so that we can OPEN this Friday!!
We're working on getting our new building ready for the opening of the Drop-in Center. This video shows the progress we've made so far....and leaves room for you in the end...:)
Blessings on your heads today.
After 5 successful days of training in the evenings during the week, the volunteers all came back to our house on Saturday at 8am for a full day of training and practise followed by a two hour outreach in two locations in the city.
The video is just to give you an idea of what the ministry looks like and to see some of our fantastic volunteers in action.....:)
At the end is a photo of OUR NEW BUILDING!! We have been approved by leaders to sign the papers to rent the building for one year and then buy it....to use for our Drop-In Center.....
GO GOD!!!!
The bamboo flute in the background is being played by one of the youth who comes to the center for help…he is gifted in music, and in art…he even has some of his paintings posted in an at studio in the city… Also in the video you’ll see how relaxed the environment is there…a map on the wall reminds the kids how much bigger the world is than what they encounter everyday…Go God!!!
Even more than what it looks like, what does a drop-in center feel like? These are two of my many questions that were answered in our trip to Cagayan de Oro City. Monday afternoon we took a five hour bus ride to the city, where we were scheduled to attend the YWAM base staff meeting on Tuesday, followed by a visit to a drop-in center for street kids.
After the meeting with the other YWAMers associated with the base (nationalities represented in the staff: Filipino, German, UK, USA, Sweden) where we prayed, worshipped, shared an update on our ministry and heard from the others as well, we rode over to the ministry center.
And there it was there that I had my first encounter with ministry to street children. The pictures show you what the center looks like....the kids come in and can play pool, watch a movie, sleep and eat some much needed food. In the center they are in a place where they know they are safe, where they don't have to watch their back constantly making sure no one is coming to hurt them...there is peace, in room with staff who love them and want the best for them, where the name of Jesus is lifted up as THE hope for our lives...there is rest for the weary little bodies who struggle daily on the streets to survive...
We met kids ranging from about 6 to 21 years of age...it's startling to come face to face with a child is a STREET CHILD...after hearing that term for so many years, and seeing random kids on the street, in bus terminals and ferry ports is one thing. But to look in the face of a child and be able to talk, hug and listen to them, puts a whole new stamp of REALITY on the problem millions of kids are facing.
It was heartbreaking to hear the story of one boy, aged 16, who as result of being used at the age of 6 to dive into the ocean carrying dynamite used for fishing, was stricken deaf and now lives on the streets.
