Merry Christmas

Christmas is almost here which also means that our two year anniversary is almost here as well.  It is hard to believe that we have been here almost two years already, but at the same time it seems that time has flown by.  So many changes have been seen in our ministry and a few even in our family.

Ministry changes first.  Our arrival saw the demolition and reconstruction of the orphanage building.  three months and a lot of dedicated men and man hours went into the building and with such love for the work that was being done.  Soon after completion God showed us who was in charge and that he would be the one to determine which kids would be coming to us.  We would have preferred younger kids but our first two where teenagers.  A brother and sister pair 16 and 13 they had lost there mom a few years previous and had just lost there dad.  With all the trauma of life they did not focus on school and fell very far behind.  they both where in the 4th grade when they arrived and should have been in there later years of high school.  Since there arrival one (Tata) the oldest has chosen to return and live with family.  He is in the 6th grade and doing fair in school.  We still see him and he comes to visit once in awhile.  The second (Ebec) is also in grade 6 know and still lives here.  She is doing very well in school and trying very hard to succeed.  She is a teenage girl and so has all the drama and emotions one would expect but she is growing into a wonderful young women who wants to serve her Lord.  The third kid was John and a brother to the first two.  He was 6 years old.  He also struggled with school.  He was supposed to be finishing the second grade.  but was held back because of grades.  He did not read or write or know any of his numbers.  We tried so hard to help him but learning is a huge struggle for him.  after almost a year and a half he learned the alphabet in order but could not point out any letters.  He learned to count to ten also but could not identify numbers.  Just a couple of months ago he and a married sister chose for him to move and live with her family.  Next was Marvin.  He was 13 When he arrived and also was very behind in school.  He was in the third grade and could not read or write.  He showed a large desire to learn and make life better for himself.  With the help of a tutor he know reads and writes.  He is in the 4th grade know and doing well with school.  He got into some trouble here and was given the choice to stay and be monitored closely or to go back to grandpa.  He chose  to go to grandpa.  But some good friends and a cousin of his heard of the situation and invited him to move in them.  So that is what he chose to do.  The last group of kids to join us was a sibling group of five.  They still had a mom but she was unable to care for them.  They where so underweight, malnourished and sick when we got them.  they where 13, 5, 2, and twins at 7 months.  one of the twins was cared for by an aunt so came about a month later when the aunt said she could not care for her anymore.  They all have grown so much and are learning and developing at a wonderful rate.  Hazel did not like all the rules and preferred the freedom that she had with mom and so chose to return.  She still texts and calls Jonah almost daily.  She has quite school.  The younger ones a right on track with school and are learning well.  They are back to full health and are staying healthy.  We have a wonderful couple that lives at the orphanage to help us out and act as house parents.  They have two kids of there own a son and daughter.  there kids are 4 and 1. 

The orphanage is our primary focus of concern but our ministry has taken on new aspects as well.  We help to conduct a local youth event quarterly here at the local church and also every three to four months we travel to other islands and help the local churches to conduct there own youth outreaches.   The funds for these ministries comes from our business income and tithes.

One other aspect of ministry that we are involved in is the Operation Christmas Child program with Samaritans Purse.  I (Jessica) and have joined the local staff as a volunteer resource coordinator.  I am in charge of helping the local team to raise funds to help with the cost of distribution of the boxes.  We have several members of our church that are ministry partners and receive boxes to had out to the kids.  It has been fun for our family to see this side of the ministry, because when in the US we also packed boxes. 

Our most recent family picture

Know for the changes in our family.  We have invested some of the money from my dads trust to start two businesses.  One is a water refilling business.  We have a 21 stage water purification system and have gained a lot of customers.  Our business has grown so much that we have hired two guys to work the business and handle all of the deliveries for us.  We still fill the occasional water container but the guys we have working are great.  The other business we have is egg laying chickens and we sell the eggs.  We have about 200 chickens.  Jonah's sister lives with us and takes care of the chickens for us.  The biggest change is the addition of our youngest kid.  We are in the process of adopting our son Mark.  He is a year and half old.  He was seven months old when he came into our care.  He is one of the twins.  He was the size of a one month old baby and developmentally he was an infant.  He has grown so much and has reached so many developmental milestones since he has been with us.  He is learning to talk and he walks and he is just so much fun.  He is so different from the girls when they where that age it is so much fun to watch him grow.  We have had two visitors since we arrived.  Our pastoral care couple from the mission agency we serve with was here to visit all the missionaries and stayed with us for a couple of days.  and we are excited to have Christine Davenport with us for six weeks.  She arrived about a week ago and is seeing all of the controlled chaos that makes up our lives here. 

With all that has been said there have also been two major changes in our support.  two of our big supporters have passed away and since we have lost there monthly support.  that totals 350 dollars that we have lost in monthly support.  So if  you would please be willing to pray with us in finding new support to fill in the lose that we have suffered.  We know that God is in control and he shows us that daily.  But the lose of that support does effect our ministry in a huge way.  Please feel free to pass this on to any friends or family even churches that might be interested.  We can send more information to anyone that is interested.  Thank you so much for all your love and support.

My contact is email or facebook.  email is jcajigas111081@gmail.com and my facebook name is Jessica Lucas Cajigas.  If you have people that want to contact me via facebook have them send me a message as to who and why they are friending me because I do not accept friend request from people I do not know.

Merry Christmas to your family from ours and the most blessed of New years.  Gods blessings!!!

Cajigas family,

Jonah, Jessica, Precious, Faith and Mark 

"It Takes a Village...)

The saying says "It takes a village to raise a child.  This statement is used a lot but not often lived out in our lives.  Well here with our ministry we are seeing how true it is and we watched it lived out everyday.  Without all the people that we have to help us out the kids here would not get all the love attention and there needs met in a very timely fashion.  I figured it out the other day and with the number of kids we have that are the ages they are would be most peoples worst nightmare, but it all seems to work out well.  This is not to say that there are not the moments of chaos and tantrums and multiple kids crying at once but we all work together and the kids are all growing well and learning to behave.  We have two year old an year old, one at 8, one 7, a 6 year old, two 3 year olds a 2 year old, twins that are almost 1 and a 6 month old baby.  We have a wonderful couple from the church that has moved into the orphanage to help us out, they have two kids of there own and we have our two girls.  if you are trying to count them I will help you out that is 6 kids 3 and under.  9 kids 8 and under.  The older ones are a big help and play with and help to look after the smaller ones.  We also have a couple that lives close by and they are a huge help and are always helping to watch after and or bathe, feed, etc.  Whatever they see needs to be done they step into to help do it.  I will post pictures of the brood after June 2 with another update.  So the next time you hear the phrase it takes a village... know that it is true and if ever given the chance and you see an opportunity to help a fellow parent out then take the chance and help, you may be more of a blessing than you realize.  All parents are different but one thing I have learned is that no parent is perfect and we can often learn a lot from other parents if we will open our minds and hearts to just listen and observe and not think that our way is always best.  God bless and Hope you and your families are all well and at peace!!

memories

Recently marked the one year mark that my dad passed away.  It made me start to think about all the memories that I had with him and my mom and how fast time goes.  I did not always agree with or get along with my dad but I can  honestly say that I wish he was still here and that I still had time to talk to him and here his stote am saddened that they are missing out on seeing their grandkids grow and learn.  I am saddened to know that they will never meet our hope to be and soon to be adopted son.  I know that they would be proud of all of there kids and the work they are doing and there are times that I can see my mom especially coming for a visit and fitting right in with our life here.  With the one year mark of his death also brings back memories of this busy time of year here for the church.  this is the time of year for the churches annual thanksgiving and also the national convention.  The Thanksgiving is the time for the church to look back over the last year to celebrate its achievements and to evaluate what should be changed.  It is an all day party with lots of food, fun and laughter.  It is a wonderful time of celebration for the church.  The national convention is a three day get away for the pastors to meet and get rejuvenated and to learn from one another.  This year makes life here a little bit busier because the national convention is being held here at our church so everyone is busy getting everything ready for both events. 
    I know this is a short post but take the time to tell your loved ones that you love them and make time to spend with them  show them with your actions that you care about them.

Negros youth camp



 

On Tuesday March 22, 2016 seventeen of us left Our homes headed for Negros.  We went to conduct two youth camps for the local churches there.  Why would the local churches need us to conduct the youth camps.  Because they do not have the resources or the know how to do so.  The church here has such a passion for youth ministry that with the help of Jonah and I and wisdom from the Holy Spirit they have created a great youth outreach program and in December at the national convention for the denomination here we offered to "take our ministry on the road".  We had two churches invite us so went for a week with the team and conducted two youth camps.  Each camp was for two days.  We told the local pastors to do the same thing we do here and that is to follow the rule that for every believer there should be at least one unbeliever.  The first location did not understand the communication well and had only one unbeliever in attendance.  We still did a crusade the first night and where able to plant the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of people in attendance there.  We cut our time short there to head to the second location and focus our ministry there and are glad we did because of the almost 100 youth there more than half of the where unbelievers.  For our youth camps we have four to five different sessions depending on the amount of time we have.  For each session we have a time of worship to open with then there is a lecture given by one of the team members.  The lectures are on topics that are important to a young persons life today.  For one of the sessions we have a question and answer panel.  It gives the youth a chance to ask real life questions and get a biblical answer from someone not much older than them.  Our youth camps are open to anyone 11 years old or older so we often have college students and young adults.  nine of our team members are young adults themselves.  They are the ones that lead the worship and the lectures.  

 

the young people listening to the gospel lecture

 small groups coming up with questions for the panel

 more young people

 taking a break from lecture time to socialize

 a couple of the young people

Part of our team that traveled to Negros

 

Why is all this important for you to know and why should you be interested?  We are traveling again to Mindanao in May with the same team.  This time we need your help.  Most of our team as I said is young adults that are willing to sacrifice a weeks salary and spend there way to travel but it is hard for all of them and may set them back financial till they can try to recover.  So we are asking all of you if you would be willing to donate even a small amount to help us pay the cost of travel to plant the seed of the gospel in people who may not otherwise have a chance to hear the gospel message.  To bring the whole team of 17 people and two trucks to make travel easier for the three kids we have to raise $1500.00  That includes travel expense, food and gas for the trucks.  If you would prayerfully consider giving to this worthy cause please message me so that I can make sure your funds go for there proper intention.  Funds can be sent to CTEN at p.o Box 291307 Kerrville TX 78029-1307 if sent by mail please include a note that you would appreciate the funds be used for the CAjigas ministry or you can go to cten.org/Jonahcajigas  If you are unable to give then the other maybe even more important way you can support us to pray for these youth camps.  Pray that God will surround the locations with his angels of protection and that the evil one will have no place there.  When we have an exact date we will let you know.

newest kids

Many of you have seen the post from us on facebook about the newest five kids that have come into our care.  They came from a single mom in a village that our home church has a small church plant.  they came to us extremely malnourished and in need of medical care.  Hazel is the oldest at 14 she has been diagnosed with TB.  She also has asthma and a seizure disorder.  We think that the asthma and seizure disorder may be in large part due to the TB.  We are taking her later this week to a nuerologist to get to the bottom of the seizures.  She is being treated for the TB, that is a 6 month treatment process.  She is growing and gaining weight.  She is smaller than Precious my seven year old girl.  Precious gave Hazel some of her clothes because Hazel did not have and she needed a belt to hold them up.  Next is Michaela.  She was 5 when she came and just recently celebrated her 6th birthday.  When she came she was less than half of what she should be in weight.  our daughter Faiths clothes are to big for her.  She has some major medical concerns that we are still working through.  She was treated for worms but recently found out that she still has them. We have been unable to get her stools stabilized and her iron level is still at least 30 points under what it should be.  She originally gained two kilos but has since lost a kilo again.  We have another follow up apt with the doctor this week and may be looking at having her admitted because all of the meds we have tried so far have failed.  We would love if you all would continue to pray for her and for healing.  We know God is the great physician and with him all things are possible.  The next is Andrew.  He is two years old.  He does not talk yet except a couple of words he has learned since he has been here.  He was treated for worms and is on a strict diet to control his weight gain but the best news is at the last appointment he was given a clean bill of health by the doctor with the instruction to continue with the strict diet.  The last two are twins a boy Mark and a girls Marah.  They where 6 months old when they arrived and are nine months old now.  Marah was cared for by an aunt and so came to us with no major medical concerns and at a normal weight.  She was treated for worms but seems to be growing normal and healthy.  She is in the care of one of the members of the local church.  The twin brother is Mark  he looked and acted more like a 3 month old baby when he came.  Developmentally he is still behind his age but has caught up in the weight dept.  He is just starting to try and sit unsupported

but still needs support most of the time.  He does not crawl yet.  He just started rolling soon after he arrived with us.  He just seems to have a couple more concerns with the doctor one is a wound on his head that will not seem to heal.  We will see a dermatologist Wednesday when we go back for a follow up.  He also seems to have a consistent cough that comes and goes.  He is being treated for exposure to TB, which is also a six month treatment program so hopefully that will take care of the cough.  He is  living with Jonah and I.  The girls have fallen in love with him and always want to help in anyway they can.  I do not have a picture of Mark on the current memory card so will have to try and post a picture of him later.

 

 Mickaela

Hazel, Mickaela, and Andrew

Year in Review part one

I know that most people do a year in review at the end of December so I am late with this post, but I am doing it know because it is three days shy of a year ago that we left on a jet plane to fly here.  Wow what a year it has been.  On January 19, 2015 we left Grand Rapids MI with a wonderful group of people at the airport to pray and send us off.  We landed in Manila Philippines two days later on the 21st.  We spent 2 days in Manila to rest, adjust time, and finish processing my visa papers.  We then flew on to Cebu where my nephew met us to assist us the rest of the way to Bohol.  We arrived home at about 3:30 or 4 in the morning.  We first woke up and surprised Jonah's sister and then went to serenade and surprise Jonah's dad for his birthday.  We started to settle into life in our new home but it had to be finished first.  We stayed with my sister-in-law and family for the first month while our house got finished.  We moved in and took another month and a half or so to get ourselves adjusted and used to our new life and schedule.  Getting used to a new life that was soon to change again.  We then started work on the orphanage and took about two months to complete.  We had some amazing people from the church working hard to finish the project.  Our first two orphans are cousins to the original three that lived in the first orphanage.  It was about a month after they moved in that we received there younger brother.  It was soon after that when Marvin moved in.  We had James with us from the beginning as well.  So within four or so months of living here I went from mom of two to mom of seven.  The beginning of January this year we received four more children a sibling group who was extremely malnourished and very ill.  They are 14, 5, 2 and 7months old.  We just recently where told by the mother that we could adopt the youngest if we wanted to so we are going to be starting that process soon as well.  So in a years time we went from parents of two to parents of 12 children.  It has been an adventure with ups and downs but God is always faithful.
     Our ministry here took on some new aspects as well that we did not expect but God has called us to start a youth fellowship ministry to reach the non Christian youth of our community.  With the help of the young adults we hold a monthly youth "camp"  Sometimes it is a one day event and other times we do an overnight.  Every event though we have worship, a message or two and fun games for everyone.  These events are so successful in reaching the unreached because we have implemented the bring one policy.  For every young person from our church that wants to come they have to bring a friend.  then we announce the next event and encourage everyone there to bring a friend.  Our largest youth fellowship was about 150 people.  Most of the time the event is just held at the church but sometimes we try to go to the beach or a resort of some sort that has a pool.  These events are at no cost to the people that attend and are sponsored completely by us and the local church.  The biggest cost is the food because they are fed meals and snacks for the whole time they are at the event.  A lot of you have been very generous in helping to support these events when we ask for special donations for these events and we can not thank you enough. 

    God bless and part two will be coming soon with some pictures.