Another Warrior Mama..

Meet Luz, Viv and Minda....

6 days ago  Mama Bebe went into labor. Kuya Ronald delivered the first little girl in their 8x8 ft home in the middle of the dump site area. The baby seemed well but Ronald began to panic as his wife continued to have very strong contractions and the urge to push. He knew something was different because he has delivered their other 5 children and this has never happened. He quickly called a midwife and she arrived just in time for baby girl number 2 and 3!!!

What a miracle and brave parents!

One of our volunteers offered to accompany them to the hospital to get the triplets and Bebe checked. The parents were very reluctant as their earning from working hard collecting trash to sell at the junk shop had only accumulated to P80 (£ 1.14 that day,

Kuya Ronald like many of the fathers in Tondo is hardworking. He can be seen pushing his junk cart day and night to provide for his family. The harsh reality is no matter how many dedicated hours he does this the absolute most he has ever made for a full days work is P200 (£2.88)

They eventually agreed to go to the hospital with our volunteer and get the babies checked and vaccinated.

I spent a long time in their home the other day and it took me back to when our boys were newborn- only times three! Bebe was breast feeding while Ronald was bottle feeding another and I was enjoying cuddles from "number 3". Then one would sleep and another would wake with a tiny cry. They swapped babies while one was rocked to sleep and the other parent changed a diaper. I was tired and in awe watching them! They both still had time to gush over their newborns with smiles, talking in tagalog about how they looked different and that they never thought they were identical.

Their heads were so tiny in my big white hand! What a total God miracle.

We are thankful for partners who have helped us meet the initial needs of the family. Our heart is to help Ronald set up a small business to raise their income so that he can better provide for the now  family of 10. We would also like to bless them with a house renovation. At the moment it is a tiny one level house. As I sat with them I tried to imagine how 10 bodies would crush in here. I could not imagine in what position they were able to sleep as it was already crushed just with 4 of us in it.

I have used the term "warrior mama" on lots of occasions to describe many of our Mummy friends in Tondo and Navotas. I think anyone who gives birth is deserving of this title because it takes the maximum endurance and intense strength of heart and body to deliver a small person! How much more with no medical assistance? They have to fight for their baby every day of their pregnancy. Many of them have to fight for daily survival not only for themselves but their children. They are warrior families. Warrior Fathers who work and work at something many in the country look down on. They wade through rotton garbage, sell it and provide for their families because they don't want a hand out. They want to work. In all our time in Tondo I can honestly say that not one of the men there has asked us for money or begged. These men are hardworking men.

How good to know that we have The supreme warrior servant King- Jesus fighting for us. There are times when we get tired and weak just as the families living on the dump site. They go through times when physically , mentally, emotionally and spiritually they are exhausted. If we have put our trust in Jesus these are the moments I can imagine Him picking up his sons and daughters, throwing them firmly but with tender care  over His strong shoulders and carrying them till they can walk again- until we have the strength of heart to get back in the fight again.

"God will fight for us" Nehemiah 4:20

Please would you pray for the triplets , Mama Bebe and Papa Ronald. The ages of the other children are 2, 8,10,14 and 15.

Glitter on my face. Love in my heart.

Before I gave birth to our sweet Baby Eli I wondered if I would love both our babies the same.I wondered how my heart could hold any more love since it was already bursting with love for our first born. Did you wonder this aswell when you just had one? Please tell me im not the only one?! For 18 months I had focused pretty much all my energy on our Josiah.. I was elated we were having another boy. I had hoped we would have 2 boys close in age. But I also wondered what the uncharted territory of having 2 and loving 2 would be like.
But after 2 and half hours of intense pain, I gave birth on the floor to our baby and right there amidst the mess (child birth is seriously messy) I fell in love with Eli Domingo. Chubby cheeks and black spikey hair. I was smitten all over again. Tiny eyes locked onto mine for the first time
.I loved him before he was born but now  I SO loved him.

And then it happened- my heart grew.

I loved two.

I couldn't explain it. But I KNEW and I could tell my teary eyes husband felt the same. Our hearts had most definatly expanded and we loved another little amazing person. The creator of the universe had fashioned and formed our baby son exactly how He wanted him. I cannot even think of words to describe my feelings about that. It's overwhelming.

A lovely friend who also has 2 boys close in ages said to me "Don't worry Jo, the best gift you could give them is each other"

... and it's true

. Don't get me wrong there have been times and are times when one hugs the other a little (or a lot) too vigorously! A few bite marks and jealous yells! However the younger is now starting to defend himself by hair pulling! (why did no one tell me about this bit??!!) But even in the moments of chaos- I see how close the two are becoming and it just fills up my heart. Being a mum has allowed me to experience Gods love in a new way. So many many ways. I am forever grateful.

The other day we were playing with craft materials.As Ron walked in the door from work the 3 of us were covered with blue and yellow glitter. Just another precious, messy memory I don't want to forget.

Glitter on my face. Love in my heart :)

A short blog inspired by a singing toddler :)

This morning I got woken up by our bare foot, sleep in his eyes toddler singing sweetly in the hallway;
"God is so good Josiah
God is so good Josiah
God is so good Josiah
He's so good to me Josiah..."

Oh I pray that our children would truly know the goodness of God in their heart and through their whole life.

When I got out of bed, tripped over some building blocks I began thinking of really how good our God is. But do I sing about it often enough? Do I talk about it as much as I should? Is it the first thing that comes to my lips every morning?

It should be.

At what point do we start to over think? Worry about things? Lose some of that instinctive childlike trust? Remember when you first put your trust in Jesus? You probably never had much doctrinal knowledge. You probably never knew that much apart from the amazing new reality that you were SAVED- that Jesus LOVED you and that God is GOOD.

My 2 year old reminded me that when I open my eyes in the morning, before the business of the day, before the schedules,  before anything I should speak out (or sing)  that my God is indeed so very GOOD to me. :)

A kind of an update!

I need to start by really apologizing to all our partner churches, groups and individuals that we have not sent out a newsletter since we returned in June! I will quickly tell you the honest excuse and then proceed with a short update!.
The truth is since we returned with 2 babies I have have found it difficult to find the time to sit down and write a "proper newsletter"!We have just been doing quick updates on Facebook and emails here and there! As for my busy hubby, well he is gifted writing songs- not newsletters :)
So I thought I would take advantage while our 2 boys are napping to write something. I went to find the newsletter template to remember that it was on my lap top which recently crashed and nothing could be retrieved. So I figured from now on we will just use the blog  for quickness sake. Thank you so much for every individual who continues to partner with us and the ministry in prayer, giving and volunteering.

Our New Home
So many of the Churches we visited were praying about us finding the right home so will just quickly tell how God answered they prayers....
When we returned in June kind friends let us stay in their home for one month. In that month it felt like we looked at every apartment and house in Manila. We had 3 days to go and still had no place to live. We just had no peace about the ones we saw. They were either too far from Tondo or too expensive. That day we looked at an apartment and decided that if we couldn't find anywhere else then we would take the one bedroom apartment, with good space and in a safe area. It had a little play area near by and was about one hour drive from Tondo. It was nice but we had specifically been praying for somewhere to meet other mum friends and some kind of outdoor for the boys to get let loose in. The next day a friend of Ron's text and offered to show us around an area just at the border of Manila. When we got there the first thing I noticed was a swing park- an actual swing park! In living here 6 years I have only ever seen one proper swing park in Manila! Our friend took us to a house which had been for sale but that had just been put up for rent. A 3 bedroom house in a good area with a mini garden and...  the swing park at the end of the street!! The owner brought down the price to within our budget so easily and the next day we moved in!!
It's just a house, somewhere to live but I got so blessed thinking about how our Father God even cares about the small things. I feel so thankful every time I see Josiah playing out in the street with other children. God even answered our prayer to get connected with other mums in the area. We had no clue that when we moved here that there are lots of other missionary couples who live close by. We have even had a few play dates :)


Thank you Visitors
Since we returned we have had lots of great overseas volunteers:
4 guys from "the Broch" Fraserburgh who came with the mission to elevate our main hall above the flood waters giving the Tondo community one flood free space. ANSWERED PRAYER.  This is the first year we have not had to cancel one single thing due to toxic waters covering feet. The water still penetrates through the floor and in the door BUT we are all ABOVE it! What a gift to all the team who for the last 6 years have continued to minister with stagnant human waste filled water squelching though our feet.

6 young women from Kilmarnock  got involved in everything from murals, wound care, hospital trips, outings with toddler, community concerts, teaching English...... and you get the picture- pretty much all rounders :)

We were so thankful and encouraged by friends from Peterhead. The Philppines is their second home and they understand the culture and the heart of mission so well. The Strachans came at the right time to pray with us and spend time with us.God really used them to minister strength and encouragement to us. It always amazes us how God makes paths cross. Friendship is a precious thing

New Things
- Food For School/Packed Lunch Program
Daily feeding for 100 extra children a day in Tondo and Navotas. This feeding is specifically for children and young people struggling to stay in school because the family cannot afford to buy them lunch.It is answered prayer for us to be able to daily provide 100 packed lunches to help them get through school.

- Daily Wound care
EVERY DAY around the dump site area there are children who get wounds on their feet from walking on glass and other sharp objects hidden in the garbage. Wounds on their hands from working on or playing in it. Wounds on their heads from cuts or insect bites that get infected from the dirt and intense heat. This week we are starting to offer wound care 2 hours every day in the community instead of just on the weekends. We pray to extend it even more, but we feel God asking us to start what we can do.... 

 Young Leaders
Every Thursday we have started more intensive training with young leaders. One of our main challenges just now is needing more full time workers. A Thursday session is specifically for young people who are not in school but who we see leadership potential in. The aim is simply to equip them more to lead in various areas of the work. We have been so encouraged by the way they have responded.

These leaders along with our other volunteers have re-launched our kids clubs. We got feed back from them that it was becoming to difficult to deliver high quality activities because of the problem of "too many children". Often between 300- 400 children. So a few weeks ago we made a decision to put an age limit on the clubs as we use to back in the early days! 5-7s and 8-12s (just the Saturday session) It has been working well so far. Less children but the team have been able to deliver more focused activities and more importantly build relationships.

This year we came to a point that in ourselves we really didn't want to start anything new as we wanted to concentrate on sustaining what was already going on. But as always our Abba knows the needs in the community much more than us and sometimes we find just a deep urgency  to meet a particular need. This has happened on a few occasions over the last couple of months. Who are we to say " its not a great time Lord" or "we are all already so busy"?!! We are truly thankful and blessed at how God directs us often through the members of the  community leaders. The reality is we can never fully understand what life is like there. Our staff and volunteers live it and when we leave at the end of the day, they stay. Its is not only their work, mission or community. It is their home. It is there life. There are many days when we weep when they weep and laugh when they laugh, but only God fully sees what each one faces. We are just to proud not only to call them team, but family. They are the heros. We want to shout and boast about how God is using them in their communities.

Our prayer is that he continues to lead all of us to show his love to the Ones who need it most.


Fires and floods
Within a month of each other both Tondo and Navotas suffered fires and floods. We focused more on Navotas this time since there were many other organizations and government help for the Tondo fire victims. We were the only ones assisting in the Navotas Community. 53 families ran from there homes as a raging fire tore through their homes. Most of them lost everything.
We responded by doing daily feeding at the evacuation centre, relief bags of clothes, shoes and toiletries, grocery giving. As of now there are still 17 families living at the evacuation area. They have just been informed that they have to leave there by the end of October. Our plan is to help build their houses. If you feel led to give into this project or want information on how you could help sponsor a house build please email us kalayaancommunityminsitries@hotmail.com
Because we felt these needs were immediate we decided to postpone our annual October youth camp until December. The youth graciously agreed!

In spite of the loss we met some amongst the fire victims who mentioned nothing of their lack, but instead praised and thanked Jesus for everything they had in Him. Mind blowing and challenging!

At the first evacuation site for the families from Navotas we met a lady who had a huge stomach. We thought she was 9 months pregnant.After Ron spent time with her we found it was a tumor. The doctors told her she needed an operation that would cost P40,000- almost 600 pounds. Ron and Ptr Dodong prayed by faith that in the name of Jesus she would be healed. Her belly began to shrink 2 weeks later and she returned to the doctors who gave her the all clear and told her "there is nothing wrong with you" God still heals!



 Prayer Points:

-The Kalayaan team of staff and volunteers
-Raising up of more leaders
-Provision for the sustainability of all our programs
-Continued recovery for Ate Vivean one of our volunteers who was hit by a truck and left for dead. She is now out of hospital but still unable to move her arm and in a lot of pain
-Wisdom while we plan an extension of our feeding program to the most malnourished in the Tondo Community


Recently we have met some families where they have need greater than we have ever seen. More than the physical needs, which we must respond to, we have been struck by the hopelessness in their words and even body language. We KNOW that Jesus is the answer.
We are desperate to see Gods love and light just explode in that place.

This is a kind of all over the place update, but please feel free to email us anytime for updates on any particular area of the ministry. We can't always respond as fast as we would like but we really love hearing from you!


"Then the Children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God because of bondage, so God heard their groaning and God remembered" Exodus 2:2-3



           

 

Crying for Justice

I have so many unfinished blogs and half written updates and newsletters. It's been such a busy time and we hope everyone understands. But I just feel the need to capture the feelings in my heart this morning

Last week I was home with our babies while Ron worked in Tondo. I received a harrowing text from him that a little boy who regularly joins our kids clubs and kids church died.
His name was Alexa. He was 6 years old.
A family member cleaned his ear with rusty metal and he died with tetanus.

I cried and cried with sadness and with anger at the injustice. So many injustices in that place. A built up cry to God at the many injustices we have seen recently.
God loves justice. He loves to make wrong- right. He delights in filling hopelessness with hope.

Oh God pour your beautiful justice on Tondo.

Most weeks there is some kind of tragedy within the community and we watch as people we love go through pain upon pain. Sometimes we can help. Sometimes we cannot.
I always have that sick to my to my stomach feeling when people come to ask to "borrow the nice choir outfits". It means someone has died and has no clothes to wear inside the casket. We have given away too many choir dresses and barongs (Filipino styled shirts) to dress friends who's life came to an end far too early.

Amidst the darkest of the dark situations there are people from within the communities RISING UP with a love for Jesus and a heart to see change in their own community. Community leaders come to us and share their ideas, even dreams and visions of the future. Young people that used to say their hope was to be a "good scavenger" growing into amazing men and woman who are realizing the HOPE AND FUTURE Jesus wants them to have.

Just the other day we experienced them minister to us once again. We both were really heavy hearted and burdened. As we began leaders training the young leaders began by sharing their testimonies with one and other. We laughed with them. We cried with them. We thanked God for them. They each spoke strength and encouragement to our very souls. They declared to each other stories of what Jesus had done in their lives. We saw Jesus in them. What an amazing privilege to have watched these young children develop into young adults who love God and their community.

The last few weeks have been difficult. We have felt real attacks of the enemy on the ministry as well as our family. Believing God is about to do something new and that His light is about to make something change in the spiritual atmosphere of the place. The enemy is god of this world-- of poverty and all the strongholds that come with it, BUT greater is HE who is IN US (AND IN HS CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY) than he who is in the world. As more on the dump site give their lives to Jesus and show true fruit in their lives- MORE HOPE- MORE JOY and MORE CRIES FOR JUSTICE ARE BORN- chipping away at the despair and hopelessness that the father of lies would try to bind people in.

Please would you pray for our team as we prepare to do a gospel outreach outside in the community- in the middle of the open dump site. The youth have prepared drama and music presentations, we will do a film showing and share the good news.The young man named Jerric who was supposed to be shot dead by a Tondo gang and got his leg amputated has written a rap about his testimony and how God even used the shooting to give him a second life in Christ is performing.

 Would you pray for him and the other from the Tondo/Navotas community who are involved. It is a massive thing for them to stand in the middle of that place and declare the goodness of Jesus. Would you pray that God would move in a special way.

We are not the answer. Jesus Is.