In case you missed it

In case you missed out on Caidy's presentation while she was in the States here is a link to the video. 

Jesan Center 2014

3 years later

Three years ago Ronald and I met a sweet, funny, curious 12 year old boy named Jesan . In the short time we knew him before he died he inspired me and caused a spiritual uprising in my soul! The Spirit moved me in ways I had never been moved before. I had the pressing need and yearning to work with these kids, to give them opportunities to make positive change in their lives.

Three years after his death we still remember him every day. Every time we work with his friends, every time we deal with drug related issue, every time we help a child who has asthma we remember Jesan. His body may be dead but his soul lives with Jesus and it is Jesus who keeps us {the team} going.

Every day the doors of the Jesan Center are open we have the opportunity to impact a child's life for the good. Thank you, supporters, for partnering with us as we strive to make a difference in the lives of so many broken children such as Jesan.

Praise God for making great out of awful tragedy.

3 years later. 

Caidy and Josiah are headed to the States!!!

Here is a tentative schedule

June 23: Arrive in Florida
June 26-29: 818 Ministry booth set up at Spiritual Growth Workshop in Orlando, Florida

July 1: Travel to Rhode Island
July 6:  Presentation at Warwick church of Christ
July 13: Presentation at Wallingford church of Christ and my brother's WEDDING!!!!!!!
July 14: Speak at Tidal River Christian Camp
                     Where my young faith was nurtured by so many great people!
July 16: Travel back to Florida
July 21: Travel back to Cebu

Unfortunately this is a short trip. Because I will have 4 month old Josiah with me I will be doing little traveling and will only be visiting RI and FL.

It is our prayer that in 2016 all four of us can take a 3 month trip to the States and visit all our supporters!!

Until then, I hope to see many of you in the next few week.

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 

Relationship

Over the last three years we have meet a precious set of siblings. Two of them are currently in school at Lilias Place and four more of them come to the Jesan Center on a regular basis. Recently we have been able to put the oldest of the 10 siblings (we will call him ‘J.R.’) in an accelerated learning program that is conducted by Lilias Place School. 

We are so excited to be able to help this young 16 year old as we have only been able to give opportunities to his younger siblings since we have known them. A few weeks ago J.R. went to school with his younger brother, J, for the first time. We witnessed an incredible interaction between the two that we have never seen before. 

Lets start with a little background. 

Both boys live mostly on the streets. When we meet them 3 years ago J idolized his older brother J.R. and hung on his every word! However over the last two years J has moved away from his idol and has gone off on his own, spending time with a different group of kids on the streets. These said kids are some what of rival groups, quarreling and stealing from each other. The two groups only get along when at the Jesan Center. 

J and J.R. are part of two different groups now. They no longer act as brothers, they act as rivals. We see it every time they are together with their groups of friends. They put up the ‘tough guy’ act.  

However that one day a few weeks ago changed everything. Ronald and I noticed it right away. The guards were down, there was no tough guy act to hold up and the two that were once enemies instantly became brothers again! Seeing them smile, laugh and joke together it nearly brought tears to my eyes knowing that it is because of the Jesan Center that we see restoration in their relationship. 

It is our hope that they will continue to be brothers. 

Praise God for his amazing work!

Newest 818 ministry team member

# 1 excuse for not blogging in February and March

BabyQ #2 has arrived! Josiah Ben Amaral Quilaton arrived February 26th at 809pm after 12 hours of labor. We are incredibly blessed by our sweet surprise baby!