ICPE Philippines... News from

News from
May 2014
ICPE Philippines...
Empowering the poor through God’s compassionate love
in the heart of Asia
Ushering in the new year!
We began 2014 with a New Year’s celebration in Montalban to thank God for the year past,
and to welcome the gift of a new year, 2014!
Celebrating with the Seeds of Faith…
We spent the day reflecting and giving
thanks in Praise and Worship. We ended our
time together by watching the movie
“Freedom Fighters”. Based on a true story,
the movie showcases an American teacher’s
dedication that helped change the lives of
her class of failing students from factious
gangs.
...and with the Balikatan Ministry!
The thanksgiving celebration was
organized by the Balikatan community
members and they took turns to perform
skits, dances and dramas. The highlight was
a dance to the song 'All things are
possible..." by Hillsongs. It was a good
reminder for the Balikatan members and it
encouraged them to start the year trusting
and hoping in the Lord's goodness and His
plans of hope for their future.
For the first quarter of this year, some of
the Balikatan members will be meeting
weekly studying and sharing on the Letter of
Saint James.
March 2014...
Balikatan Community Leaders’ Meeting in Tagaytay
In March, the leadership team of the Balikatan Community met
together with Esther in Tagaytay for a weekend of prayer and
planning for the year. They reviewed the past year and set some
goals for this year. During the time of prayer and reflection, they
shared the need to continue the vision of building a permanent
community that would support the members to grow as disciples of
Christ and reach out to those in need.
Livelihood plans
We are currently exploring two potential
livelihood ideas to help empower the Balikatan
members in providing for their families. In early
March, five members of the Balikatan ministry met in
Tagaytay to try their hand at baking biscuits. We
were blessed to have Ms Audrey Leong from
Learning how to bake
Singapore, who joined us to teach them. Having
had their first taste of baking, the women expressed
continued interest in future training in baking.
We were also blessed to receive three boxes of donated clothes, bags and shoes
from Singapore. These items will be distributed to Balikatan members at a token price. They
will sell these clothes and items at a higher price as "ukay ukay" (second hand goods).
Through this, we hope that they will be able to supplement their income to provide food
and the basic needs of their families.
Special thanks to Audrey, Tony, Yvonne and their friends for their support in these two Box filled with donated
livelihood projects.
goods for resale
April 2014...
Seeds Of Faith Retreat in Tagaytay
In April, 14 of the Seeds of Faith members came to Tagaytay for a
week of formation and retreat. Derek Chong from Sabah, Malaysia with
Eldridge Staun joined us to help in facilitating the retreat. The youths were
led into a deeper encounter with the Lord through prayer, sharing and
teaching sessions.
Each person was affirmed in his or her dignity as a child of God and
they had the opportunity to walk in freedom by releasing forgiveness for
past hurts.
After the retreat, eight of the older youths stayed back in Tagaytay for
the Jumpstart Programme that was conducted by Derek. The programme
helped the youths to seek, identify and clarify their gifts, talents and life
mission.
“I know now what I want to do with my life,” said Mariel, an 18-yearold, who came with questions about her choice of college degree.
We are grateful for their journey of faith as they continue to walk
together as a group of young people on fire for the Lord. Special thanks to
Derek and Eldridge who came to help at the retreat!
Medical Mission
On-going help for siblings
We continue to assist Philip and Karen Gacias in their ongoing medical needs to treat
the Nephrotic Syndrome they suffer from (Nephrotic Syndrome is a kidney condition where
the kidneys are unable to filter out the waste products effectively to retain the proteins necessary
for the blood. This results in the swelling of the feet and body, excessive protein in the urine and
a deficient amount of protein in the blood).
Philip
Karen
In February, Philip suffered a sudden attack which resulted in the swelling of
both his arms and legs. He was hospitalized and given more medication and tests. Karen continues to require regular
checkups and maintenance medication.
Sadly, there is no cure for Nephrotic Syndrome. Both Karen and Philip can experience sudden attacks that may be
triggered by infections. In such events, they will require hospitalisation. We thank all the donors who have given
generously to enable them to receive medical care at such critical moments.
Surgery for Jerwin
Jerwin
In February, we started assisting Jerwin, to receive corrective surgery for his imperforate anus (a
condition where the opening to the anus is blocked). Jerwin also has Down Syndrome. He had a
colostomy (a surgery to cut his colon and attach it to the wall of the abdomen so that his faeces could
be channelled to a colostomy bag) when he was 5 days old and currently has his
colon attached to the side of his stomach area.
The family lives in a remote farming area in Magallanes, Cavite and they can
barely afford to travel out to the nearest village. Subsisting from hand to mouth, the
family could not afford the colostomy bags to collect his stools and resorted to
wrapping his stomach with pieces of cloth to act as a diaper. Although Jerwin will
be four years old in July, he is unable to walk independently.
Thanks to a generous donor, we are assisting the family financially for the tests
and the expensive transportation for the repeated hospital visits. On 21 April, Jerwin
successfully completed his first surgery where the doctors reinserted his displaced
colon and cut off the infected parts. His next surgery will be in two months’ time.
Children Educational Sponsorship
Since last October, we have been assisting Yumi Ambion, a three-year-old, to receive Physical and
Occupational Therapy. Yumi was born with cerebral palsy and until a few months ago, was unable to sit up
and hold her head upright. Since the therapy, she is currently able to sit up unassisted and she has better
control of her head movements.
Although Yumi is limited in her physical skills, her paediatrician diagnosed her as of age appropriate
intelligence. Yumi now requires Speech Therapy for her speech and language development and we are
trying to locate a therapist for her.
Yumi
Other activities
Tagaytay Children Ministry
Mass in
our centre
Gemma playing at our
Parish Feast Day celebrations
Our community retreat
Prayer intentions
Please join us in praying for the following needs:
+ the success of Jerwin’s series of operations to correct his imperforate anus
+ for doors to open for the livelihood projects as we seek ways to empower the poor in their daily living needs
Institute for World Evangelisation – ICPE Mission
111 Lourdes Street, Barangay Maitim II Central, Tagaytay City, Cavite 4120, Philippines
Tel:+63-46-8524010
Email:philippines@icpe.org
Website:www.icpe.org