"We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
As we look back on all the Lord has led our family through, we have countless things to be thankful for. Among them, one of the things we are most thankful for is all of you ❤️. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support as we serve the Lord here in Cebu. It has been a hectic few months since our last update, but here are some highlights of what your support and partnership have allowed us to do, by the grace of God.
OCEAN PARK
This past month, we were able to take all of the kids from the Shelter on a mega-outing! The location we chose was Cebu Ocean Park, a marine theme park which is the largest of its kind in the Philippines! Here, the kids were able to explore the beauty of God's underwater creation, as well as feed birds, and even handle snakes! Everyone had a great time. Believe it or not, this was our first ever mega-outing since the pandemic began; it was only in mid-2022 that children were finally allowed to enter shopping malls and grocery stores in the Philippines! After three years without a proper trip, the kids were excited, to say the least. From the very bottom of our hearts, thank you for making trips like this possible!
DUMAGUETE
Typically, children at the Shelter will come from Cebu City or Cebu Province, however our regular area of jurisdiction (Region-VII as it's called in the Philippines) stretches as far as the islands of Negros and Bohol. There have been occasions where children have been referred to us by DSWD (the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development) or partner agencies from different regions, but those cases are less common.
Just last week, two young babies from the island of Negros were referred to the Children's Shelter of Cebu. This was the first time since the pandemic began that we would travel off island for a referral, and the trip was grueling! We left at 3:30am in order to catch a 7:30 ferry from Santander, Cebu to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental. Upon arrival, we picked up social workers from DSWD and after successfully taking custody of the children, we returned on the 3:00pm ferry. This had us arriving back at the Shelter close to 7:30pm. I (Roberto) give thanks and praise to God for Heather who served as my navigator for much of the trip, keeping an eye out for landmarks and keeping me alert after 12-14 hours of driving. I don't know what I'd do without her!
Below are pictures of: 1) our intrepid crew, 2) a picture of us getting some road-side food, 3) a picture of road itself, and 4) one of the homes where we stopped. Thank you all for praying with us and being a part of this tremendous work the Lord is doing in the Philippines.
WORSHIP
One really neat thing that has happened in recent months is that our oldest son, Dietrich, and Roberto, have both been serving on worship teams, but oceans apart. Dietrich has started participating on the worship team at the Filipino American Christian Church in Mounds View, MN, while Roberto has been serving with the worship team of Living Word I.T. Park in Cebu City. It's pretty cool for the both of them to be serving in similar roles at local churches even though they're far apart.
On top of that, thanks to the generosity of others and God's amazing provision, we were able to secure a plane ticket for Dietrich to join us in the Philippines for Christmas! Please pray with us for his safe travels as this will be his first time traveling internationally all by himself.
A video of Roberto leading worship at Living Word I.T. Park can be found here.
Thank you all again for praying with us, and for your encouragement, love, and support. May the Lord's blessings be with you all this Thanksgiving!
Learn more about the Children's Shelter of Cebu here.
Support us by clicking here.
Comments