Philippines Update

Posted on Jul 31, 2016

Today, our Philippines Mission Team presented information to the rest of the SCC congregation about what they will be doing in the Philippines. If you missed it, check out the info and videos below to get a taste for what our team will be experiencing. Please keep them in your prayers and check back on the blog for updates.

SMOKEY MOUNTAIN & HAPPY LAND IN TONDO, MANILA

Smokey Mountain and Happy Land are dump sites located in Tondo. They take in the garbage from the greater Manila area. Tondo is one of the most depressed areas in the Manila. The people who live there basically live on mountains of trash and make a living by rummaging through it looking for item they can use or sell.

2016-SCC-Philippines-Mission-TeamWe will be going to Tondo the first Saturday we’re in the Philippines. We will be working with Pastor Ramilo Mateo of the Christ Power and Grace Church. We will be going to both Smokey Mountain and Happy Land to assist with feeding programs for about 300 children. The kids we’ll be feeding are the extreme poor of Manila that have very little to nothing at all. The meals we’ll be serving consist of rice with meat and vegetables. Pastor Ramilo’s church and others in the area do these feedings as often as they can afford to.

REDEMPTIO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Redemptio is a Christian school for the poorest of the poor in Floodway. It provides an education for kids who would otherwise not be able to attend school, because they can’t even afford the supplies and uniforms required at public schools. It was started by Robby and Deanna Nichols three years ago. The current school year started last month (June) and they currently have classes for pre-school through 1st grade.

The first week we’re in the Philippines we’ll be doing a VBS in the mornings and a basketball camp in the afternoons at Redemptio. The children in Floodway really love to sing, interact and learn. We’ll also be doing door-to-door visits.

THREADS OF HOPE

Threads of Hope is a livelihood project started by Alex and Chris Kuhlow in March of 2003 to bring help and hope to families at risk in the Philippines. In order to prevent one girl from having to choose prostitution as a means of supporting her family, Alex placed an order to purchase the bracelets she was making. Not only did this provide for the girl’s family for a whole month, it was just the start of the non-profit organization called Threads of Hope. Bracelet orders now provide income for over 750 families, who previously were at risk. Threads of Hope is located on the island of Mindoro, a 3 hour drive and 1 hour boat ride from Manila.

Threads of Hope Jan 2015 from Chris Brett on Vimeo.

We will spend Thursday and Friday of our first week at Threads of Hope. While there we’ll get a chance to tour their ministry and share and interact with the high schoolers at a new Christian school in the area. I’m sure we’ll be bringing back a lot of bracelets which we’ll be selling to help support their ministry.

CAMP NEW BEGINNINGS

New Beginnings has a Church, free clinic and Bible camp for the street kids in Manila. It is run by Mike and Natalie Bucher. There is a lot going on the center, but one of the main things is the Bible Camp for street kids. It’s close enough to Manila that it’s possible to go into town to pick up kids on the street, but far enough out that the kids are able to get away from the fear and influences of street life. They typically put on three day camps and work with a lot of the same kids from one camp to the next. This allows them to mentor and disciple the kids over an extended period of time. The camps are a time of food, fun, games, rest, safety and of course a chance to share the love of Christ and His Gospel. For a little over a year our youth group and a few others in the Church have been collecting money and sending it to Camp New Beginnings each month. This money is used to pay the cost of sending kids to camp. It cost $30 to send a child to a 3-day camp. You can read about Marlon, one of the kids we helped send to camp, on the New Beginnings display out in the hall.


The second week we’ll be going to New Beginnings to help with a 3-day Bible camp.

SHALOM BIRTHING HOME

Shalom Christian Birthing Home was established by ACTION missionary, Mavis Orton, a retired nurse/midwife from England. Observing the exceptionally high maternal and infant mortality rates in the outskirts of Manila, Mavis opened her home to these at-risk mothers in order to provide a safe and dignified environment for childbirth. Nearby churches work closely with Shalom’s staff – resulting in many mothers and their families experiencing spiritual rebirth and becoming active in a local church. When the clinic first opened, eight babies were born a month. It has grown a lot since then and has moved to a larger facility. Now approximately 120-150 babies are born each month.


Hands of Hope NW’s partnership with Shalom Christian Birthing Center in the Philippines. from Debbie Wheeler on Vimeo.

Our original plan was to have the women go to Shalom to help at the birthing home and put on baby showers for some of the new moms while the men are Camp New Beginnings, but it looks like that might not be what God had planned. This also happened to be the week the Shalom is having local and foreign (from the US) interns in for training and they might not be able to handle all the people. The revised plan would be to have the entire team at Camp New Beginnings. We know that God’s timing and plan is perfect. Pray that everything works out according to His plan.