Maligayang Pasko! (Merry Christmas!)

"The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10 & 11

There was much laughter and sounds of joy as we gathered in Matain to celebrate the birth of Christ last week. A big thanks to Sierra Pines Church who sponsored the Christmas party and gift giving and helped us reach out in spiritual and practical ways to this village!
Over 300 meals were served to the hungry men, women and children, and 200 toys distributed to the kids. We were also able to give 64 families bags of groceries.
A jeep helped transport food, gifts and chairs to an area near the event then volunteers carried everything down the beachfront to the village. (No roads going to that place, we hike in every week).
Music was provided by the youth group and childrens ministry leaders and kids. Then Anthony read the Christmas story from the bible. For most of the guests this was the first time they had ever heard about the birth of Christ! Then Leslie spoke about "The Greatest Gift" and an invitation was given to accept this gift. Most of the crowd responded and were led in prayer to receive Christ. Our ministry leaders spent time encouraging and praying with the people of Matain.
After that everyone had a special Spaghetti dinner (spaghetti with sweet sauce is the traditional Christmas food here!) and the kids lined up to receive a toy. Sixty-four families received groceries including all the Christmas Day dinner items for their families to take home and have a wonderful Christmas together!

The next day, PACTEC, Phil gifted Project Life so we could buy shoes for the kids. It's so important for the children here to wear shoes and help prevent infection of parasites. (check out our previous post about the worms!)

Our biggest thanks is to God. He continues to open doors for ministry and brings others alongside us to help make all this possible! "Glory to God in the Highest, and  Merry Christmas to all!"

Another class graduates at the Sewing Center

Yesterday's graduation was a joyous time of laughter, testimonies and encouragement! After opening prayer and some worship (and action songs, of course!), each graduate took a turn sharing his or her experiences of the Project Life Subic Sewing training. A recurring theme was how they grew in knowledge and relationship to God, and how that had changed their life. They were all grateful to now have a skill and a way to earn money.
One man, having worked a couple weeks already at PACTEC, (the company that hires many of the grads and helps support the training center) talked about how he never had confidence before. Now he feels confident and capable and his self esteem has grown. He also learned so much during his time at PACTEC and had much to share with the grads. He encouraged them to be excellent employees, to work hard and be serious about their job and integrity. He also shared how proud he was to be able to buy shoes for his children with his first paycheck. His next check provided not only necessities, but he gave his children a little money so they could buy Christmas gifts for each other.
All the graduates received certificates and took home the bags they made so they can sell them and pay for pre-employment physicals, etc.
A big thanks to our faithful trainers- Emy, Cindy, Cathy, Angie and Glenda. Our love and thanks to PACTEC, Lewis, Mike, Arvin and Joanna (and their )families for making this all possible. Merry Christmas!

Celebrating!

This family has been blessed with new beginnings!

Trainer Cindy presenting certificate, new bible and bags

    

Emy encouraging the grads

Worms! - NOT your garden variety!

One of the biggest threats to the health of children in undeveloped countries is parasites! The Ascaris worm is very prevalent here in the Philippines, and cause a variety of health problems and even death. These worms not only live in intestines, but can travel by blood vessels to the lungs and other organs. The female will grow to 6-13". The worm can cause malnutrition, lung problems, (increases risk of asthma) appendicitis, and intestinal blockages. It has caused many a misdiagnosis as it may look like "pneumonia" on an x-ray.
Our children in the slums are at a 50% + risk of parasites due to poor hygiene and lack of clean water and proper sanitation. It's easy to spot those severely infected- some have chronic cough, runny eyes, and slightly distended abdomens.
Project Life Subic just completed two deworming clinics this week. The Rotary Club donated the medicine, and Val Smith Orr, R.N. ("Captain Bulate!") and her assistant Evelyn taught the children and parents about the prevention and treatment of worms. Val brought her worm samples that fascinated the audience and was a real eye-opener!
Our hope is to help these children be restored to health. "...I was sick and you looked after me..." Matt 25:36
Here are some pictures of the clinics. Scroll down to see one of the worms!

"Captain Bulate" (Val) adding the drama to the teaching!



This little boy had an amazing discovery after he went to the toilet and he was proud to show it off! Look closely, the worm is still pink and alive.

Our new volunteers!

We are so happy to have Trisha Reyes, and Andrew and Brittany Wilcox volunteering to help with children's ministry! They are a big help to the children's leaders and also to our many kids. Andrew and his beautiful wife, Brittany are both teachers at a local international school. Trisha is taking some time out from schooling, but is also involved with youth group and the worship team at Church of the Risen Christ. She is also a talented artist!
Our Core leaders from our Youth Group continue to help the childrens program every Saturday, assisting with merienda, music, clean up and wherever else they are needed.
A big "THANKS!!!" to all the volunteers for being such a blessing to the kids of 12th St.

Sewing Training

managers Cindy and Emy with Mayor Gordon at the recent grand opening of the "Gawang Gapo" (made in Olongapo ) shop at the SM Mall.

Our Sewing Training Center managers, Emy Atienza and Cindy Rosas, report that they have trained over 150 men and women to sew. Most of these previously unskilled have found jobs in the Olongapo and Subic areas and are now able to support themselves and their families! There are another 100+ on the waiting list for training.
Another "batch" has begun training and are learning measuring and pattern making this week. By the end of the training all students will know how to submit their bio-data (resume) to job agencies. They also will make 10 bags that they can sell to raise money for the needed pre-employment medical exam and police clearances, etc.
We hope to add more sewing machines soon to accomodate more students during each training series.
here are some recent pictures:

 

Anthony Agones- Youth Leader

Anthony Agone, 18 years old,  is our Project Life Youth Group leader. He began attending the youth group when he was 13 and became involved in the youth leadership at age 16. Anthony's hunger for more of God, and his desire to share the love and life of Jesus led him to attend the International School of Ministry Bible course while still in high school. After high school graduation he went on to train with Youth With A Mission, and graduated from the Discipleship Training School in June 2011. We continue to mentor him in areas of leadership and see a definite call of God on his life! He is well respected by his peers and older adults, and he lives a life of integrity. He has a passion to see youth transformed and lead Godly lives. Today Anthony leads two youth groups, one in Olongapo and another in the nearby Muslim Community of Subic. He is also very involved in his local church, Church of the Risen Christ, where he also has opportunity to serve and learn.

Excerpts from Anthony's Reports on new youth group:

Here are excerpts from Anthony's (our Youth Leader) Reports:

JUNE & JULY

"Last June 2012 we went to one of the areas in Subic called Matain and from there seeing different kinds of people like childrens, youths, and even the old ones. What we experienced has something to do with the mandate that God has given to all of us and that is by going there and to MAKE HIM KNOWN to ALL  people. The next week of the same month we came back again and finally we made friends with them especially  to the youths, We invited them to church for a night of worship. After inviting them we thought that only few would come without expecting that they will also invite their friends. Almost 20 youths and young adults attended the service and one gave his life to the Lord."

 

AUGUST

 "The time went so fast and it was incredible to see that we have now a youth group and every week we held a Bible study in Matain. Our first meeting was getting to know each other by introducing ourselves and we really liked the portion of this program because we learned everybody’s talents and favorite colors. Above all we took this opportunity to share the love of Christ for them (John 3:16), that God really loved them so much that He sacrificed His only Son that if we believe in Him we will live forever with Jesus.  Also, the youth core leaders from 12 street shared their testimony on how God changed their personal life. One of them was Darryl Ramos, he simply emphasize of trusting God and believing to His Words that with God there is no fear and no regrets just a future with a promise.

We are so grateful to our God for what He has done and for what He will still continue to do with the lives of His children. And we believe that it is by God’s grace that our youth group is increasing in numbers and we belive in faith as well.

SEPTEMBER

 

  "We gave tagalong Bibles to the youths and they are so thankful to have now their own Bible and so excited to  meditate on it. It’s been their prayer that they each can have a Bible and God provided for it. We are so blessed to see them happy reading their Bible and  sharing their thoughts to one another about what they’ve  learned.

                          Thank you so much! We highly appreciated your prayers and thank you for partnering with us in this wonderful mission. God bless you all"

Update: The youth group in Matain has grown to over 50 youth now in just 4 months! Please continue to pray for Anthony and other Core leaders as they continue this awesome ministry!

 

Follow up to Big Flood

Thanks to all of you who donated- we were able to distribute food, medicines, toiletries and waterproof tarps to 180 families in need. Here's a few more pictures of the Project Life team in action:

The Big Flood

After two weeks of unusually heavy, non-stop rain, our area and much of Luzon island was flooded and declared a state of calamity. This was worse than the flooding after Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, and even deeper water than the flood of 1997. Our former base, (we moved in April) which was under 4 ft of water last October, was inundated with 7 feet of water. Although damage was extensive and many evacuated, no deaths were reported in the Olongapo- Subic area.

just north of our house



the market under water

 

the bridge near our old base

This was the first time in 5 years that we haven't flooded and instead of being "Flood victims" we were able to organize flood relief efforts. Because of generous donations of a couple individuals, and the cooperation and assistance of Pactec in the Freeport, we responded with two teams to take food, medicines and tarps to those in need. Our youth group also assisted Mercy in Action charity birth center with post flood clean up.
The flood victims were so happy that people would respond with the love of Christ and help them in a practical way.
There is still much to be done. Please keep us in prayer as Project Life continues to do what we can to help.

Pactec responded quickly to the need, donating tarp to provide waterproof shelter

we filled these bags with food and toiletries

bagging rice

     

Fishing village after the storm



a tarp to cover the roof and keep the rain out!