Back to School!

Hi there family and friends!

With June being back-to-school month in the Philippines, we were SO pumped to begin our second year of daycare. This will actually be our first full school-year, as we only officially started the daycare shortly after I arrived in the Philippines in November (...which almost seems like ages ago now). Everyday I take joy in witnessing the daycare's impact on our community in new and awesome ways. Only by God's grace and love has this all been possible - and we rely on Him completely for all the provisions and volunteers. Word has gotten out, and others too are seeing the benefits of this little school in the lives of the children. Several broken families and parents of street children are now asking us if we can accommodate their children as well. Many of the parents in these squatter communities are unemployed, some are in jail, and others work for pitiful wages as a street sweeper or a bartender (to name a few of their occupations). While we originally intended to limit the enrollment in our daycare to 10 students, we've actually allowed 16 kids to register, and we're tentatively considering a few more. However, the average age of our students this year is only around 4-5 yrs old, and without any limits on class size we would be sacrificing our ability to invest in the personal growth of each student. Nevertheless, God is continually equipping us and challenging us for bigger things. Please continue to pray for this investment in our community.

Here are some highlights from the first week of school!

The youth in our church built a giant blackboard for the new school year!

Riveting new lessons from our fresh, new curriculum.

What's a daycare without fun and games?
Everyday our students (and teachers) enjoy playing with their friends.

Our kids grow super tight bonds with their classmates.

Making origami butterflies in the first art lesson of the year.

One of our other rapidly growing ministries is our Saturday morning children's program. Over the last few Saturdays, we've had between 65 and 80 children attending! This last Saturday was an exceptional event though. A charitable organization called "The Chummy Chum Foundation" (...true story...I couldn't make that name up) visited our church and put on a carnival for the street kids. They provided plenty of fun games, cotton candy, popcorn, and even school supplies! Not to mention we were graced with the appearance of their lovable mascot "Chummy Chum" himself - a giant, purple...thing.

Games and prizes at the carnival.

Chummy Chum gets chummy with the kids.

Each child receives a package of school supplies.

Thanks again for checking in and reading my blog! Take care always!

ps. Here's a random video for your enjoyment. This is Bernadette - one of our newest daycare students. She's a 5-yr old singing sensation who also loves to make funny faces while having staring competitions with me.

When it Rains, it Pours...

Hello again family and friends!

There are two official seasons in the Philippines: dry and rainy. After the high humidity and heat of the last few months, it isn't surprising that something had to give...and so the rainy season hit us hard at the beginning of June. We've almost experienced more rain in the last week than we have in my entire stay here! These rains, also known as monsoons, are a constant wind-bringing rain. At times, I've stepped off of a bus or a jeepney into the street with water up to my ankles! It's all part of the experience of being a missionary in the Philippines, and I'm "soaking up" every moment of it...? (I know, that was terrible)

Moving on, I've got pictures to share from an outing I mentioned in my last post. We took 15 street children from the Sucat community to Tagayay - a beautiful place with a cooler climate, great hiking trails and parks, and even horseback riding. For these children and their families, an event such as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they put on their best clothes and eagerly arrive early to go on such outings.

Imang and I enjoy the view from a hanging bridge.

Jared gives thanks for the meal.

The kids can finally enjoy just being kids!

Another awesome first-time experience for the kids.

In other news, in response to a growing need, I've started teaching English lessons to the Filipinos on my team and in our church. Every Tuesday, I now teach a one-hour lesson to my teammates/churchmates living in our community. On Thursdays, I also teach an English lesson to my teammates at the drop-in center in Alabang before we begin our Sucat community and Nightlife ministries. The English language has almost become a necessary requirement for many Filipinos to gain employment. While the Philippines is often regarded as an English-fluent country, English unfortunately tends to be another barrier separating and distinguishing those in poverty from the higher socioeconomic class (...with very few people comprising any sort of middle-class).

This Tuesday, we'll have an orientation for the mothers of our daycare students. We'll be discussing with them the revised curriculum for the new school year and any important details with regards to the daycare (eg., which of our workers will be picking up and dropping off their kids each day, what kinds of healthy foods we'll be providing them for snacks/meals, what records we'll be keeping with regards to emergency contact numbers and student profiles, etc.). We're pleased to announce that some of our daycare students from last year have the opportunity to attend a formal school beginning this month, which also leaves room for us to include new street children into our class. This includes a young child who recently moved to Metro Manila with her father and two older siblings, and they now live in a broken-down, abandoned van on a nearby street corner. Please pray that we will be able to reach out and help aid this family through our many children's programs and initiatives run by our church and our team.

Thank you so much for sharing in these experiences with me! I pray that you will be encouraged by the ways God is working through my team to help the poor and oppressed in our community. Take care!