I.T. TENDER MINISTRY > AUGUST 2013 NEWSLETTER

During the month of August IT Tender Ministry had British missionaries Johanna Browning & Joe Brook visiting from England.  It was a privilege working with them and they were a great encouragement to the staff and clients who are part of our different programs. This is their experience in their own words….

What is Mission?

Johanna Browning & Joe Brook

Over the past four weeks, God has given us the privilege of serving with all of IT Tender’s ministries; Daycare, Alternative Learning System, Food For Life, Sponsor A Child and Night Life. We have had the opportunity to serve the Night Life (street kids) ministry greatest, really learning what mission is about.

Our backgrounds in evangelizing at University had placed great emphasis on meeting the spiritual needs of those around us, but here we have learnt that a much more holistic approach is needed. The physical and emotional health of the children needs to be met before sharing Jesus. This is not to say that sharing Jesus with them is not the priority, this is always at the forefront of our minds, but rather an unloved child without food for the day has Jesus at the bottom of his priorities. We have loved loving them holistically!

Cooking lugaw (porridge) for the feeding programs, and giving medicine to the children at the rubbish dump in Putatan and here in Alabang has shown the kids we love them! One Friday during the Night Life program at the IT Tender center, a boy came in with a deep wound in his ankle, others wolfed down two or three servings of food; they know that IT Tender is here to love them.

By giving a hug, acting as a human climbing frame, holding hands, affirming children of who they are in God’s eyes with our limited Tagalog, a smile is put on their face and they feel loved, special and important. By saying a prayer over dinner, reading a Bible story, telling them that we’re Christians, relationships grounded in Christ are built.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. The work and mission done here is done through faith and hope that the Lord will provide that which He has called you to do.

Jo & Joe in action at our Night Life programs

Above: At the IT Tender drop in center
Below: In Putatan

ALS Update

Gabi Malquisto

For the month of August 2013, we are blessed and thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ that we have 15 registered learners from Alternative Learning System who are now getting ready for the upcoming Accreditation and Equivalency exam on October 2013.  These learners are doing their best and giving all their efforts in reviews, essay writing and more for the academic subjects. We continue praying for their studies that may God continue sharing wisdom to these out of school youth. To God be all the Glory.

Also this month, as part of their developmental activities,the learnershad an art contest where they had to make a poster portraying their understanding about “The Education in the Philippines”.  They gave their best in their art skills and each explained their views from the posters they had made.  The winner was Rechelle Lizardo, a 15-year old girl who stopped her studies because of family and financial problems and chose to continue her education through the ALS program and is willing to give her best to achieve her dreams and help her family.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless hard the working learners. We are thankful that through the ALS Program more out of school youth have been reached out to and can live out their hopes and dreams for a good future by God’s grace.

THANKS

·         For God's blessing of protection, as the staff and the beneficiaries from our ministry areas survived Typhoon "Maring". We thank God that no one was severely affected by the typhoon

·         For the lives of Johanna Browning and Joe Brook who choose to share their lives in the ministry for the month of August

·         For the three new donors of the HAKBANG (Footsteps) Sponsor A Child Now Program

·         For the ministry visit of Russ Cline and Ptr. Ellis Pitman of Extreme Response International

·         To our Lord who graciously gives us wisdom as we minister to the street children and for all His wonderful blessings

PRAYERS

·         For more donors for our Sponsor A Child Now Program. Join us in dreaming for a brighter future for our children.

·         May you include in your prayers also the Night Life Program; we are in need of PHP 2,500 or $60 USD a month to support its needs and monthly hygiene materials like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes etc. for the street children.

·         The upcoming program SMART KIDS; we are aiming to help children aged 1 to 3 years old and their families. We believe that sharing God's love to children as young as them will enable them to have a stronger foundation in life.

·         For regular monthly donors who will financially support IT Tender Ministry helping with our operational costs

That God will continue to guide us always in our ministry, to bless us with the blessing of protection & good health 

I.T. TENDER MINISTRY JULY 2013 NEWSLETTER

The Heart Beat Gets Louder
By Lorna Carro & Jizza Magallanes

Reaching out to the street children where they stay along the railway tracks

to collect recyclable products from the garbage

The ministry is praising God as we witness how the Night Life program – referred to as the “heartbeat of I.T. Tender” – is progressing.  It had been the program that was struggling because it only has a few workers and sometimes the workers have to sacrifice from their own pocket just to offer food for the children. Now, people are starting to come offering their help and time, and slowly the needs of the program are being answered. 

This month it felt as if we had manna falling from heaven. Bread Talk, an up-market bakery chain in the Philippines has partnered with us sending us their unsold breads twice a week. Through this generous partnership we are feeding a hundred children on our Thursday night sessions. Another blessing for this program is the Food For Life program (also run by IT Tender) which has made a formal partnership with Night Life and are collaborating to supply the food for 60 children during our Wednesday and Friday night sessions. TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY INDEED!

Through the ongoing time and commitment of our dedicated staff we are starting to see changes among the street children. Some of them are returning to their families and some have gone back to study in school. As of now, we are still requiring provisions for medical and hygiene needs since the street children are always exposed to the harmful environment they live and work in. Please join us in our prayers as we reach out to the street children.

Nothing is Impossible
by Gabriel Malquisto

This month of July 2013 the Alternative Learning System A & E passers graduation ceremony was held at the ALS Center in Muntinlupa City. This is a major life event for four of our I.T.  Tender Ministry exam passers who joined the ceremony. Our very own Manilyn Bornia was chosen to share her testimony to her fellow graduates.

Manilyn shared her life changing testimony of perseverance; from being a simple housemaid who wanted to help her family and achieve her own goals in life, she took the challenge and is now sharing what God has done in her life.After passing the examination she was given the privilege of a scholarship and finished two courses in welding. Now she is planning to take another course to get her license and work abroad. “If you work hard you will achieve. I believed I would not be a housemaid for the rest of my life...”– words from Manilyn as she testifies and encourages her fellow graduates. Truly nothing is impossible with God if you ask with a pure heart, walk by faith and give God all the glory for His greatness.

Manilyn Bornia sharing her testimony of struggles and success

THANKS

·         For the provision of being able to give school materials to our sponsored children for their studies

·         Ministry visitation from theExtreme Response Vision Tour

·         For the life of Bianca and her family as she celebrated her 14th birthday with 30 children of IT Tender Ministry
·         For our new partner BREAD TALK; with their help, we can feed 100 children a month

·     To our God who never stops keeping us in awe of Him as He continues to provide for our ministry needs and personal needs 

Bianca and the IT Tender kids at her birthday party / A Night Life client receiving Bread Talk / Guys from the ER Vision Tour joining in community basketball 

PRAYERS

·        The ministry is still praying for more donors for our Sponsor A Child Now program. Join us as we aim to give children from poor communities a better future by sending them to school. It only takes $20 a month to give children access to education
·        Travelling mercy for Joe and Johanna from the UK as they come to help the ministry this month of August

·         For regular monthly donors who will financially support IT Tender Ministry; helping with our operational costs. We are fervently praying to be able to continue paying the rent and other utilities for our drop in center

·         Provision and guidance for the NIGHTLIFE STREET BASED MINISTRY, the heart of the IT Tender where we are serving street children. We are in need of PHP 2500 or $60 a month to support the needs of this program

·         For our God to continue blessing us with His ways, protection, good health and provision for the ministry needs and personal needs of the staff. For joy as we reach out to street children and children from poor communities

I.T. TENDER MINISTRY > JUNE 2013 NEWS LETTER

The Next Phase
By John Coffey

Be careful what you pray for. Perhaps the most dangerous prayer is to ask God to place you where you can give the most of yourself to bless others. When I first came to Manila in 2006, I was wrecked by the selfless love of Filipinos like Pastor John and Ate Gela Basiwa who gave everything they had to serve the poor. After leading IT Tender for 13 years, it is now time for Pastor John to pass on this incredible responsibility. Through much prayer and discernment, I became the next most likely candidate.

At first I was conflicted, believing that it should be a Filipino who takes on the role of Director of IT Tender. However, my teammates quickly showed me that I have the heart of a Filipino; I can speak Tagalog, joke like a local, and even successfully court a Filipina – not without God’s help of course. Nevertheless, I decided that I would only take on the role if Pastor John remained as my mentor and advisor. I also feel a sense of peace being under the Filipino leadership and guidance of the director and board of IT Philippines.

Ultimately, having a heart with “dual-citizenship” is a strength. My diverse background and my degree in elementary education equip me to further empower the poor at IT Tender as we offer access to education, relevant skills training, and discipleship.Thank you for supporting me and continuing to share in IT Tender’s vision to care for and educate street children.

Food For Life

By Karin Jose

Over the past few weeks I have slowly been stepping into my role as the Food For Life feeding program facilitator.  Although still in the early stages of re-introducing this program at IT Tender Ministry, we have officially launched the first program partnering with Batang Matinik in the province of Tiaong.

On June 10, I was able to attend the first of their feeding sessions being held for the grade 1 class at Tagbakin Elementary School. The day started with the Batang Matinik team introducing themselves to the mothers of the beneficiaries, who were all very excited that their children were able to be a part of the Food For Life Program.  We then went to introduce ourselves to the class and give outthe bowls of nutritious soup and a multivitamin to each of the 50 children on the program. The soup was very popular and one of the children told us the orange flavour multi-vitamin syrup was like having desert!

Members of the Batang Mitinik childrens team, 

Principal Bawal and Karin Jose from IT Tender

I was so impressed with the dedication of the team members who have committed to assisting and cooking for the program which runs 3 times for 6 months. Despite the early start and long walk with the food to the school there is simply joy on their faces and in their hearts – these people are real life heroes!

I am very honoured that the IT Tender team has entrusted me with this role, and I am excited to see what God has in store for us! I am looking forward to working alongside our partner churches to make a real impact on the lives of these malnourished childrenand their families and communities.

The Wordless Book
By Gabi Malquisto

This month of June, I.T. Tender Ministry once again participated at the 2013 ‘Action Evangelistic Camp’ run in partnership with Action International, reaching out to street children from different areas in Manila and Quezon City. Altogether there were nineteen street children aged 7 – 14 years old, and three of them are from the I.T. Tender Ministry.

Children praying a prayer of 

acceptance to Jesus Christ

Together with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), there was teaching about Jesus and His gift of salvation. It was really great to see the children having fun and learning about Jesus through the ‘Wordless Book’ lesson from CEF and responding to the prayer of accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We were blessed to see children at their young age come to know Christ and start life with Him. 

We are thankful to the Lord for this event that became a tool for sharing His love to children at risk, and now we continue praying for these children.  We are also praying that more street children will be reached through partnerships and working together with other organizations, for our mission; to seek for the lost.

Blessings:

• ·         Opportunity to conduct Sunday School Training including the ‘UN Convention on Children's Rights’ to our partner church Jesus Our Hope
• ·         Successful turn over of leadership of IT Tender ministry to John Coffey, June 12
• ·         For the provision, travelling mercy and wisdom as Jizza Magallanes took part in the ‘Child Sexual Abuse Program’ at Stairway Foundation, Puerto Galera
• ·         For the opportunity to join the ‘Child Evangelization’ seminar lead by Extreme Response
• ·         For all your prayers and support as we continue to serve God through the street children and children from poor communities. For God's blessings and provision for our ministry and personal needs, wisdom and protection

Prayers:

• ·         The need for more child sponsor donors as we are sending children from poor communities to formal school. It only takes $20 USD a month to give these children an education

·         For regular monthly donors who will support IT Tender Ministry in any amount – helping with our operational costs, as we our currently praying fervently to be able to continue paying the rent for our drop-in center which is the heart of our operations

• ·         Provision and guidance as the ministry is about to launch the SMART Kids program for children ages 1 to 3
• ·         Provision and guidance for Karin Jose as the new Food For Life facilitator who will take lead working with our partner churches in the area of the feeding ministry
• ·         For our God to continue showering the ministry with guidance, blessing of safety and good health and provision for its needs as it reaches out to the street children and children from poor communities
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I.T. TENDER MINISTRY > MAY 2013 NEWS LETTER

The Children’s Home

By Pastor John Basiwa

It's been my prayer and dream to start a Christian Orphanage since 1994, after I found out that the government orphanage I had previously volunteered at was sold to a private sector organization.  I found out that the street children who had been living there were either back living on the street or had been transferred to other institutions where they experienced abuse. I didn’t know how my desire would become reality, but from then until now I just kept on praying and doing what God wants me to do!

My wife Gela and I started the IT Tender Ministry in August 2000. Without much funding but by God's grace and provision, we are able to fed 60-70 street children, were able to reconcile hundreds of street children to their families and we saw children and young people recover from solvent sniffing.

The vision grew and in 2008, we are able to start a drop-in center where many more street children, youth and families received help and came to know the Lord. After 5 years the existing dream of having a Christian Orphanage became clearer but I thought, this will take 10 - 15 more years before it will happen. However, this year in 2013, God opened the door of opportunity to start an orphanage called the "Children's Home".

The Lord has reminded me of what He says in Isaiah 55:8-9 ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’

We have found a house already fitted to be a functioning children’s home where we will be able to provide for 10 neglected, abandoned street boys ages 6 to 12 years old. My family has already moved in as we will also be living there for one year but the full operation will begin in September.  We are currently in the process of hiring people who will work with us: social worker, care givers, and cook.

Prayers:

1. ·         My family who will live with the 10 boys
2. ·         God's provision for the completion of the 3rd floor where my family will stay at the children’s home
3. ·         Please pray for God's provision for all the needs
4. ·         For a quick process in the Registration in DSWD
5. ·         Transition of IT Tender into new Leadership – one of our current IT Tender workers John Coffey will be taking over this role as Gela and I focus on the Children’s Home from June 2014

We will continue to serve as consultants of IT Tender Ministry and are willing to help when required ....we want to encourage you to continue your support of IT Tender Ministry through prayers and whatever capacity you can.

1. In His service, 
   Pastor John, Gela and our kids Jarick and JM
   
   
   
   
   
   
   A Step of Faith
   Cecille De Jesus
   
   
   
                    It’s been almost five years since I started to work for God and I am still continually seeking what I can do to help children, especially with their mental needs through education. One of the problems for every family in the Napacoor community that IT Tender serves is that a lack of education hinders the children from having a good future in life.
   
   
                    This problem led to starting an educational program for basic teaching called ‘Simula (Beginning) Learning Center’. This opened up an opportunity for me to teach and share my God given talent in teaching. It was hard at first - a lot of preparation was required in order to accomplish the things needed for the program, especially because I’m not a college degree holder or a teacher by profession. This made it quite a challenge for me to manage the program.
   
   
                          As of now the program has been running for one year using a curriculum guide and some research to help me to do the teaching for the children, but this was not enough. I know that I am still lacking in my role as a teacher and this gives me the desire to go to college and take up my BSED Early Childhood Education. I am eager to learn more about formal teaching for the children and to become a more effective teacher to them.  This plan is a big step of faith and I have entrusted my dream to our mighty God, knowing that He can make all impossible things possible.                                               
   
   

   

   The SLC Day Care students who I will continue to teach
   during my studies

                        For almost a year I’ve been waiting for God to answer my prayer of being able to go back to school. This has now been answered and I have received support to pursue my educational needs. Preparing myself for the entrance examination and interview made me nervous and as the days passed by I struggled with waiting for the result of the examination.  That feeling passed when I saw my name on the passer’s list in the bulletin board! Experiencing mixed emotions, I wanted to cry, jump and shout when I saw my name on the list. An assessment was done through an interview with the Vice President of Teacher College of Education course at the University and after passing the interview I took another examination for the area I will be majoring in. I passed the final examination and I am now officially enrolled! I will balance my schedule this year as I teach at the SLC Day Care while attending college.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Blessings!!
   May you be blessed as we share how God has been so gracious for the past month of May!
   ·         For the success of the 1 week Summer Pre-Trial Class of SIMULA (Beginning) Learning Center and for the blessing of 2 young beautiful Volunteers: Michelle Wong and Bianca. Also for the provision of snacks by Mr. Danny Wong
   ·         For the Microsoft Excel Training lead by the Helen Roberts, each of the program coordinators had the opportunity to receive professional advice in improving our systems in monitoring their beneficiaries with the use of the excel
   ·         For the success of John Coffey’s mission trip together with his church mates from Canada to the youth in Kalinga, Apayao
   ·         For being part of the significant events held by our partner churches: the Launching of Jesus Our Hope Church in Sucat, Muntinlupa and the Anniversary of Lord Jesus Bible Church-Pasong Kawayan in Cavite
   ·         For the blessing of the healthy soup mix where thousands of children could be fed from Ontario Christian Gleaners in Canada
   ·         For the provision and physical strength as the ministry staff conducted its general cleaning at the center
   ·         For the blessing of new 4 laptops, 50 monoblock chairs, 1 digital camera, 6 new office desks and other office needs
   ·         For the provision and your prayers as Cecille is now officially enrolled in college taking up Bachelor of Science in Education major in Early Childhood Development. This will contribute a lot as she continues to lead the Day Care program
   ·         And most especially for the Almighty who never stops providing the ministry and the staff needs, for the blessing of good health, wisdom, peace, protection, and joy and laughter as we minister to the street children and people from poor communities.                                                        TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!!!
   
   
   Prayers
   ·         For the success and provision of wisdom as the ministry will have an opportunity to conduct a Sunday School Training with an Orientation of Children’s Rights to our partner Jesus Our Hope Church this coming June 4
   ·         For the success and guidance for the annual Orientation and Memorandum of Agreement Signing to be held in the 1^st and 2^nd week of June of all the 4 sub-programs under Sponsor A Child Now
   ·         For the provision of school supplies for the beneficiaries of HAKBANG (Footsteps) Sponsorship Program
   ·         For the provision and guidance for the enrolment of Jizza Magallanes this coming month of May taking up Social Work course
   ·         For the success and travelling mercy as Jizza will attend a Child Sexual Abuse Seminar in Stairway Foundation, Puerto Galera this coming June 13 to 15
   ·         For the provision of ministry’s needs to have new office supplies as the school year is about to start
   ·         For the success and provision as the ministry staff will undergo a training about Children’s Ministry this month of June
   ·         For regular monthly donors who will support IT Tender Ministry in any amount – helping with our operational costs, as we our currently praying fervently to be able to continue paying the rent for our drop-in center which is the heart of our operations
   ·         For the provision and guidance as the ministry is about to launch the SMART Kids program which aim to serve the children ages 1 to 3 years old this coming month of July
   ·         For our God to continue showering the ministry with guidance, blessing of safety and good health and provision for its needs as it reaches out to the street children the children from poor communities