friends who are getting piled-on by life. ...... We pray…”Your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth…”, clinging tenaciously to Jesus while working toward rightness in every way possible (especially toward those who are being “piled-on”) in anticipation of complete rightness being established at the return of the King."

We have been told to expect another storm in the coming days. It isn't supposed to pack the wind power of Yolanda, but will bring lots of rain. And it could develop into a stronger typhoon. Piling on! Lord, I pray that you would calm this storm, right out in the ocean, as it moves towards our part of the country. The people of Leyte and other battered islands just can't handle any more destruction.  

Yesterday three different groups or individuals visited us. It isn't common for that many to be here at the same time, but we do have a lot of visitors come to CSC. It is a bigpart of what we do, and we recognize that doing it right is important. Adoptive families come to get their new family members: we need to help ensure that they have a positive experience,  get information from us as to their children's backgrounds, medical and developmental progress, and counseling and school accomplishments. Donors come to see the ministry: we want them to feel good about their partnership by meeting the kids, staff and workers, and getting a sense for the type of care we offer within our great facilities. Former residents return to see where they used to live and reconnect with the staff and workers: we want this to be a welcoming experience where they feel loved, remembered and encouraged.

One of the things we try to do is to put the names of our visitors on our welcome board that is clearly visible when they enter CSC. Our house parents do the lettering, especially Uncle Patrick. Visitors are almost always taken aback with this recognition, and it helps emphasize for them that we are happy to have them and have been anticipating their arrival. Many guest want a picture at the welcome board before they do anything else at CSC.

Our Cebu staff is a very welcoming group! We recognize that visiting CSC can be a life-changing experience for many guests. For some, it gives them a better understanding of the ministry, the types of needs we meet and the issues and problems that face the poor in the Philippines. For others it reinforces their commitment to helping financially, or gives them a first hand look at needs within the ministry. For adoptive parents it provides and opportunity to show them the level of care that their child(ren) received at CSC. And for returning residents, visits are significant reunions, where we laugh and cry and remember.

Throughout our history,  many visitors to CSC have gone home as changed people. Some have resolved to adopt children. Some have returned to join our staff or serve as short term missionaries. Some have become donors. One couple decided to build the Cherne and Eicher houses. Some have taken the ministry home to their churches, families and friends. Some became lifetime friends of staff members. Others had their faith renewed or strengthened, seeing all that God has done and is doing at CSC.

Whatever the reason for the visit, our staff stands ready to greet our visitors with some of the same love and care  offered to the children who come to live with us. We want to be a caring, welcoming home that communicates the love of Jesus Christ to all who enter. 

The recent earthquake in Cebu and the neighboring island of Bohol has resulted in suffering and loss of property. Filipinos have responded with generous efforts to help out. Food, clothing, water and building supplies are being donated and distributed by private citizens, businesses and civic organizations, even as the Philippine government and NGOs direct larger amounts of relief aid to the victims.

A few days after the quake, Ruth Ohlendorf was talking to the Teen Home residents about the relief efforts. They mentioned to her that they would love to help. They asked about the amount of money they each had in their allowance fund, and each decided to give to buy supplies for those who were hurting. One resident gave all of her money to the project. With their pooled allowances, Julieto and Roselyn went shopping at the local supermarket, and the purchased goods were brought to a distribution center.

Without being asked or even encouraged to give, these young adults responded out of love and compassion. Their hearts are good!

Most of the activities for our CSC kids involve groups. They eat together, play together and go to school together. But some of the most precious times at CSC involve them receiving one on one attention from a staff member, a house parent, a counselor or a teacher. At CSC we recognize the importance of providing one on one situations where our kids can experience having the undivided attention of a person that they admire, respect and enjoy being with. With more than 90 children to attend to, we cannot provide as many of these experiences as we would like, but as I go around the shelter and school, I am encouraged to see that they do happen, every day.