First Day

Well this month saw the end of summer break and starting back to school again. It was a particularly special day on the 10th, as it was the first day of school ever for three of our kids! Angel, Romel and Ge-Ge had been waiting a long time for the day to arrive and they were very excited. Leading up to the big day saw the excitement of getting new books, bags and school supplies. Organising their things and seeing their own names on it all!

For me it was pretty exciting having home schooled them myself for the past 6 months for some of them. Seeing the smiles and hearing the excitement is part of the reward and fuels my passion for teaching. None of them had been to school before. Anel is 8, Romel 10 and G-Ge 7. All had made progress in home school and were ready to enter a mainstream classroom at Bethel Baptist Christian Academy where our other children had attended in the last school year.

Cedreck and Ariel both moved up into grade 2 and continue to do very well. Lurens and J - the kids of Rene and Bhing who work in the home - are in grade 6 and 3 and area also doing great. They are a great influence on the rest of the kids in the home and blessing to have with us!

Angel who is an incredibly talented bright girl who loves to learn, was able to start at grade 1. She is starting to read and constantly asks for help in practicing. At this particular school reading in grade 1 is a requirement. Her teacher is really happy with how she is going and she comes home smiling and happy, always keen to go back.

Romel and Ge-Ge have also done really well, but just taken a little longer to pick up things, have started in Kinder 2 which is just below grade 1, but if they do well in the first term they will be bumped up to grade 1. They are both loving school and settling into the rules and routines of the classroom, some things that are quite foreign to what they have come from in the past. Both making friends and enjoying learning and feeling like they are the same as other kids their age. While they are much older then their classmates, they are really well accepted, Bethel is a great school and thankfully they are both small for their age! :)

What a privilege and joy I feel seeing these kids, in their uniforms, with their school things and smiles. Remembering what they were like on their first day in our home, what they have come from, seeing the transformation God has done in their lives already and providing them with opportunities for the future. This is what its all about, praise God and glory to Him!

Felicity Taylor
Malaybalay Home Manager

Growing Together

God has built a great team and it only gets better each month as we grow together...

In Manila today we started the second year of the Cuatro Christian School. It is so cool to see mom's from the community cooking for the kids. Moms also sewed all the uniforms together for the kids... A real community effort. Praise God. Kim Courtright is heading up the school effort. Please pray for Kim as some recent health issues have caused some concern and we are looking for some solutions....

Jeremy and Sarah Moody have joined our team and are heading to the states to raise support. Please pray for this family with three young boys. We are hoping at the end of July they will return to head our efforts in Malaybalay , Bukidnon, Mindanao...

Ted and Rhonda McMillin serve on our board of Kids International Ministries. Pray for them as Ted's work transitions him to the Philippines for the next two years. Pray for their three children as well.. They will be students at Faith Academy and are very excited..

Frank and Kaye Cherry and daughter Becca will be moving to the Philippines as well. Frank will continue his work he started about four years ago as Business Manager for Faith Academy.. Pray for their family as they close up things in Kansas and come to serve with Kids I.M.

We are grateful to these families and many more folks who make up our team in the Philippines....

thanks for praying...
Jeff

1 Peter 5:6-11

Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

My name is Megan Richard, I’m 20 years old and I’m from Bloomington, Minnesota. I just arrived back to Manila just a few days ago, on June 11. I was here serving as a short-term volunteer from January until April of this year. In hindsight I’m not sure how to describe what I came for at first, I wasn’t sure where I would be used or where I would fit once I got here, but I came. I have had a lifelong heart for missions and the opportunity was there for me to serve with KIM so I took it. A few weeks after I got here, I plugged into the community school, assisting the first and second grade classroom and teaching art and music. That was an unexpected but amazing part of my experience, and ultimately the reason I came back.

When I started to feel God calling me back to teach art and follow the students through this next school year…my first reaction was fear. Questions and what-ifs and worries clouded what could have been an easy ‘yes, I’ll do this for You, God…’ But that was the beauty of learning faith and trust and surrender. If I was going to make it work for me to come back in June, I knew I needed to start sending emails home for prayers of confirmation that this was God’s will for my life right now and get started on raising support, but AGAIN, I was too scared to let people at home know I was considering coming back. I knew people would be supportive and encouraging, but I think right alongside the fear of committing was bringing other people into the consideration. It was definitely a step towards a ‘yes’. But finally I knew clearly that God wanted me to come back and finally humbled myself enough to see what an amazing blessing it is to be called.


I went home in April knowing I had two months to raise support for the next year of my life…so I got to work and saw that the Lord was already working. Way ahead of me, to no surprise. There are plenty of stories of miracles beyond me that give tremendous glory to God, but for the sake of the length and the time it will take to read of all the wonders, I will make the long story short. I’m back fully supported for the year that I plan on being back here for and I am so thankful for that…but…I returned to the states knowing I had to raise support and only hoping I could collect some supplies needed for the upcoming school year as well. Six large boxes are on their way to Manila right now filled with handwriting tablets, notebooks, scissors, dry-erase markers, staplers/staples, pens, pencils, glue sticks, tape, teacher record books, construction paper and so many other art supplies, and so much more that should all last through this school year and beyond.

It’s a humbling, glorious time witnessing what happens within the body of Christ when there is work to be done for Him. So many people embraced and lifted up the ministry here, listened to how they were supposed to be apart of it, and obeyed without question in such a small amount of time.

Restore.
Confirm.
Strengthen.
Establish.

To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

School Time:

Today we started our teacher training for all my teachers at the Cuatro Christian School. In our teacher training we are discussing how to be effective teachers from a godly standpoint and we are having sessions on Phonics and Classroom Management. Not only was it our first day of training fir this next year it was our first official Board meeting as we are trying to get the school accredited. Things are moving forward so we are excited about that. I had meetings with parents on Wednesday and we have 67 students enrolled for the 2008-2009 school year. Yeah!

Another exciting thing is that in the evenings this year there will be classes for older students who have not had formal classes. A pastor's wife of a nearby church is going to teach the class using our curriculum and facilities. So now we get to reach high school age kids not just younger kids in the community.

We will have one more day of teacher training on Monday and then school starts on Tuesday June 17th.

Family Holiday

Just recently we had the joy of taking the kids on a bit of a road trip holiday. We were invited to visit the place of one of the staff's family, they wanted to host us for a few days and treat the kids. We made plans and set out. During our trip though we had to change our plans and instead decided to stay a few days in Davao in southern Mindanao.

The kids had a fantastic time (and so did the adults of course)! They got to see and experience things they had never done before. The drive was beautiful, which the kids enjoyed except for a few that suffered some car sickness...we took the kids to the Philippine Eagle park where they saw lots of big eagles up close, along with some monkeys which they thought was pretty fun. In the afternoon we took them to the beach, which for many of the kids was their first time to see the ocean! They had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand and it was so great to watch. We stayed the night at a ministry centre where we all experienced some real "roughing it". I think some of the kids have forgotten what life was like before the children's home, they kept asking where the beds/mattresses were! :) But it was all part of the fun adventure.

Then the next day we took them to this brilliant crocodile park, they had a blast! They saw animals they had never seen before, from live croc's to massive pythons, talking parrots, tigers, monkeys, rabbits, ostrich, orangutan, squirrels and birds. They even bought out a small crocodile and the kids were all able to take turns holding it and having their picture taken! So much fun. Then we took them to a park with a big playground, they were just walking through the park, and as soon as they say it they all screamed and went running over, they would never have seen a playground with play equipment so big before. After a picnic lunch we took them over to a mall, and for many again it was their first time to experience that, the awe and excitement was lots of fun. Escalators were fascinating fun rides! The older ones got to go watch the new Narnia movie, a first timer for all to go to a cinema. They couldn't get enough of it! Talking, laughing and clapping through the whole thing! After the movie we were driving to a friends place for dinner and discovered it had been raining...a lot and found ourselves driving through a small flood, praise the Lord the car didn't die in the middle of it like it was threatening too. We met up with friends there who have a big house which they opened to us, all bunking in together, and needless to say everyone slept well that night!

The next morning it was time to pack up and head back home. It was a really great trip, and was such a huge privilege and blessing to be able to give these precious kids some experiences that would never have had the chance to do before, and hopefully give them some great memories they will never forget. And to be reminded to be thankful for the simple things and realising again the many things we can so often just take for granted...

Felicity Taylor
Malaybalay Home Manager

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Hi friends of KIM

We are in the midst of seeing God provide something special for the kids in our Manila and Malaybalay children's homes. Currently we have over 50 children being served in our two homes. They are being nurtured and given significant doses of JESUS each and every day of their lives... We are learning as a staff how to most effectively teach our children in the best possible ways.. Please keep praying for us, our staff.... and our kids...

Pray for our staff and friend who help us so much with all facets of the ministry in Manila and Malaybalay, DJ and Rachel, Arnold and Genesis, Jeff and Colene, Josie, Dave, Brandon, Felicity, Larry and Belen, Leah, Kharen, Jeremy and Sarah, Rene and his wife Bhing, Annalyn, Veronica, Yolly, Daisy, Megan, Kim, Elizabeth, Jhett, Mae, Alma, Maricel, Zenny, Ricky, Errol, Angie, Merriam, Nika, Rollie and Linda, Myles, Laling, Malou, and other short term volunteers that impact the lives of our kids each day...

Pray for our kids in Manila and Malaybalay listed on our website...

Pray for five children that have recently been reunited with their families after living with us for several months and in three cases almost three years... pray for Aya, Cyryl, and Darwin who have been with us since the beginning and have recently returned home to loving mothers who are no longer in harms way from abusive relationships...

Due to a rapid growth in our home we have outgrown parts of our children's home. We no longer have room for a separate nursery and we no longer have room to eat as a family at one sitting.. This past November we began digging and laying the foundation for a new dining room and nursery for our children.. Six months later God has provided the roof, both floors have been poured, steps to the second floor are in, most inner and outside walls are in place, some windows have transition from our original building and now open the new addition with light from above! We have been blessed to see work teams come from Australia and Korea. Our Filipino nationals and foreign volunteers have all pitched in... God is good... Most of the steel purchased for this project rose each week in cost. We feel blessed to be done buying more steel...

As we near the finish line will you pray with us for God's final provisions. We will need to finish off the building with paint inside and out, finishing cement on the walls, tiles on the floors, fans and air conditioners, lights, toilets, sinks, doors and windows... After these items are all in we'd love to furnish it with beds, dressers, shelves,tables, chairs, furniture and appliances....

Thanks for praying through what part you might want to play in seeing us to the finish line so our staff can better serve the kids God has entrusted to us..

Thanks for journeying with us,

Jeff

The Hardest Part...

This week we said goodbye to the sisters Aya and Cyryl. Joyfully, they were reunited with their mother. On the one hand, this is a happy, redemptive story. Their mother has turned her life around and gotten her feet on the ground in the last few years. She is ready to care for her daughters again. And that is the hard part for the staff - loving and caring for children that are not our own, in some cases (like this) with the possibility that they will return to a family member after several years. But that is why New Faith Family Children's Home exists, why staff and volunteers come to love on kids - we will serve and care for children and families through all possible resolutions to their stories. We are happy for the mother and excited for the girls to restart their lives with their family. For anyone that has been to the children's home or been involved over the years, you know how bright and charismatic Aya and Cyryl are. We miss them very much, but are confident about their future. God can do amazing things through them; we are happy to have been a part of their story, of their early childhood years. They left New Faith with a new faith in Jesus, and we know that will stay with them. Pray for the girls, that they will adjust well to this new life and really blossom as they continue to grow. And pray for the staff as we process these emotional times of saying goodbye to kids that we love so much.

DJ and Rachel