A belated Merry Christmas to all of you, and a Happy New Year!
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Christ’s followers are a people of eager expectation. We serve and love those around us, but we do it with an eye turned toward heaven—waiting, longing, hoping—knowing that this world is not our home (Luke 12:35-43; Romans 1:8-12; 1 Peter 1:5). We live our lives“while we wait for our blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Right before that very first Christmas, there was an eager expectation being felt by the faithful. They had their eyes turned towards heaven, seeking the Messiah.
What we do this Christmas season and New Year reflects that 1st Century eagerness in many ways. It is testimony and testament to what the Lord has done, is doing, and has promised to do in the future.
We look forward to a time when the coronavirus will be a thing of the past; when we can again take the kids at the Shelter on outings, and see their eyes light up when we they realize we’re stopping by McDo 😉. We look forward to being able to welcome prospective adoptive families, former residents, and friends from the US. We look forward to many things but are able to wait patiently because we know that the One we wait for has everything in hand.
As of December 31st, 2020, CSC will have been on lockdown for 278 days. I could likely ask our Home Life Director, Jinkee Reasoner, to calculate the number of meals that means we’ve served, or ask our Facilities Director, Jerry Salgo, how many kilowatts of power that means we’ve consumed. Far more important, I think, are the number of times you’ve provided prayers and encouragement.
Throughout these 278 days of lockdown, and these 365 days of 2020, we’ve experienced so much in Cebu. Please know that throughout the highs and lows, we couldn’t have done it without all of you … without all of us. God has put us together to weather this storm as a family, and as CSC's tagline says: "every child deserves a family."
As of December 31st, 2020, the Children's Shelter of Cebu will have been on lockdown for 278 days.
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Christmas celebrations at CSC were very different this year. Gatherings within the city are still prohibited, so we couldn't have the big ministry-wide parties that we've had in years passed. We were, however, able to maintain many of our small, fun traditions.
A mainstay at the Shelter are cinnamon rolls on Christmas Day, and Christmas cookies for Christmas Dinner!
Heather and the kids and I had a ton of fun baking cookies for all of the kids and locked-in workers. That's right, cookies for nearly 150 people! Fortunately we weren't alone in our task. Another missionary family, the Bonnett's, also baked up a storm. Our family decided to make good old chocolate chip, peanut butter blossoms, and ube crinkles.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, we were also able to get all of our kids Christmas presents. As one of the few people with a Quarantine pass, I found myself going from store to store in the weeks leading up to Christmas, looking for good deals so that I could buy gifts for 23 kids. At home, our kids went to task wrapping the gifts so that they were ready before the big day. There was also a local company called Author Solutions Philippines that purchased PHP 1000 ($20 US) worth of presents per child to help make our kids' Christmas extra special (the last picture below is of our office filled with the gifts from Author Solutions Philippines).
2020 has been an unbelievable year. It started with the eruption of the Taal Volcano near the town where Roberto was born. It continued with much uncertainty and long days of planning, and changing plans, and then changing those plans again when the pandemic hit the Philippines.
And while we could dwell on all of the hard things that happened this past year, there have been many beautiful silver linings; glorious things that God has provided by His grace and mercy. Things like consistent time and bonding with the kids, the ability to show Christian love to our neighbors in a time of fear and uncertainty, and my (Roberto's) figuring out how to become a savvy grocery shopper (I kind of had to since I'm the only one allowed to go out). Let me just end with a bunch of photographs from 2020. Hopefully these will give you a glimpse into our lives as a missionary family serving in Cebu. Most of them are in chronological order so you can see the changes before and after the start of quarantine. May the Lord bless you and yours in the coming year and beyond!
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