Life in December

December is a very interesting time for CSC. It can be a little nerve-wracking, too. We always come the end of the year needing big income in December to reach our budgeted goals. This year is no exception and we watch the mail closely every day to see how we're doing. Because our fiscal year is the calendar year, we are already starting to think about our budget for next year. But we can't really do that until we know how we finished this year. It would be difficult to pass a budget for 2011 that includes needed increases if we fail to meet our goals for 2010. So it goes for people in the non-profit realm. The week after Christmas is by far the biggest income week in the whole year!

Its hard to predict exactly how things will come out. If we look at the US economy the outlook is a little cloudy. It has been a tough year for a lot of people, and the recovery that has been eagerly awaited hasn't happened for many of them. Lots of charities and churches are hurting badly. But holiday retail sales seem to be encouraging so far this year. How will it go for CSC?

As we look forward to December we also look back. We look back and remember how God has provided for CSC for 31 years. In all those years we have never missed a single meal for our kids. We have never had to deny our kids needed medicines or medical care. He has provided the money needed for our buildings and expansion. He has "rallied the troops" in amazing ways for 31 Decembers, and we know that this year will be the same. Many times in the past our income has bucked the economic trends as our people have given sacrificially, even while other organizations have experienced deficits. I look forward to watching how God will use his people to make miracles happen for CSC this December!

Thanks to all who will be a part of it.

Generosity

I've been thinking about generous people lately. Generosity is the reason that CSC exists. In the last few days this has come home to me in some pretty powerful ways:

Yesterday I had the pleasure to preach at Central Baptist, my home church. I grew up there, and as I talked about CSC I looked out on a congregation full of friendly faces, people who have been loving our children and supporting the ministry since the very beginning. They have been generous with their money, through good times and bad.

Sitting in the second row were Alberta and Viola, nonagenarian twins whose prayers and spiritual maturity are the foundation of our church. They are generous with their prayers for CSC. Often when I see one of them at church she will ask about some prayer concern that we had listed weeks or months ago. She had been praying for that faithfully and wanted an update. That kind of generosity has sustained the ministry, uplifted individuals and kept our staff from discouragement or error for the entire 31 years that we have been doing this work.

The other night we had a memorial service for Rufa Mae, one of the students in our Children of Hope School who died very suddenly in late October. About 50 of us gathered in Minnesota to celebrate her life. We smiled and we cried and we thanked God for this girl who had touched our lives so significantly. I looked around that room and thank Him for the generosity of love and compassion in that room. Some of the people there had not even met Rufa, but were touched by her anyway, and wanted to offer comfort to those of us who were grieving her loss. We showed a video that night that was made for out banquet in 2008. It showed how Rufa Mae and her brother, who both suffer from brittle bone disease, were carried down the mountain in a basket. That video has touched many lives and has been a great aid in promoting the ministry for the past three years. It was made by a volunteer, Chris Hansen, who has been doing CSC's media presentations for the past 10 years. He is generous with his time and talents, never saying no to a request for help. Like other volunteers, he makes time in his busy schedule for CSC.

As Thanksgiving approaches I am thinking about God's goodness to CSC in a more concentrated way. He has shown this to us through generous people who share our conviction that the situation of homeless children is unacceptable, and use the resources they have, time, talent, as well financial, spiritual and emotional resources to help make a difference for the children that live at CSC.

One of a kind

I attended a funeral the other day for a guy who had been a good friend to my dad. He was a servant. He would drive my dad to doctors visits, shopping and anywhere else he needed to go. He would just put himself at my dad's disposal. He was a tremendous blessing to our family.

I got to thinking about how rare a guy Gary was. The world is full of people who are so wrapped up in themselves that they can't even see the needs around them. Gary had lots of needs himself, to be sure. His health wasn't very good. He didn't have a lot of money. But he could drive and he covered hundreds of miles taking my dad where he needed to go. Somehow, he found other people to be as important or more important than himself.

CSC exists because of people like Gary. They focus not on what they cannot do in the world, but on what they can do. Instead of focusing entirely on their own needs or those close to them, they let their arms and hearts reach across the ocean to children that they have not seen, but for whom they are willing to care, pray and give, or to give their time to help with mailings or other volunteer work for CSC.

Although we live in a narcicistitic world there are people around us who don't fit the mold. They turn society's value system upside down, choosing to live their lives for other people. I thank God for people like that. More than that, I want to be more like them myself. I want the influence of Gary to live on in my life.

Where the Heart is

If home is where the heart is, we're a confused family. We love being in Minnesota where most of our family lives and where we can easily visit them. We enjoy being nearer to friends and to the great people who make CSC go. We enjoyed being in Portland for a week with our oldest daughter and family. Part of our heart stayed there when we returned to St. Paul. And a big part of our heart is in Cebu with the children, workers and staff. We miss them so much and we miss the work that we do there. And a good number of the kids we said goodbye to in August will not be there when we return next year. After 31 years Cebu is home to us in many ways. We're confused!

We've got people all over the place who we love and want to be near. Its a little bit unsettling to live with hearts and minds on two continents. We care about what happens in Cebu but have to concentrate on our responsibilities and opportunities here in the United States.

One of the things that makes it tougher for us that financial realities here in the U.S. have made things difficult for the staff in Cebu. The U.S. office hasn't been able to send the full amount needed for the care of the children. We are dipping into reserves that are just about depleted. So we worry about the staff, workers and kids as they try to cut expenses. That pulls us back there emotionally.

I guess that having more than one home isn't all that bad of a problem to have. Although we are pulled in different directions, we have people on both sides of the ocean that we love and that love us. We have adopted children on this side, and families that we met when they came to pick up their kids. We have children in the four homes of CSC in Cebu who love us and are counting on us. We have parents who need us and don't get to see much of us for long periods of time. We have other family who we enjoy and love. We enjoy the apples, oranges and peaches, even while we miss the mangos, bananas and papaya. Such is the nature of our lives.

More and less

This week we had an adoptive mother here to get her little darling. One of the emotions that is fairly common for parents coming to get a young child is guilt. They feel guilty taking their child from a place where they are loved and cherished, and where they have lots of friends and doting caregivers. I always take time to explain to them that CSC as a lot to offer the children under our care, but we can never be a family to our kids, at least not in the full sense of the word. Our children need a mom and dad, and the security that comes from being in a family.

The other day I brought three brothers to Manila to apply for their U.S. visas. They will be participating in a Summer Hosting Program and will be in Montana for four weeks. We were only in Manila for one day. We arrived back in Cebu on an early evening flight and took a cab back to CSC. The boys were excited to be back at the Cherne Home. As we entered the house the kids were waiting on the steps to welcome them back. The house parents and aunties were so excited to see them and hear about their trip. I had a strong sense that the boys were coming home to a place where they were loved, appreciated and missed while they were gone.

CSC is not a family for our kids in the same way that an adoptive family will be. But we are a home, and a place where they really belong for the time that God gives them to be with us. I am happy and proud to be a part of this ministry.

Jenny's Art Work

Visitors Galore!

This year has brought many visitors to CSC here in Cebu. In the past several weeks we have had a team from Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, MN, a group from Cambridge, MN that included one of our former residents and her mom, the family of some of our generous donors, a family from Norway that includes two of our former residents, a tour group from Australia, two couples from Minnesota who have adopted children from CSC, a group from Hong Kong, two contingents of social workers from agencies in the U.S., a Japanese pastor, an American who lives in Japan and is a family friend of the Reasoners, a visitor from Canada, a family from Singapore that has donated lots of books to our school, a family coming to pick up three boys for adoption and a supporting family from Guam. Tomorrow we will have a visitor from Hong Kong, and a family of three that includes a boy whom they adopted 25 years ago. Next week an adoptive mother and her sister arrive to pick up one of our girls, and a former resident and his brother from Minnesota will be coming for a visit. The following week we have a family coming to visit that includes one of our former residents, and a friend of the ministry from California. And undoubtedly there will be some surprise visitors that I'm not including in this list.

We enjoy having visitors come. Truly, CSC is known and appreciated all around the world. Having guests come gives us a chance to get new people interested and excited about the ministry. We want people to become supporters of CSC! (If you have visited CSC, seen the great things that are happening there and the good people investing in the lives of the children, please find out how you can get involved in the financial support of this ministry! www.cscshelter.org

We love having former residents come back for a visit. Whether they just want to reconnect with the staff and workers that cared for them or if they want to search for birth family, we want to be an encouragement to them. It blesses us that they want to come back and see the place that extended love and care to them when they needed it so desperately.

There are lots of reasons that people come to visit CSC. Sometimes it gets a little bit taxing to fit all the activities that come with visitor into our already busy schedules. But its worth it!