Celebrating 25 Years of Partnership
In 2024 we are celebrating 25 years of partnerships in the Philippines. We asked members to share how it all began and to recall some of the most impactful moments. Listed below are some of those stories by FPC members
Dental Missioners Travel to the Southern Philippines
by Ross Anderson
Giving in Sincere Thankfulness
by Ginny Rezmierski
Memories of Philippines
by Jeff Taggart
One Egg
by Cynthia Calhoun
It's Better Together
by Christine Larson
1, 2, 3, Floor
by Christine Larson
School Supplies Rescue and Recycling
You Did It!
Over 12,200 books and a few gallon bags of crayons, markers, and other school supplies are now on their way to the Philippines. You did it! Eight volunteers showed up to transport the donations from schools to the "garage". On Friday and Saturday, June 28 and 29, fifty-five volunteers arrived, some both days, to sort and pack the boxes. Despite the downpour rain Friday night, volunteers had safely secured the boxes of books on pallets under the tents and tarps. Only 3 small boxes of books were wet and had to be discarded.
We accepted elementary, middle and high school books this year--books of all sizes. Therefore, many more boxes were needed than expected. Our final count was 43 balikbayan ("boxes home") that measure 63 inches long and on their way. They will be fit into a metal shipping container for the long journey to the Philippines and are expected to arrive there in early October.
Most exciting is the fact that, this year, we shipped books to many new places across the three major areas of the Philippines- Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Cities included: General Santos City, Cagayon de Oro, Tawi Tawi, Pampanga, Tagudin, Bacalod, Mindoro, Sorsogon, Caloogan City, La Union, Hinuangan, and, of course, Dumaguete. Some boxes will go to very remote islands and some to mountainous regions where children have not previously received a book. Also exciting this year is that many of the volunteers were local Filipinos who met each other and us for the first time. We have happily invited everyone to the November 9, 2024 celebration of this mission.You did it! Twenty-five glorious years of working together, saving items from the local landfill, and getting valuable books and school supplies to grateful children in the Philippines. Maraming salamat to all.
Academic Scholarships
We currently are providing 50% tuition scholarships to College and University students, and we are providing scholarships that cover the cost of school uniforms and school supplies to 24 high school and 53 junior high school students. Our iHomes Dumaguete (the local successor nonprofit to Habitat for Humanity) partner in the Philippines assures us these 119 students would not be able to attend school this year without our assistance. We no longer support elementary school students with scholarships because a Japanese nonprofit has stepped into that role, thus allowing us to focus all our efforts on the others. In the second semester we will be providing scholarships to ten additional college students.
To qualify for a scholarship, all these students must be from one of the poverty level families in an iHomes (Habitat) house in Dumaguete (some of which were built by PMT members), and they must be and remain in good academic standing with a C or better grade average. The PMT has also completed our three-year Bread of Hope Bakery project of providing funds for construction of a bakery (yes, with a commercial oven and more) at the Dumaguete city jail. This project benefits all the female inmates at the facility by training and giving them jobs skills for their lives following release.
"MAGBAYANIHAN TAYO” - Let Us Build Together
We thought we were going to the Philippines to build homes. What we really did was build faith, trust, and friendships that have lasted almost 20 years.
The Beginning
The Philippines Mission Team (PMT) began in 1999 working with Habitat for Humanity, President Jimmy Carter Build in Dumaguette City, with local and international partners. In five days, 30 homes were built with 22 First Pres representatives working side-by-side with local Filipino families – making life long friends.
We thought our mission was to help poor, needy, Filipino families. We went to “give” but we came back having “received” far more than we gave. We were blessed with a striking demonstration of Christian faith in the midst of suffering and poverty and a genuine outpouring of love from individuals we had just met and with whom we worked and built. We gained a new appreciation for different cultures and languages and a burning desire to return.
God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform ... and we witnessed it!
The Work of the Philippines Mission Team
Responding to the expressed needs of the Filipino families, the PMT has worked on many projects. We are the Lord’s hands. There have been and are many ways we are being directed to work. Past and continuing projects include:
- Collected and shared $475,000 worth of books and school supplies.
- Supported 70+ student scholarships annually, allowing needy bright students the opportunity to continue in high school or go on to local colleges.
- Built eight homes and two community centers for a variety of uses by all members of the Habitat community; one funded by First Pres’ Jeane Seeley Legacy Funds.
- Supported Habitat women with annual stipends to make and serve daily nutritious meals and clean water to 90 patients at the Talay Psychiatric Hospital.
- Collected, cleaned and shipped over 1,000 pairs of sneakers to be sold by Habitat mothers with the proceeds supporting scholarship recipients.
- Shipped donated sewing machines and over 1,000 yards of fabric to support women who are learning to sew and create livelihood income for their families.
- Built a dental clinic and annually provided medical and dental supplies to support physicians and dentists.
Provincial Jail in Dumaguete
Our newest project is a ministry to help inmates at the Provincial Jail in Dumaguete.
- Some inmates stay in jail up to 11 years without a hearing.
- Personal space is extremely limited. Beds are less than a foot apart.
Sanitation and living conditions are primitive. When prisoners asked for help, we provided power washers and paint to clean cell blocks. We supplied Bibles, dental and hygiene supplies, eyeglasses, books, magazines, sanitation and cleaning supplies.
Livelihood training is non-existent. With funds approved by the mission team, a prison bakery will be run by inmates. The bread will be sold by family members, offering them a means of support.
Join Us
Regardless of whether you donate items, pound nails, mix cement, give money, come to fund raisers, pack boxes, teach sewing, pray for the team, or become an active member of the team, your reward is more than can be imagined. The love, warmth, faith, and gratitude of the Filipino people is overwhelming.
Join our team!
Check out the Philippines Mission Team's blog from their 2013 trip: PTF2013.blogspot.com. View photos, read reflections and hear about all the amazing projects we did, from building a recreation center to helping out with a woman's coop and mental hospital.