New Smile

It's easy to take teeth for granted. When I was young, my teeth were OK, but in the socioeconomic world of my childhood, dental care was taken seriously and was preventative. In order to prevent future problems, I had braces for awhile and then did the whole retainer process, eventually transitioning completely out of orthodontics. Now my teeth are great, I guess, nice and straight and all that and no major problems. However, for the kids at the home, the same is not true. They have not had the benefit of growing up in a world where dental care is taken seriously, or where it can even be afforded. That's why these kids usually show up with some collection of rotten, broken teeth; if we are lucky, they are still young enough where they will all fall out anyway and we can start again with a clean slate on their adult teeth. Many of you are probably familiar with Maricel's dental story since coming to the home - her teeth used to be horribly disfigured and not much could be done, but a generous gift was given to fix her teeth, so now she has a prosthetic replacement in the front. That kind act did everything to boost the confidence and personality of a girl who already has enough struggles communicating. Now, our newest "Maricel" is Noel. Noel is a newer member at the home, having come in September 08. We were told at first that he was probably around 7 years old, but there was no definite birthday since he was abandoned at birth. However, we were all very suspicious of that when we met him and saw his teeth. He has huge teeth, and one of his oversized front ones protrudes awkwardly out of his mouth. A recent round of dental check-ups and pictures shows all kinds of other problems in there. It also tells us that he is more like 10 years old. Noel struggles with developmental delay and has received inadequate care for his whole life up until now. We want to change things for him and give him the kind of attention he deserves, especially his teeth. He will need braces, which are cheaper here than in the States, but expensive nonetheless. There is already a children's ministry program from a church in Minnesota ready to start collecting money for Noel. If you are interested in helping as well, please let us know. We would like to get this taken care of as soon as possible for him.

On a separate note, good news out of the legislature here in the Philippines - the president just finally signed into law a bill that has been pushed through the government by the Department of Social Welfare and social workers who want to see the way abandoned kids' cases are handled revised. Up until now, children who were abandoned and in residential care like ours had to go through a whole battery of legal proceedings before being officially declared abandoned by the courts and ready to move on to permanent family placing through adoption. What was designed to be a thorough process to protect the kids and make sure they were not becoming victims of trafficking has turned into a long exhaustive process that ultimately ends up keeping untold numbers of kids stuck in institutions across the Philippines. This new bill successfully takes the responsibility away from the backlogged courts and puts it in the hands of the Department of Social Welfare alone, making the job of processing the kids' cases so much easier for our social workers.

DJ/Rachel

The Power of Prayer

As time goes by, prayer seems to become more important to me. Maybe that's because I see more and more evidence of God working through prayer, such as in our recent visit to Kids International Ministries. The three boys and I came to visit Liz as she works in the Manila childrens home. We ended up working construction with an Australian team at the Malaybalay childrens home, and reading to children in Manila, and painting on the JCCV building, and meeting Threads of Hope on Mindoro, with a few other adventures thrown in along the way. It was great to see the Manila ministry of our good friend Chris Cordova.

By the time we got back to Colorado, I had collected many stories of believers who prayed, saw God at work, and decided to join Him in impacting peoples' lives.The children touched my heart, each one in a different way. I've made a commitment to pray daily for a certain one of the older children. I'd love to return to be involved in the Malaybalay project. My own children have all been changed by seeing God at work in amazing and miraculous ways in the Philippines. And my heart is challenged to dwell less on being comfortable, and more on being like Jesus to those around me.

Let me share some prayer requests with you.You can pray for Kids International Ministries, that it will grow at the right speed, building on its good foundation. Pray that churches in various nations would catch the vision, sending teams to help in the Philippines. Pray that each child would grow strong in their faith, being a good influence on Philippine society, or wherever they live. And be sure to pray for Jeff and Colene Long as they seek people to give their talents to the Filipino children. Please pray for Chris as he encourages the Filipino men to step up and follow the Lord. Remember especially to pray for the construction progress on the childrens home in Malaybalay.

Thanks!

James

The month of February has been a very busy month here at the Children’s Home and the Cuatro Community. With forty one children in a family (and growing) each new day God gives us, it brings new challenges and different needs. We have been blessed this month to have the resources to administer the much needed vaccinations to the older children.

Often, I walk through the Cuatro Community (on my way to school) with a bag of supplies consisting of much needed donated medicines and baby food. I see the poverty, hear the cries of hungry babies and see the physical needs; at times I am weighted down with what appears to be hopelessness on the faces of these people. I stop to help, hold unkempt infected babies clean their wounds, encourage malnourished pregnant mom and many times invite them back to the Children’s home for much needed vitamins food and clothes. Our God, the creator desires to reach all of these needs with His amazing love, and He has blessed us to be a part of the Community of God’s people here in Cuatro. As well, this month I have visited medium and maximum security prisons, on one recent visit I had the privilege of meeting and ministering to several families of death row prisoners, these impoverished families travel many days to spend just a few hours with their dads, utilizing the open field outside the prison as their make shift home, not having the basic requirements of daily needs. The needs here are so great and at times seems be insurmountable but as we continue to help we ask you to continue to pray that God will provide wholeness, health and life. Many thanks to everyone who have donated medical supplies etc. enabling us to help the impoverished we meet everyday. Please continue to pray for this growing ministry.

Marilyn B. Curtis

Patient of the Month: a prayer for apples

An apple day, may keep the doctor away; but what if apples are hard to find?

Well, then you’re off to see the doctor every day of the week.

For 15-month-old Kenth, a trip to the doctor is a daily occurrence. Last year, Kenth was diagnosed with hypo-thyroidism and has needed to be on daily medication and attend regular check-ups through a specialist doctor. During this past year, Kenth has also suffered from multiple Urinary Tract Infections, which then led to a complicated circumcision. In addition to these medical issues he has been to see a developmental doctor and has been referred for several test. It seems that when it rains it pours.

The past month has been filled with appointments for a variety of different doctors’ visits, lab work, and test. And I must say, Kenth has been quite the trooper. Just about every morning, he’s fed, dressed, showered, and loaded into the car, diaper bag in tow. Of course each trip out is expected to take several hours; lots of traffic and up to a two-hour wait for the doctor is always anticipated. It seems that with a lot of care and the right medicine, Kenth has finally made a 180 towards complete recovery.

One challenge that we still face is an upcoming surgery to correct his circumcision. As physically difficult as this will be for him, there is an equal financial difficulty for us here at New Faith Family Children’s Home. My prayer has always been that each of the children in my care would come to know, trust, and love Jesus. A further prayer of mine is that Kenth would continue to be held in the hands of the great Healer. I trust these things with our amazing Lord and ask that you would too.

Daisy Chell

Soccer and Translation

As we all know very well here in Manila, basketball is the sport to play. We are trying to introduce soccer to the Cuatro Community area. I am working on putting a team together to play in national tournament for the Homeless World Cup. We are working in this area to get people out of poverty and this is one way we can do that by presenting people the opportunity to play soccer. We recently had two Cameroonian professional players displaced into our community. We are able to use these two players to help coach and train Filipinos to be able to play soccer in hope to represent the Philippines in the World Cup in Milan, Italy in September. We have had two training sessions already and it is very interesting. The two Cameroonian players speak French and I speak English and our players all speak Tagalog. So as you can see we have a fun time translating from French to signing to English then to Tagalog. We are also hoping to have a time where a local pastor will also start doing a Bible study with these players at the end of practices. Please pray with us as we are looking for more players and that maybe soccer can catch on here in the Cuatro area.

Kim Courtright

Targets

You’ve likely heard the saying, “it’s hard to hit a target when you don't know what you’re aiming at.” To clarify what we at NFFCH are aiming at, we’ve been busy setting goals and defining roles for the new year. We desire that each of our 41 children in Manila and 11 children in Mindanao grow in their knowledge of Jesus…and so are busy mapping out strategies to effectively pursue each child's success in that area. What an awesome responsibility! Please pray for our missionary and Filipino staff. Do you feel God would have you help us? Please let us know!

Short-term teams continue to converge and transform our landscape. In Manila, over the past three months we have been helping a local church get back on its feet. In turn, their building, facility and yard area have provided us community outreach opportunities we only dreamed about in the past. The combined effort of a few teams and some donations has resulted in hundreds of children previously seen playing in the streets of our community are now seen running and playing on grass, swinging from trees and enjoying the sports of basketball, volleyball, soccer and badminton. To take advantage of these facilities, all kids and adults attend a Bible study prior to each time of play. A new energy level has overtaken the place, and the pastors and lay people alike have jumped in to help. What a blessing for us to be involved in the local body! We are praying that more teams from schools, youth groups, friends, and churches will join us in 2009!

In Mindanao over 100 short-term team members from Australia and the United States have joined forces and literally allowed us to build two more of the eight living units on our donated property near Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Mindanao. The teams have welded, poured concrete, done plumbing, electrical work, and carpentry. The first unit is ready to move into. We are pushing hard to complete sections 2, 3 and 4 in the first quarter of this year. Our camp site is developing as well. We have aspirations of hosting a camp for impoverished kids with a group of Faith Academy students and staff on March 14-20! Please pray that this could happen. Also pray for Jeremy and Sarah Moody and their three young boys to finish up their support raising and join our team in Mindanao this month. In addition to building structures, roads, septic tanks, fences, etc., we also get a chance to build lives. God is so gracious to allow us to take part in these opportunities. Each day our kids in the homes go through struggles. They cry and share with their NFFCH aunts and uncles. Many times our community people come to us for jobs, advice, medicines or food. What a blessing to be in a position to find solutions. One such person recently entered our life—17-year-old Irene. Irene came to us with full-blown tuberculosis, two failing lungs, six months pregnant and a heart defect from birth. We loved on her, the doctors loved on her and in the end this brave heart gave birth to a little girl weighing less than three pounds. Praise God, the yet-to-be-named child is still alive and with God's leading will have a life ahead of her in our home. Sadly Irene lost her battle as so many of the impoverished people do. We are uncertain of Irene's eternal destination, but to honor her life we want to give her baby what Irene rarely had the chance for—knowledge of a Savior, a loving home, clean water, a safe bed to sleep in at night and more. Keep praying we will be found faithful in caring for the widows and orphans for which we have been called to help.

Josie has finished her hours of cosmetology school and is ready to return to the Philippines to launch “Josie's Cut and Curl and Coffee Shop.” We are trusting God will allow her and others through this place to give young women in our community a way to make a living and to equip them in sharing their faith in the Lord. A long-time friend will mentor Josie as well during these coming months. Josie will also be involved in our short-term mission teams. Please pray for the remaining support for Josie to come in.

Jackie is away at Faith Academy’s Outdoor Education this week. This year all the middle school students are in jungle survival training a few hours north of Manila. It's a fun time to learn how to gather water from bamboo trees and to catch and eat bats and snakes...you know, every 7th grade girl's dream! Ha! Speaking of dreams, Kyle got a new addition to his reptile collection this week. A five to six-foot python…maybe I should say nightmare?

God is good! Thanks for allowing us these opportunities.

Jeff for the family