Competition With a Lot of Laughs

Life at the shelter can be a bit confining at times because of the unsafe reality of the surrounding neighborhood and the protective nature of CSC's ministry. It's just not possible for kids to go out the gate and roam the neighborhood looking for play opportunities. For any who have had the chance to visit the shelter, that would be very evident. Drugs, gangs, and occasional violence are not uncommon to our locale.

So our kids relish every opportunity to have some time out from the hustle and bustle of the shelter. It might be a weekly outing with their houseparents, going shopping with Auntie Sandy, Jollibee for lunch with Uncle Paul, bowling with Teacher Amy and Teacher Tammy, or out on a boat for some snorkeling with our family. We also enjoy going out for a bite to eat with the kids and playing several games of P-I-G at a local billiards room. P-I-G, introduced to our kids by one of our teachers, is an elimination type game that involves a billiards table with two balls, lots of action and strategy, and a ton of laughs.



While all of the kids play for fun, most of them want to win really badly. For a few it's pretty important. But more than that, they like to see me lose or make a silly error. That gets the most laughs. And if I end up on my back on the floor, all the better. Nothing like a good laugh at the expense of Uncle Mitch.



It's just a good experience for everyone all around. The kids get to get out and enjoy themselves, they get a chance to compete in a game where even the less talented kid has always got a chance to win, they get to see me do badly, and everyone gets to laugh a lot.

Our Friends from Stavanger

These past few weeks have we've had a couple of families visit the ministry who adopted children from us back in the late 80s and early 90s. Both families are from Stavanger, Norway as well as another family that adopted two other boys from us in the 80s but weren't able to come for a visit at this time. The family of Andreas Hernan and Anne Riyah arrived at the end of June and stayed here in the Philippines for about three weeks. It was exciting for us to have a chance to visit with their whole family on several occasions, but especially with their two kids, now adults in their 20s. Both Andreas and Anne were a delight to have and it was fun to hear about their lives after so many years. Anne was a top 10 finalist in Norwegian Idol a few years ago and is very talented young woman. Andreas is a very impressive young man who obviously has a very kind spirit. The night their family joined us for a birthday party, Andreas sat for the better part of two hours with Julieto and chatted with him while showing him pictures on his camera. I've never seen Julieto feel comfortable enough to sit with anyone for that long and carry on a conversation.

This week brought the adoptive parents of Mark and Jay to the shelter, although the boys, also both now adults, were not able to come with them to Cebu. Jay and Mark were both adopted in the early 90s. Mark and Jay's parents shared lots of stories about the boys and it's wonderful to hear they are both doing well.

Both families have been to visit Cebu several times and we feel as though they are close, but distant, friends. The families also stay involved with each other in Norway along with the other family who adopted the two boys, Jan Allen and Tor Alvin. All three families keep in touch, socialize with each other, and even share vacations together at times. We appreciate, too, how they stay involved with CSC, always make it a point to visit us, and support the work we continue to do.

With these three families, we feel like we have a little part of CSC that continues on away from Cebu on the southwest coast of Norway!

Kim, Now Joey

In recent months we have had quite a few of our former residents come back to visit CSC, including a few who were at CSC in its early days, 25 to 30 years ago. Arlie, Andreas Hernan, Anne Riyah, and Joey were all with us a various times in the 1980s. And just now as I write this I've had an IM pop up from another of our kids from the 80s, Cherry. Wow.

It's always a thrill for us to have our kids come back to visit us. Occasionally it is a situation where we have had little or no communication with the child or the family since the child left. It presents the occasion of having many years of catching up to do. Often a returning resident will have the desire to search for and visit a birth family, usually successfully. And sometimes they are adults already and have their own families.

Whatever the situation, it's always a blessing for us to welcome back those we have cared for and invested a big part of our lives in. It's really no different than any of us that have our own children and then getting to see them again after a very long absence. We feel as though they are one of our own. The affinity is still there even if the familiarity is not.

When Joey came to visit with his father, Frank, and sister, Kim, it brought back so many memories. We were all a lot younger back then and I remember being on duty (our CSC staff provided most of the childcare back in those days) with Joey, then named Kim. We fed him, bathed him, changed his diaper, and put him to sleep. But most of the memories come from playing with Joey. He was a solid little guy with a big smile and a lot of energy. I spent many hours on my back in the original Bulacao home on the floor with Joey and his buddies crashing down on top of me. Once thrown off, he would always come back for more. Always.

We hope he comes back for more here at CSC someday, too!

Our Kids Are Praying for You

Our staff takes turns covering for our houseparents whenever they have their days off, so we get a regularly rotated evening duty in the homes two or three times a month. We spend a lot of time with the kids during the days and on the weekends, but the evening duties gives us the chance to spend a little extra special time with the kids in a more relaxing setting. Maybe it's an evening of games, or perhaps a movie shown outside with the projector and screen. Whatever the evening's activities, we get to end the evening with a prayer time with the kids. Each of our staff may do bedtime prayers differently with the kids in each of the homes, but we all probably spend time talking about different prayer needs or requests.

The prayer requests can vary greatly, but here is a sample of tonight's requests: Ginda - who is in the hospital; Jacob, Danielle, Rowena, and Rustina - who are sick and in isolation at CSC; Teacher Michelle - that she would be safe while now back in MN (I'm not sure why she would be unsafe!); that they would all have adoptive families; thanks for all of the aunties and houseparents who take care of them; for safe travel for the Healys when they leave soon for furlough; that God would provide CSC with enough money during this time when donations are low; for all of the supporters and friends who give their money to CSC.

The last request is one that has been consistent for many, many years. Our kids never forget to pray regularly for the people who make CSC's ministry possible, people who they mostly do not even know. While CSC has different avenues for our supporters and friends to pray for our kids like the FrontLine prayer letter, website, and word of mouth, our kids will always pray for CSC's supporters and friends without prompting.

It's important to know. Our kids are praying for you.