My friend Vonda recently sent me this update. She is in the Philippines now and as you can see, could use your prayers. Here is her update...
Steve & Beth took me to a squatter settlement called Bacoor here in the Philippines, which is on a water inlet at the edge of a dump. The poverty was something that you would see on those late night commercials with Sally Struthers, but there was no channel to turn – and you didn’t want to.
Our day started away from Bacoor, though. Last year, through the feeding program of CCMP, one of the mothers, named Emily, who attended the required weekly Bible study so her children could be feed made a decision to follow Christ. At Christmas she gave a great testimony of how much her life had changed. She has 7 children and was a drug dealer of shabu, which is like crystal meth that they smoke (they call it “chasing the dragon”).&;nbsp; Since becoming a Christian she had stopped using drugs, as well, as dealing and was getting her life on track. Then in January her past caught up to her when she was arrested and imprisoned for three years because of her past crimes. While she is in prison, she is still doing quite well with her walk and is growing in her relationship with God, but doesn’t understand why she must still serve this sentence.
We went to visit Emily today and took two of her children, Ryan, who will turn 12 years old tomorrow, and Milbert who is 13 years old. It was the first time that Milbert had seen his mother since her incarceration in January. The sights, smells and sounds of the jail could fill a page in and of themselves, but became very dull in light of watching the touching reunion of this mother and son. As I stood and watch, the story filled in that these boys lived with their grandmother who was paralyzed from a stroke a couple of years ago. During the typhoon that swept through Manila a couple of weeks ago, their home was destroyed. Steve & Beth wanted to work something out to move the boys until better accommodations could be made for them, but Milbert would not hear of it because he refused to leave his grandmother. It was then that it hit me that he was the man of the family. He and Ryan sustained the family’s existence, I later learned, by diving in the water that was around the garbage dump for plastics, and then would sell them.
From the jail we went to Bacoor to see where the boys had settled with their grandmother. Here is a picture of them sitting on the bed that the three of them share in the only room in the shack where they are now living. There wasn’t any clothes, because all the clothes that they had were washed away in the typhoon. Beth looked at Ryan’s shorts and realized that they were hand-me-downs from their son, Evan.
After leaving their “home,” which in total was probably 5’x10’ inside and outside, we took a boat across a small river into the heart of Bacoor. All of the little shacks were built up on stilts for when the high tide came in they could stay somewhat dry. The kids were all adorable.
We went to one home where all the mothers and kids gathered for a healthcare class with the nurse, Noemi, before they would receive their rice and noodles.
Ryan and Milbert came with us to the feeding and we made sure that they got to eat. Milbert ate a little bit of what we gave him, then saw another little girl who was not a part of the feeding program, so he gave her his food. Ryan stuck so close to us to make sure we were okay throughout our tour through Bacoor, staying back and watching everything and being our mediator if we needed it. Pray for these boys. They have such big hearts, great responsibility and dim futures from what they can see, but we know that God can raise up mighty men of God from a garbage dump in the Philippines!
Steve & Beth took me to a squatter settlement called Bacoor here in the Philippines, which is on a water inlet at the edge of a dump. The poverty was something that you would see on those late night commercials with Sally Struthers, but there was no channel to turn – and you didn’t want to.Our day started away from Bacoor, though. Last year, through the feeding program of CCMP, one of the mothers, named Emily, who attended the required weekly Bible study so her children could be feed made a decision to follow Christ. At Christmas she gave a great testimony of how much her life had changed. She has 7 children and was a drug dealer of shabu, which is like crystal meth that they smoke (they call it “chasing the dragon”).&;nbsp; Since becoming a Christian she had stopped using drugs, as well, as dealing and was getting her life on track. Then in January her past caught up to her when she was arrested and imprisoned for three years because of her past crimes. While she is in prison, she is still doing quite well with her walk and is growing in her relationship with God, but doesn’t understand why she must still serve this sentence.
We went to visit Emily today and took two of her children, Ryan, who will turn 12 years old tomorrow, and Milbert who is 13 years old. It was the first time that Milbert had seen his mother since her incarceration in January. The sights, smells and sounds of the jail could fill a page in and of themselves, but became very dull in light of watching the touching reunion of this mother and son. As I stood and watch, the story filled in that these boys lived with their grandmother who was paralyzed from a stroke a couple of years ago. During the typhoon that swept through Manila a couple of weeks ago, their home was destroyed. Steve & Beth wanted to work something out to move the boys until better accommodations could be made for them, but Milbert would not hear of it because he refused to leave his grandmother. It was then that it hit me that he was the man of the family. He and Ryan sustained the family’s existence, I later learned, by diving in the water that was around the garbage dump for plastics, and then would sell them.
From the jail we went to Bacoor to see where the boys had settled with their grandmother. Here is a picture of them sitting on the bed that the three of them share in the only room in the shack where they are now living. There wasn’t any clothes, because all the clothes that they had were washed away in the typhoon. Beth looked at Ryan’s shorts and realized that they were hand-me-downs from their son, Evan.
After leaving their “home,” which in total was probably 5’x10’ inside and outside, we took a boat across a small river into the heart of Bacoor. All of the little shacks were built up on stilts for when the high tide came in they could stay somewhat dry. The kids were all adorable.
We went to one home where all the mothers and kids gathered for a healthcare class with the nurse, Noemi, before they would receive their rice and noodles.
Ryan and Milbert came with us to the feeding and we made sure that they got to eat. Milbert ate a little bit of what we gave him, then saw another little girl who was not a part of the feeding program, so he gave her his food. Ryan stuck so close to us to make sure we were okay throughout our tour through Bacoor, staying back and watching everything and being our mediator if we needed it. Pray for these boys. They have such big hearts, great responsibility and dim futures from what they can see, but we know that God can raise up mighty men of God from a garbage dump in the Philippines!
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