There's No Place Like Home

There is indeed no place like home. 

It has been my busiest first quarter of the year ever.  Last year, I only traveled out of the country twice, but since starting this year as Extreme Response (ER) Director for Asia, I have been to 4 countries already in a matter of four months.  In the four times I went on a trip this year, I really felt so homesick.  Although, the places I've been were nice and beautiful, nothing still beats my own home.

The longest time I've been away is only for three weeks and it felt like forever already.  I remember feeling so excited as we boarded our last flight heading to Manila.  I can't wait to fasten my seat belt and hear the captain's sweet voice announcing that we are soon ready for take off.

In my mind, I imagined hugging my kids again; eating unlimited plates of rice again; lying on my bed and clutching my old pillows again; drinking ice cold coke while complaining about Manila's hot and humid weather again. 

And I was just gone for three weeks.

Then while thinking about those things I love to do when I am at home, my mind started to shift to the little kids we are helping in the streets of Manila.

I realized these kids don't go out on a trip and yet they have been away from their homes, some, almost all their lives.  Some still were abandoned as soon as they were born.  Some, on the other hand were taken away as they are better off out of their homes because of the abuse they receive from their own parents.  Some call the streets their home only because that's where they were born.

No unlimited plates of rice to eat.  No bed and pillow to enjoy.  No hugs.  No kisses. There's nothing to quench their thirst even if they complain about Manila's hot and humid weather.

Almost all their lives.

I said that again because I know things can change.  Soon, we will be launching in Manila ER's home for street children.  It is a response to an ER partner's dream and now it is becoming a reality.  Before we left for this trip, we actually started renting a house.  Our next step is to furnish it with furnitures and appliances along with the renovation needed to make it a safe place for kids to live in. 

Our plan initially is to take care of ten boys.  Aside from the house where they can live and grow properly, we will be providing formal education, physical and mental health, values and spiritual formation. If things go according to our plans, the ten boys will start to live with us this coming September.  Together with the house parents, the cook, the social worker and the other staff, the children's home (soon we will have a name for it) will be led by John and Gela Basiwa as the Home’s Director and Administrator respectively.

John and Gela have been doing street kids ministry since 2001 and it has been their dream to provide a home for these street kids.  After putting up a drop-in center five years ago, they thought that it will take them 15 more years to accomplish their dream.  Now, through the effort of ER, that dream is just a few months away.

Soon, ten kids will have plenty of rice to eat (of course, not unlimited, a nutritionist will monitor the amount and kind of food they eat).  They will have their own bed and pillows.  They will definitely experience what it means to be hugged and kissed again.  They will still be thirsty because of the weather, and they may not be allowed to drink coke (the nutritionist for sure will say soft drinks are  not good for their health) but for sure the love and care they will receive will be more than enough to quench their thirst.  Soon they too will be able to say, “There's no place like home!”

Show Them How to Catch Fish!

By Joshua Benavidez

I just recently started with my new role as Extreme Response (ER) International's Director for Asia.  I officially started at the start of the year.  Part of my job is to build and maintain healthy relationships with our partner organizations within our region.

So before the end of February, together with Russ Cline and Jerry Carnill, ER's Chief Advancement Officer and Chief Executive Officer respectively, I went to India and Nepal to be acquainted with the leaders of our partner organizations and to personally see what kind of work they are doing.

For 10 days, we went from one city to another and we saw the amazing work being done to help poor communities, street children, children living in the dump and women rescued from human trafficking.  In almost all ministries we visited, they have started a sewing livelihood program for women.

It immediately caught my interest and attention, not only because we have a sewing ministry in Manila but also because it confirms the direction God has placed in our hearts for all our ministries and partnerships.

It is based on the saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Aside from the sewing ministry, towards the end of January, we set up a livelihood program for a ministry among an unreached people's group in the northeastern part of the Philippines - the Dumagats.

The Dumagats, the close relatives of the Aetas, are semi-nomadic people.  They move from one place to another in search of food and better shelter although some have learned to live in permanent settlements.  Most of them are hunters and fishermen.  This particular group we are helping is in Casiguran, Aurora which is about 24 hours away from Manila by land.

Last year, we bought a generator that the pastor requested so he can go around the village and preach the Gospel.  He and his wife also attended Leader Mundial Manila Summit held last October 2012.  There we learned the hardship and difficulties they are facing not just in the ministry but also in their daily life as a family.

He narrated to us that the small boat he was using before to catch fish needed repairs including the motor that powers it. 

He also told us that the church that used to support them stopped.  If only they have the means, they would like to raise hogs so that the income can be used to help the church and the community.

The Lord answered our prayers as a donor gave enough funds to buy a new motor for a small boat and buy some pigs too.

Before we left for the US last January, he came to Manila so we can give him the funds he needed.  A few days later, he bought the hogs they will raise and he also bought a new motor for his small boat.

We also gave some extra for their family's needs.  So in a way, we gave them some “fish” because sometimes before they can catch some fish, they need to eat first too.

The pastor later on sent some pictures.  He reported that the hogs are doing well and are growing healthy.  He also said that he is now able to use the boat for catching fish and at the same time for ferrying people from one island to another which also earns him a little income.   He is so thankful to God that He provided means for them to have a source of living and that God is always on time. He understands that life in their island is still difficult, but now a glimmer of hope shines.  

Rags to Riches

A typical afternoon in Zanzibar, consists of countless kids playing and running to and fro the breadth and the length of a half a mile long street located in one of the smallest communities of Makati City.  Jeepeneys line up one side of the street mainly for parking and sometimes for repairs while the drivers take time to eat, rest, talk with their buddies and sometimes drink.  Teen-agers, boys, play ball on a make-shift basketball court with the goal barely hanging.  Some girls on the other hand cheer on while the others just hang around.  In the middle of the street, one can easily notice a group religiously congregating everyday.  These are mostly mothers, who arm themselves with pebbles (or any small things they can use) in their hands and with cards sitting in front of them, while listening intently to numbers being called.  Once in a while someone would holler, "Bingo!"

That's how we found Zanzibar when we first started several projects in that area.

Now, things start to change.

The jeepneys are still there along with their resting drivers.  The youth still enjoy playing basketball.  We sometimes play a game or two with them.  But aside from having a street children program, which includes feeding, educational assistance and a day care center, we now have a sewing program for the mothers.

Yes, the mothers still congregate everyday.  Same spot, same time.  But some things have changed.  They no longer hold pebbles nor cards sit in front of them.  Those have been replaced by small pieces of rags they need to fashion into circular shape, in preparation for sewing.  They still listen intently, but now for instructions and details on what they should do next.  They still holler (not really, but it's more of a softly spoken way of open discussion), one at a time to share what's in their hearts.  Instead of playing Bingo all afternoon, they now make rags.

Before only one or two go home a winner while the rest are losers.  Now each one goes home a winner.  They don't just go home with a small income, they also go home with a strengthen heart and an encouraged spirit, ready to face the challenges ahead.

Rags to riches indeed.  What they have found through the sewing project is more than just material riches.  They have found life, friends, an all-important skill, and a supportive community.  You can't put a price tag on those.  Those are priceless.  Riches beyond.

The sewing project is also growing.  When we started, we only had two industrial sewing machines.  Now aside from those, we have 3 portable sewing machines, another industrial machine for making rags and a serger for sewing t-shirts.  Also, aside from making rags, the mothers now have learned and are making pillow cases, table cloths, bags and soon, t-shirts.  Also, from two mothers, now seven mothers are actively participating in the sewing program.

Seeing lives changed is really amazing.  We are just glad to be a part of it.

ER Christmas Parties in Manila

It's been seven years since ER started sponsoring Christmas parties for street children in Manila.  I could say that God has been growing this ministry since the very first party in December 2005.  It is indeed growing from glory to glory.  From a simple program held for a couple hundred children, the team this year ministered the love and joy of Christ to a total of 1500 children and about 500 parents.

It is also a big help and a huge blessing for us that Sunrise Community Church, from Sacramento, California, sends a team for the parties.  They've helped us hold parties four times already, sending an average of 12 people.  They first came in 2007.  A year later they returned again, and then in 2010 and most recently, just last December 2012.  We pray that God will bring them back to Manila again.  God willing, they will be back after two years.

The parties this year focuses on the advent theme dubbing the title, "Ang Apat na Mukha ng Pasko" (The Four Faces of Christmas).  Using the advent of hope, love, joy and peace to convey the true meaning of Christmas to the little children and their parents.

It is really amazing to see how God loves the little children and just like the parties in the past, we have seen again the laughter, joy and excitement in the faces of those children.  We are just glad to be able to witness God's display of love through the ER Christmas Parties.  Here are some highlights of the 13 Christmas parties we held in 12 different areas for 1500 street children:

More pictures coming soon!