Staff Blog

Children's Shelter of Cebu started with young and inexperienced, but faithful and Godly, people from MN in 1979.  At that time, those five Americans shared a home with just one bathroom with three Filipinos as they began the ministry by taking care of a seven-year-old girl and a few babies.  All of the adults took care of babies in their rooms or by their beds.  They took turns washing dirty diapers, making bottles, and cooking food for everyone.  They also made disheartening discoveries that some of the clothes they had hung out to dry were stolen from the yard by the neighbors.  Learning language was challenging and sometimes humorous.  One story I heard was that one of the missionary staff had mistakenly ordered mosquito in a restaurant instead of chicken because of a misspoken Cebuano word.  Another story involved the use of a staff member’s shoe to retrieve his last one peso coin that had rolled into some gunk in the gutter.  Otherwise, he would have had to walk home from the city all the way to Bulacao, which was five miles away.  Another memory was the staff needing to talk to the employees because the ministry needed to tighten its belt when funds were low.  Other organizations here in Cebu City assisted CSC with donations during that time so that the kids never missed out on a meal. 

In 36 years as a ministry, CSC has gotten bigger with three homes at the shelter and a teen home, serving 85 children by the end of the year 2015.  In 1979, the CSC staff relied on God and what He could do through the first few supporters of the ministry.  In 2015, that same faith and reliance on God continued to be as strong as before.  God continues to prove to us He is true and faithful!  Once again, He has done this through the financial giving of CSC’s supporters and CSC finished the year 2015 in the black. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:4-6

"Praise the Lord, all you nations; For great is His love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord." Psalm 117 

      Our Thanksgiving celebration has come and gone, but giving thanks at CSC is not done.  We have so much to be thankful for every day.  We give thanks for the opportunities we have to be a part of each child’s life that comes through our doors.  We give thanks that we can be God’s hands and feet to do the things we do each day for the children.  And most of all, we give thanks for the families who make our children a part of their own family through adoption. 

        A week ago, Mitch and I had the opportunity to host Thanksgiving dinner at our home for the staff and some of the children from the shelter.  Before we ate, Mitch asked everyone to share one or two things we were grateful for.  One child said she was thankful for life.  One can just imagine what her life would be like if her parents had not entrusted her and her siblings to CSC’s care.  Another child, one of the winners in the turkey coloring contest, was shy to say what she was thankful for.  But everybody knew she was thankful for her adoptive family whose pictures she had just received a few days before. 

        Yesterday we said goodbye to a handsome two-year-old boy.  He came to CSC when he was just six days old.  Everyone, especially the aunties and uncle in his home, will surely miss his laughter, screams of joy, and affectionate hugs.  We will miss him calling us, using the last syllables of our names.  But the joy of knowing he is now a part of a family that loves and trusts God beats the sadness of saying and waving goodbye.

        Thank you, Lord, for the miracles of families You are blessing our children with!      

“Ber” Months and Kid Volunteers

         September, October, November and December are known in the Philippines as the “Ber” months for obvious reasons.  When these months arrive, Filipinos begin to get excited.  These months herald the arrival of a celebration that most Filipinos love, and that is Christmas. Christmas music is played at times as early as the first few weeks of September.    

        Like most Filipinos, the children at the shelter are starting to think about Christmas.  The kids who had experienced the month-long celebration at the shelter already told the new kids the fun things that happened last year.  Some have already asked when the progressive dinner will be and some have started to wonder and ask what Santa will do for fun on Christmas eve. 

       One fun thing that happens at the shelter during December is the party for outreach kids.  This year it will happen on Saturday, December 12.  Two or three of the older kids usually help with the party by being on the registration table.  When that is done, they help the other older kids by helping give away candies and other sweets while games are going on.  Then they help distribute the snacks when it is time for that.  Then when it is time for gifts and give-aways to be given, they also assist Santa with the distribution.   

Julieto bagging give-aways.

Registration table

Girls having fun after helping the outreach party.   

       It is fun to see the kids helping other kids in need.  And it is always fun when they volunteer themselves to help when help is needed.

Most Cebuanos my age grew up with a saying that goes “Bisan saging, basta loving.”  This saying means that even when the family is eating bananas all the time, as long as they love each other, the family is okay.

The passage, Proverbs 15:17, “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred” reminds me of that old saying.  It also reflects on the situations CSC’s children came from.  Not the whole, but the part about bananas and hatred.  The kids at CSC have come from different situations of poverty, neglect, abuse, and abandonment.  Some of the kids came from loving situations that deteriorated because one parent died suddenly. The one parent left behind could not cope up with trying to earn a living while taking care of the children at the same time.  Some of the kids came from broken families.  Most of them were abused before being cast aside when a parent got involved in a new relationship.

Bisan saging basta loving.  Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.  Some of these children did not have anything at all, no bananas, no vegetables, no fattened calf, no one to turn to, and most of all, no love, but had an abundance of hatred at times.  

Kindness, understanding, patience, hope, faith, joy, grace, and most of all, love.  This brings to mind that this is what CSC is all about.  It is not because of the beautifully maintained houses, medical building, and school, nor the playground and other things, though all of these have helped.  But, it is the people that made the shelter what it is.  Feelings of warmth and welcome are created by people who are kind, generous, patient, hopeful, understanding, even-tempered, and most of all, loving. Different backgrounds, educated to the less educated, Americans and Filipinos, people who answered God’s call to pray, give generously, volunteer their time during mailings, and serve on the CSC Boards both here in Cebu and in the US.  They came together to serve in a ministry that not only provided a roof over the heads of these children, but the loving-kindness and the grace of God that the children had not experienced before.

At CSC, there is no “bisan saging basta loving,” and  “no better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” CSC is a big home, a big family that God has blessed with His love and grace.  Thank you Lord for the people who answered Your call to serve in this ministry.         

For quite some time, I tried finding ways to see someone who left Children’s Shelter of Cebu’s custody in 2007.  He was ten years old when he and his older sister left CSC.  It was everybody’s understanding, according to the agreement between CSC and the mother, that they would all live in the province.  It was not until a while later that we heard they came back to the city.  The sister was taken care of by the mother.  The boy, once again, lived in the same place he had lived before he had come to CSC.  It was hard knowing he would again be left on his own.  

I tried following up on him through his mother and older sister.  I asked many times to meet with him at the office.  For years, his mother did not have nice things to say about him.  The older sister, who was (and still is) under their mother’s care, seemed not to know how he was doing either.  She would only say she did not know what he was up to, or she did not know how he was doing.  She knew, though, that he was still living in the house near the market.  It’s not that she did not care for him, she just did not want to do anything to displease her mother.

I tried for years to get him to come to the yearly outreach Christmas party.  I even resorted to withholding his Christmas gift one year so he would come and get it at the office.  He did not come.  One year, when he was enrolled in grade four at a nearby school, I got him to come see me because I would not give him shoes if he were not the one to come get them.  So, I brought him to the store and got him the shoes and socks.  I even brought him back to the place he called home.  That was the last time I saw him.  

It has been quite some time.  I thought I lost that young boy.  But, God answered prayers.  Early this year, I heard of a place that caters to out-of-school youth that want to better themselves.  I talked, sent text messages, and visited some of CSC’s former kids whom I thought would benefit from the program.  And I sent a message and talked to this boy’s mother, too.  She told me she would tell him about this opportunity.  And praise God, she did!  I was very happy and thankful when he came to see me at the office to talk about the program and what it would mean for him.

I also could not believe it was him when he introduced himself.  The negative reports from the mother had colored my perception of him.  How could a drug-abusing kid look so clean cut and well-mannered as this young man seemed to be?  But I was glad he finally came back.  After all these years, he finally came back!

Now, this seventeen-year-old young man has been in training since the second week of May.  And as part of his training, he is working part time (and earning a half-day’s wage) through the social enterprise project of the organization.  He is also enrolled in the GED-like alternative school.  He hopes to pass the exams to either graduate from high school or to get into the high school level.  He only has a grade four education.  His main goal is to become a Filipino Marine.  He wants to serve his country and at the same time, help his family while doing it.

John Henry still has a long way to go.  Please pray with us for him.

Thank you, Lord, for this little miracle and answered prayers.