May 14, 2012
Dear Friends and Family,
One
year ago, my life forever changed. God
was at work in my life in ways that were both seen and unseen. He lead me to the man I was to marry and
serve Him with, Gepher Lopina. He helped
me smoothly transition my life to Cebu, Philippines. And He moved mountains to make our dream of
Hope for Tomorrow become a reality.
Life
in the Philippines has become an adventure and an eye opening experience. You
cannot walk outside your door in Cebu without being reminded how very little
most of our world has. It’s these scenes
that help me realize just how very blessed we are. As Americans we take lots of things for
granted. One of the biggest things we
take for granted is a public school system that allows every child (despite
economic standing) the opportunity to go to school. In the Philippines, the school system will
not allow a child to enroll in school if they cannot afford to provide their
uniform, school supplies, transportation, lunch, and supplies for various
school projects. Even though the school
system is supported by the government, the funding they receive is very minimal
and therefore requires the student’s family to shoulder most of the expense. The reality of some children being deprived
an education due to their economic status touched our hearts and lead us to
dream of starting a program that spread Jesus’ love through meeting the
educational needs of the poorest of poor.
One
year ago, Hope for Tomorrow was just a dream.
It was a dream of changing a child’s life, a dream of being Jesus in a
tangible way, and a dream of sending only five students to school. Today, Hope for Tomorrow is Matthew 17:20 in
action. “If you have faith as small as a
mustard seed…nothing will be impossible.”
Because of faith and generosity of wonderful sponsors, the impossible
has become possible for our twenty-eight children!
The
average Filipino family today has 4.61 children on a yearly income of
$4,700. Unfortunately many families are
put in situations where they must choose which children they can send to
school. This is where Hope for Tomorrow
steps in and provides an education for a child.
Last year we sent twenty-eight students to school from three different
areas of Naga, Cebu. Many of the
children we support are either over aged (for example 12 years old in the 1st
grade) or have had to stop going to school because they come from homes of 10
to 16 children and there was not money for both school and food.
The
children in the Hope for Tomorrow program come from nothing. Most of them live with dirt floors and bamboo
walls. Many of them have chores we would
think should be done by adults. They
have worries most children their age should not have to even think about. All of these responsibilities and realities steal
their childhood and self-esteem. When
the children began school last year, they had low self-confidence and believed
what society had told them; that they were not loved or important. All of these feelings and beliefs have been
washed thanks to Hope for Tomorrow. With
us they get to just be a kid! They are
loved and made to feel important. It’s
in this environment that we have seen the children soar! They now feel special, loved and worth
something.
We
have so many wonderful memories this year of the children reaching new
milestones. I vividly remember James
Ombao giving Gepher a high five because he could read! James Ombao is an orphan whose sisters were
feeding him out of a trash can before he joined Hope for Tomorrow. Vanessa and Princess bring a smile to my face
every time I remember them telling me they use to be teased at school because
of where they live (they live outside of the cemetery as their mother’s clean
the graves), but now because of HFT they aren’t! I
can’t help but smile when I think about Marilyn coming into church on Sunday to
tell me she finished 10th in her
class (and her Mom thought she was lying)!
And then there was Hannah Mae who was so proud of her homework grades
that she couldn’t wait to pull it out of her backpack to show me at lunch. I’ll never forget Joan who repeated the 3rd
grade this year and finished with the highest grades she’s ever achieved. These are just a few of the victories the
children achieved. It’s these faces and
stories that will forever be etched in my heart and mind.
We
are so excited to see these children continue to grow into the children God
always intended for them to become. We
love seeing their faces in Bible class every Sunday and the excitement they
have for learning more about Jesus. It
warms my heart to see prayers answered as more of their families are coming to
church and letting us have Bible studies with them. God is definitely at work in this ministry.
There
are many more children in Naga just like the twenty-eight we are currently
supporting. We would love to grow our
program to 30 to 35 for the second year.
This will allow more children to experience Jesus’ love through the gift
of an education.
We
would love for you to join us on this fun and exciting journey. There are two ways you can help be a part of
“Hope for Tomorrow”. The first is
through financially supporting a child.
The Filipino school year runs from June to March. For $300 a year (or $25 a month) you can send
one child to school. This will cover the
costs of their uniforms, school supplies, books, food, transportation, a teacher,
as well as supplies for school projects.
Gepher and I want you to be a part of the child’s life (if you wish);
therefore, we will send you information on the child as well as pictures and
progress updates. The investment you can
make in a child’s life is priceless when you consider how little it financially
costs us.
There
is a fund set up at Southside Church of Christ where your tax deductible
donation can be sent either monthly or in a one lump sum. Please be sure to indicate on the checks the
funds should go to “Philippine Ministry – Hope for Tomorrow”. We also have a website set up that will
accept online donations. We invite you
to check out our ministry and support a student for the year at: www.hopefortomorrownaga.com.
The
second way you can help is by becoming a prayer warrior for a child. We will pair you up with a child giving you
details about them, their family, and their school situation. Having an army of prayer warriors praying for
both the spiritual and academic needs of the “Hope for Tomorrow” children will
open doors for God to work in ways we cannot imagine.
Gepher and I
would love to talk with you more about the work in Naga and Hope for
Tomorrow. You can reach both of us on
Facebook or by email at hope.for.tomorrow.naga@gmail.com. You call us directly at 615-831-1605 or
615-618-4454.
We
have also set up both a Facebook page and blog dedicated to Hope for
Tomorrow. We invite you to visit both to
see all the transformations in the children through this amazing first
year.
Gepher
and I are excited about the ways God is working in Cebu and specifically
Naga. We are eager to see how He will
use “Hope for Tomorrow” to touch hearts and change lives. We hope that you will join us either
financially or prayerfully as we work to change the future of the Philippines
one child at a time.
Blessings,
Gepher
& Andrea VanDyke Lopina
