We have Keith and Carolyn here, pastors from our home church in Milk River and Sunburst. They joined us today for a half-day Valentine`s Day Retreat for our staff at Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan (Birthing Home) and the little children`s home.

We had a beautiful time together--thinking, praying, talking, eating, singing, walking through the lovely grounds at Mary Hill, and--most importantly--growing in love.

Volunteers were able to spell us at the two ministry homes so we were free to enjoy the day together. People brought out so much food that we are still eating it now.

Keith and Carolyn prayed for each one, and we all felt very special and cared for. Belen said, ``It is good that we had a heart-cleansing day on Heart Day.``

The community we serve in and with is a such a tremendous gift.

Simon was at risk when he was admitted to the little children's home. In fact, he only whisked through our entry way on route to respite care from the hospital.

Simon was born by cesearean and was in hospital for two weeks. He went straight from the hospital into respite care with a volunteer family. Both Nancy and Chris are with the US Embassy Club, which is so very supportive of our work at tlc. Their two families shared Simon's care until he came back into the home...today.

Chris has not just taken him into her home but, very evidently, into her heart. Today was not a casual goodbye.

Rice is Life

This Christmas we were able to get enough donations to give a sack of rice
to each of the staff at Shiphrah Bahay Paankan (Birthing Home) and the little children`s home. Rice is more than food here; it is the guardian of good time for a family or community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making Christmas special in this way.

Beverly Hills Philippines Merry Christmas 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN BEVERLY HILLS, PHILIPPINES !

Merry Christmas for the poor in the Philippines means "Pamasko", going from house-to-house asking for a "Merry Christmas" on Christmas morning, a practice going back to Spanish times. This is our 21st Merry Christmas, partnering with many other missionaries, most of whom also live in the Beverly Hills Subdivision, to give as nice a Merry Christmas to as many as we can. This year the missionary community contributed over $1,000 to give out more than 1 ton of rice as well as sardines, corned beef, and noodles. Other donors gave in kind; toys, candy canes, clothes, and balloons! The problem was....easily more than 1,000 people showed up! We had hoped to be able to prepare for 1,000 this year, but...next year, for sure!

On the 23rd we sacked up the food bags.

Blew up balloons








Ready for Christmas Morning! This year we had many, many of our neighbors and friends helping us with the crowd control and "bibigay" the giving out. You'll see the red-shirted, Santa-hatted "elves" everywhere (all their own idea).

















In an hour, it was all over. More than 600 bags of food, toys, and balloons were given away.

What great fun!

HELP Staff Christmas Celebration 2008

December 20th. An exuberant staff gathered for our Annual Staff Christmas Party; an event eagerly anticipated for weeks in advance. Responsibility for the organizing and the hosting of the party rotates between the little children's home and Shiphrah Birthing Home. This year was Shiphrah's turn. This was another event that could not have happened if it had not been for wonderful help from many friends of the ministry. Our deep thank you to everyone who was part of this.

An amazing gift was a 50 kg. sack of rice for each of our staff. There is nothing so appreciated by our people, outside of their well-earned salaries, than rice! Truly!

We began at 1 and celebrated until after 6. There is nothing that folk here like to do more than celebrate, and celebrate we did. There was plenty of food, an incredible gift basket of juices, spaghetti, and other goodies, and games, games, games; most of them relay races.


A Sunday School class in Australia had sent up beautiful decorations for the party. They were turned into a creative game, the construction of a Christmas wreath. Tables competed with one another for the most beautiful as well as individually for the best wreath. Darren performed the unfortunate task of having to judge the winners.They were all so good!



Good food and plenty of it is essential to the success of any party anywhere. By anyone's measure, this party was a success! A number of the staff had done the cooking, delicious chicken, hot and spicy Bicol

Express, superb sinagang, and ice cream.


And then there were the raffles and gifts.




It was after dark when all the gifts were given, all the food eaten, and everyone ready to start the well-laden journey home. Thank you, everyone who gave so generously so that our staff could have such a wonderful celebration! May God bless you all!

Kid's Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The children of HELP ministry staff and their extended families were the center of the action on December 6 at the annual HELP International Children's Christmas Party. As has been the case the last several years, the U.S. Embassy Club members were a huge part of the party. A local friend was behind the gifts and food, and another local friend sponsored the ice cream. This wonderful party could not have happened without many friends generously pitching in.

There's something special about tops and bubbles!




















And Ice Cream!

And presents and Santa!

Thank you, Everyone!

It was a wonderful day!

Catching Up: Forever Families

It has been a woefully long absence from the Firesides Blog, an absence it will take several entries to rectify. Since the last entry, we've said "Hello-Goodbye" several times, each time a "high-five", YES! This is why the little children's home exists. It's about being a link to fulfill the longing for a child and the longing for a mom and dad. The longing goes both ways.

October was Goodbye to Nicala as she joined her forever family. Nicala is the curly-haired live wire sitting next to her mum.
December was the best early Christmas ever for Liezel and her new mum and dad.

And, in a serendipitous moment, two forever families meet one another. Janrey's and Liezel Joy's papers were both at Region IV at the same time. And now, they meet again, this time both with their forever families.

A Dog Named Apocalypse

Many children here in the Philippines are afraid of dogs, and the children at the little children's home are no exception. And for some odd reason that lies beyond my capacity to explain, it seems like most of our forever families have dogs. I swear, we don't make dog ownership a criteria for choosing families, it just seems to work out that way.

It is our practice to have adoptive families over for supper at our house in Beverly with their new child. And we happen to be the proud pack of a beagle name Apocalypse (Paco to his friends and family). Fortunately, he happens to be a fairly calm dog who does not get overly excited by the presence of children. He does love to give kisses, however, so we put him on a leash when we have adoptive families over. We want the children to have a positive experience with a dog before they go home with their new family.

Last week, Nica's forever family came and we had two wonderful suppers with them. Going into it, though, Deborah and I had some concern about Nica and Paco. Nica wasn't merely frightened by dogs, she was terrified of them. She would start screaming if she saw a dog. Deborah wasn't sure that it would be enough to have Paco on a leash; it was possible he would have to be banished to the bedroom for the duration of the supper. But I wanted to give it a try, especially seeing as Nica was going to be going home to two dogs. Paco could be like sticking a toe in the water.

So Thursday night, Nica and her family are downstairs. Moment of truth. I leashed up Paco and we headed downstairs.

I took him into the lanai where everybody was sitting around talking. I sat down on the floor with him in Nika's line of sight, but not too close. Deborah encouraged Aubrey to come and pet Paco and Nica's kuya (big brother)followed suit. Nica watched the two boys pet Paco, and not a tear was seen nor whimper heard. A doggy miracle!

By the time Nica and her family left after supper on Friday night, Nica was running around without a glance at Paco. She even patted his tail. I must say, I was so proud of our beagle. He was the perfect dog to help Nica begin to overcome her fear.

Updating HELP's Website

A shameless plug for our website:

My older brother, Daniel, got me up and running this summer on the mission website. For any of you who might not have yet visited our website, please check it out. HELP International Ministries

I have been slaving away since we returned from our U.S. trip updating and creating new content for the website. I have added an Amazon store, or astore, to the site. We choose the books and stuff that are displayed in the store, as well and the colors and layout. It's been fun playing with it.

My main effort lately has been creating an international adoption page that provides information on the foreign adoption agencies and government departments that have been approved by the Philippines InterCountry Adoption Board. This has consisted in hours spent searching out the websites for these agencies, a trickier job than I anticipated.

Please, check out the efforts of my labor.

Sara