Staff Blog

Our kids have been opening up a lot lately. A dental team from Lindstrom, Minnesota has been here taking care of their teeth, and it has been an interesting time of bravery, fear, trembling and lots of hard work. Dentist and great friend of CSC Matt Struve, reports that they treated 250 teeth, with fillings and extractions, and cleaned the teeth of most of the children. All in all Dr. Struve and his team did thousands of dollars of free dental work and blessed us all with their compassion, generosity and friendship. On their last night at CSC, Matt gave demonstrations to the kids and staff on proper brushing technique, and gave out awards in three categories: Clean Mouth Club, Bravest and Most Helpful. Many thanks to Matt Struve, his son, Evan, and his two assistants, Anne Renaker and Brenda Birk. Anne, Brenda and the Struves attend Lakes Evangelical Free Church in Lindstrom.

Check out some additional photos posted by Matt Struve.

Old Blue was sold today. Jerry Salgo, our Transportation Director, showed it to a guy this morning and he agreed to buy it, with all its flaws and limitations. It is the end of an era. Amy Luck, who has driven Old Blue a lot in the past several years, called me up this afternoon, delighted that the guy bought it primarily to bring his dad to kidney dialysis. It seemed fitting that this old clunker still had some good work to do in its final days.

The guy's going to pay for it on Monday morning. So right now Old Blue is in our car park at the Teen Home, waiting for its new home. Considering all the repairs she has needed in recent years and the times that she failed us along the way, I was expecting to be happy to see her go. But when I pulled into the Teen Home today and saw her there, I reacted in a different way. I won't say I got weepy, or even misty-eyed, but I did reflect on the many kilometers that Old Blue gave us over the years, since we purchased it from missionary friends Howard and Marilynn Plucar. I thought about the number of staff members, kids, short termers, visitors and friends who have piled into that car over the past years. The car failed us many times, but it came through more times than that. It gave all it had for CSC, and we need to remember her for that, not for her failings in old age.

Maybe one of the reasons that I got a little bit melancholy is that one of our child care workers is planning to retire. She has worked for us for something like 27 years and she is tired out. She has held, fed, bathed and cuddled hundreds of our kids. She provided one on one care to Luke for years in his upstairs room. Now she's ready to move on, kind of like Old Blue.

Old blue has dents, engine flaws and makes some very strange noises. The turns and hill climbs that used to be simple now require a strain. I guess the truth of the matter is that I feel like Old Blue sometimes these days. Old, faded, cranky. I don't want to be that way, but after 34 years on the job I sometimes feel like I need an overhaul. I'm a lot more tired at the end of the day. Sometimes I forget things that people tell me. Running after kids is something that the old joints just don't allow. The day will come when it will be time to retire. I am a grandparental figure for the kids now instead of a parental figure. One of kids, known for her rather brutal honesty said to me the other day, "Uncle Paul, your hair is white and your teeth are yellow." Yikes. I'm Old Blue.

I hope that, like Old Blue, when my days of service to CSC are done, I can know that, in spite of some failings along the way and limitations of age at the end, I gave all I had for the ministry. That's all any of us can aspire to. It was great that, in the last month of Old Blue's service, she was used a lot, to bring kids and staff to and from summer activities. She performed well. She finished strong. Hope I can do the same!

Farewell, Old Blue. Bring that old man to his dialysis safely, like you've done for our kids and staff over the years!

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.

Today is a day that has significance for only a few people. May 4 was the day in 1979 when three young Minnesotans stepped off the plane in Cebu City, to a blast of incredibly hot air on perhaps the hottest day of that year, to begin their plan of starting a ministry for homeless children. There was nobody to welcome us, no brass band or flower leis. But it was an exciting day for Kathy, Marlys and me. We had been thinking, dreaming and praying for this day. May 4, 1979.

Or was it May 5?   Sometimes we debate that. We are at the age now where we sometimes get a little fuzzy on details. It was one of those two days, I'm almost certain. I guess it doesn't matter. I've never been a slave to details. There we were, three young people without much in the way of experience or training about how to live in a tropical country, how to fix up a house or, more significantly, how to take care of children. I've got a feeling that there were a few people back home and here in Cebu who thought that we were destined for failure. In fact, I know its true because some of those folks have admitted it to me. I guess I can't really blame them.  But we had one thing going for us. We were convinced that God had called us to go to Cebu and that, having done that, He would be with us. Through thick and thin.

There has been some thin over the last 34 years, but its mostly been thick. The excitement of stepping out in faith as we climbed down those airplane steps is still there for our staff. Much has changed in terms of facilities, staff, the number of children we care for, and the size of our annual budget. (Our first year we got by on about $6,000!) But mostly its the same. We get up in the morning, we do the work of taking care of children who do not have families, and we go to bed again. There is no drudgery in this work, and it is as fun and exciting as it was when we took in our first child in 1979.

May 4th or 5th or whatever day it was doesn't seem to matter much in terms of the big picture, and the challenges we face today in caring for 90 children in Banawa Hills. But it will always be important to those of us old timers who stepped out of that plane and into a life that has meant so much to us and to many other people, including almost 900 children.

Thanks to all who have had a part in it!

When children are admitted to CSC they almost always start their time with us in the infirmary. Most of them have parasites or need to be checked for tuberculosis. For some of the kids it isn't a lot of fun to be stuck in isolation when the kids are playing down on the playground. They are happy when the day comes that they can go down the steps and move into their new residence.

The other day our new sibling group of four made that move. Chosar, Marie, Charls Kyle and Stone had been in isolation for just a few days but were very anxious to say goodbye to the nursing staff and head for the Cherne Home. So when the time came they grabbed their stuff and headed out. Even though Stone, the youngest, was still asleep, the older three could not wait. Friends and aunties were waiting to greet them. Toys and Barbie dolls were also waiting. It was a grand day, and Auntie Tammy captured it on video.