“So. Let me tell you about living in poverty in the Philippines.”

We’re publishing pictures of poverty on a daily basis at picturesofpoverty.com. All the photos on pictureofpoverty.com are meant to show the dignity and hope which live within the poor despite the oppression poverty inflicts upon them.

The presence of dignity doesn’t mean poverty is absent.

You are free to copy and distribute the images on picturesofpoverty.com in accordance with the Creative Commons license (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported).

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

We began our ministry in the Philippines in 1972 with the Child Sponsorship Program. In 1996, we started the Leadership Development Program, and in 2005, the Child Survival Program. In 2009, the 50,000th child was registered.

We have been blessed to experience a number of notable milestones in the Philippines. First, the Leadership Development Program began in the Philippines, then the first local alumni association was organized.

After Typhoon Durian hit in 2007 we became more aware of the challenges natural disasters bring. With this disaster, the Country Office in the Philippines became more prepared to handle future disasters. This led to the building of the first Compassion Village in the country, where more than 350 homes were built and more than 600 were repaired through Complementary Interventions funds.

Country Director

Noel Pabiona joined us as Country Director in 2004. Before coming to our ministry, Noel worked at various companies based in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States. He also served in the Philippine government for four years as Chief Planning Officer for the National Livelihood Support Fund Agency and served as pastor for the Living Grace Christian Fellowship from 1996 to 2006.

Noel earned a bachelor’s of economics degree from the University of the Philippines and earned a post-graduate degree in petroleum refining at the Oxford Extension School in Australia.

Implementing Church Partners

Implementing Church Partners are local churches with whom we work to deliver our child development program and ministry in the field.

• Spiritual Climate
  Evangelical churches in the Philippines are growing all over the country. However, there is a lack of unity due to denominational differences.

  We recently conducted a series on church leadership and development training focused on pastor wellness. The goal of the Country Office is to serve as a catalyst for unity across denominations.



• Unique Challenges
  One challenge unique to the Philippines is that the country is composed of more than 7,100 islands with various languages, and the children are scattered all over the islands. Also, the quality of church partners and leaders can be a challenge. Because of this we strive to provide training before we enter into a church partnership.
• Contributions
  Church partners provide labor, manpower and networking.
• Partner Development Activities
  We begin training in partner development even before the actual partnership. As we look for new partners, we conduct training on ministry presentation, orientation and strategic planning. Through this training both our ministry and the church can assess if the church is ready to partner with us.

  When a church becomes a partner, it enters a three-year module on partner development. For five years we work closely with our partners, but in the sixth year, we hope that we have provided enough training that the church can be independent. It is our desire that those who have partnered longer will be able to train the newer partners.

  Partner development focuses on partner training, technical support, facilitation and church maturation. We offer training on topics such as holistic child development, sponsorship basics, start-up, functional trainings, child protection, Complementary Interventions, community development and child advocacy, among others.

Child Survival Program

• Caregiver Literacy
  We teach literacy through one-on-one lessons at home and in group activities at the center. We use lectures with resource speakers, visual aids, demonstrations and experiential learning such as field trips and food preparation.



• Income-Generating Skills
  We offer income-generating training twice a month. The activities offered depend on the interests and needs of the mothers who attend.

  Generally, we offer baking, food processing, culinary arts, sewing, cosmetology and hair science, bead-making, and craft-making using indigenous materials and scraps such as coconut shells, corn skins and seashells. Some of the mothers have begun earning from these activities, especially those involving food.



• Health Care
  The local health centers offer prenatal care as well as free vaccinations, but there is a limited vaccine supply. Mothers are encouraged to go to the health centers to take advantage of these free services. After 12 months, the Child Survival Program pays for the child’s booster shots.

  The Child Survival Program checks the caregivers’ immunization card and prenatal card to ensure that they are utilizing the programs at the local health center.

  All of the children go through screenings and medical monitoring regardless of whether or not they are sick. The Child Survival Program pays for immunizations that are not covered by the government as well as unscheduled hospitalizations and emergency situations. The Child Survival Program also pays for ultrasounds and newborn screenings.

  The government offers social welfare assistance for indigent families to get discounted rates from hospitals, and some the Child Survival Programs have also received services such as financial support, ambulance services and free hospitalization offered through other organizations.



• Nutritional Support
  Mothers are educated in basic nutrition and food preparation. We show them how to purchase nutritious foods, such as vegetables, with limited money. Many mothers were surprised to learn how nutritious vegetables are.
• Involvement of Fathers
  During the first Child Survival Program orientation, mothers are encouraged to bring their husbands.

  

  Some church partners ask the fathers to sign an agreement that they will not prohibit their wives from attending Child Survival Program activities.

  To encourage the involvement of fathers, we hold Couples’ Retreats, Family Day, Father’s Day, sporting events and sometimes ask some of the fathers to play guitar at church, do carpentry work, or drive.

  For every Child Survival Program in the Philippines, about one or two fathers are the primary caregivers.

• Transitioning Out of the Child Survival Program
  The Child Survival Program will ensure that a child is ready for the Child Sponsorship Program.

  Each child must have achieved normal weight as well as basic hygiene and self-help skills, which include a sense of independence, social adjustment, self-feeding, the ability to clean up toys, and the ability to socialize with other children.

  We provide pre-literacy activities that train children to scribble, string items together, color and identify colors and shapes.

  Then, children in the Child Survival Program attend Child Sponsorship Program classes to expose them to what they will soon be experiencing.

  Transitioning mothers to the Child Sponsorship Program is still a challenge. The challenge is to make it clear to the mothers that after successful completion of the Child Survival Program, they are no long beneficiaries but partners.

  Some church partners introduce Child Survival Program mothers to Child Sponsorship Program mothers to help with the transition. They also have made efforts to involve the mothers in care groups and Bible studies.

• Areas of Expansion for the Child Survival Program
  We would like to expand into Western Mindanao, the National Capital Region, Bicol, Palawan and Mindoro, which are areas scattered all throughout the country. These regions have been identified by the government as priority areas due to prevailing poverty.

Child Sponsorship Program

Your sponsorship of a child in the Philippines provides a variety of benefits.

Child development center activities are mostly done on Saturdays, since children are busy with school throughout the week. Some centers use Sundays, but the Country Office discourages this practice so that center activities will not compete with church activities.

• Meeting Times
  • 3 to 5 year olds: 6 hours a week, usually on Saturday
  • 6 to 8 year olds: 6 hours a week, usually on Saturday
  • 9 to 11 year olds: 6 hours a week, usually on Saturday
  • 12 to 14 year olds: 4 hours a week, usually on Saturday
  • 15 to 18 year olds: 2 hours a week, some in the form of community service
  • 19 +: 2 hours a week, some in the form of community service

  

• Nutritional Support
  If the children come to the child development center during lunchtime, they receive lunch, which consists of rice, meat or fish, vegetables, fruit, and juice or milk. If they come at any other time, they receive a nutritious snack, which consists of sweet potatoes, sticky rice, skewered bananas, or noodles.

  Malnourished children receive vitamins and additional food packs, which contain one complete meal of rice, meat or fish, vegetables and fruit. We are currently implementing a Complementary Interventions food mitigation program for several centers.



• Vaccinations
  All children should have received at least the minimum vaccinations as prescribed by the World Health Organization. We encourage child development centers to connect with local health centers to get free immunizations, although they have limited supplies.

  There are cases in which the Country Office assists in the purchase of vaccines in bulk to get special discounts.

• Extracurricular Activities or Community Service
  Typical extracurricular activities include camps, sporting events, field trips and talent shows. The older children participate in these activities approximately twice a month, which is more often than the younger children.



• Vocational Activities
  We offer practical skills that will allow children to develop employable skills.

  Child development centers offer vocational training such as carpentry, auto mechanics, food preservation, and basic livelihood. Some church partners network with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations such as Advancing the Ministry of God, which provide vocational training and job placement.

  Child development centers also offer community service opportunities such as community clean-up and environmental protection.



• Child Sponsorship Program Alumni Activities
  The national alumni association in the Philippines is now sponsoring a child. Members hold fundraising events and provide relief in times of national disaster. There are also smaller alumni groups in different regions.
• Parent Involvement
  We have general assemblies and orientation for parents, and there are some churches that have initiated activities such as Bible studies and care groups. Mothers are also involved in letter writing. But generally, we do not have the budget to offer regular activities specifically aimed at parents.
• Areas of Expansion for the Child Sponsorship Program
  We would like to expand into indigenous areas, specifically Mindanao, because it has not been reached and is very needy. We are also praying about and preparing to enter the Muslim province of Basilan.

Leadership Development Program

• Types of Universities Attended
  Typically students are enrolled in private universities, but there are also students who are enrolled in government universities. There is one accredited Bible school for those who intend to be trained in ministry.



• Location of Universities
  Students attend the university that is located in the main city of their province, along with all other Leadership Development Program students who live in that same province.
• Working Students
  Students do not work while they attend university.
• Service Opportunities
  Students assist in weekly learning activities at the child development centers, serving as tutors and activity coordinators.



• Leadership Development Program Meetings
  Every year Leadership Development Program students go through two major training events, the Work Camp and the Leadership Ambassadors’ Training. Once every month, students meet in their clusters for care group meetings and fellowship.
• Specialty Curriculum Topics or Resources
  We specifically cover Filipino family dynamics to address the issues confronting our students in regarding with family members. We also discuss issues related to the broken family and living with extended families as this is very common in the Philippines.
• Mentors
  The Country Office coordinates with the alumni association and the Implementing Church Partners in order to assist our students in finding a mentor.
• Leadership Development Program Alumni Group
  The Leadership Development Program Alumni Association is establishing cluster groups to increase awareness and support for the program. There is one Leadership Development Program alumni group that has sponsored a child in the Child Sponsorship Program, and they are promoting the initiative to other graduates.

Complementary Interventions

Our core Child Sponsorship Program, while comprehensive, does not address all obstacles to a child’s healthy development.

The Complementary Interventions program was created to work with our holistic child development model to provide additional services, such as our AIDS Initiative, funds for Bibles for All Children, disaster relief and water projects.

Complementary Interventions in the Philippines include post-partum psychological counseling for Child Survival Program beneficiaries, malaria-related services, food distribution, vaccines, vitamins, water sources, income-generating activities and medical reimbursements and disaster/emergency situations, the most common of which are fire and typhoons.

Highly Vulnerable Children

In the Philippines, the Highly Vulnerable Children program mostly involves children in need of special protection because of physical or sexual abuse. We also have a few cases of commercially exploited children.

Our strategies include child abuse awareness trainings and child protection workshops for the Implementing Church Partners.

We are able to give immediate help to Highly Vulnerable Children through our resident social worker and through our partnership with local government units, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development and nongovernmental organizations such as the International Justice Mission.

Take a tour of our office in the Philippines through the eyes of sponsored child, Alvin. This informative and fun video was created by our field staff in the Philippines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

 Near a developing city in south-central Philippines is a peculiar little town called Abkasa. It is cut off from the rest of the main city by a single dusty road that is narrow and very bumpy, a couple of kilometers (about 1.25 miles) through tall sugarcane.

When it rains, it is almost impossible to pass through this road. In Abkasa is a well-known church — Abkasa Baptist Conference Church — which is one of our church partners. Senior Pastor Gil has this to say about their church:

“Because of [our partnership with Compassion], many people have received help, many children and their parents have been changed. The community respects us. They desire to also be included in our programs. The community recognizes what we can do and how we can help.”

Abkasa stands for “Ang Bagong Katimimban Settlers Association” (The New Katimimban Settlers Association). Abkasa was established as a community in 1985 and was founded by one of the church leaders of the Abkasa Baptist Conference Church.

The first settlers came from different squatter communities within the main city. They were granted land from across a wide sugarcane plantation.

In that same year, 1985, this Baptist church began to partner with our ministry.

Once a local church in a field county partners with Compassion, a student center or child development center is formed.

The center is where the children of Abkasa participate in the Child Sponsorship Program and where they regularly come for weekly activities including school tutorials, medical checkups, lectures, play, nutritious food and discipleship, and other activities the church partner initiates.

We now have more than 300 church partners in the Philippines where more than 53,000 children are registered.

In 2006 we took on another partnership in Abkasa for the Child Survival Program. Children enter the Child Survival Program as newborns and participate through the age of three. Then they graduate to the Child Sponsorship Program.

Today the senior pastor and his leaders are thankful for a third ministry program, the Church-to-Church program. In the Church-to-Church program, a church partner from one of our Global Partnership Alliance countries directly works with an implementing church partner in the field.

The Abkasa Baptist Conference Church is now engaged in a Church-to-Church relationship with the Bayside Church in Australia.

A number of members at Bayside Church are sponsoring children in the Abkasa Baptist Conference Church through the God’s Special Gift Student Center. There are now more than 200 children registered and sponsored at this student center.

Pastor Gil shares,

“We are thankful for our Church–to-Church partnership. This is just starting, but we have already seen a big impact not only to our church, but to our community. They are able to see how God is moving in this community.”

The student center director, Daphne, states,

“We were surprised to learn about Church–to-Church. We were delightfully surprised because we knew that it could help more families in our community.”

Through the Church–to-Church partnership with Bayside Church in Australia, this tiny church in Abkasa is now constructing a health and sanitation center, which includes toilets and abundant running water.

“This has always been my dream. That the children can come here from school to wash their feet from walking a long way on the dusty road or to use the toilet. But our toilets were not very sanitary.

Today, we are building a sanitation center, and I am very happy about it. Thanks to the Church–to-Church program and to Bayside Church, one of my dreams as the center director has come true.”

Recently, the pastor of Bayside Church and 19 church members came to visit Abkasa; most of them came to see their sponsored children. They were greeted outside the church by little children waving Philippine and Australian flags under the scorching noontime sun.

Inside the church were 40 Child Survival Program mothers, some pregnant and some carrying their infants. It was truly a coming together of partners separated by miles and miles of sea and land.

Bayside Church and Abkasa Baptist Conference Church spent an afternoon singing, praying, and sharing stories and tears. It was a very emotional fellowship.

The visiting pastor checked the ongoing construction, but the highlight of the afternoon was when sponsors met sponsored children in their homes. A couple of homes were 30 minutes away on foot through endless rows of sugarcane.

According to Pastor Claro and other church leaders, the community health center, public schools, and local government all recognize the significant impact of the church in the community. Pastor Claro and some other church leaders are regularly invited to speak and lead the prayer in community activities.

Pastor Claro shares,

“We are really thankful because this is a big help, not only to the children and to their parents, but also to the community and the church. Because these children grow in their years at the child development center and because of the interventions that we do for them, many of them have come to know the Lord.”

Regarding the Church-to-Church program, Pastor Claro adds,

“In one way or another, we are helping to fulfill the Great Commission that was given to us by God. And we are thankful, because through this partnership we are not only blessed, but we are able to fulfill what the Lord wants us to do as a church. And our partner church (Bayside Church) is able to see how God is moving in this community.

We are happy because through this program that Compassion initiated, we now have a church that is partnering with us, that is praying for us, supporting us, and comforting us.

We now know that we are not alone in the ministry. On behalf of our church, the community, the recipients, the mothers and our members, thank you very much, Compassion.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

In episode four we find ourselves on the outskirts of Iloilo City, Philippines in the dumps of Calajonan. Sisters Florence and Hannah forage through garbage to earn (at most) $2.50 a day. They are the first generation in their family to have the opportunity to break the cycle of extreme poverty.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

A question typically asked by sponsors who are miles apart from their sponsored children is,

“What happens to sponsored children after they leave the program?”

Many sponsors have not personally seen or visited their sponsored children, and because of this may doubt if our program works at all.

Jonathan, a former sponsored child who is now taking care of more than 200 sponsored children as a child development center director, says,

“I have asked myself this same question.”

Our center directors are perhaps the best people to tell sponsors about the effectiveness of Compassion’s ministry. They are at the forefront of our partnership with the local church, and our center directors mingle with the children every day.

Center directors talk with doctors and dentists about the children’s health, check with school teachers to know how the children are doing in class, and meet with church leaders to be held accountable for the children’s spiritual growth.

When Jonathan tells sponsors how effective child sponsorship is, he presents his own life as an example.

“I grew up inside the church, literally.”

Jonathan is the son of a pastor and he knows what it’s like to have nothing. He also was not the nicest little kid.

“My hobby as a young boy was to bite other children. I made so many of my neighbors cry when we were little, and gave my cousins and grandmother a difficult time. Nobody would have thought that I would be in ministry today, and I owe the change in my life to my being a sponsored child.”

Although he grew up in Sunday school, Jonathan says he met the Lord when he was a teenager.

“It was at a Compassion youth camp that I attended. This is why I really am thankful for being a sponsored child, because if not, I may not have been saved.

“It’s difficult having grown up in the church because you can’t really say exactly when you have come to faith at all.”

Now 29 years old, Jonathan has been the center director at the Malabon Child Development Center for 8 years. He has seen sponsored children come and go.

“I am particularly blessed with [the] graduates because I can see that they continue to serve the Lord after having left the program.”

Among these graduates is Eliza, now 27 years old.

While growing up in the student center, Eliza says, she loved attending camps, going on educational field trips and eating.

At the age of 14, Eliza volunteered as an assistant teacher and began teaching younger sponsored children.

In college, Eliza became a student leader at Navotas Polytechnic College and was youth leader at church. She is grateful because the Complementary Interventions program paid half of her tuition fees.

Her parents, who raised seven children, could not have sent her to college. Her mother worked in a factory cleaning cans while her father was a driver for the same factory. In 2002, Eliza’s father died from too much alcohol.

Eliza graduated with a degree in education and was on the road to becoming a high school teacher. Today, however, she is a call center agent for one of the leading call center companies in the Philippines, and she is still serving the Lord as a Bible study leader.

Judy, Jonathan’s cousin, is a teller service assistant for the Bank of the Philippine Islands. She learned how to play the guitar at the child development center and she now plays guitar and keyboards at church.

Jonathan remembers another former sponsored child, Bezalyn, who grew up in very difficult circumstances. Jonathan describes her as someone who was sent to college by plastic water bottles.

Bezalyn’s mother worked at the city’s cockfighting arena and gathered discarded mineral water bottles after each event.

Today, Bezalyn is a nurse and has worked at the South Star Drugstore as assistant pharmacy assistant and cashier. She is now awaiting the results of her licensure exam for nurses. She was also the volunteer nurse at the center for a few years.

Bezalyn is thankful for her sponsor.

“I have grown in spirit. The main goal of the center is to bring children closer to God. I also grew physically because I learned about hygiene, self care and healthy habits.”

Jonathan’s eyes were beaming as he talked about Bezalyn, Judy  and Eliza and how he has seen them grow in the Lord.

But about 23-year-old Mark (not his real name), the center director is mum.

Mark has to keep his identity a secret because he is on a special assignment for the country’s national defense.

But Mark decided to be interviewed because he could not keep from expressing his gratitude for Compassion’s ministry:

“I would like to thank my sponsors for their help. I was used to a hard life, which is why I really appreciate their help.

“I grew up in a broken family and my sponsors became my family. The center is my family. I am also thankful that I have graduated from college and I now have a good job.”

Mark used his first salary to buy his mother an automatic sewing machine worth P8,000 (US $182) because his mother always loved to sew but never owned a machine.

Mark attends a different church now, but he still visits Jonathan and his former student center.

Jonathan is thankful for his experience with the program and for the opportunity to now serve as center director.

“I can now see the fruit of producing Christian adults. It’s difficult to measure fame, wealth and power, but to me, genuine success is how you accomplish God’s plan in your life. I may not have a high-paying job, but you see children being released from poverty and to me that is very fulfilling.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

In the third Missions in Action episode we get to visit with our Special Olympics Bronze Medalist, Emilda Soriano.

Just last week we heard that Emilda and her entire family got baptized on Nov. 13. Here are some excerpts from an email we received from Emilda’s pastor on that day.

In all 19 got baptized, some mothers, some fathers, and many youth. But the Soriano family decided to all become born-again Christians today.

When Emilda was preparing to go to Greece, and Vilma was also processing her papers – going to Manila to the Embassy, and taking care of Emilda’s needs, Vilma – who is the primary breadwinner of the family, started losing her regular laundry clients. Most of her clients are college students who decided to look for another laundry woman because Vilma was not available.

Now, the family had to depend on Reynaldo’s irregular income as a tomb maker. There were several days when they had no money at all, even to buy food.

My Bible text for the morning service was James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

I told Reynaldo, that text was so applicable to his family. It would be so easy for other families to lash out at God and lose trust when neighbors started to make fun of you because your situation went from bad to worse, and they were telling you, “Your blessing will never come.” (In our dialect, “Wala Tupa.” Wala means “No” Tupa means “Drop or Happen”. So, wala tupa literally means No Drop or No Happen. It applies to failed promises.)

But in their suffering, instead of letting go, they cried out to God even more. Vilma and Reynaldo told me, when they went hungry and had no food on the table, they prayed — God we put our trust in you. And they were so happy to be baptized as a family today.

Reynaldo is still struggling with his alcohol and cigarette, but he is fighting hard to free himself of these long addictions.

Also, Emilda’s family is hosting the life group (cell group) meetings and bible study in their home.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Children grow up answering the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” over and over.

Theresa always wanted to be a lawyer, and it was at the child development center that she learned to dream about her future. When she was younger, one of her favorite activities at the center was pretending to argue with other children in a debate.

“During our time to debate, I was really very happy. I enjoy being able to express my opinions and being given the chance to fight for them.”

Today, Theresa is 17 years old and in college. Although her childhood dream was to be a lawyer, she is taking a course in computer animation.

Theresa took the course because it was offered to her on scholarship at the AMG Skilled Hands Technical College in the faraway province of Bulacan. At first, she didn’t like the idea of moving away from home to live in a dormitory.

“I didn’t want to go to Bulacan, but when I learned that it was for a scholarship, I took the chance. I told myself I’d take this course just so I could finish college, but it was in that school where I discovered God’s real plan for me.”

Theresa was a student at the Malabon Child Development Center. Currently, her father is out of work and her mother works in a factory earning less than P100 (US$2.40) a day. Theresa has two sisters. At the center, Theresa actively participated in youth group and has been a member of the praise and worship team.

In the Philippines, it is not typical for children to leave for college. Usually, Filipino children live with their parents throughout college and even after college until they can afford to live on their own.

“Separating from my family and my ministry at church was my first challenge in moving to Bulacan. But the Lord is teaching me now to depend on Him alone. Now, I enjoy being away from my family so that I could totally depend on God.”

Theresa is one of the 28 sponsored youth who are studying at the AMG Skilled Hands Technical College through our ministry’s Complementary Intervention’s Non-Formal Education funds.

Ten more students are studying in the same college as scholars of AMG. They come from 13 child development centers located on the island of Luzon, where Bulacan is also located.

AMG stands for “Ang Manggagawang Gumagawa,” which is Filipino for “the worker who works.” It is a private school that operates based on Christian and biblical principles.

According to Alexander, a school supervisor,

“AMG instills in our students the fear of the Lord, because this school believes that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

According to Anne, another sponsored youth studying at AMG and one of Theresa’s newest friends,

“I experienced in this school the Lord working in my life. He showed me once again that He is truly alive.

“God’s provision in my life is truly amazing and I really don’t feel that I deserve it. It is really a blessing that I passed the Computer Hardware Services course, and now I have a certificate that I can use to find work later on.”

AMG offers job placement. All of its students are guaranteed to find work after college. These 38 students are taking two-year courses in Computer Programming, Computer Animation and Electronics.

Four other students have already finished a one-year course in welding and now they are all employed and earning an income.

Tricia is studying Computer Animation, just like Theresa. She also misses her family back in the province of Albay. She misses them because she knows that there are days when her family doesn’t have food on the table.

Tricia’s father is out of work and her mother tries to earn a little money by cooking and selling local rice snacks. Tricia has nine siblings and she shares with us,

“There was no way for my parents to send me to college. Often we can’t even buy food to eat. This is why I am very thankful for being able to study here, get a college education, and eat three meals a day while I’m in school.”

Anne speaks for the other 38 students when she says that her main goal is to finish college, land a good job, and be able to help her family.

“I also want to help children in our student center in whatever simple ways that I can. I would like to share all that I learned here in Bulacan, not only in the technical skills but also in the spiritual aspects of life.”

Today, Theresa has dreams of attending Bible school.

“If God wills, I would like to study in Bible school. But for now, I will continue to pray and seek God’s direction in my life. As I continue to study here I can see that God is changing me little by little, and I can see how good our God is.”

On behalf of the students studying at that technical college through Complementary Intervention funds, Theresa wants sponsors to know,

“We are so grateful for all the people who have allowed us to study here. Otherwise, our parents could not send us to college.

“We are very thankful to have been chosen to enter a good college for free. We are truly growing spiritually and skillfully. I think we are growing in all aspects of life here. We are so thankful.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

In the second episode of Missions in Action we’re in Quezon City, and we meet Maan, a Leadership Development Program student who want to become a director of a child development center.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Missions In Action is a series of webisodes providing ways for viewers to help solve the problems in our world.

Each episode identifies a problem, highlights the actions people and/or organizations are taking to combat the problem and provides a specific call for getting involved.

The first episode of Missions in Action focuses on our work in the Philippines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Nine-year-old Jessa lives in a tiny, dark hovel situated within a crowded squatter community in metro Manila. Jessa’s home, unlike the typical homes in most squatter communities, is a concrete house.

While this shelter could keep the family safe during typhoons, on other days of the year it is very hot and humid inside their one-room house.

Jessa wakes up at 4 a.m. Monday through Friday. It is still dark at this time of day, but inside the family’s bedroom it is dark at every time of the day. They do not have a window.

During the rainy season, sleeping in their cramped bedroom is cozy, but on most days of the year, it is hot and humid. Jessa, her father, Jesus, her mother, Naty, and sister, Joyce Ann, sleep together on a tattered double-size mattress inside a 6’ x 6’ room.

The family sleeps cross-wise on the mattress with their feet touching the floor.

At 4:30 a.m. Jessa smells the freshly steamed rice “Nanay” (her mother, Naty) is cooking below; not “downstairs” but “below” since they do not have a staircase. The family bedroom is on a sort of mezzanine-type floor.

Jessa gingerly steps down onto the kitchen sink and to a wooden plank before she touches the linoleum- covered concrete floor. She tries not to startle her uncle who is sleeping on a wooden mat in the living room.

Jessa takes a quick breakfast – a plate of steamed white rice and locally canned meatloaf – and a quick morning bath.

It is so humid in the Philippines during both the dry and wet seasons that Filipinos cannot truly start their day without taking a quick shower. Jessa doesn’t have a shower. She scoops water from a pail using a plastic dipper inside their dimly lit bathroom. On cooler days during the winter, Naty heats a kettle of water for her daughters.

The Philippines does not have what many people would consider winter. It never gets that cold. There are only two seasons here – dry, when it can still get really sticky, and wet, when typhoons, cyclones, floods and flood-related diseases arrive.

Jessa’s family doesn’t really have a living room. It is just a dark, tiny living space with her uncle’s wooden bed that doubles as a couch when the family watches TV. Uncle owns the second-hand TV but it does not connect to any of the local channels; they use it only to watch DVD movies. Jessa’s uncle sells cheap, pirated DVDs.

At 5:30 a.m. Jessa is ready to walk to school. The Bayanihan Elementary School is only a few meters away. Jessa’s favorite subject is math, but she doesn’t enjoy science. Today she is competing in a journalism contest in which she already won the first round.

But Jessa doesn’t want to be a journalist or mathematician when she grows up; she hopes to be a nurse. She tells us,

“I want to be a nurse someday so that I can help other people.”

School goes until noon, then Jessa returns home for lunch. The house is better lit at this time of day, but the living room is still mostly in shadows. Jessa’s uncle has left to sell more of his DVDs.

Jessa helps herself to lunch. Her mother and little sister, Joyce Ann, join her. They are having leftover cold rice and canned meatloaf. Jessa’s father, Jesus, is working as a tricycle-taxi driver, riding through the crowded back alleys of Baler community where they live.

The tricycle-taxi, the most common form of transport in back alleys and minor Philippine roads, is a 100-cc motorcycle with a lavishly designed metal sidecar. It normally rides three passengers but can carry six when necessary. Basic fare is P8.00 (US $.19). Jessa’s father earns an average of P150 (US $3.57) a day.

After finishing her school assignments, Jessa spends the rest of the afternoon playing outside. Naty allows her to watch local TV at their neighbors’ house for an hour.

Jessa and her little sister come home at 6:30 p.m. — just before its gets dark outside (and darker inside their home) and before their neighbors start drinking bottles and bottles of beer and getting boisterous and violent.

Nearly all male adults in this crowded community spend their evenings hanging out and getting drunk; Jessa’s father is one of the few exceptions.

Almost all female adults hang out all day gossiping and gambling, except for Jessa’s mother and a few others.

For dinner, the entire family eats cold rice and canned meatloaf – more leftovers. By 9 p.m. the entire family is back in their tiny mezzanine bedroom.

This is Jessa’s typical day. But her routine changes dramatically on Saturdays, when she goes to her nearby Compassion-assisted child development center to play with friends, sing and dance, listen to Bible stories, memorize verses, learn, and eat nutritious meals and snacks.

“I really enjoy going to the student center because I learn many things; I also get school tutorials, and I also enjoy memorizing verses.”

Jessa’s mother shares,

“Jessa loves to study. She is intelligent, respectful, kind and diligent. She does her homework on her own.”

Naty hopes and prays that Jessa will go to college someday and achieve her dreams in life – something Naty and her husband dreamed of as they grew up but never had the chance to fulfill.

Naty grew up in the same community. She saw, felt, smelled, tasted and experienced all that her daughter is going through right now, but there is a big difference — Jessa is a sponsored child through Compassion International.

Jessa receives regular medical and dental checkups, school tutorials, spiritual discipleship, and one-on-one attention and care, as do all of the 160 children registered at the CCWI (Church of Christ Worldwide Inc.) Student Center.

Jessa’s family is also comforted to know that local Compassion staff will help take care of them if their house ever gets struck down by a strong flood or other calamity or if Jessa becomes seriously ill — tragedies that are not uncommon in Philippine squatter communities.

As her mother says,

“Jessa’s sponsorship is a big help to us. We have very little in life. She is learning many things at the student center and church. Our family is very grateful.”

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