The House of Joshua perimeter wall construction is finished!
The next phase is to lay the 24 foundation column posts for the main house.
BUT
We must suspend building work while we try to sort out a discovered typing error on the land title deed. This must be corrected before we can transfer the title and apply for a building permit for the house construction
Unfortunately this is not as easy as it perhaps sounds, with the process requiring some time, patience and much perseverance with the various government offices that will be involved. PLEASE PRAY for intervention and favor for the anticipated delays.
In the meantime we are trying to solicit some assistance from our local congressman and Barangay Captain to obtain donated use of delivery vehicles for the access road construction and in-fill of the house floor area.
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. “
A feature article about the House of Joshua has made the FRONT PAGE of Mindanaos largest newspaper the Gold Star Daily.
Please pray with us that this will be a catalyst to share God's heart across the Philippines for these precious children. It is our hope that the word will spread across Mindanao and beyond and bring about effective active responses that really make a difference to those that need it most! Our sincere thanks to Mike Banos for writing the story so far and sharing it so willingly!
The Kagay-an website, which features news, stories and information updates about what is happening in Cagayan de Oro and Northern Mindanao has included a feature article about the House of Joshua. Visit the link: www.kagay-an.com Articles will also be appearing in local newspapers - WATCH THIS SPACE for more information!
I remember the first time you smiled – a genuine smile that lit up your face. Weeks of visiting you on your wooden frame bed, the stench of urine and waste on the dirt floor and wondering if you even knew I was there as you sat vacantly not wanting to move or interact. But at last we had really connected
Eye to eye – heart to heart. In the absence of language so much was communicated and you had for short moment something to smile about. Maybe it was the bubbles I had blown for you because you reached out your finger to pop them and looked at me with intrigue….
You studied the plastic shapes, rotating them in your hand and even tried to stack them. If I dropped one on purpose you reached down to retrieve it…..You pointed excitedly at the picture book, the basketball and the bike. What kind of life had you known before your abandonment? Your family? Your memories? What was your real name? So much I longed to know and understand.
They said it was a miracle when you got out of your wheelchair and walked with me. It wasn’t a miracle at all – you had the ability but had been left too long. You picked up your feet so deliberately and the other boys laughed as you marched. I wondered what else you could do if given the opportunity?
There was so much life- a beautiful soul in a neglected body, caked in dirt, ingrained into your skin, always a running nose and deep echoing cough that never seemed to go away– a beautiful life hidden in the corner, forgotten and unappreciated….
I kissed you on your cheek at Christmas and promised we would have a place for you one day where you could know love, a home, a place to belong, to grow and be more than what you had been so long limited to. I dreamed it as a place for you. I drew a room for you downstairs in the plans and imagined you there on a proper bed, with a pillow and blanket, clean, with your book, laughing…..That dream was too late in coming for you…I’m so sorry it has taken so long….
You will never know how much your life inspired me – to reach out beyond myself, to believe that it is possible to make a difference. Knowing you and loving you, was the seed. May the tears that stream down be as liquid prayers to water it….and may it grow, not as a memorial but as a promise that you and countless other children like you deserve so much more….
Be loved dear one in the arms of your Father– who saw you and knew you and holds you forever.
Just the other week, we were able to give a wheelchair to 'Ryan' a 17 year old lad crippled by Polio. His father drives a motorela for a living which is just enough to support their family.
Buying medical equipment here is so expensive leaving many families unable to provide the necessary care for their children with disabilities. It is great to know that something as simple as 4 wheels will make such a difference to a young life that has been so restricted for so long!
Our THANKS to 'Aid to Hospitals Worldwide' who refurbish used or redundant medical equipment from hospitals in the UK and send them out to developing countries, for supplying such vital equipment and APPRECIATION also for the ongoing help and support we receive from 'The Conroy Rendon Charitable Trust' for organising its collection and shipping it out!
The rainy season has begun - torrential downpours every afternoon, great for the rice crops and farmers but not so easy for the workers at our House of Joshua site.
Parts of the site are underwater pools this morning as the clouds daily open out their contents across the city.
We really need the heavens to open out provision for this project but please pray with us for an umbrella over the site while the essential digging work is completed.
It has finally begun! After months of planning, waiting, and paperwork the ground was finally broken and work started this morning at the 1261 square metre site of the House of Joshua project - constructing a home for abandoned and orphaned boys.
The Board of Directors and some local Pastors gathered together at 8.30am to pray and bless the ministry, in the shade of an adjacent tree. It was a moving time of dedicating the work and prayer for the 'Joshua Generation' of young people that will be reached and changed through this special home.
The first phase is to construct the perimeter fence and lay the foundations for the main back wall before infilling the house area to raise it by 1 meter to prevent flooding.
It is expected to take a number of weeks to complete with the hope that work will not be stalled by the torrential downpours of the fast approaching rainy season.
Today I found myself thinking again of"Mr X"the sad name given to a boy who no-one knows anything about ,nor really cares to find out.....A child with nothing,....and no-one!
A young lad abandoned in the market for being 'different' - for carrying disabilities in his body and mind that rendered him disgarded, useless....and ultimately.....UNWANTED!
He is the inspiration and fuel for all of this. Wanting to see him receive his right to a name, to dignity, to life beyond mere existance - He is one of the reasons that I'm still here.....
Mother Teresa said " Lonliness and the feeling of being UNWANTED is the most terrible poverty'......
He's still sat there on his wooden slatted, urine soaked makeshift bed in the corner of a jail compound having committed no crime. I keep praying that he won't have to sit there much longer, that one day soon I can bring him and others like him 'home' and give him a real name and pour out all the love on him that he and every child deserves.....that he can be a someone.
WANTED: People who will help change life for children like 'Mr X'
