Living in a country that is considered blessed, I never knew poverty like I’ve seen in Philippines could exist. Since the day I’ve been saved, my mentor had trained me to be a bus minister serving the kids in the poorest and often most violent neighborhoods in Albuquerque. Being a Bus and Sunday school director for nearly two decades, I thought that I will be in the same service to the Lord until His return or the day I die. However, when I met my wife Jennifer, I realized that the poverty I thought I saw in the States is considered to be a more privileged life than the kids over there.
She grow up living off on whatever they have in their land, growing crops, and harvesting food from the river nearby and the sea. They’ve been taught that God provides for His children’s needs. Even when they have so few growing up, sharing was imparted to them by their parents, who’s been serving God for quite some time and taking them to the poorer areas to feed hungry kids. As what their parents said to them “we don’t have everything in life, yet we have God, but these kids don’t have nothing”. And that’s how they’re trained to reach the lost and give to the less fortunate…
When God put our paths together, mission work was not in my mind, after all, I am also ministering to the souls here, with the comfort of our society. Car, paycheck from my job and the support from the church I am affiliated with. Little did I know, that God is merely preparing me for the task He has at hand. To love the unloved; provide shelter and food for the unwanted and abandoned children: An orphanage!
Early in our marriage my wife had shared to me this vision but I don’t want to leave my comfort zone. It was in our first visit together in her country that God opened my eyes. Seeing the hungry, gaunt and tiny faces sweltering in the sun while going from person to person asking for food, my heart felt so burdened. We came back to the US haunted by that experience, and that’s when God made me understand what He wanted me to do.
Right now, a rented apartment in a slum area in Cebu is used to feed kids with the help of volunteers and we have ministered and feed 1500 needy kids last 2011 in 3 different islands. We have also acquired a property where the planned orphanage will be built. Lord willing when enough funds are gathered to complete the project, we will move and relocate to run the orphanage.
So please pray for us and if God place it in your heart to partner with us through financial, material and/or spiritual support, don’t hesitate to contact us. There are so many ways you can help them in your own ways. Please refer to our current ministries…
Thank you so much for your time and visiting this site. I pray you have a Blessed one!
God bless,
Drew & Jen
