Missions

The Vision

Children and youth of the Philippine Islands who are held captive by the bondage of poverty and lack of education will be set free to dream of a prosperous and productive future. They will break the cycle of poverty that has enslaved them and their families. They will know about the loving grace of Jesus Christ and be encouraged to give their lives to Him. They will grow to be strong successful Christian adults who will have a transforming impact on their society and nation.

The Mission

• To provide hope for the children and youth of the Philippine Islands who are held captive by poverty and lack of education by assisting them to attend school.
• To provide for the nutritional needs of the children and their families.
• To introduce the children and their families to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, who will be a source of strength and encouragement and hope for the remainder of their lives.
• To assist pastors and other individuals who teach children and young adults the principles of Christianity, character qualities and personal habits that will help them become successful adults and world changers.
• To seek pastors and individuals native to the Philippines who are already ministering to children and we work through them to accomplish the above stated mission.

Strategy – What We Do

• Provide meals for malnourished children and their families living at dumpsites, on the streets and under bridges. The frequency varies by location.
• Pay school expenses for children who, without financial help, would not be able to attend school.
• Assist with pre-schools for the purpose of preparing poor children for public school.
• Provide funds for job training for young men and women who do not have the education needed to be self sustaining and productive in society.
• Work through local church leaders and pastors who know the children and families and their needs. We send small financial support to these leaders and require a monthly report on the ministry, accountability of the money sent for ministry and to let us know of unmet needs.
• Recruit sponsors and investors to help with the cost of food, education and discipleship training for the children.
  Encourage microbusiness ideas and ventures as means of overcoming poverty and dependency.
• Travel to the Philippines once a year to visit the locations where we sponsor children and youth. We meet with the local pastors and leaders responsible for each group and host a gathering or party for the sponsored children, providing a meal and a time for personal visits with the children. During these visits, we often have opportunity to speak to parents and guardians as well.
• Between the annual visits, we are in frequent contact with our onsite leadership through e-mail.

How It Began

It was a typical hot, humid afternoon in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines. We drove onto the property of the city dumpsite. The smell, the smoke from the ever burning fires and the heat combined to make it very unpleasant. As I looked out the window, here they came. It looked like hundreds of little children running toward our van. They recognized it because local pastor Robert Cuenca came regularly with his family and church members to bring food and Bible stories for the children. We stopped as the children surrounded the van and I looked down into a pair of big beautiful brown eyes. A little girl looked up at me. Her face was smudged with dirt and soot. Her clothes were dirty and ragged. Those brown eyes and her big smile pierced my heart. I choked on my tears. That was my introduction to the children living at the dumpsite. The experience changed my life.

God spoke to my heart that day and I told him I would spend the rest of my life helping these little ones. God showed me that it is important to feed them and take care of their needs and tell them about Jesus their Savior. He also showed me that, through education, some of them could break the cycle of poverty inherited from their families. You see, these children were not in school. Some were 10, 11 or 12 and had never been to school. Some had attended, but with no regularity. They were destined to repeat a cycle of poverty into which they were born. In the Philippines, it costs to go to school. Even in public school, children wear uniforms, pay tuition, pay for books, various school fees and, of course, school supplies. We did not have much, but we used what we had and that first year, we sent 8 children to school. The next year we sent those same children plus 4 more to school, paying all of their school expenses. That year an elderly lady in our church asked about helping one of the children and we had our first “sponsor.” She was delighted, we were delighted and the little boy she sponsored wants to grow up and be a pilot instead of a trash scavenger.

In 2003 a pre-school was begun at the dumpsite of Lapu Lapu City because many of the children were not ready for school. I visited the school and was overwhelmed. There were 10 to 12 year old children in the pre-school who had never been to school. They were overjoyed. In the school at the dumpsite, they were learning personal hygiene and character qualities. They received breakfast every morning and learned how to read and write. The mothers came for lessons on parenting and life skills. The preschool graduated 10 children and we added them to our “school list” for public school the next year.

The Philippine school year goes from June through March. When school began in June 2005, we were sending 27 children to school. Thirty-one additional students were enrolled in pre-school. We had more individuals and groups wanting to sponsor the children. Some friends told us to consider the possibility that we would send 100 children to school in June 2006. Though it was a stretch to believe we would grow from 27 children to 100, somehow we knew it would happen. We began to get photos and information for the children from, not only Lapu Lapu, but also from other pastors across the Philippines who had similar situations. We put out the word to our mailing list that we needed sponsors for the children. The response was overwhelming.
In 2005 a church was begun at the Lapu Lapu dumpsite in order to minister more directly to spiritual and physical needs of the children and their families

In June 2006, we sponsored 153 students from 4 different locations and began support for 2 additional pre-schools. One of the pre-schools is on the island of Samar, the poorest island in the nation. We also began support for job training for young men and women who have no family or education.
In 2007, we sponsored around 500 children, including a few in college. In 2008, the number grew to 650 in 29 locations on 4 islands. Then in 2009, we experienced the first decrease. Because of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the number of students we were able to sponsor decreased to 545 at 25 locations. In addition, we help with the cost of one pre-school instead of three.