July 2010

Reflections from Natascha serving at HOPE for a year: As my time here draws to a close there are so many experiences to reflect on. I’ve been involved in many different aspects of the ministry here & I could write about so many different things. I enjoyed my involvement with the kids & youth & particularly loved the opportunities I had to teach the youth on Fridays nights, the youth discipleship classes on Wednesdays & the youth in Pacifico every second Saturday. I long to see more of the youth on fire for God & was always excited to try to challenge & inspire them with God’s truth & words of life. I love to pray for people & have been impacted by many opportunities to pray for people, encourage them & share God’s heart with them. I was touched one morning at KKM by a young girl who requested prayer that the rest of her family would be saved. I also had the opportunity to pray for a young surfer who did not yet know the Lord & who was moved to tears by God’s presence during a youth worship time. More recently I was blessed to be able to pray for & encourage a young teen-aged girl with Lupus. These are just a few of the experiences that have touched my heart in the past few months. After spending almost one year here I have become part of the Hope family & I have been so blessed by each of the staff at different times & in different ways. I will always think of them as brothers & sisters & will miss them so much!

I would also like to share a little from a bit of a broader perspective. As a social worker, I’ve seen a lot of poverty among the people I work with in Canada. The poverty here did not shock me. Poverty is poverty in many ways, but the longer I was here some of the differences became more clear. When I first arrived, it took a little bit of time to adjust to having no hot water, having an outdoor bathroom with no flush toilet & bathing with a bucket of water. But soon I realized how privileged I was at HOPE compared to so many others. Many people here don’t have a bathroom at all. Most don’t have running water in their homes & the water they have access to is not clean & safe. At HOPE we can turn on a tap & have abundant clean water. Most people don’t have a refrigerator & most cook over a fire because they do not have a stove. Many people are surviving from day to day— I often watch the fisherman in the ocean—finding food to sustain their family. Sometimes I think of Jesus first disciples & wonder who will tell them that their destiny is to follow Jesus & become fishers of men. There are other differences also. For various reasons, different kinds of skin diseases & other illnesses are prevalent. Sometimes people just get sick and die & no one really knows why. Another issue is that so many young adults would love to attend college but are unable because they do not have the money. They can’t just apply for a student loan like we can in Canada. If their families don’t have the money to send them, they can’t go. I’ve met some youth who started college but did not finish because they ran out of money & others who would like to go but their families are focusing on sending the older siblings & so they have to wait their turn.

Despite poverty & disadvantage the people I’ve met here are gracious, friendly, kind, giving & enthusiastic. People can only be released from the roots of poverty & the results of poverty through the love of God—shared & expressed through us. I’ve been privileged & blessed to be able to see & be a part of the impact that Hope for the Island is having as they daily touch the lives of so many people!

From Jenn:
The school year of 2010/11 started out so different for us than other years. Our students are now as young as 3 & old as 5. The Dept of Education wants all 6 year olds in Grade one. With this change, we had to adjust almost our entire curriculum that we have been using for 6 years. We have constructed a sheltered playground for the nursery class & gathered together all the kids’ books along with toys & supplies to accommodate this new group of children. They are so eager to learn & we thank God for our teachers who have a heart to ministry to these energetic youngsters.

July is my birthday (Jenn) & Nutrition Month in the Philippines. Each week we provide healthy & hearty meals in 7 villages for over 400 kids that we minister to. It is a joy to feed their souls & their hungry bellies! It is such a privilege to teach these kids about God & have a positive influence in their lives for the first 3 years they attend school.

Also in school news, we kicked off our Alumni Club this month open to all graduates. Over 40 of our past students participated last Saturday for a time of Art, Bible story, games & snacks They had fun & we believe this will be a positive program for the children.

I have so many things to write about this month! Some exciting news is that Evelyn, the teacher that is helping me home school Brison & Makana, gave her life to the Lord last week! We absolutely rejoice at this exciting news!
On a sad note we are mourning the loss of Jing’s (HOPE staff) mother. The call came early one morning saying that her mother passed away in her sleep after a very hard day of harvesting coconuts. With no autopsy available & rarely a doctor to be found, deaths like this happen without any clear answers as to why. Please keep in prayer Jing & her father who has a weak heart & is struggling though this loss. Jing will take the remainder of the month to be with her father. We also mourn the loss of one of our Art students. He was a 13 year old boy with so much promise as an artist. He loved Jesus & proudly displayed his art in his small nipa hut. What hit us harder was the fact that he died of the very same disease that Brison suffered with only weeks before. Unfortunately, as is often the case, disease spreads quickly, is undiagnosed & medical attention is sought too late.

Mark Anthony - Many of you have followed Mark Anthony's story - from his hopeless diagnosis with Schistosomiasis to his salvation & faith in Christ that led to an amazing healing & recovery. From that time Mark has trusted Jesus with additional adversities that have come his way. He has been attending school & excited about being in first year high school. Recently he has come to us with reports of pains in his eyes, ears, stomach & a reoccurring cough. He even talked about a few seizures that he has had. We had him checked in Surigao City, but the tests were inconclusive. They fear that he may have been re-infected with Schistosomiasis & is experiencing side effects from that. The x-ray also revealed abnormalities on his lungs that could be an aggressive form of TB. HOPE continues to do our part to make sure he can rest, take vitamins & eat well before returning in a month for additional tests. We have arranged for him to stay with a local family nearby. We ask you to join us in covering Mark Anthony in prayer. He feels discouraged & afraid but is thankful he has so many who love & pray for him.

I (Jenn) personally have some health concerns that you can keep in prayer. I recently went to the doctor for a constant pain I was having in my lower abdomen & discovered I had a mass. The doctor was disturbed by the shape of it & that it was causing pain. I was sent for a cancer test! Many thoughts were running through my mind as I travelled by bus to a city that had an equipped lab – do I have it, could it be possible? My heart was almost beating out of my chest as I waited for the result. I praise God when the report came back clear! I trust God will remove this mass completely & thank Him for no pain within the past few days! Please continue to keep our health at Hope for the Island in prayer as well the health of our families. We have been studying Philippines 3 & Luke 9:57-62. We believe God wants us to focus on living eternally now! Derek & I are committed to be used by God in whatever way He wants us.

Our staff encourages us daily by how effective they are in ministering to their own people. We are not supposed to be comfortable in our lives here on earth. Our lives here are temporary & a vapour compared to our eternal home with God. We are not called to set up a permanent residence here on this earth. We are called to live as foreigners in a strange land. This is literally the case for Derek & me. I count myself so blessed because we serve in a place where people really want to know more about Jesus. We ask you to pray for more staff to help us disciple & teach the Bible to those who want to know more about God’s Word.

AGRICULTURE…. A separate Agriculture update will be out by early August with a praise
report and pictures!!

You can now donate on the Website
http://www.hopefortheisland.org/ Email hopefortheisland@shaw.ca
Hope for the Island
A Canadian non profit corporation
Financial contributions receipted
Cheque or money order payable to
Hope for the Island Ministries
94 James Carleton Drive
Winnipeg, Mb R2P 0T4
1 204 694 6998