Wow it has been way to long and there are no excuses, only my sincerest apologies. So we have been on the field for over 2 years know and our ministry has grown and seen many changes in those two years. I will try and limit the changes to certain topics so as not to overwhelm anyone and to not make these post to long.
People first. Lets start at the beginning. The first three orphans we received where, if you remember was a sibling group of three. Jerwin(tata), Donnabe (Ebec) and John. John and Ebec has since decided to live with an older sister near Tagbiliran. I still keep in touch with Ebec on about a weekly basis. she is doing well and will be entering high school this year. Our school year starts in June and ends in March. Ebec and Tata where in the 5th grade and not doing well in school when they arrived here and so I was proud to see and be a part of there 6th grade graduation the end of March. Tata had also decided to leave and go live with an aunt near by. We would see him around but he had cut ties with us for awhile, but we are so happy to see him back here at the church and volunteering his summer hours to help our pastor around there home and the church grounds. He really seems to have grown up the last year or so and I pray that God will keep working in him. We love all of our kids and hate to see them leave but God knows best and we know it is better to stay in Gods will.
Jerwin (Tata) Dupalco
The next young man that came to us was Marvin. A lot has changed for this young man and he still has a lot of growing to do and we have to entrust his life to God. We have done what we can and he will always hold a special spot in my heart but he has made his choices and he has to live with those choices. Marvin lived here for awhile then went home to Grandpa after he made some bad choices here. Some family learned of his situation and he lived with them for a school year but did not learn from his mistakes here very well and they will not let him return to live with them for the safety of their new little daughter. So he will be staying with Grandpa, unless God provides a better place that can meet his specific needs. He still comes to church when he can find a ride so we see him then and always try to encourage him when we see him.
That last group of kids that came to us was a sibling group of five. This was the group that came from the neglected home and the kids that where very malnourished when they arrived. These kids are Hazel, Mickaella, Andrew, Marah, and Mark. Hazel has since chosen to return home and quite school all together. The rest of this sibling group is still here with us and are not just growing but thriving. Mark and Marah will celebrate there 2nd birthday with us in a week. Marah was in pretty good health when she arrived so she has continued to grow well and is learning new things every day it seems. She is learning to talk and to play nice with here friends. Mark has grown so much and has become a very smart little boy. growth wise he seems to be right on track for other kids his age. He has learned so many words and is putting up to three words together to form short sentences. most of his language is Visayan but he is learning English as well. I appreciate the people here with him especially because when they teach him a new word they will try and teach him the Visayan and English word. With him I am having to learn more of the Visayan so I can understand what he is trying to talk to me about. If you could pray with us as we continue to work with the local Social Service agency to process his adoption. He is so much a part of our family that it would break our hearts if he is not allowed to be part of our legal family. We look forward to celebrating Mark and Marah next week and the gift they are to us and our family. Mickaella has grown so much as well. She is at a healthy weight and continues to grow physically, spiritually and emotionally. She is still very small in height for her age and that maybe a life long thing for her. She has finished kindergarten and will start first grade next month. Andrew is growing well and is also at a healthy weight and height. His vocabulary is growing by the week and he is talking in short sentences. He will be a visitor to the local preschool this year so hopefully he will learn a lot there and learn to socialize better with other kids close to his age. We hope and pray these kids will all continue to grow and learn and that they learn more about our savior and see his love everyday.
L-R Mickaella, Andrew, Marah, Gianne, Nathan
An update on some other people you have heard about but are not our orphans. Jolene is a working a high school student she is still living and working for my sister-in-law. She will start grade 9 in a couple of weeks. She sometimes struggle with staying because she misses her family but she knows this is the best place for her. If she went home she would most likely be somewhat forced to marry and not be able to finish school. I try to encourage her any chance I get and we smile and laugh together. It is interesting with her because she does not understand English well but she pretends sometimes for my sake so we have interesting conversations that make us both laugh.
Junrey and Ogeke are the two gentlemen that work at the water business that we own and operate here. They are doing well and both work for us still. Ogeke is a hard worker and never ask for time off. He loves to help out in any way he can. He is great with the kids and will help out by watching them or just taking them to play on the playground for a little while so moms and dads can get a rest for a few minutes. Junrey is engaged and getting married in October. He is planning to continue working for us after he is married. He is the one that manages our day to day paperwork and operations. He is also great with all of the kids and is willing to pitch in and help out with child care.
The last people I can think of would be our family. Jonah and I (Jessica) are doing well. We just celebrated our 10th anniversary the other day. Marriage is not always are walk in the park but God has blessed us with 10 years of joy and sadness and fun and adventures. We look forward to walking this journey together still and pray God will continue to bless us so we can continue being a blessing to others. Our girls are doing well also. Precious finished third grade as a homeschool student. This year was a struggle for us. It was a new curriculum and somewhat of a last minute decision. She started the year at the elementary school but struggled some with the language so decided to do one more year with homeschool and we had a friend from church that is a teacher come in about twice a week to tutor her. She will be entering the fourth grade at our local elementary school here and we will encourage her to see the year through and evaluate at the end of the year. She is growing so much. We are proud of the daughter that God is growing her into. Faith will start her official education in kindergarten this year. She tried preschool last year but did not want to go to school when she was told mom could not stay in the classroom anymore. We hope that she has outgrown that but there is a part of me that fears she has not. We will encourage her to spend one year at school and evaluate at the end of the year. She still has a lot of growing to do but she is a smart little girl. she has started reading short three letter words this past year and counts to 200 with a little bit of help once in awhile. She I think often has the desire to be an only child so can be hard sometimes when there are so many other kids around.
Precious, Mark and Faith
We thank you for taking the time to read about our journey here and pray you are blessed in a small way with what God has done here in the Philippines.
For a side note we want to praise God that after a year of processing our registration with Securities and Exchange commission (SEC) it was finally approved and we have received the registration. We are officially registered as the Lucas Shelter for Children Philippines, INC, To read more about the name look for our June newsletter in your mailboxes in a couple of weeks.
will try another update weekly till I can get us caught up to current. Sorry again for the major time lapse.
Also a good friend of ours is in the process of putting together a box to ship. I believe this one will be a medical/first aid one but if you have something you would like to include please contact Christine Davenport at email address davenport.christine@gmail.com I will try to keep an updated list of desired items on the side of the blog. I just have to remember how to create it. God bless and have a wonderful day.
