Discipleship Fridays

At the Jesan Center it's extremely important to us to get to know each child personally. To know their life stories no matter how broken it might be. On normal drop in days we have any where from 10 to 25 kids ranging in ages from 5 to 20. It have been difficult getting to know some of the older boys and finding out how we can serve them best due to the ever increasing needs of the younger children and the ever increasing quietness of the teen boys. However, praise God for He had a great plan on how to change this fact! 

One day our oldest boy, 20 years old asked if he could make a garden at the Jesan Center and there birthed the idea of Discipleship Fridays. Every Friday the older boys ages 16 and above have the opportunity to come to the center and work with our intern, Noel, on the garden and other small projects. We have had this program going for about a month and it has been very fruitful! 

A boy that I used to be afraid of (yes, me afraid of one of our kids) is now one of the most trustworthy and reliable kids we have! He faithfully comes to tend to his garden every day working from the time he arrives to the time he leaves, about 6 hours only breaking for lunch and a quick shower. I am completely blown away about how this young man has transformed over the last several months of coming to the center and especially over this last month of coming on Fridays. He has a sense of purpose now. He now has reason to make good decisions, to shy away from the drugs and gang violence. The Jesan Center has given him an opportunity to make better of his life and he is holding on like no other! The meaningful work partnered with the new friendship with our intern has done marvelous things for this young man and it is our hope that we can continue to use Discipleship Fridays to get to know more young men like him. 

Working hard at preparing the ground for the garden. We now had a cute little garden their and they are now working on building a fish pond. 

What two years?! How did that happen?

I can hardly believe that TWO years has already passed since we first opened the doors of the Jesan Center in a tiny little two bedroom apartment. We didn’t know what it was going to look like, we didn’t have a solid plan as to what we were doing and we had no idea how God was going to bless this work. The only single thing we did know was that God gave us the vision to open a center for 20 children ... so we did. 

Two years later ... the joys: 

-We are no longer crammed in a small apartment 

-We have a wonderful new location with lots of space 

-We have 6 kids (all siblings) in school and back in their home with their father 

-We now have four team members -- Eva our cook, Nova our teacher, Cheryl our social worker and Noel our intern. 

-We as a team (including you our supporters) are impacting the lives of more that 20 kids on a daily basis 

- We feed 60 plus kids on a weekly basis 

- We have started working with parents of the children we serve 

We have also experienced:

-Death. Since meeting the kids nearly three years ago we have had two children die. 

-Pregnancy. One of our 13 year old girls is pregnant and due in July. She will be giving her baby for adoption, please be praying for her.

-Murder. Many of our children have been witness to and an accessory in murder. 

-Gang activity. Many of the kids that visit the Jesan Center are involved in gangs and sometimes bring the rival to the center. 

There has been much joy and much sadness over the last two years. This is the hardest, most difficult work (besides being a mom) that I have ever done. At times I want to give up, throw in the towel and be done with this stressful job. You want to know what keeps me going?! Here are some reasons. 

Every time someone has to go to the hospital, someone mourns the loss of a friend, someone reads for the first time, every time I see one of my kids sleeping on the street,  every time someone realizes how much love the Jesan Center team has for them, I am encouraged to continue. This work simply can not stop. 

We are so blessed that God gave us this vision and we will continue taking comfort in the fact that anything God does is for good. 

We are a part of His good plan. What an honor and a privilege to know that fact. 

In the next two years we will be making BIG changes with 818 Ministry and the Jesan Center. We have a goal of being a registered non-profit in the States by the end of the year and a goal of being a registered non-profit in Cebu by December 2015. We also have the goal of opening our children’s home by December 2015. 

Lots of big goals ... It might be intimidating and daunting to look at some times but if we look back we are reminded of how we started and know that the future is limitless!! 

Pray with us friends for the future of 818 Ministry and the Jesan Center. 

Thank you for your support and love over the last two years, friends! 

-Caidy