Can you imagine your children leaving the house at 5 am in the dark every morning to walk two hours to school; literally over the river and through the woods – through the Filipino jungle of mountainous and rugged terrain, crossing a river with their pants pulled up to their knees, and wearing flip flops, or crocks if they’re lucky. They arrive promptly at 7 am and eagerly begin their school day – with minds hungry to learn, while their bellies are often empty, and their bodies already worn out from their morning commute. When the school day ends, they travel two hours back home, in time to have dinner with their family, finish homework, and get some rest to do it all over again the next day. This is the reality for the tribal children in the Philippines who don’t have a school in their village.
For any of you who read my book, or have been reading my blog for a few years, you’ll know that the transformative work of the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) in the Philippines is a cause extremely near to my heart. So much so, that I spent the year living in Manila, playing Elsa, and contributing to the inspiring work they are doing. Even though I’m not living in the Philippines any longer, I am still actively involved through my volunteer work with PEER Servants, who partners with indigenous microfinance organizations all over the world. Every fall, they have their Celebration Offering where they raise money to fund the carefully selected list of projects submitted by their partners.
You may remember a few years back that I wrote a call to action raising funds for a girls dormitory at a boarding school in Mindanao – one of such projects that PEER Servants was raising money for. I am excited to share a video from CCT showing the enormous impact that dormitory has provided. Children no longer have to spend upwards of six hours a day walking to and from school. That same opportunity could one day be available to another one of the tribal schools in the Philippines. Watch that video here…
Another project that PEER Servants has been partnering with CCT on is with their health clinics. As with all of their programs, their model empowers the local communities and gives volunteers training in first aid, disaster preparedness, CPR and preventative measures like blood pressure and blood glucose measuring. Under the supervision of CCT’s doctor, they give this same training to the teachers at the boarding schools, as they don’t have the means for a designated school nurse. They have also been conducting medical missions; giving free healthcare to unreached people groups. CCT has just provided us with reports of how the funds have had an impact on the communities they serve, and it is absolutely inspiring! Read more here…
Before we get into the busy seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas, where we focus on all we have to be grateful for, and celebrate the gift of Jesus’ birth into our world – while frying turkeys baking pies, shopping online, decorating, gift wrapping and spending time with those we love, would you take a moment to consider what gift you could make to help further the life-changing work that CCT is doing across the Philippines? If you’ve read my book or other blog posts and thought, “I wish that I could be a part of that work taking place in the Philippines!” this is your chance! The Celebration Offering of PEER Servants is open until November 15th. While all of their causes are important and noteworthy, I happen to be biased towards the work of CCT in the Philippines. The link below will take you to a donation page for the Philippines, or you can go to the main donation page and read about all 16 causes.
No gift is too small, especially when offered to a God who feeds the 5,000 with two small fish and a few loaves of bread. And I thank you in advance, because I have seen firsthand, the way that even the smallest donation can have a life-changing impact on individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, and an entire tribe and people group.
Salamat Po, on behalf of PEER Servants Team Philippines, and the Center for Community Transformation!
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