Side-by-Side to Empower the Poor

by John Coffey

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

It's hard to imagine running our programs and leading our team without the support and encouragement of Jam. For months she was assisting at our preschool and Night Life once a week. However, I'm excited to share that as of last Monday she has started working full-time at IT Tender. The entire team is thankful for her passions in teaching children, her creativity in the arts (especially with singing and dancing), and her skills with administration. Jam is currently Cecille's assistant teacher in our preschool, she serves in our Food for Life nutrition program twice a week, she helps with our Night Life program, and she also assists with administration in the office.

Our clients immediately fell in love with "Ate Jam" (big sister Jam).

Jam is passionate about providing healthy meals for the children.

The SLC Preschool students call her "Teacher Jam".

Serving and worshipping together is an opportunity for us to grow, mature, and understand each other better.

Building relationships in the community takes patience, understanding, and dedication. We are already starting to witness the first fruits of our labour in a new community called Putatan. A few months ago we started a one-year nutrition program in the Putatan community. Both Ate Lorna and Karin live in this area and have a deep love for the families and street children there. Three times a week we provide food, multivitamins, and activities for 50 underweight children. This Monday their parents will be attending our Nutrition and Hygiene Seminar at the IT Tender drop-in center.

Ate Lorna and Karin also run a weekly Night Life program in Putatan for youth who mostly live on the street and rely on scavenging through garbage to make a living. Because of our workers strong relationship with these youth, some of the youth have asked us to lead a bible study. Our teammate Gabby has experience in mentoring and discipling street youth, so last week he started leading a youth bible study in Putatan on Monday afternoons.

Ate Lorna is the hardest working woman I know. She cooks and assists in our Night Life and Food for Life programs.

Youth in Putatan scavenge through this refuse pile for plastics, cardboard, newspaper, and glass. They can earn up to a few dollars a day if they sell enough recyclable items.

Ate Lorna cooks over 200 servings of nutritious food each week for our various programs - including Night Life in Putatan.

Many of the kids in Night Life are not in school and very underweight. We hope to change that.

Martin and Janne from Denmark also assist with Gabby's new youth bible study.

Gabby gladly disciples these youth who have asked for a regular bible study.

Please continue to pray for the needs of our team. Some of my teammates are studying part-time (e.g., Jizza in Social Work, Cecille in Education, Karin in Tagalog Language School) and others are praying to go to college (e.g., Gabby can become a licensed Moderator of our tutoring program for out-of-school youth if he completes any 2 to 4 year college course; he is now praying for his tuition costs). Jizza and I are also busily writing a new manual of policies and procedures for IT Tender. While we have a license to run our programs as an NGO with International Teams, we are also praying to acquire a license specifically for our drop-in center which would raise our status and gives us more privileges with the local government. One of the requirements is the submission of our policies and procedures in what's called a Manual of Operations. The Manual of Operations also includes details on our vision, clients, personnel, budget, and documentation. Despite the many hours I will spend on this over the next 3 to 6 months, I'm still thankful to have time to volunteer once a week at the Night Life and Food for Life programs. Please pray that God will give me strength, energy, and even rest so that I can do my job well.

I love leading songs and activities at Food for Life in Putatan.

We pray during our programs because we seek to create lasting transformations in the physical, emotional, intellectual, AND spiritual aspects of each child.

Even Teacher Cecille has set aside time from her busy schedule teaching preschool to serve once a week at Food for Life Putatan.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support! God bless and take care.

From One Home to Another

by John Coffey

In the Filipino language, "balikbayan" translates as "return to nation" and refers to a person who is returning to his or her homeland. In many ways I felt like a balikbayan upon returning to the Philippines, just as I was a balikbayan when visiting Canada. Truly I'm blessed to have two homes.

What makes a place home? Well, for me, this is what defines a home...

     1. Your loved ones are there.

We're not related by blood but I love the street children as if we are.

     2.  You feel a sense of belonging and connectedness.

My faith, my family, and my friends all come together at IT Tender.

     3.  You can be yourself. Silly, inspired, irritable, elated, and everything in between.

Who says you need a house with four walls to be comfortable with who you are? The street children have showed me that a home can have little to do with your physical surroundings.

So whether I'm with my friends and family in Canada or with my team and the children in Manila I feel very at home. My homecoming this January in the Philippines was wonderful. The greatest joys were seeing my fiance Jam and also seeing the smiles of the children in our programs. In reality, it's not easy serving the poor in Manila. I'm far from my Canadian family, far from the comforts and lifestyle I grew up in, and each day facing the task of turning seemingly hopeless situations into opportunities for transformation and empowerment. But when I arrived at our drop-in center for our Friday night program, the excitement of the children refilled my soul with hope, faith, and determined purpose in serving in Manila.

Enjoying dinner with the kids from our Night Life program

Proudly displaying their art activity

Each street child and their own unique story is another reason to care and to serve. A beautiful young girl named Lenly has been attending both our Night Life program and our Food for Life program for malnourished children. She struggles with a speech problem, but she is never shy with her friends and loves to give them big hugs. If you met Lenly she would likely greet you with a warm smile and show you her newest doll that she found from scavenging in a garbage pile. My British teammate Karin told me that children like Lenly give her a reason to serve in the Philippines - to have the chance to improve her situation and see her eventually complete her schooling. In fact, we have been praying for more missionaries like Karin who are willing to come to Manila to serve these children at IT Tender.

Lenly and the doll she found in a garbage pile

In 2014 our prayer for many more short- and long-term missionaries is already starting to be answered. At the beginning of January David Shields arrived from Northern Ireland. He has been an incredible example of humility, compassion, and faith for our community. Today was the last day of his short-term mission, and already he is excited to return to visit our children and the team at IT Tender.

David and some of his young new friends

Last week we also welcomed a young Danish couple to our team - Martin & Janne. After just a week they have found a place in our IT Tender family and we're excited for their 6 month adventure serving alongside us in Manila. Besides these volunteers, we also have some missionaries serving part-time from our partner organization Extreme Response. Amanda Moxley and Louise Carver serve at our drop-in center every Friday.

Martin tries out some popular Filipino games on his first community visit

Janne's mission is an internship as part of her degree in Social Work from Denmark

Amanda and preschool student John Rey share a "selfie"

Louise is a natural with the kids and has already served in Ecuador with Extreme Response

Please contact me at johndlcoffey@gmail.com if you are interested in missions or in helping with our programs in Manila. I will leave you with some photos from David's last night at our drop-in center. We had an epic "thumb wrestling" tournament with the children from Night Life. Enjoy...

Humid Holidays In Manila

Dear friends and family,

I braced for a cold Christmas on furlough while my prayers remained centered on Manila. While the ice and snow in Canada have been especially dangerous, how do we comprehend the death toll and destruction from the typhoon in the Philippines? Many organizations, including International Teams, have rallied support to answer the prayer for relief in the wake of this disaster. However, as families across the Philippines who've lost everything move to an already overpopulated Manila, higher rates of out-of-school children will have a long-term effect that cannot be addressed only by short-term relief. Our team at IT Tender engages in long-term community development and education.

In spite of the recent tragedy, God blessed hundreds of children and families through our annual Christmas parties. My team experienced the joy of giving groceries to families and gifts to children at our parties. 

Food and games at Jollibee - the favoured Filipino restaurant of our kids 

At IT Tender we strive to empower the most impoverished communities in Metro Manila. Recently, the local government asked for our help in a new area of Sucat near a squatter community we've invested in for over 10 years. The new area consists of simple shanties built on bamboo stilts over a bay. We are currently surveying the needs of the community and excited to implement income-generating and educational programs that correspond to their assets and needs.

A warm welcome during my first visit to the community

These shanties stand above several feet of water.

Jizza, our intern social worker, gains a broader picture of the community from one of its leaders. 

As requested by the locals, our first priority is to aid them in sanitation and waste removal.

Please pray for this new community and also for the many communities outside of Manila affected by the latest Typhoon. My fiance Jam has many relatives living in the province of Leyte who were directly hit by the storm. I was honoured to meet them months before the storm when we visited for a week. Now we're shocked to see news broadcasts of Leyte in utter desolation and to hear word from her relatives that they were without food and water for weeks.

These young relatives of Jam have lost their homes and are starting over again after the storm.

The very sweet grandmother of Jam with her two brothers

Moving forward and staying strong, Jam's relatives are thankful that they all survived the storm.

There is much work to be done in the Philippines, and I'm ready to return on January 8. I will deeply miss my family and friends in Canada, but I'm grateful for your support and encouragement that allow me to serve Filipinos full-time. God bless you!

John Coffey
Director of IT Tender
johndlcoffey@gmail.com

Caring for street children ~ Isaiah 58:10

For the first time in years, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Dear friends and family,

Whether you've witnessed the snow yet or not, Christmas is coming! It may seem early, but my team is eagerly planning our annual Christmas parties for the street children in our community. This is the perfect opportunity to share our blessings with those kids and their families. Every Christmas we bring our clients to Jollibee (i.e., the Philippines' own popular fast food chain). There we host a giant Christmas celebration with plenty of food, gifts, games, and even groceries for their families. Not every child will experience a white Christmas, but every child deserves to experience the love, peace, and joy that makes Christmas wonderful. Sharing the story of Christ is an important part of our celebrations for the street kids.

You can share the blessings of Christmas with a street child for just $10 CDN/US (or 420 Philippine Pesos). This provides a meal, gifts, hygiene supplies, and groceries for a child and his/her family. Please email me at johndlcoffey@gmail.com for more information on how to give. International Teams issues a tax receipt for all donations. Don't hesitate, as our Christmas parties begin November 30th!

In just a few weeks we are also starting a new feeding program in the community of Putatan where many of our Night Life clients roam the streets. This program will take place three times a week as we hope to bring more children out of malnourishment and offer opportunities to connect them with our educational programs. We are also currently connecting one of our clients Raymond with another NGO named "Kanlungan". Kanlungan is one of our partner organizations who can provide free sign language lessons for Raymond since he is both deaf and mute.

Ana, a local nutritionist, measures the height and weight of each child who will enter our feeding program.

Raymond lives on the street and loves taking care of this litter of stray kittens at our drop-in center.

Not only will Raymond soon be learning sign language, but we are also coordinating with orphanages and the local government to find a home for him (...and his kittens).

The last month has been jam packed with special events, helpful visitors, and answered prayers. One of the memorable events was a meeting with some of the most respected community leaders in our local city hall. Jizza and I attended a two-day seminar with the city mayor, chief prosecutor, social workers, lawyers, and police. We discussed ways to coordinate our efforts in proactively addressing the issue of elementary school drop-outs and children in conflict with the law. We were honoured that IT Tender was invited as the representative and voice for the NGO's in our city! We made some promising connections with government officials and organizations that may be able to work alongside us in the future. Praise God for giving us the opportunity to share what He is doing through IT Tender with the rest of the city.

Here's a brief photo-tour highlighting some other events and programs we enjoyed this last month...

My beautiful fiance Jam is a great addition to our team, assisting with the SLC preschool and Night Life programs.

Being a team leader has matured me in many ways...but I still love to monkey around.

Amanda from Extreme Response (top left) now volunteers at IT Tender every Friday. We also enjoyed the incredible support and encouragement from our three visitors from Stopsley Baptist Church in Luton, England - Becky, John, and Sasha (top middle).

The Brits experience the hospitality of our clients in the Sucat community. 

Miranda (in red) from America has been a great help each week in our Friday programs. Her family is staying in the Philippines while her dad teaches at a prestigious University in Manila.  

We're thankful to our partners at Ontario Christian Gleaners for providing a healthy meal to the children in Night Life.  

"Excuse me, waiter, what are the juice options tonight?" 

We're thankful for the opportunity to train workers at Jesus Our Hope Church to run their own feeding program.

Partnering with young churches allows us to teach them how to use the latest effective strategies we're using in our community. 

Last month, Carly (left) visited and assisted our programs for the second time. Carly and I worked together at a summer camp in Ontario and she is now teaching at an international school in China.

Carly brought along some awesome friends from China including Oliva (left)... 

...and Poty (left). 

Jam and I are excited for a long future serving street children in Manila.

As of next Friday it's been 735 days since I last stepped foot on Canadian soil...but who's counting ;). A visit home is long overdue, and I'm very excited to return for a two-month furlough. I will be in Canada from November 8th to January 8th. This is a time to visit with loved ones, report and promote our programs at IT Tender, and to connect again those who so graciously support me and my work. Please don't hesitate to email or call me so we can set up a time to meet! I'm particularly excited to hear about your stories and experiences!

Of course, it will also be hard to leave my loved ones and the street children of my "second home" for two months. Please pray for our programs, my co-workers, and my fiance Jam in my absence. We are praying that we will be able to get a visa for her to visit Canada sometime next summer before our wedding in October 2014.

Thanks again for following along. Whichever side of the globe you're on, I hope to see you soon!

John Coffey

Director of IT Tender

johndlcoffey@gmail.com

Caring for street children ~ Isaiah 58:10