Its never far away

Sometimes life here in the Philippines can be like a "good news, bad news" joke. The good news is that there are 71 children receiving shelter, good food, medical care, education, spiritual guidance and lots of love at CSC. The bad news is that there are thousands more who need us very badly but who we cannot take in.

The pain and suffering of children are realities of life here in Cebu. They are never far away. While we help alleviate those things from the lives of the kids we are able to take in, we are continually brought into contact with others who are living in desperation. We can't take all of them in, but we have to live with the fact that they are there and that they are suffering. For me, these things are expecially hard to deal with as the holiday season approaches.

Today Chris, one of our social workers, reminded me of one of our pending referrals - a sibling group of five whose parents both died and who are living in very difficult circumstances on a nearby island. The mother died of scurvy in 2003 and the father was buried in September of this year. The kids are living in the worst poverty imagineable. The oldest boy is responsible for finding food for the others and has lots of emotional distress over their needs and his inability to meet them. We don't have any vacancy at CSC right now for these kids, but are looking for ways that we can help until such a time as we might be able to take them in. In the meantime I think about them and wonder how they're doing in that little shack near the ocean.

When I look at our CSC kids I think about those who are left behind in the squatter areas and communites from which they come. When I stop at a red light and my car is surrounded by beggars, usually children, I think of our kids running happily at CSC, and how they would almost certainly be among the beggars if not for this ministry. I see our kids' eyes in theirs.

This is the tough part about living and working here. Although we must try to focus our attention on the kids we can take in rather than those we cannot, it is impossible to isolate ourselves from the realities of life around us. And those realities are a burden that we bear. Because unlike the good news bad news humor, this is no joke. This is about life, death, hunger, sickness, pain and emotional distress. Tough thoughts for Thanksgiving and Christmas.