And this week I get to introduce you to.... Michael!
Michael is actually the first child who came to be a part of the NFFCH, over four years ago. Like many children here, I don't know Michael's full story, but I know he came from a difficult background. Now Michael is 7 years old and is in grade one at our community school. In fact, we were just recently told that Michael is the smartest student in his class! And it came to no surprise to us, because Michael really is an extremely intelligent kid! In addition to academics, Michael also does well in typing class and piano lessons. At his young age he has already learned how to read music!
Michael is a pretty independent kid as well. For the most part, Michael is pretty content playing by himself rather than the other boys. Every now and then he joins in with the other kids his age, but usually you will see him by himself at the home. He likes to climb trees, play basketball, play with toy cars, practice his writing, read books, and eat candy. He also has become quite close to our nurse and volunteer Marilyn, and enjoys spending time with her at the home as well. It takes a while to get to know MIcheal, because he doesn't just trust anyone that walks into this place. Michael likes to keep his distance while getting to know people. But once you've passed the test, you will quickly see that Michael is a sweet and tender-hearted boy.
Please remember to spend some time praying for Michael this week. Pray for continued healing from his hurtful past, pray for opportunities to exercise his musical talent and academic skills, pray that Michael would feel loved and cared for by the volunteers and staff, pray that he would know Christ as his personal Saviour, and pray that God would provide a family for this awesome young boy.
Rene is a very intelligent young man. At fifteen years old (just had his birthday yesterday the 29th), Rene is our oldest boy in the home. He is also our most advanced student in the school, about to finish his 5th grade year and move on to 6th grade.
Rene has a lot of things he's interested in. Rene likes to play basketball of course. He's always out on the court with the other boys! And has recently begun lifting weights with one of our male volunteers here and has enjoyed that as well. He also likes to help out with our maintenance workers at times, digging, laying cement, and other hard work. Rene, like many teenage boys, also likes to sleep-- and would sleep in pretty late if we let him! And Rene has also expressed a great interest in engineering/architecture. He is extremely smart, with his favorite subjects being math and science, and would be very good in that line of work!
Rene tends to be pretty quiet. It's not that he is shy; just that he chooses not to talk as much, depending on who he is around. While in his element, hanging out with the boys, Rene opens up a lot more and likes to play around with them. But when he gets in a larger crowd, or with the many volunteers who come to visit K.I.M, Rene pretty much keeps to himself. Rarely will you see him hanging out with visitors; he just keeps doing his thing... playing basketball and hanging out with his boys.
Rene is only 3 years from officially becoming an adult and moving on into the world to start a career/trade and become more and more self-sufficient. Please pray for Rene as he begins to look forward to that time. Pray that he would have patience and contentment with where he is now, but feel guidance for the future. Pray for Rene as he soon begins the 6th grade and will soon be on his way to high school! (grades 7-10 here). Pray for protection for Rene from the negative influences that loom just outside the gate of the home, and pray for Spiritual understanding and discernment as Rene has struggled to understand Christianity, right vs. wrong, sin, and a handful of other Christian concepts. Pray that the Lord would speak to him and that he would have a true relationship of Christ as his Saviour.
And this week you get to meet another girl that has become quite special to me during my time here... Vanessa!
Vanessa is the oldest of the girls, 14 years old, and is definitely the most mature as well. When at the children's home, you will rarely see Vanessa playing around with the rest of the kids. It's not that she is being rude or doesn't enjoy them, she is just more mature now. She isn't into "playing around" anymore. She prefers more teenage/adult activities. Sitting around chatting, listening to music, walking around with the other older girls, helping with the babies, etc. And she is extremely helpful, always helping whenever asked (or on her own initiative) and without any complaints!
Vanessa came to the home about three years ago along with her cousin Maria Fe. Before coming, she lived with her aunt or grandmother for most of her life, rarely spending any time with her mother or father, who separated when she was very young. I'm not a psychologist by any means, but if I had to assess Vanessa, I would say that this girl has it together! Based on the time that I have spent with her, I would say that Vanessa is an emotionally, physically, and spiritually healthy young woman! She is a self-professing Christian and constantly seeks to grow in her faith.
However, despite her "having it all together", there are still struggles that come with living at an orphanage. It seems at times that though Vanessa would love nothing more than to spread her wings and conquer the world, that living at an orphanage often restricts her in doing so. She is ready to grow up and move on in the world, finding what she loves to do, and living her life to the fullest! I have no doubt in my mind that as time progresses, this girl will do some pretty awesome things!
Please keep Vanessa in your prayers this week. Pray for opportunities for new experiences, and for direction into what area she might pursue once she is a little older. Pray for peace in Vanessa's heart, that God is with her in the difficult times as well as the not-so-difficult, and that He will be guiding her throughout her entire life. Pray that Vanessa's confidence would be in Christ, and not in trying to live up to other people's expectations. And pray that if it is in God's will, that Vanessa, though 14 years old already, would be placed in a family that loves her and cares for her, and helps her in pursuing all of her dreams. That is one of my my biggest prayers for Vanessa; that she would be blessed with a family to give her the love and one on one attention that that she desires and deserves.
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into Joy
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
I would love to start by telling you that the spelling of his name is a mistake; unfortunately, instead of naming the poor kid J.P. he was given the spelling Jaypee... kinda silly if you ask me! But silly is actually quite fitting, because if I had to choose one word to describe this boy, silly would be it! Coming in a close second would be crazy. Jaypee is a bit of a terror at the children's home. I rarely ever see Jaypee walk anywhere; he prefers to run and scream instead!
Jaypee came to be a part of the NFFCH about two years ago. Before that, he lived at another children's home with his three older siblings (Aira, Gerald, and Jessica). He has been at an orphanage since he was only a couple months old, and has had the same main caregiver the whole time, Nanay Yoly (Nanay means "mom"). And that's exactly who she is to Jaypee; he completely views her as his mother... and he just so happens to be a momma's boy!
Jaypee is only 6 years old and so he definitely still acts like it. He climbs trees, runs around the yard, plays basketball, and eats as much sugar and candy as possible. In fact, Jaypee has had two holes in place of front teeth for almost the entire time I've known him. His baby teeth rotted away from too much sugar as a child (extremely common in the philippines), and his adult teeth haven't grown in yet. Hopefully we can get him on a better path when they do come in!
Jaypee is in our preschool class at our community school, and attends classes for only two and a half hours each morning. Up until a few months ago, Jaypee was the "baby" of the children's home, which often meant a lot of attention from caregivers and visitors. Then about two months ago Danilo came to the home, who is only 4 years old. Jaypee is still trying to come to terms with this, which has recently meant bullying little Danilo.
Please keep Jaypee in your prayers this week. Pray for his transition into being one of the big boys (and no longer the baby), pray for his educational development, pray that he would always feel loved and cared for at the home, and pray that if it is in God's will, that there would be a family out there to adopt Jaypee and his three siblings.
When I went home to visit last October, I brought back a puzzle with me to work on with the girls I disciple. One of my girls, Vanessa, mentioned that she really likes puzzles, so I bought a 1,000 piece puzzle of a picture of a winter scene (since they always talk about how they want to see snow), and I also bought some puzzle glue, so that when we finish, we can hang it up in their room.
Turns out that 1,000 piece puzzles take a LONG time! We've already put in a good two hours and all we have done is the border! We originally started working on it in my room on a table I have. The table ended up being a bit too small though, so I ended up moving it onto a big piece of cardboard. Well a few days before Christmas someone came to clean my room. I didn't think to put a note or tell her to work around the puzzle; I guess I just assumed she would. I came back to my room hours later to find the cardboard folded in half on my bed. I dropped my bag and rushed to the bed, slowly peeking inside the cardboard, naively hoping that somehow it would still be in-tact. It of course was mixed up and moved around, no signs of a finished border at all. So I decided to move the puzzle once again to the trundle beneath my bed where it could stay safe in one piece. After moving the cardboard I decided I should put the pieces back together so that the girls wouldn't have to do it all over again.
That's when I realized there was a piece missing!! 999 out of a thousand may seem like a pretty good percentage, but when we're talking puzzles, 100% is the only acceptable percentage! Especially when the plan is to glue together and hang on the wall. I was pretty distraught....for a week I kept my little secret from the girls, hoping to find it before they wanted to work on it next....
Almost two weeks later I was in my room stretching. It was also a rough morning, where I was worrying about the future... where will i go to school, what if i don't have the money, what if i have to go by myself, where do i even begin, etc. It was a Sunday morning and in a few hours I was going to church. I prayed silently to myself, telling God that this morning I needed an obvious, specific, encouraging word from Him. I told him I needed it this morning and I emphasized the making it obvious, so that I wouldn't miss it.
Not less than a minute later, as I began pondering how God would speak to me through the message, God gave me my instant answer to prayer right there in my room. I was doing a wide-leg, bent over hamstring stretch, so my face was pretty low to the ground. My eyes immediately caught sight of something across the room on the floor. "No way" I thought to myself, even though I already knew what it was. I walked over and picked up the missing puzzle piece. I pulled out the trundle and placed the piece in the missing spot.
Perfect fit. Completing the border. And right away it clicked. This was God's answer, God's encouragement for me that morning! God will be the one to put the pieces together. My life is an unfinished puzzle. And I can't finish it because I don't even have all the pieces! But they aren't missing, they aren't lost forever.... God will give me the necessary pieces, one tiny piece at a time. It was God's neat way of saying to me: stop worrying, stop trying to force the future today... just work with what I've given you and I'll give you the next piece when it's time.
This week I get to introduce you to a very special boy... meet Noel.
Noel came to be a part of the NFFCH only a little over a year ago. He came in speaking no English at all, and a year later, is doing very well. Noel is 9 years old and is in our special education class at our community school. But please do not be misled by this... Noel is an extremely smart young man! He simply needs extra attention and can sometimes take longer to do things. But he is very smart!
Noel is like most of our other younger boys, who likes to do things that little boys do: basketball, tag, soccer, marbles, climb anything and everything in sight, etc. Noel is actually a very good climber! On one side of the children's home we have an empty lot that is a big overgrown grassy area. Between us and that empty lot is a cement fence that is about six feet high, with a chain link fence extending even higher, with barbed wire looping the top. One day, in my first month of being here, I remember looking over and seeing a head pop up on the other side of that fence. And wouldn't you know it... it was Noel! I still have no idea how he got over that fence; just that his ball got thrown over and he determinedly followed it over to get to it, and then couldn't seem to find his way back. So I had to walk around to the other side of the empty lot and bring him back.
Because Noel is a little slower, he prefers to spend his time with those a little younger than him, who aren't as harsh on him like the older boys tend to be. He also likes to play with the toddlers, loves to carry them around, and spends many afternoons pushing Heartlyn around in a toy car. He also likes to spend time with Marilyn, one of our foreign caregivers at the home (she's Canadian), who he's formed a special bond with.
Noel is often looking for affirmation and encouragement from those around him. He loves to shoot around at the basketball hoop and have someone watch him and cheer for him when he makes it in. Just recently I have begun doing typing lessons with Noel as well and he has caught on very fast! Now whenever I see him he says "Tita, computers!" and makes a typing hand-motion with a big smile on his face, to which I respond, "yeah Noel you are doing so well!"
This week, please pray for Noel. Pray for his continued learning of the English language, pray for his social development, his education at the school, and his interaction with the other kids. Pray that he would feel loved and cared for at the children's home by the caregivers and volunteers, and also pray for his teeth to straighten out quickly (we recently put braces on him). And of course, pray for a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian, and that he would desire to have Jesus in his heart.
I've been training the last 8 weeks for a half marathon that I am running this upcoming Sunday. I always wanted to participate in a race, but after my knees started having problems a little over a year ago, I thought it wouldn't be possible anymore. But with lots of time spent stretching, icing, and doing some rehab exercises, I've been able to get back into it pretty well. And I've really been enjoying being back!
Although I was replacing running with other forms of exercises, there's just something special about waking up and starting the day with a morning run. Because of my busy schedule and the hot and humid weather in the Philippines, I usually do my jogging at 545am, most mornings I even have a front-row view of the sunrise!
There aren't many people out on the roads with me at 545am. I usually see a few cars later on in my run, a handful of people sitting on the side of the road, I see the tricycle drivers lining up to bring people to work, and then I see a few other people who are out there exercising right alongside me.
This is how I came to realize that runners have their own special language! Sometimes it expresses itself in words: "goodmorning"/ "hello," sometimes it's a friendly wave, and other times it's as simple as some eye-contact and a smile.... but within each of those there is more going on that just meets the eye.... beneath each form of "contact" what we are really saying is "good job"/ "way to get out there this morning" / and most importantly, "i can relate to you"/ "we share something *important* in common/ "we're not all that different from each other" etc... In the 5 second interaction we share in passing, there is actually a lot being communicated! Running reaches across the cultural barrier, because when I acknowledge another runner and give a smile and a nod, we are actually connecting on deeper levels because of our shared passion for running.
And this is actually true for several other passions/hobbies/activities. When Harley motorcyclists pass each other on the road, they make the sign-language hand-sign for the letter "H" to each other. It's a sign of comraderie and shared passion; it may just seem like a simple hand motion to you and I, but to them, it's an identity and signifies something of importance. It's the reason why gangs get matching tattoos, why "clicks" in high school can be identified by their clothing, why little girls around the world are making and wearing "friendship bracelets", and why high school football teams shave their heads together the night before a big game....
So the question that I've been pondering is ... what about Christians? Do we have a secret language? When I'm walking on the street can I identify another Christian by the way they look/walk/talk/act? Or better yet, can people tell that I'm a Christian? The bible says it should be that way.
"By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John 13:35
"I have given them your word and the world has hated
them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world."
John 17:14
"Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
Philippians 2:2
To be honest, most of the time I feel like Christians enjoy competing more than anything else. Instead of the church working together, being ONE body with ONE mind and ONE love, we worry more about MY denomination, MY numbers in church, MY message, MY worship being BETTER than the church next door.
Maybe one day we will learn from the Harley motorcyclists, the gangs, the preteen girls, the high school clicks, the bicyclists and the runners... until then, maybe we should all wear the same shirt or something, or maybe a bright red bandana on our heads... otherwise I might just pass a Christian brother or sister and never even notice...
This week I get to introduce you to one of the girls I spend a lot of my time with here in the Philippines, because she is one of the four girls I disciple at the children's home. Meet Joan.
Joan is 11 years old and is currently in grade one at our community school, though we expect her to move up to grade two very soon. She is behind in her schoolwork because she did not attend school for many years as a child; she was supposedly "home schooled" by her step mother, though the education she received was not nearly up to par. Yet she has done very well since coming to live at NFFCH only a little over a year ago, and has done especially well in learning and speaking English.
One of the first things you might notice about Joan is that she likes to ask a lot of questions, sometimes having to do with the topic at hand, and other times it may feel like the question is coming out of left field. It seems to me that the wheels in Joan's mind are always spinning, considering, contemplating, and figuring things out. So out of that comes a lot of questions!
Joan truly is a great girl. She is always smiling and laughing and likes to
spend as much time as possible with friends, classmates, visitors...
really just people in general! She is very poiite as well, always
saying thank you and asking permission before doing something. The past
few months she has taken up learning piano and is doing very well at
it. She also likes to play basketball, listen to music, and hang out with the other older girls.
Joan comes from an extremely complicated background; one that even I do not completely understand, yet have seen that it can often blur the lines of right vs. wrong in her mind. But as one of my main focuses of ministry, it is my prayer that Joan would be able to be healed from the hurts in her past. This is one of my greatest prayers for Joan and ask that you would join me in praying for her emotional healing, as well as a greater spiritual understanding of what it means to truly be a Christian. Please also pray for her transition into her teenage/adult years, her continuing education in the school, and for opportunities for me to share my love for Christ with her.
Maricel is one of kids in the home who require special
attention. Although I don't know the full story behind Maricel's past, I know
that she lived on the street for years before coming to live at NFFCH and has
the physical, emotional, and mental scars to show for it.
At just about five feet tall, she is one of our smallest kids
in the home; but dental records place Maricel as sixteen years old-our oldest
female. Developmentally, however, she is much much younger. To be honest, at
first appearances, she seems like a completely normal child. Most visitors
estimate her to be about twelve years old and think that she doesn't speak very
much English. When in reality, she is sixteen years old, and she doesn't really
speak at all.
When I first came to NFFCH two years ago, I don't remember
Maricel talking at all, with the
exception of nodding and shaking her head to answer questions. Oh, and
laughing. Maricel loves to laugh! A
year later, when I came to visit in October 2008, I was so encouraged by her
progress, as I noticed her using "yes" and "no" to answer questions, as well as
a few other words as well. Fast forward another year to now, and Maricel is
doing awesome! She uses a lot more words, answers questions with more than just
a "yes" or "no," and can often be heard talking with some of our younger kids.
And she still loves to laugh!
Maricel is in our special education class at our community
school. She loves to participate and does well with her peers in that class. At
the home, she enjoys sticking close to volunteers, sitting near them and
laughing with them. She also does extremely well with our toddlers, especially
Tyra, who like to laugh and play together. She is also one of the best helpers
in the home... often choosing to participate in chores even when it isn't her
turn.
We fully expect that Maricel will be with the NFFCH for her
entire life. With less than two years until she is considered an "adult," along
with the fact that she carries special circumstances, it would be highly
unlikely that she would be adopted out. Knowing her circumstances, and her
needs, whether she is considered a "child" or an "adult," we at K.I.M. have
every intention of walking through life together with Maricel. She will always
have a home at NFFCH and we feel blessed to have her here.
Please spend some time praying for Maricel this week. Pray for
her development, pray for healing of her emotional and mental scars, and pray
that we would always know how to best care for her. Please pray that no matter
what, she knows the love of a Savior.
Enjoy this week's video of Maricel. She tends to get
camera-shy, but hopefully you are able to get a glimpse into her loveable and
genuine personality.
