Missions Update December 2020

Philippines

Dec 13

Cure Foundation Update

FLOURISHING During Covid

Greetings from Cebu!

We hope and pray that each of you is safe and well as your read this update. For us here at Rancho ni Cristo, it has been a season of challenge, stretching, and growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us many things, and we have certainly learned a lot through our time in quarantine. One thing that we can say with confidence is that through it all, God has been faithful. We are so grateful for the partnership that we have with Liberty Church. Your support has been a lifeline that has allowed us to weather the storm that this pandemic has brought.

Thanks to your faithful support, we have been able to provide restorative care to 33 girls – 2 of whom were referred to us in the middle of the lockdown last May. We are also expecting 3 more within the next month.

Here’s an overview of what we’ve done over the past few months:

Spiritual Care

In April, we celebrated the Resurrection Sunday in a special way. We divided the girls up into groups, and they re-enacted the Resurrection story in our local language. They studied the scriptures, made their own costumes and props, and even painted backdrops. It was a busy week of preparation. We also held Communion for the first time in our church service here at Rancho.

We started small group bible studies for the girls, using the Alpha Course as a jumping off point. The girls enjoyed the videos and discussion questions, and many were able to overcome their fear of sharing their opinions. The highlight of the 12-session course was the Holy Spirit ministry weekend. During this weekend, we taught on the person of the Holy Spirit, the Fruit of the Spirit, and the change that He brings in our lives. We had powerful worship, and many of them asked for prayer to be filled with His presence. Since then, several of them have had breakthroughs in overcoming fear, anger, and frustration.

One of our recent adjustments was to convert our Wednesday night prayer into a worship and soaking night. We teach about the importance of sitting at Jesus’ feet and just being with Him – taking time to listen to His heart and letting Him minister to us, rather than just presenting our prayer requests to Him. During these times, we also taught the little ones to ask God for visions and pictures – revelations of who He is and how much He loves them. We now have a growing gallery of drawings of angels and homes in Heaven. The older ones have told us that they feel relieved after spending time just meditating on the Word and worshipping.

Psycho-social Care

Because both of our Social Workers were on-site, they were able to take a group of girls through a 12-week course in Game-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This is a program that uses structured games to help girls share their experiences, teach coping skills, and give them a safe space to express themselves. At the culminating activity, several of them shared that they were thankful for this experience because it showed them that they were not alone, and that their stories can be used as a testimony of God’s healing and forgiveness.

Because our girls have not been able to have their regular monthly visits with their families, we have implemented video calls instead. This has helped ease the feelings of separation and homesickness.

Educational/Recreational

While the opening of schools nationwide was delayed (from June to October) due to the pandemic, we simply kept on going. Because our school curriculum is already module-based, we were uniquely prepared to continue the girls’ schooling with minimal interruptions.

We were able to proctor their year-end exams in May, and are happy to report that one of our girls completed Junior High School! This student is the recipient of the first-ever Joseph B. DiSarno Scholarship Award – covering the tuition fees for her Senior High School. She is now enrolled in an international school and attending a mix of online and modular classes.

During school breaks, we had Water Olympics, Master Chef, crafts, puzzles and many other fun activities. They even learned how to use a sewing machine to make masks and make cleaning rags out of scraps of cloth.

Campus Development

We cleared the lower field of our property to prepare the ground for planting, and also cleaned and rehabilitated our fishpond. We are proud to say that the tilapia that we stocked are almost ready to eat! Our garden is now a small farm – producing fresh eggs, ducks, corn, papaya, bananas, squash, okra, eggplant, and many more. It’s still not enough to provide for all of our consumption, but it has helped to reduce the amount of money we spend on food every month.

We have a new Reflection Hut – built entirely out of bamboo from our property – where the girls like to sing Karaoke and have their bible studies.

The kitchen building is finished, and the library/clinic is nearing completion. We are also building a guardhouse and laundry shed. These projects will complete the government requirements for the campus.

Other

With the arrival of our new clients, we have had to hire additional staff and open our 6th cottage. We hired 2 houseparents and 2 teachers in September. All four have now been trained in Trauma Informed Care. Next month, we will hire 2 security guards to provide 24/7 coverage. This will complete the staffing requirements for our DSWD Accreditation.

It has been a challenging year, but thanks to YOU – we have been able to continue the work of rescuing and restoring lives. Thank you for enabling us. Thank you for helping us to set them FREE!