Gustafson Family

2011-06-11T12:03:00.000+08:00

Darren and Aubrey setting up the new old bunk bed. It comes with blessing from the Caldwell family.

Aubrey hard at work.

They each have their own bed and they all end up in one bed. By the end of this first night all three were back in bed with Darren and I.

Aubrey claims that he has already gained more soccer skills from sleeping in the bed of a good soccer player Jesse Caldwell.

A very happy girl.

2011-06-06T23:03:00.000+08:00

Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan new look does not only look nice but keeps the inside dry. All the midwives and birthing moms are very thankful for the gift of a new roof.

Thank you Ken and Francoises your gift blesses many.

2010-11-10T14:55:00.000+08:00

It is not everyday that you can see the trees through the top of your livingroom.

The roof at Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan has needed a new roof for quite awhile.

We are very thankful that Ken and Francoise Butt are replacing the whole roof at Shiphrah. Room by room.

A very strange site.

Thank you workmen for all your efforts.

Men hard at working welding the new roof beams.

It looks pretty strange to see the Birthing Home with only half a roof.

The new ceiling in the living room. Yeh!! It is looking better already.

2010-11-06T20:42:00.005+08:00

Union Church of Manila Thursday for Others visit Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan and the little children's home.

Candace has given birth to all three of her children at Shiphrah. Her new little boy weighed a nice healthy weight of 7lbs 8 oz.

Heidi from UCM enjoyed given this precious new bundle a little cuddle.

Chatting about birth and babies.

Jeri Gunderson explains the importance of the inclusive teaching style used at Shiphrah Bahay
Paanakan.

Smiling at the precious babies that are in the care of the little children's home until they can join their forever families.

Little Kate the youngest member of UCM Thursday For Others.

Mom Lindsey with Kate. Thank you Mom and Daughter team

Mom Lindsey with Kate.Thank you Mom and Daughter team.

2010-10-08T22:08:00.000+08:00

Shiphrah Midwives love being with pregnant women.

We see pregnancy as a special, beautiful time in a woman's life and Tere Coman definitely was beautiful.

It was a joy for Deborah, Grace, and Jeri to be blessed with attending the homebirth of Tere and Mike Coman.

What a special moment when Ziva gave her first cry she was safe at home. Born into the presence of a beautiful supportive community of parents, grandmas, uncles, and friends.

Plenty of time and space to snuggle mom and dad

We are all smiles. Hip ! Hip ! Hooray! Ziva is here!

The Birthing Team

Grandma/Midwife gives her grandaughter her newborn exam. Thank you Grandma.

2010-10-07T08:17:00.000+08:00

We are happy that tlc's littlest is now home from the hospital. Thank you for your prayers and financial contributions towards the cost of hospitalization. We also thank tlc staff Marissa, Shirly, Sonia, and Antonette for caring for him in the hospital.

2010-09-28T22:30:00.006+08:00

Our youngest in the little children's home is now in hospital with respiratory distress. He is only 2 months old and a tiny baby's lungs are very fragile. He is thankfully not on O2 and the hope is that he will be able to come home on Friday or Saturday. Please pray for his quick recovery.You can see other options to help with his care at the 'Support HELP' link to the right.

2010-07-05T12:11:00.016+08:00

I want to share with you a saint and a song that we've just discovered and are coming to love. The song is co- authored by Leonard Cohen and the woman who also co- authored Joan of Arc and Famous Blue Raincoat, called The Song of Bernadette.

It's beautiful, if nothing else, and tells the story of Bernadette of Lourdes in perfect symmetry with a con- temporary love song. This is Cohen's genius, and apparently he shared it with Jenifer Warnes.

The main reason we've found this, of course, is just trying to learn about our own Bernadette. Her name means 'the courage of a bear,' and I have to say that we've seen a bear-like courage--almost a bovine doggedness, to completely muddle my metaphors--in our Bernadette. What she has seen and suffered, no child should ever even hear about--but she endures with a joy and strength that is supernatural.

Saint Marie-Bernade Soubirous was born in 1844 in Lourdes, France. Her father was a miller and her mother was a laundry woman, and France was no place to live at that time. She nearly died in a plague of cholera as a child, and then suffered from asthma and then TB for her whole, short life.

Four out of eight of her siblings died, and the rest of them lived in a single un-heated room. At the age of 14, she was outside the town gathering firewood with her sister and a friend when she saw what she called ua petita damisela, "a small young lady." Her friend and her sister couldn't see "that one," but Bernadette said that she told her to keep coming back to that site. Bernadette saw her a total of 18 times, and a number of miraculous occurrences emerged there.

"That one" told her, for example, to drink the water that flowed from under the rock where she stood. There was only a bog of mud there, so Bernadette tried to dig it out with her hands. She tried several times to drink the water, but only got a face-full of mud. Of course, by this time the appearances were well known, so this produced an appropriate persecution. But eventually she did manage to drink some water and eat some of the plants that were growing in it, and within a few days a spring of clear water appeared in that spot. Over the last 150 years, the Lourdes Medical Bureau has verified 67 'inexplicable' cures attributed to that water. Bernadette always said that it was no attribute of the water that healed people, but their faith and prayer.

The principle image of the song, though, comes from another incident. One of her visions is said to have lasted about an hour, and she was holding a candle, which burned down to her fingers and seared them without effect for more than 15 minutes. The town doctor was there, but as it didn't seem to affect her in any way, he merely observed it and asked her about it later. She said she didn't remember the candle burning her, she was so wrapped up in the vision. She had no signs of injury afterward, but when the doctor applied another candle to her hands she responded as you would expect.

This is the image that resonates the best with our courageous Bernadette, holding a very flame in her fingers but not getting burned. The Lyrics of Cohen and Warnes' song go:

I just wanna hold you, come on let me hold you
Like Bernadette used to do.

Listen to the rest of the song. It's about hope--and the joy of hope--, to think that there is mercy in this world for those who have been burned and broken. That there is healing for what cannot be restored. That what cannot be undone can be redeemed. That a song can put desire in your heart that will burn like the very fire of the Lord.

2010-06-11T18:07:00.009+08:00

Today was Senon's birthday, and we celebrated in grand style at the Manila East water park due to a generous gift for Senon. Only yesterday Senon's greatest friends, Dennis and Jay, left for Kangaroo Island with their new adoptive family, so it was a happy/sad celebration.

Carrying him up to the top of one of the slides he asked me, "No more Dennis?"

I said, "Yesterday Dennis and Jay went in an airplane to Australia with their mom and dad. Do you miss them?"

He swallowed. I said, "We all miss them, don't we?"

He said, "Where's Joy (our social worker)?"

I said, "She's at the bottom of the slide." And he went through everyone who was with us at the park, as if to reassure himself that the world had not been entirely impoverished with their departure.

Senon turns five today, and we expect him to be matched with his own forever family almost any day now. Of course, promises like that fall on deaf ears with five-year-old's. (Let alone adoptive families.)

Still, today was a lot of fun. I think it was the perfect way for him to move beyond his sadness. He laughed and soaked up the attention.

Here he is kayaking with Joy.

2010-04-14T11:58:00.005+08:00

It's time I introduced you to someone I think very highly of. Sharon Agnew runs Shepherd's Home, a place for solo mothers who want to keep their families, right across the street from our house. Really, I cannot say enough about how vital this work is. It's not only almost without parallel for dealing with the real-life situations of these single-parent families--it's exactly the kind of work we need a lot more of.

Last week, Sharon and I found ourselves in a sticky place. Laurdes, one of her ladies who is actually married now but still part of her program, was having unbearable abdominal pain. It was a fiasco of very bad medical care at the first hospital we went to, but they did finally diagnose it as a burst ectopic pregnancy. Had it been a more reliable facility, we should have done an emergency operation right away--but they advised us to go to another, larger hospital.

This is scary business, and Laurdes' vital signs were dropping as we fought our way through election-created traffic jams. At the next hospital, though, they did literally nothing. What the first hospital hadn't told us was that while the second hospital had said they would admit her, they had already told them that they couldn't do the surgery. That is, we were put on a waiting list and told to be patient.

Two hours later, she still didn't have an IV drip, and we were getting desperate. Laurdes' husband and two children were at home, and we were working through the prospect of telling them their mother and wife hadn't made it. The thing is, the jump from government to private health care is extremely expensive, so that we usually don't make it without intense pressure. There's just no way we could pay for every situation we know would be better off in a private hospital.

Finally, though, when it was clear that the government hospital was not going to act quickly enough, we made the move to a private hospital. The staff told us it was critical, but they would do their best. So we waited with bated breath. Sharon, Laures' sister, Len, and I waited in the hall outside operating until almost two...when the doctor came out with a big bowl full of bloody tissue and big smile. Laurdes is okay, but if you could help us pay her bill of P80,000 (1,800 USD) it would be a huge encouragement to Sharon who does this amazing work.

Drop her a line at sagnew89@gmail.com.

2010-04-10T09:43:00.002+08:00

This is one of the great joys of my day: reading to Bernadette at nap/bed-time. Her current favorites are Goodnight Moon by Margarette Wise Brown, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and Teach Me About God by L.J. Sattgast & Jan Elkins.

This last has been a favorite for all three of our children. Specifically, the chapter on the Holy Spirit has been all three of their favorite chapters. Bernadette recites all the fruits of the Spirit by memory and asks for these stories all the time.

Last night, though, we read the first chapter, on salvation. It tells a story about a little lamb who gets lost and then found. There is a picture of Jesus surrounded by five children, and Bernadette loves to name each of them for someone in our family. She is always the one on Jesus`lap.

The last page says the angels in heaven rejoice when one of us repents and joins God`s family. Bernadette always asks me to sing a verse from Angels We Have Heard On High when we come to this page, and usually she mouths along silently while I sing. But last night she sang out for the first time, so I recorded it. To me it is the greatest challenge and joy of parenting--and especially adoption--to learn that we are the glory of God.

2009-12-24T13:56:00.012+08:00

We have some very good news to share with the Good News of Christmas. It’s wonderful to me that part of the Nativity is an adoption story. I want to make Joseph the patron saint of Adoption, because his story illustrates the way that welcoming someone who is not your flesh and blood into the hearth-circle of your family is a miracle of grace.

“Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

We are in the process of adopting Bernadette from the little children’s home. She and Mae, her closest friend from tlc who will be going to the United States in the new year with her forever family—the two of them moved into our home on the 19th. Mae will be here just until her family are able to come pick her up, but Bernadette is here to stay.

She has always been dear to us. She came into the little children’s home when she was a year and a half old and she’s been at tlc for a year. We were in the process of adopting her out in the normal process when we realized that the Lord had something very different in store for her.

During the matching process, a problem came up with her paper work and the social worker at Inter-Country Adoption asked Deborah almost offhandedly, “Why don’t you just adopt her?”

Deborah had been holding things together to do her job until that moment—and she burst into tears. Our hearts have been telling us something for a long time.

Deborah and I were in near- miraculous- immediate agreement about it, but we had no real idea how the boys would feel about it. So one night Deborah put the question to them pseudo- hypo- thetically, “What would you guys think about adopting someone from the little children’s home?”

Simultaneously Aubrey and Auden said, “Yes; we should adopt Bernadette.”

One more story that tells the condition of our hearts toward Bernadette came in the form of a significant set-back. It’s common practice that once the paper work is in process, families can get visas for international travel together even before the adoption is finalized. We had enquired about this very early on because Deborah’s sister, Mary, is getting married next summer and the last time I’ve seen most of my family was in 2006. I’ve felt for a long time already that this is too long, and the boys are very much looking forward to a camping trip in Canada with grandparents and cousins. However, a couple weeks ago now we were told that the policy on travel is changing and they will not grant visas until things are completed. It could easily be a year or two—meaning we would miss Mary’s wedding and the boys’ camping trip.

We talked about it together as a family because this is something we all care about very much and Aubrey said, “Well, if we adopt Bernadette, that’s for the rest of her life; if we go to North America, that’s only for a few months.”

It’s taken near- traumatic events (and the wisdom of an eight-year-old) for us to see what the Lord is telling us. Of course, the we still have most of the process ahead of us and many obstacles to overcome, but our course is committed.

The girls are doing very, very well—and the boys have been consum- mate kuyas (older brothers). Aubrey’s been offering to help with dishes at night, and Auden (though he’s actually been quite ill) has shared his mom amazingly well. The girls are a lot of work, but we all feel like this is the most amazing Christmas present possible.

If you will, please pray for our travel plans. At this point it would take a miracle to make it home next summer, but we’ve seen God move greater obstacles that this.

2009-11-15T18:28:00.015+08:00

I've wanted a way to share, especially with Filipino children adopted abroad, just what it means to be a Filipino. It was one of my students' papers that made me think of using iamninoy merchandise, and when I told Rudd and Angelique about it they liked the idea and bought me a couple of t-shirts. I gave the first t-shirt to Richard and Katherine for their little boy, and today I printed up copies of this write-up in booklet form for Rudd and Angelique.

Ninoy Aquino is one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines. He courageously opposed the dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, even when his life was at risk. He was arrested and thrown into prison. He was tortured and released after many years, only on condition that he would go to the US and leave Marcos' injustices in silence.

But when the situation in the Philippines deteriorated beyond what anyone could tolerate, he came back to stand up for the suffering masses. When his friends warned him that if he came back he would be killed, he said the most famous line in Philippine history: "The Filipino is worth dying for."

And, sure enough, when he stepped off the plane in Manila, he was shot and killed.

But as with most deaths, that was only the beginning. He came back to stand up for the masses, but when he died millions of people stood up for him. They stood up to Marcos and deposed him from the presidency.

His wife, Cory, was elected to set the country back on the road to democracy, and when she died this last year, the country was flooded with yellow ribbons (her favorite color) and with posters that read: "Tita Cory, you are not alone."

The t-shirts that read i am ninoy show the same pride to be Filipino. Cory and Ninoy are real heroes for not only standing up for their country, but for making all of us stand up for it as well. Just the icon of Ninoy's glasses reminds us to live with an attitude that says, "The Filipino is worth dying for."

2009-11-14T00:08:00.019+08:00

In these last two stories we've been focusing on the parenting side of adoption because there's a new memo from Inter-Country Adoption that we're not allowed to post photos or identifying information on babies at the little children's home.

These stories, though, are just as moving and heart-rending as the ones about a child finding a forever-family. The same God who "sets the lonely in families" (Psalm 67:6) also "settles the childless in their home as a happy mother/father of children" (Psalm 113:9).

The story of Hannah in I Samuel has always made a deep impact on me. She didn't have any children and prayed bitterly to the Lord, "If you will give me a child, I will give him to you all the days of his life" (I Samuel 1:11).

Samuel, who was born a year later, became a great leader for his people. And that cycle of sur- render and blessing is repeated in every exper- ience of paren- ting.

Adoption is a long wait -- and more uncer- tainty, more anxiety than you would think a human soul could bear. It's been five long years for Rick and Kath- erine. They have hung on every hope, waited into despair, and persevered on through. They're here now and have their forever-son--finally.

But Kath- erine de- scribes the moment when, like Hannah, she gave in. On her knees before God she prayed, "Lord, if you don't want us to have a child, your will and not ours. I give him to you."

There's a sense in which every child baptism or dedication reenacts that moment of surrender -- and every moment of parenting is the grace of caring for a child of God's. But adoption is special. Because orphaned children are special to God, and because adoptive parents put so much into the years-long prayer to finally have a child of their own. Rick and Katherine, our hats are off to you--and to all adoptive moms and dads. May the Lord make good his promise to you.

2009-11-06T20:00:00.005+08:00

There’s a new tlc family today. Rudolf and Angelique are here from the Netherlands to adopt their son. They arrived early this morning and were there when he woke up. Ruud and Angelique are lovely people, and he warmed up to them right away.

It’s been a day of gifts—an adoptive family feels like they’ve just received the most amazing gift ever; and an adopted child receives what they don’t even know they’ve always wanted. But at lunch, Angelique and Ruud explained one of the most amazing gifts I’ve ever heard of.

With measured strength Angelique said, “He’s going to grow up knowing that he has a sister.”

They cannot have children because of an infection that occurred 6 years ago when they lost a pregnancy. Loss upon loss—but you hear redemption in every word when they’re telling the story.

“The day we found out about the complications in the pregnancy was a hard day—it was August 1.”

Deborah beams—I don’t get it. Someone has to explain it to me that August 1 is their new son’s birthday.

When their child was born, they knew she could not survive. She lived for 15 minutes.

Ruud said, “That was such a gift.”

“We named her Fay--like faith,” he explained, “because faith is something you receive—but can never achieve.”

I’m being a little bit cheeky with the language here, but the double meaning is built into the name; when his mom says that he will grow up knowing he has an older sister, she also means that he will inherit the gift of FAITH.

What a gift! May your faith redeem every circumstance.

2009-10-04T20:13:00.007+08:00

Jorge and I were privileged to be asked to drive for the funeral of Ruvie Mar Mantos, two-years- old, today. We picked them up from a subdivision near their house, because it was closest we could get with our vehicles.

I asked if Robert and Malou would ride with us, but the family explained that walking behind the hearse was the last sacrifice Ruvie's parents would be able to make for her. There were a lot of those choke-up moments in the day.

Along the way, more and more hearses joined the procession until there were 7 of us all going to the same church in Taytay.

The sanctuary was full. The row in front of us all carried colorful balloons that read GO WITH GOD -- WE LOVE YOU MARICEL.

Finally, the grief of losing a loved one is very personal. Others grieving near you is about the most comfort you can get. But for the few minutes of praying the Lord's Prayer together, we were drawing really on one another. Thank God for little liturgies that bring people together.

I got to know the extended family a little bit. This is Baby, saying a last goodbye to a niece she never got to know very well. GO WITH GOD, RUVIE. YOU ARE WELL LOVED.

God will not abandon you to the grave,
nor let his Holy One see decay (Psalm 16:10).

2009-09-30T22:49:00.009+08:00

We were trying to keep the floodwaters out of the little children's home on Saturday morning when Helen came running up the hill, "There are children trapped, and sparks in the water."

We ran down the hill with hammers and crowbars, hoping to break something open and get people out, but the little creek you can't even see in this picture was swollen and surging up above where I'm standing here. There was no way across, so Jorge (our driver) and I took the vehicle and tried to get around to the other side.

It's a long story, but it was many hours before Jorge and I were able to make it around. In the meantime we had heard that our staff person, Benita, had been able to escape and was holed up with a bunch of others in a chapel on the other side of the hill. They were safe, but soaked and hungry. Look at the video below for a sense of how they escaped through the roof of their house and up over a rock wall.

Just up the river from Benita's house there is a long, improvised stairway up to another group of houses. Malou Mantos was watching the flooding below from her doorway, and probably thanking God that she and her family were safe, when a culvert behind their house broke loose without warning.

She had time to yell, "Run" before a landslide of mud and water burst over their ravine and crashed through the back wall of their house. She and their other children were far enough into the house to avoid the collapse, but their youngest, Ruvie Mar, was sleeping in her crib right next to the back wall. They got her to the hospital as quickly as possible, but she passed away on Sunday.

Rescue efforts morphed into housing and feeding people who had no homes to return to. I'll have to tell this part of the story again somewhere, but so many of our staff (and others) worked so hard help people in need. This is Helen, our home supervisor at Shiphrah Birthing Home, pulling broken glass out of Rose's hands and feet while her son sleeps, exhausted. If ever a case could be made for sainting a person before they pass away, I could make that case for Helen in about 2 minutes.

On Monday, Union Church of Manila brought out a dump truck full of relief goods. Here's our beloved Pastor Scott helping to unload the truck. A proper list of the volunteers who have contributed and helped would be a mile long and counter-productive. All of us feel privileged to be the Lord's hands and feet.

Yesterday we shifted our focus again from feeding and housing people to helping them put together a home, even temporarily, where they can eat and sleep. Many are still sleeping at our birthing home or in the chapel nearby. We're trying to get beds, but were able to supply some materials (a sheet of plywood and hollow blocks for bedposts) for make-shift beds just so people can move back into their homes. I carried the materials to Dexter's house, so he is helping someone else.

Our heroic Helen has worn many hats these last few days, but below you can see her handing out cooking utensils to people who have lost everything. All of us feel very fortunate to be safe and to be able to help others.

2009-09-08T20:42:00.021+08:00

Analisa is Justin's mom, and I love her passion. She loves her son, and you can see her concern for him in her every facial feature. It is because she loves him that she has had to give him up. She wants a better future for him than her family situation can provide, so she has surrendered him to the little children's home, in the ultimate self-sacrifice, for his own welfare.

We met Analisa at the town hall yesterday, because she needed to take us to the hilot's house to get a signature for Justin's birth certificate. Mingay is the traditional birthing attendant (we might say untrained midwife -- 'hilot' in Tagalog) who delivered Justin before he was surrendered to the little children's home.

Mingay had a fever so we had to go to her house for the signature. This is how we got there.

Then, when we couldn't walk any further, we got a boat. This is in the street of the village, but six months out of every year, their streets turn into channels.

Mingay is an old- fashioned match- maker and midwife, busybody and recognized community leader. While we were signing paper work she started to tell us about another baby she had delivered who might be in danger.

The empathy between Mingay and Analisa is palpable, and you could see Analisa lean into her words--caring for her own son in the story of another little newborn in need. Her facial features are harsh, but don't mistake them. It's the ferocious love of a mother who would do anything for a child in need.

We finished up the paper work, but in between signatures we talked about the other family. Mingay said it was a long ways away, and that the water comes up to your neck. She said maybe we could come back when the water goes down, or that maybe she could talk them into coming to the home for counseling.

But she also said that they had already received an offer of P5,000 ($100) for the child. We said there was no way we were leaving without seeing them. So off we went.

Here's proof that I was the one behind the camera. Despite the seriousness of the issues we were dealing with, the people and their faith were beautiful. Mingay was hilarious, joking about getting married and moving to Canada together. There's a levity in the way Filipinos deal with hardship that is not incommensurable with forthrightness. And, besides, it's not every day you get to see a vista like this.

Since Joy, our celebrated social worker, had my camera (actually, Aubrey's camera) -- these pictures were taken with my cell phone.

Out in a field of kongkong, a vegetable grown in water, a few tiny houses float above a kind of marsh.

Helen, do you remember that Mother's Day we spent all those years ago out in Angono with Dennis and Jeri? You can see the tower we were near from Len-Len's house.

From another millennium ...you can look out over the Makati sky line.

Arriving at their home, we found Len-Len and her mother, Mila, watching over Ivy and the newborn during their afternoon nap.

They have a diminutive, little place. One bed for (at least) five of them; a little kitchen outside, and a little cooking area inside. The kitchen/washing area outside is just a sink set in the floor that drains into the swamp under their house.

The cooking area inside is just a pot with a concrete container for burning charcoal underneath it.

But they have a dog to bark at strangers, locks on their doors, and a mark of dignity in the way they live.

Before Mingay had finished introducing us they had already asked us to take the infant, who didn't have a name yet.

It wasn't jovial, but it was very matter-of-fact. They confirmed that they had been considering selling the baby, but were very happy that we would find a good home for him--even though it meant they wouldn't make any money out of it. It's not that they didn't care about him, but situations have conspired against them so that they cannot take care of him.

While we were talking, the grandfather came home. Joy encouraged them to give the child a name, and they chose the grandfather's name, Leonardo. The grandfather's nick name is Mani, but he joked that if your name is Mani there's never any money.

As I said, they were ready to make the decision before we came all the way through the door. But Joy explained it to them very carefully. I invited them to come see the baby home and to take some time to consider their decision.

This is our farewell from the Leonardo ('Mani') on our way back to the baby home.

The did come to the home to visit. Deborah talked with them again at length. We prayed together, blessing the family and asking for God's grace to go with Leonardo.

Sleep tight, Leonardo.

2009-09-08T15:53:00.018+08:00

Friday morning we got a call from the Department of Social Welfare in Angono. ‘Can you take a little girl we rescued into the little children’s home?’

Deborah said, ‘Yes; of course.’ But we haven’t seen a baby in Cindy’s condition for a long time. When she arrived she was caked in black grime. It took three baths and gentle soaking with baby oil to loosen up the filth around her tender eyes.

She is two months old, but feels like a premature baby in your arms—only 4# 9 oz. Her eyes stare blankly, but she is responsive and feeding well. We've had awesome responses for collecting breastmilk for her. She wasn't handling the formula very well because she's probably never had it before. But the breastmilk will make a huge difference for her.

Yesterday, Joy (our social worker) and I, went back to the police station who rescued her, and they took us to where her mother is living with her grandparents. Again it was a difficult situation. Maricel, Cindy's mother, is mentally unstable and will need psychological evaluation. She answered right away, as we had been told by the police, that she is 15. But she's actually 24. And their living conditions are pretty rough.

Fortun- ately, they live near to family who have been helping them out somewhat, but neither Maricel nor her parents have any source of income besides begging. Materially, many Filipinos live much worse off than Maricel is, but with her mental challenges thrown into the bargain, I don’t know how long Cindy would have survived with her. Like us, the family is very grateful that she is now at tlc.

We have found that the best way to support the children in our home is to establish a fund in their name for the expenses during their stay at the little children's home. Cindy needs our prayers and support as the work of rebuilding her life has only just begun. Send me an email if you would like to contribute to Cindy's care, or look for me on FaceBook for more pictures and information on Cindy.

2009-08-24T19:58:00.004+08:00

Helen has been on our staff for a long time. She moved over from being a caregiver at the little children's home to be a home supervisor at Shiphrah Paanakan (Exodus 1 Birthing Home) because of her extraordinary leadership and industry.

All of her skills were on display today when I visited her small restaurant. It doesn't even have a name, but she and her husband, Noel, sell hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, and soft drinks.

Noel leaves for the market at 4 every morning to buy the meat and other supplies for the day. Their shop is open all day--their busiest hour being from 11 pm to midnight.

Helen has been sharing with me about their struggles in business. Profit margins are slim, of course--and the rain doesn't help. But they would probably be making it if they hadn't taken a 5/6 loan in desperation to get started. 5/6 means that every month they pay 20% of the principle as interest. For them, it's P2,000 ($45) every month--just in interest. Last month they didn't even make the interest payment, let alone any progress on the principle.

I visited just to get a better feel for the situation. And Helen's charm is winning. With the utmost of simplicity they've managed to create a dignified and appealing environment.

When I was there, besides grilling a P10 (c20) hamburger, they were packaging chicken skin chicharon (imagine deep fried chicken skin done up sort of like chips) for sale in local call centers.

Of course, everyone in the neighbor- hood is related or at least friends. Practically every home has some little store out in the front of it, from a barber shop to a bakery, from an internet cafe to a used clothes store. And graffiti. (This is a censored detail of a more ambitious work.)

Email me about our loan programs for staff. I have such an urgency to see them succeed. Helen and Noel work so hard for their 7-year-old, Michelle. All they need is a little break. A two-hundred dollar loan would hardly make them millionaires, but it would get the loan sharks off their backs. And a little leg up, with a lot of industry, could make a world of difference.

2009-08-23T23:38:00.005+08:00

The boy's summer was mostly soccer.

Of course, it was mostly Aubrey. But Auden joined in too. Their coach worked really hard to include him, and they both think the entire world of coach Clod.

And Auden took it very earnestly, for the few minutes it could hold his attention.

Most of his time was actually taken up on the sidelines looking for butterflies and spiders.

Aubrey really came on. Of course it wasn't always easy to keep the interest up, but now when he plays with his (older) friends (who haven't played as much football) they say, "Aubrey, you're so good." And he beams and tries to make it true.

It's awesome to see him become really proud of something he does well.

We got him his first real soccer ball. That was a bit of an (expensive) ordeal. It was beautiful, but of course by now it's all scratched and scarred.

Besides his soccer skills, sometimes you just see him standing there...and you realize how big he's gotten. How much of his own person he is. How full of joy and ideas.

These pictures are from the 4th of July. The boys all went up a line with the rescue squad. This is Bryon...

...and his brother John Paul. Filipino school is back in session, so they're not around as much as they were. But it was a great summer of play and learning.

2009-08-15T20:34:00.000+08:00

Celebrating God's goodness: Polong Degala, the son of Susan, of our caregivers, was rushed in for an emergency appendectomy--or so we thought. It actually turned out to be a tumor. I visited, expecting him to be in pretty rough shape from the descriptions I had been getting, but they had found a new antibiotic that works, so his fever dropped after most of a week at around 40. He's home now and recovering, but you could pray for the family. And, of course, we're all recovering from the considerable expense of the situation. But very happy that all is well.

2009-06-19T10:42:00.005+08:00

I took the tlc kids to school today because our mission driver is taking some women who just gave birth to get tubal ligations. At Shiphrah Paanakan (Exodus 1 Birthing Home) we provide family planning counseling and help to facilitate the choices families make. There isn't a lot of emotional support for people who choose family planning in a Catholic country, so we encourage them to take responsibility for themselves and support them through the decisions they make.

So, between trying to make payroll, I took Dennis and Jay and Senon to their preschool. They're only just four, but very enthusiastic for school.

I held Dennis's hand, walking up the lane. He's such an energetic little boy but he walked very slowly, stumbling over every stone along the way. I was struck by how much learning it takes just to walk up the lane for such a little one.

It's a crowded, narrow passage, with lots of foyers onto people's homes along the way. He looked into every doorway and took in every color and texture. It was a long walk for a short way.

A motorcyle passed us, and he listened to its riders talk about needing a 'valid id' for something or other.

It wasn't until we approached the entry way to the school that his pace quickened. You could feel the excitement surging through his grip when he caught sight of his teacher, Vida. It's great the way such a young person gets a sense of hope and expectation for what there is to be learned.

2009-06-11T11:25:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Senon's fourth birthday today with swimming.

The Owen family came out to help us celebrate, bringing the cupcakes. Bernadette got everything out of this one.

The twins will celebrate their birthday in just a little more than a month. Then, with Auden, we'll have four four-year-old's.

Senon, Dennis and Jay started school this year. They are very happy, loving boys.

Senon is a miracle baby. Born premature, he spent his first two months at tlc snuggled kangaroo style, skin to skin with a committed careworker.

This is Joy. Besides being the very competent and energetic social worker who has been preparing all the children's papers for adoption, she is also beloved ate (older sister). Please join us in prayer for the right forever family for Senon.

2009-05-26T21:34:00.008+08:00

Today is Auden's birthday. If you're a parent, you probably know how almost discon- certing it is to realize that your little baby is four.

We celebrated today by going swimming at Las Brises with the kids from the little children's home and other children from the neighborhood.

We had a lot of little ones who can't swim, but we had a lot of fun together. This is James showing off.

This is Bernadette riding on my back. She was timid getting into the water, but she loved the whale rides.

Ok, it's a dispro- portionate ratio of Bernadette pictures, but she's such a cutie.

Deborah works really hard to make birthdays (and other important days) really special for the family. Auden woke up to coffee cake for breakfast, and asked for pumpkin soup for lunch and sinagong (sour soup) for supper.

If she looks a little proud of herself here, she deserves it. Auden's going to remember this day for a while.

Those of you who know Auden at all know that he doesn't do a lot of processing internally. He had a good time at the pool, but it was very interesting to see how he's changed again only just recently. After a while he went off by himself, looking for interesting sticks and pieces of metal he could collect. A little boy now, he's developing an inner life.

2009-03-21T10:22:00.011+08:00

After 9 months of waiting, surrounded by pictures of a loving family, this morning it becomes a reality for Camille.

It took a while for her to warm up to Mark and Regina.

In each picture she kept ootsing closer and closer, until she rested her hand gently on Regina's leg.

It wasn't long before she was on Regina's lap....

...and then eating with us.

Finally, when we got up from the table, she put her head down on her Forever Mother's shoulder, and gave her a big hug.

The next step is obviously Skyping! with grandma and grandpa, brothers and sister in LA, right?

They're staying at Las Brises, nearby, and Aubrey took this picture there. It makes me think of Psalm 23 as a prayer for Camille:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside still waters,
He restores my soul.

2009-03-17T11:46:00.008+08:00

Today is graduation for the ladies who have attended the prenatal seminar at Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan (Birthing Home).

Besides just being a lot of fun, it marks a major accomp- lishment of having taken respons- ibility for their own birth.

All of our seminars are designed by the women themselves, around their questions about birth, family, and nutrition. When they ask the questions, work out the answers, and then share with one another--the education becomes very much their own.

A blessed volunteer, DiAnn, provided the gifts for each graduating buntis (pregnant woman). This Maybell and Johanna, daughters of two of our midwives--Floribell and Lorni.

2009-03-17T11:06:00.002+08:00

Aubrey got very quiet yesterday when I read him the text that Deborah was on her way home from matching and that Jan Michelle has found a new home.

It's not that we don't want her to have a Forever Family, but we are sad to see her go. She has been a special baby for Aubrey.

Her family is from right here in Manila though, so maybe we'll be able to stay in touch with her as she grows up.

2009-03-16T13:00:00.011+08:00

Today would have been Fr. Thomas Green's birthday; it came just four days too late. But it was also my day to pray Psalm 16, so I prayed it for him: Keep Tom safe, O God, on the journey he has before him now--for in you he has taken refuge (1).

A couple weeks ago, knowing how much I have appreciated my relationship with Fr. Green, Steve asked me to summarize three things I have learned from him. I post my response here as a way of having/sharing it.

Prayer is 90% God's Work

I am not a very good pray-er--not by any standard. But experiencing God as the Lord of the Dance has been tremendously helpful to me. Not that I can blame him for my lapses, but I know that he is working prayer in me. It is Jesus who intercedes on my behalf, and if it happens that I sometimes enter in--this is neither drudgery nor decisive. It is pure joy.

Consolation is only Constant as Self-Satisfaction

I sought out Father Green in the early 90's as a tortured soul. I had made the global commitments I thought I needed to make in order to experience closeness to God. And of course there were moments of great promise. But the pattern of guilt, repentance and decline persisted. I read When the Well Runs Dry at the same time as J.C. Pollock's biography of Hudson Taylor--and the two books might have saved my life. It was either spite or a deep consolation to learn that the great archetype of missionaries ("The sun never rose on Hudson Taylor's China without finding him on his knees") struggled with depression and even thought of ending his life. Green's introduction to Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross spoke in concert with Taylor's discovery of the rest we find in the sheer goodness of God. Neither my ability to secure God's blessing nor any emotional sense of consolation in prayer indicate a genuine relationship with God, but a growing sense of his goodness--quite apart from and prerequisite to any growth in virtue.

Dryness is the Ether of the Lord

I have shared the four stages of prayer's growth from Teresa's biography, Chapter XI with I don't know how many people. And of course I learned them from Fr. Green. If I am a teacher, that does not mean so much that I have a particular set of skills as it means that, when I learn something I can pass along to others I feel like it is the greatest possible kind of possession a person can have. The surprise of Teresa's analogy is that maturation in prayer does not mean greater proficiency. A mature pray-er does not know how to pray at all. That is beginning prayer--when we pray by wrote, with an acquired pitch and vocabulary. And dryness in prayer is not the failure of these strategies. Technology should be honored for how far it can take us. But their "failure" is actually the Hand of an Operator, shutting off the valves we otherwise learn to trust in. The final image in Teresa's beautiful analogy--from a bucket and a rope in the garden of virtue, to an artesian well and then flood irrigation--is a face turned expectantly and desperately toward the heavens, hoping for rain. In mature prayer, it is not that the 90% of God's work becomes progressively more and more our responsibility, but that we learn more and more to depend on him as he takes away every consolation that comes from our own industry.

2009-03-11T09:28:00.007+08:00

Kind of a wild night. I think we had been asleep for about an hour when the call came in for a birth in Makati. Deborah spent an hour on the phone talking Tiferes through contractions and then decided we better go down there to support her.

We asked one of the careworkers at the little children's home, Len-Len, to stay with Aubrey and Auden while I drove Deborah to the home.

Just as we were ready to leave, we got a call from the birthing home, Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan, that there was a transport to a nearby hospital. A mother we have known for a long time, accompanied by her probably 13 year-old daughter we delivered, had blood pressure that was too high to deliver safely with us. That took a little while to arrange, and then we dropped them off in Pasig on our way to Makati.

I hurried home after leaving Deborah at Yosi and Teferis,' because especially if Auden had woken when he didn't know we were gone, that would not have been very smooth. Fortunately, he was still asleep.

I studied for an hour 'cause I was too wound up to sleep, and when I went to bed at 4, Auden woke up. When I told him where Deborah was he said, "I want my mom back right now!" I was still getting that sorted out at 4:30 when my alarm went off to take Camille to the embassy for her visa interview.

Both the boys were awake now, so I could hardly leave them without trauma. I loaded them into the back of the Crosswind and made a bed for them. They thought it was great fun, and we headed off down the road again. The streets start getting pretty blurry when you have traveled them more than once in the same night.

Camille has been matched to a Filipino heritage family in California for 9 months now. It has taken that long for the government to process her immigration. But the interview is the last hurdle, so her family will be here on the 20th.

The boys actually slept quite well in their impromptu camper, but when I got home I was exhausted. I told them I was going to go to bed and asked them to play quietly. They gave me about an hour.

Deborah, though, wasn't quite so lucky. Tiferes had a hard time of it and ended up delivering cesarean section in the hospital three exhausting nights later. She and Yosi have a healthy little girl though.

2009-03-02T17:24:00.000+08:00

Today we celebrated Jekie's birthday. Mike and Andrea are good folks with the US embassy who have take a special interest in her.

They invited the whole gang of us down to their compound and arranged a day of activities, food and presents.

Jekie's mom, Phoebe, was there--and, while that wasn't without its necessary awkwardness, it was a very good day for her.

Of course, a first birthday party is more about the people who throw it than the celebrant herself--but she had a lot of fun with the cake.

The event was very caringly put together, and we will all remember it fondly.

For the older kids it meant invaluable exposure to activities they don't get in the home.

Camille will need some coaxing to enjoy the water as much as Deborah does.

Volunteers really fill out the tlc care try to give to the children while they wait for their Forever Families.

Just an outing to the park or a trip to the mall helps to prepare them for "normal" life in a family.

Speaking of which, Senon is ready for local matching now (on the 14th), and will very likely go on to inter-country adoption. We are praying for a very special family for him.

2009-02-14T20:56:00.009+08:00

This is something we've wanted to do, literally for years. It took a visit from Keith and Carolyn, the pastors of our home church in Milk River and Sunburst, to put the planning into action.

We took all the staff from the little children`s home and Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan (Birthing Home) to Mary Hill for a half-day retreat.

It is Valentine`s Day today, so we reflected on the power of love. It is not only romantic love that gives our live meaning--but also communal love, parental love, and--ultimately--God`s love.

Of course, Deborah was our main planner and organizer. She arranged volunteers to cover our responsi- bilities at the two mission homes, and enough food to feed a troop.

I led worship and gave a reflection on Song of Solomon 8:6-7, In Praise of Love (http://praiseoflove.blogspot.com/).

Aubrey took most of these pictures.

We love to sing, so we did a lot of that. And we had workshop type questions that included activities like...

Draw a picture (or a symbol) of someone who loves you.

Find an object that reminds you of a time you felt loved. (This is Dina, drawing a picture of a cell-phone, because the way she communicates with her husband who is working abroad, is by text message.)

As a way to symbolize how we are growing in love, we each hung a colorful piece of fruit on a tree, writing on it one way we are or want to grow in love. It was like watching our love blossom (fructify).

And, of course, we just enjoyed the outdoors, the food, and one another.

A huge thank you to everyone who made this special day possible.

2009-02-11T14:31:00.006+08:00

One of Aubrey's school assign- ments for today was to take pictures of the babies downstairs at the little children's home with his new camera.

A new camera is a lot of fun, but Aubrey has also done a good job of really working on it as an art form. A little bias here: I think these pictures are outstanding.

Roy was in Wendy's home for Christmas care over the holidays. So she and another friend from the US Embassy Club were out to visit today. She's one of those really special volunteers who make care at the little children's home...tlc.

In the background you can see a mural painted by another group of volunteers that wraps all the way around the nursery reading: "He will give his angels charge over you, and they will bear you up" (Psalm 91).

Aubrey is seven years old, but our hope would be that he will learn to see in orphaned and abandoned children the very apple of God's eye.

2009-01-30T10:06:00.009+08:00

It's been 16 years since we went to China Town as a family. The whole Gunderson gang went together in '92, looking for wedding bands and an engage-ment ring.

We found bands that we really liked in one store, and then found an engage-ment ring we all liked in another. We thought they'd look nice together, but how can you know unless you try them on?

So we asked if we could take the ring from one shop, out into the chaos of Ongpin St., and try it on in the other store. Thing is, we couldn't really come up with something to leave as collateral.

So we left Dennis! Jeri made some remark on the way out the door like, "And he eats a lot."

This year we took the boys down for Chinese New Year.

Ongpin St. is still chaotic, but we wondered if we might be able to find the shops where we bought our rings.

We rode down the street in a kalesa, which was a great way to see the fireworks.

Our horse never so much as winced. But we didn't recognize the shop.

Then we walked all the way back up it and still didn't see it.

It was four-o'clock and we were a little lost on our way back to the LRT station when we found it. From the street we were really quite unsure, but when we stepped inside the door it was a flood of memories.

The ladies tending the place still have the same charm that made leaving Dennis there possible and funny.

And then from there we could easily remember where we bought the wedding bands.

We learned a lot about Chinese culture, had a great meal, and took a lot of pictures. A lot of these are Aubrey's.

2009-01-17T17:31:00.005+08:00

Aubrey got a camera for Christmas, so it's just possible that you'll see the occasional picture of Deborah and I.

Here's the man himself in action. We went to Mary Hill today, a retreat center nearby where we go to hike on the trails through the woods, climb the "Kung Fu Panda" stairs and enjoy the scenery.

We went with Brian (right) and John Paul (middle, front) , who are brothers, and Pong-Pong (middle, back)--the three of whom spend a good portion of their lives at our home. They are next-door neighbors and have been very good friends to Aubrey and Auden.
If I were to say that Auden talked on the phone, you would have to know the full-bodied way that Auden does everything in order to understand that he wasn't being any less active than the other boys.

2009-01-17T12:34:00.003+08:00

If St. Nicholas had been a Filipino, he would probably have delivered sacks of rice to families instead of toys to children. That is what I got to do for our staff the days before Christmas, and I was taken off-guard by how very happy it made them. I will not forget what it was like to step over the doorway into Lucy's home in Antipolo, and to be greeted like the Spirit of Christmas itself. Thank you to all the many St. Nicks who made this possible.

2009-01-03T00:32:00.009+08:00

Dhave must be wondering right now whether he's just been adopted or whether he's died and gone to heaven. The form-ula for a happy Dhave is really pretty simple: constant attention.

And, well, he couldn't be with a better family.

Jon Ariel left the little children's home in April of 1994 when he was two-and-a-half years-old. We celebrated his 17th birthday with him yesterday (a day late).

But since then he has been joined by Hazel Elen...

...and then Shane (right)...

...and then by Job Michael--all from different homes (in fact, different islands) in the Philippines.

Jon Ariel is now making his fourth trip back to the Philippines to pick up yet another sibling, this time also from the little children's home.

Dag and Kari Anne are those beautiful, comfortable sort of parents who make it look all too easy and fun. When someone sits down with Dhave one day to explain to him from the Bible how much God loves him he's going to say, "I know."

2008-12-30T14:50:00.003+08:00

So many of us have prayed and held our breath for this (re)union, I thought you might like to hear a first-person narrative Tracey sent to us when they first got home:

"As soon as we walked through the doors at the airport with Liezel I heard Criza scream out 'there they are ... there's mum ... there's Liezel!' followed by video cameras and cameras clicking. I felt a bit like a celebrity.

"When Criza and Christian came running up to me holding Liezel, I just lost it and howled like a baby. It was incredible, how much emotion poured forth, at missing my babies and uniting them all as we hugged on the floor. I get choked up just thinking about it."

In a way, it's hard to believe how quickly all of this has come together. Just last Christmas Paul and Tracey had one child: Criza (middle).

Christian (right) joined them just after Christmas last year, and Liezel (left) completed the picture just before Christmas this year.

2008-12-25T11:28:00.009+08:00

There's just no way, short of a helicopter, to get a shot of the whole crowd. This is from the top of the roof, and it's a tip of the iceberg.

I wouldn't even hazard a guess at how many people were there this morning, but WAY more than we estimated. We'll have to up the ante for next year.

This is our annual "Merry Christmas," a Christmas give-away at the Gunderson's house, widely partici-pated in by the other missionaries in the area.

Every Christmas people knock on your door and say, "Merry Christmas." Meaning, "What can you give us."

So it was Dennis who started the idea, years ago, of organizing ourselves together so we can do more than a piece of candy or a peso per kid.

This year gifts were shipped in from Singapore, contri-butions were made from people around the world, to give away more toys to children and more food packages to families than we have ever done before.

And the mission-aries showed up in droves to organize it and help give it all away. A great way to start your Christmas Day.

2008-12-22T21:18:00.011+08:00

Our staff Christmas party falling in the third week of Advent this year, our theme was joy.

These are always joyous occassions for us, but did it maybe seem that this year was more joyful than ever?

There was certainly an abundance of thanks-giving.
With fun games.

Lots of great gifts.

Big, beautiful prizes.

Food and lots of fun.

We read together Isaiah 35:

They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Thank you to all who contributed to make this this joyful celebration possible.

(For some fun videos and a little more of the spirit of the Filipino Christmas Party go to: http://helpchristmasvideos.blogspot.com/)

2008-12-12T20:43:00.005+08:00

If a picture says a thousand words, these pictures take a few words to explain. Paul and Tracey have been eagerly awaiting the phone call to come pick up Leizel Joy for nearly six months now. It has been a soap opera of expectation and disappointment.

Yesterday morning they called early to say that, again, it looked hopeless. And then by eight-thirty, only three hours later, they called back to say they were in the car on the way to the airport.

We have the joy of hosting them in our home, and it is a cherished privilege--they, having already adopted Leizel Joy's older brother from us this time a year ago, have become dear friends. You can't help, with the time of year and the miraculous way that this adoption has come together, but analogize with the birth of Jesus--the unlikely fulfilment of every expectation.

2008-12-12T20:30:00.000+08:00

This is really for Camille's mom and dad, Mark and Regina, waiting breathlessly in California for word that they can come pick her up...but also for the rest of us who are praying for that miraculous first meeting.

2008-12-06T18:01:00.005+08:00

If no one's told you yet, Christmas is here.

We've had a blast today, with more than 30 volunteers from the US Embassy Club, and contri-butions from a very special Santa...

...throwing our best yet, but annual Christmas party for the families of the staff at Shiphrah Birthing Home and the little children's home.

We chatted with Santa...

...played games...

...ate LOTS of food...

...and glistened in the sun.

I think it would be a safe summary to say that there are about 115 sedate, exhausted, but very happy children right now. And a few parents.

Thank you so much to all those who contributed to make this Christmas season special for others.

2008-10-24T12:52:00.005+08:00

When you get over the anxiety of preparing food for a chef, it's a very pleasant thing to host Michael and Jocelyn.

We had the better part of a week with them while they were picking up Nica, the second child they have adopted from the Philippines.

David was from another children's home here, where he was with a foster family. He's now five, nearly six, and a very keen big brother.

Our boys played and played with them. And we talked and talked.

Among other special things we were able to do together we had a lovely farewell for Nica, the darling of the little children's home, for all her caregivers to say goodbye.

Our staff did an excellent job of preparing Nica to meet her family. When she woke up on the penultimate morning they were here her mom asked her how long before they went to Australia. Nica got a big smile on her face and help up a finger, "One more sleep."

You know that feeling of meeting distant relatives and discovering that you have a deep connection you didn't know you had? That's been our experience time and again when new family is added to tlc family.

2008-09-06T14:24:00.004+08:00

Janrey is going to stay right here in the Philippines.

Lawrence and Heidi live, actually, very near to us here. They're a beautiful family, and it's encour-aging to see the way local adoption is beginning to pick up steam.

Adoption has not long enjoyed a high level of regard in the Philippines, but this family is a promising exception to the rule. Janrey is their first child--and it was thrilling to watch them both jump, with both feet, into parenting duties like bathing and feeding.

A smile aside: Heidi and I are alumni from the same school here (where I now teach): Ateneo de Manila University.

2008-09-06T13:43:00.005+08:00

We all gathered to say a last goodbye to Alie (aka Marianna) today.

Roddy, Samatha, and "little" Roddy's visit to the little children's home coincided with our monthly staff meeting, so we all got to recall some special memory or blessing for Alie as she left.

Roddy is a Filipino, but has lived his whole life in the US.

They adopted "little" Roddy from here in the Philippines about three years ago now, so Alie will have an even further connection with her country of origin.

2008-08-20T20:05:00.006+08:00

Aubrey is becoming so comfortable in the water. It's delightful to watch, and probably quite important for living in the tropics. Not that we spend that much time in the water (especially if you ask Deborah), but water safety is very important.

I don't know where Aubrey learned this, but he did it the first time without any hesitation. I think he just thought it would be a good idea. And he's certainly having a good time with it.

We were having a lot fun in the pool with a new adoptive family (and their underwater camera).

2008-07-31T14:30:00.003+08:00

Learning to swim has been such a fun journey to go through with Auden. First, he thought he could fly, let alone swim. It's entirely out of mind how many times he just walked into water over head without an inkling that he wouldn't master it the way he masters everything else: by sheer force. Thanks be to God! he did finally come to understand that it was dangerous...and then for a long time he wouldn't let go of the side of the pool. He would hold his breath under the water and literally swim around...but always holding onto the handrail. Until just a week ago or so, he let go. And he's swimming like a fish now.

2008-07-31T11:30:00.007+08:00

I will never forget holding Carl in my arms the day after he was born. He had some kind of apnea episode and was limp and blue. We didn't know if he was going to make it. I was standing outside the hospital thinking about his adoptive parents. It's a terrible thing to be caring for one of GOD's children and to feel them slipping away from you. We knew that God had special plans for him (Jeremiah 29:11), but we didn't know if he was even going to live to see the day his parents would see him for the first time.

We didn't know yet that they were going to be Americans (and not French or Norweg- ian), from the Philippines (and not from India or Ireland), that their names were going to be Joey and Beth.

It was an awful moment, and I prayed the way you do in a panic.

He came through that time, and he's a handsome, winsome one-year- old now. Spending part of this week with Beth and Joey has been a miracle. They are very lucky and very happy.

Beth is a nurse and Joey works with the Homeland Security office in an airport. They're on their way, Saturday, down to visit her family on another island here in the Philippines. We had a very nice time with them and things are going very well with the transition.

2008-07-01T04:36:00.007+08:00

After a long wait, Kesha Mae is finally with her mom and dad. Bernard and Nadege are a beautiful couple from France, and already Kesha is very bonded to them.

We warned Bernard that he would have a task ahead of him. Kesha has always preferred to be with women caregivers. But Bernard's winsomeness is overwhelming. Kesha still defaults to Nadege, but already there is a very strong father-and-daughter bond.

Nadege is a psychology student, having just finished her master's degree. She will take some time to focus on Kesha, but intends to practice as a psychologist. Bernard is a fireman (as well as sailor and diving instructor). He has two months off now for their family to grow strong together.

Every blessing their way.

2008-06-28T07:32:00.003+08:00

A couple months ago Deborah met a lady from Belgium named Tina. She asked, "Do you know any students who need help with scholarships?"

Deborah said, "Oh, boy. Do I."

All of our staff have children and struggle to make tuition payments. We have been looking for ways to help them outside of their salaries, and education is a huge priority for them. So this was a tremendous blessing.

Tina, her husband Jeori, and their daughter Lila came out today to meet with the lucky four (3 college and 1 high school) students. They have the loveliest attitudes -- want to be involved with their studies and really help them to succeed. A huge encouragement to all of us.

2008-06-17T20:12:00.005+08:00

We just got these lovely pictures from my sister Faith's con- vocation.

Faith was able to attend my graduation from college here in the Philippines. Faith, can you even remember how unbearably hot we were for those interminable hours? You need a mnemonic technique.

I wish we could have been there, but, Faith, we're very, very proud of you. Congrat- ulations.

2008-06-13T11:23:00.009+08:00

Today we celebrated Senon's 3rd birthday. His actual birthday was on Wednesday (June 11), and we had cake and presents at the little children's home.

But when we went to the butterfly farm it was closed, so we went to the playground at Faith Academy. It's a favorite outing for the toddlers; every time I step into the home they say, "Faith Darren?" I hate disappointing them, so I was glad to hear the cheers when we said we'd go to Faith instead. (For our trip to the butterfly farm check out http://tlctours.blogspot.com/search?q=senon%27s+birthday).

The older boys (John Paul, Auden, Pong-Pong, Aubrey, and Brian) took turns burying one another in pebbles.

We all played hard.

2008-04-24T15:01:00.005+08:00

Kesha Mae had her 1st birthday on Tuesday. We had a party then, but today we received a care package from her new "forever family" in France with birthday presents for her. We had a team here from Oregon, so we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and she opened her presents.

For her new mom and dad, it will be a mixed blessing to see their daughter enjoying this special day. There will be no consolation until they hold little Kesha Mae in their arms.

For the team that was here, it was a unique opportunity to see the miracle of God putting a family together for the very first time. As Kesha Mae looks at pictures and receives presents from her new parents, the Lord binds a new family together "with chords of human kindness" (Hosea 11:4).

Volunteers who come here, even for just one day, provide indispens- able, focused care for our children while they wait for the family that is waiting for them. The Tigard team left our children (and all of us) feeling loved.

2008-04-24T12:54:00.012+08:00

It's been a long-time aspiration to train community midwives, and we're finally doing it. Friends who live and work on a remote island way in the north of the Philippines have sent three community health care workers to live with us for three months and learn midwifery.

Besides under- develop- ment, the Philippines faces a health care crisis because any licensed profession- al can make as much as ten times as much money overseas. One of our own experienced and gifted midwives is working in Hong Kong right now as a nanny. The money she is earning is supporting her large, extended family.

Our heart, then, is to train birthing attendants with the commit- ment to stay in their commun- ities and serve the people with the greatest need. Frankly, there is little compensation, but Carol, Helen, and Jing are throwing themselves into it full-heartedly.

They've never experienced a Manila summer, so they're struggling with the heat. And, of course, they miss their families.
But their smiles are bright and their resolve is strong.

For more on Carol, Helen and Jing, go to the HELP blog: http://helpintlmin.blogspot.com/search?q=community+midwifery

2008-04-22T19:42:00.005+08:00

Today is Mercy and Grace Frias' 15th birthday. They are twins, and Mercy has just been accepted into the same treatment program for lupus that her sister is in. It's an experimental program, so they don't even know if they're in the treatment or control group, but for them it is an answer to prayer that they are both in the program.

Their father is fortunate to have steady work at the Mitsubishi plant across from their subdi- vision, and their mother runs -- with the children's help -- a small sari-sari store out of the front of their house to supplement their income. Of course, just about every house on their street has a similar store out the front of it, so you can imagine how much they sell in a day.

But their trust in the Lord, straight- forward hardwork- ingness, and tenacious Hope (which is what they named their youngest daughter) is an inspiration.

2008-04-19T14:01:00.011+08:00

None of us know how long we have here on the earth, so we learn to treasure life as a gift. When we received the surprising news on Thursday that Rey, our former, long-time mission driver, had been diagnosed with liver cancer and was asking for us to come visit, it didn't take long to decide we needed to go right away.

He and Lucy are especially close and he had specifically requested that she come, but it was her day off. So I jumped on my motorcycle to fetch her because it was the fastest way get everyone together. We fit in as many as could squeeze in, and left within 4o minutes.

We had a lovely time with the Cunanan family, singing some of Rey's favorite songs and praying together. None of us knew how little time he had left, but he passed away only minutes after we said goodbye.

Rey lived near the mission homes and responded many a-night to emergency transport calls. He drove babies for check-ups, and greeted many new families when they came to pick up their adopted child. He also served many families with us when they lost a loved one.

He will be cremated tomorrow at the same memorial home where Dennis was, so we will be united again in prayer and song and thanksgiving. If you would remember the family in your prayers, that would be a blessing. And each of us will grieve a loss at the same time that we celebrate the gift of Rey's life.

For more on Rey, go to the HELP blog at: http://helpintlmin.blogspot.com/search?q=rey+cunanan

2008-04-14T17:22:00.010+08:00

We’re back from the most wonderful of times in Singapore with our good friends. We did just about everything you can imagine with young families, from going to a play (The Emperor's New Clothes), to the zoo and the beach...

... Cele- brating a birthday at the Botanic Gardens, swimming and playing on play- grounds, shopping, and just spending a lot of wonderful time together.

One of my highlights was going to a goat farm. My family took care of goats when I was young, so I have very special memories with them. But it’s not a memory that’s easy to share with people because goats are not as popular as their friendliness deserves.

Isabel, though, is allergic to cow’s milk – so we drank goat’s milk most of the time we were there. Also, with the drought in Austral- ia, a lot of Asians are looking for alternative sources of milk. So the goat farm is a popular tourist spot. They were so friendly and fun that no one wanted to leave.

We got to know the Hergge family here in Manila when Deborah was the attendant at Niko’s birth in their home four years ago now. Since then we have become very good friends. Niko, though, has a serious heart condition and is scheduled for his second surgery in England at the beginning of next year.

It’s an anxious thing to face a serious health concern with a young child. No doubt we have become closer friends because of the challenges we’ve faced together.

While we were there, Auden developed a painful ear infection that required medical attention. It wasn’t on the scale of their concerns for Niko, but there was anxiety about his health, as well as about the expenses of medical care. But the way things turned out seemed to show God’s miraculous care for both our families.

When we visited the specialist, Deborah talked with him about our lives and work here in the Philippines. He pre- scribed medicine and told us to come back before we flew out for a procedure to remove the wax from Auden’s ear. It was a total surprise, but he donated his services each time he saw us. It seemed like this little miracle was a message from God for both our families: “You can trust me to provide what you need.”

2008-03-23T19:37:00.009+08:00

Stations of the Cross

We’re all busy, but for Holy Week we would want somehow to capture and receive in an immediate way the (un)dying presence of Christ for us in the things and faces nearest and most familiar to us.

One: The Last Supper

After giving thanks He broke it and said, ‘This is my body…’ (I Corinthians 11:24).

Not to be profane, but there’s something carnal about the Last Supper. Aubrey has said several times this week that the Last Supper is also the first because it’s our first station. And I like about this picture the way it captures the real togetherness of four close friends. Not as leaning toward the camera, or marking the moment (except after the fact), but together out of custom and out of practice. Something done for a reason. A convergence of four intentionalities that only become meaningful when captured by a camera.

Two: The Agony in the Garden

Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow! (Lamentations 1:12).

Taking pictures of the boys this afternoon I was struck by how much easier it is to shoot younger children. I suppose it is that as we get older we become more self-aware. Situations turn into poses, and emotions turn into projections. The grief of a young child—Auden’s here, the frustration of a toy that won’t do what he wants it to do—is absolute.

Three: Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

One of the character- istics of a situation of judgment is that something vital, something for-it’s-own-reason, is taken apart and examined against external criteria. For the termites who developed this as living space, to see it opened and explored is to destroy what it was. Even the beauty of it is a violation of what it was meant to be. To adjudge it as dead and worthless is as much a category mistake as it is an error in judgment.

Four: The Scourging and Crowning with Thorns

Parents feel things in a way they didn’t before life became doubly precious. The juxtaposition of something angular and unbending with the softness of human skin is a perception almost too visceral to sustain action and good sense. You see a roof-top or a ladder that used to look like fun, but now it is an almost paralyzing terror.

Five: Jesus Receives his Cross

There’s a profound delicacy in the liturgy here. Jesus ‘receiving’ his cross suggests an gentle acceptance in a scene of vulgar force. In a scrap for life, the flower lifts itself on the pole, which, of itself, gracefully lifts the tender plant into the sun. It’s the basic dissonance between a brutal weight and a powerful grace that makes this scene.

Six: Jesus Falls Under the Weight of the Cross and, Seven: Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross for Jesus

These moments are always simult- aneous in nature: something falls, something entirely new springs to life.

Eight: Jesus Meets the Pious Women of Jerusalem

I was raised in a critical distance from popular piety. But there’s something striking about the life of Christ in relationship to our feeble efforts. At the baptism, he submits himself to our pious rituals. Here in his death, he meets us where we are at. Our efforts, vacuous and unavailing, are filled with the grace of his attention.

Nine: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Like duct-taping a bouquet to the wall, could there be a greater violence than nailing a sacrifice to the wood?

Ten: The Repentant Thief

A should- have-been- prefatory remark here toward the end: the purpose of this exercise is devotional, not illustrative. It’s not that we set out to find instances of salvation history, but that we set ourselves the task of seeing Christ’s self-giving in our surroundings. Auden’s sheer posture here reminds us, if we’re looking for it, of the way crucifixions will have regarded one another from their crosses. We don’t know, but might it not have been physical posturing that inclined the thief to repentance?

Eleven: Mary and John at the Foot of the Cross

If it is that Jesus’ dying attention was on mundane issues of social concern, how much more captivating will the physical condition of a dear one’s feet have been from the foot of the cross?

Twelve: Jesus Dies on the Cross

Deborah took this picture of charred ashes, which illustrates so well the utter lifelessness of what remained after the death on the cross.

Thirteen: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

I like to think of Revelation 3:20 as telling the story of the resurrect- ion from the inside of the tomb: ‘ Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’ In the same way, every commodity has a dual history; there’s the story of the doors they open for us, and the story of the doors that stay closed because of them. This year, two families on our street are digging tomb-like garages into the side of the hill their houses are built on, presumably for cars they didn’t have before. A garage keeps a car safe, but something more happens when we entrust our belongings into God’s safekeeping—they are transformed into blessings for us and for others.

Fourteen: Jesus Rises from Death

Nothing— besides, perhaps, Aaron’s rod that mirac- ulously budded— prepares the North American for what happens when you put a hacked-off stick in the mud over here.

2008-03-13T11:20:00.002+08:00

This picture screams: inter- national adoption is a great option.

For people who aren't sure they could ever bond as deeply with an adopted child as they would with their own.

For people who worry that children will never be at home in a foreign country the way they would be where they were born and with people of the same skin color.

Arnstein says, 'As a teacher in Norway, I work with many families -- and we all have the same problems. Children need to be cared for in a family, so that when you tell them "no" as a teenager, it is the same person who told them "the stove is hot" when they were little.'

Aud Berit said it was even difficult to come to terms with having a birth-child when Daniel was born after adopting three from the little children's home. 'I kept thinking, we should be going to the Philippines to pick up our child.'

Jonas (17 and 1/2, he tells you firmly), Jostein (16), and Maria (12) are here for their first return-visit to the Philippines after they were adopted as babies. They are soaking up the images, climate, friendliness, and flavors of the place where they were born. But they are so thoroughly Norwegian, so thoroughly family--I just can't help sharing with you our joy in what God has done.

2008-03-05T20:26:00.004+08:00

Aubrey has a riddle for you: It's the front of a walrus and the back of a cow.

Aubrey says the answer is a letter, not a body part or an animal.

The answer is "W."

2008-02-22T12:45:00.005+08:00

We're starting to get excited about a new way of helping impover-ished families meet their nutritional needs. For a long time we have encouraged our families to make wise choices in their nutritional planning--especially for the young and unborn child.

But there is a way that families can substan-tially supplement their food budgets. Most of our families have little or no space available to them for gardening. And of course budgets are very small for development projects. But a friend of ours is starting to work with what he calls Mini Farms.

The basic idea, which we are setting out to learn, is to start with compost. Worms, that help us dispose of household waste in an environmentally friendly manner, can be fed to chickens and fish. The compost itself can be used to make miniature gardens for growing vegetables.

If a family can basically grow protein at no cost and with minimal set-up, it would radically change living standards. We're exploring the possibility of setting up a model site at the birthing home to help teach and inspire families to help themselves in this way.

When we had dinner with Mike and Natalie last week, we found it inspiring ourselves. The next day, the boys and I built a little box and planted a few seeds in it. (We don't have a very large yard either, but the point is to learn how to do it so we can teach others who have even less.) Just yesterday we noticed the very first little shoots of lettuce...or is it rosemarie?

2008-02-18T17:51:00.010+08:00

Nika turned three today ... with a splash. Well, ok ... with a rather timid and cursory encounter with the pool.
But the party was lovely.

Mary, Paula, Liz and her friends ... mission- aries who live in the area ... helped to put together a special party for her. There were cupcakes and icecream, presents for everyone, and more balloons than we could stuff into the car on the way home.

It was a team effort, and it was great working together.
We all had a good time,
but there's no doubt that

Nika ends the day

knowing she is special and loved.

2008-01-16T17:57:00.000+08:00

Gary and Amy are from Canada and they're here to pick up Mark Joseph. Amy is Filipino, but she's spent more of her life in Canada than I have.

Gary himself was adopted, so he has a special understanding of what Mark Joseph is experiencing right now.

2008-01-02T05:02:00.000+08:00

New Year's is a lot of fun in the Philippines. It's probably the second most important holiday of the year, after All Saints' Day.

Our traditional meal for New Year's Eve is tacos, and Auden was very keen to help roll out the shells with us this year...

...and then to taste his own cooking for the first time.

Loads of fireworks. Everyone probably happier than than they are at Christmas.

We always set off some rockets and fountains in front of the house. If you've never exper-ienced a Filipino New Year's, you can hardly appreciate the war-zone effect of fireworks going off in every direction. The pictures look so sane.

The haircut was a long-standing agreement with Kevin. "Come to the Philippines and you can give me a mohawk," she said. The fact is, we've all been enjoying the mohawk even after Kevin left. Aubrey turned photographer after midnight, and took several of these lovely pictures--including the group picture of us at the top of this blog.

2007-12-28T20:43:00.000+08:00

Paul and Tracey were here five years ago to adopt Criza from another home in the southern Philippines; we picked them up at the airport last night, here to adopt Christian from the little children's home.

They came down to our home for breakfast this morning and met Christian here. Criza had been slow to warm up to her dad when they first met...

...so it was relief and joy when Christian went very quickly to Paul--and clearly feels very safe in his massive arms.

We always would like to share as much of our children's home culture with families as possible, so it's been a full day of lunch at an art gallery, a visit to the petroglyphs in Angono, shopping at the market in Antipolo, and a visit to the church there.

Then it was back to the Gunderson's home for a nice visit and dinner.

Criza's an excited big sister...

...and an eager shopper, so I think tomorrow will likely include a trip to the mall.

2007-12-26T15:57:00.000+08:00

Christmas is for giving, and a lot of people have given to make it a special day for children and families in our area. Early in the morning, we had a give-away of food bags for families and toys for children.

We gave away more than 500 bags of rice and other food goods to families, and maybe twice that many presents to children. Until we ran out anyway, each child got a balloon with their present--so the street was filled with color and happy children opening their presents.

A mothers and darlings support group gave coloring books and crayons for the children, and mission-aries in the area pooled their resources to buy the food. There were also toys sent over from Singapore for the children.

My brother, who was visiting for the holidays, got to share the experience with us. He said, 'I wish I could live this way everyday.'

2007-12-22T12:00:00.000+08:00

It was not especially good news that the angel brought to Mary. She was going to be stoned to death. In the best case scenario, her life would be spared by our queasiness before the law. At the very least she would be shamed and bring shame to the ones she loved. This is not immediately, obviously good news. Something about Mary’s faith enabled her to hear good news in the message the angel brought, ‘The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’

1

Last night Kevin and I were coming home from the last day of classes before the Christmas break. It had been a pretty full day and we were both happily exhausted. But when we went to get on the motorcycle to come home we found a flat tire. There are no spares on a motorcycle, and all the vulcanizers nearby were closed. But after fighting the wheel off, we found a taxi who would take us to find someone to fix it.

That was when our rather mundane, late-night nuisance started to turn into something more miraculous. The vulcanizer we found was quiet. There was a party or family gathering going on around him, but he went about his business very professionally. I told Kevin, ‘It’s nice to watch someone who takes pride in his work.’

When he saw that the valve stem was sheered off he asked me if I had another tube. Of course there was nowhere to buy one so late at night, so he said, 'Ako lang gumagawa.' (I'll just make one.)

He put the stem back inside the tube, melted a piece of rubber over the old hole, and then hammered the stem through the patch—good as new. With just a few simple tools he had done what was totally impossible for me.

2

We had a hard time finding a ride back to where we had left the bike. We ended up walking, taking a jeepney and then a tricycle. The trike driver was a lot of fun, joking about charging us twenty-five dollars instead of twenty-five pesos because we were foreigners. I had just barely enough Tagalog to make the conversation camaraderic. And, again, there was a surprising confidence in his skills.

It was late so there was no traffic, and after how long it had taken us to find a ride, the speed he got the tricycle up to on Katipunan Avenue was thrilling. I had no good foothold on the side of his vehicle, and felt always like I was going to fall off—but the feeling was exhilarating more than terrifying.

When we got to the bike, Kevin and I both had the same unspoken fear. We’d had a hard enough time getting the wheel off—and no clear idea how to get it back on. When to be sure it was on right, when the brakes were set right. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised when he offered to help, but I certainly didn’t expect it. I’m not handy with tools at the best of times, but things came into his hands just as he needed them and the wheel was back on in a fraction of the time that would have tortured Kevin and I on our own.

3

Our third encounter happened when we got back to the gas station where we had left the bike. I had locked away all the bolts and small parts we had taken off, but there was one large part I didn’t want to carry and couldn’t fit inside the locking compartment. So I had set it close by the bike where I hoped no one would notice it.

Well, it was gone when we got back. Our trike driver slash mechanic angel couldn’t even have helped us. And it just felt like the one-more-thing, turning our multiple frustrations into a global failure. It would have ruined not only the night but the next morning as well.

Not that I expected any help, but I started asking the gas station attendants if they had seen anything. I was surprised how long it took him to come forward, but one of the managers came over and told me he had hidden the part better, ‘Because there are many thieves.’

Even here the miracle had the face of an inconvenience. It was sickening to the stomach to look at the patch of cement where I had left the part, knowing it wasn’t going to reappear for all my hopefulness. But someone had looked out for us. Someone had seen to it that our misfortune didn’t turn into despair.

It’s telling this story the morning after when you begin to see these three men as angels, sent from God. This Christmas let’s grow in the faith to see miracles in our misfortunes the way Mary did.

2007-12-09T14:09:00.000+08:00

Here's the trick: to photograph Senon he has to think you're taking someone else's picture. I've never been able to get a decent picture of him before, but when I was just playing with the kids, taking pictures randomly, I suddenly noticed I'd captured something of this captivating child.

Anyone will tell you that Senon's a special child. And I don't just mean his miraculous discovery in a garbage can some minutes after he was born and abandoned there. He has a winning, if reserved, personality.

He's in a room full of age-mates who are camera hogs. Try taking a picture of someone other than Nikka, and she'll grab the camera out of your hand. You have to do everything on the sly.

And Dennis and Jay are just so boisterous and charis-matic, Senon must feel like he's invisible sometimes. He's often a little melancholy, and his development is a little bit delayed, but his quiet charm is captivating.

Senon, we have to catch your smile off-guard; but that makes it all the more guarded a treasure.

2007-11-25T22:24:00.000+08:00

"Marijem...truly is our precious Jem (Gem). The word that best fits her is 'delightful'!" Here are just a few excerpts from the update we just received from Marijem's family in Australia.

We have written earlier about how Christian, who is in our home now, will grow up knowing Marijem. Vicki and Terri write: "We're so excited that Marijem and Christian will be able to share part of their childhood in Australia too. We've become friends with a family who've just come home with their 3 year old from the same orphanage as Ana. Ana thinks it's terrific to have a 'friend' from 'her orphanage' so it's lovely to think Marijem will have her 'special friend' too. It's lovely for Criza too at the moment to know that her new baby brother is at the same place that Marijem came from."

"Kadeesha's decided she's going to be Mari's dance teacher, so each morning before school they go off to Kadeesha's room to learn new steps. Marijem thinks she's so clever, and loves to show off her new 'moves.'"

"Analiza is like a 'little mother' with her and is often heard explaining why she should or shouldn't do something or other. They have a great time playing and laughing and having fun together."

"She is just the 'perfect fit' for our family. She is soooo loved by her big sisters, and Mummy and Daddy are completely charmed by her as well!" "We are so blessed to have our three beautiful girls!"

2007-11-24T19:22:00.000+08:00

There was an Alternative Gift Market in Snohomish, Washington this weekend, raising money and creating awareness for missions around the world. Good friends of ours who used to live here in Manila collected Philippine items to represent our work here. A great, creative idea. And it was a tremendous success.

2007-11-12T15:07:00.000+08:00

If what you wanted was proof that adoption is a miracle every time, here it is. We warned Joseph and Elaine to expect Sheila Mae to warm up to her new mommy before she'd even look at her new dad. That can be hard to accept, when you're bursting with unrequited love. But I don't know if it would have bothered Joe's quiet strength.

He's just attending to her, from whatever distance she will allow--and she is eating it up. She's had about three hours now to become daddy's girl, and they're well on their way to a life-long relationship of trust and mutual admiration.

Good job, mom and dad!

2007-11-04T16:10:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Eliot Gray Gunderson, born at 2am, October 31st, 8lbs 12oz. Congrat-ulations Joel and Jena!

2007-10-31T14:47:00.001+08:00

Sunday was Aubrey’s 6th birthday, but you’d be hard pressed to say when the cele-brations began or when they will end.

He started soccer on Saturday, had two versions of candles and cake on Sunday, went to the beach on Monday, and seems to have co-opted Halloween into his personal-centered universe today.

Happy birthday Aubrey!

2007-10-31T14:18:00.001+08:00

Since Friday last week, we have had the sweet presence of Sheila Mae in our home. Her parents will arrive to pick her up on the 12th of November, so for a little while it's like having another child.

The boys have taken to calling her their little sister, and she's just been part of our family. She came with us to the beach for Aubrey's birthday and had a grand time playing in the surf and sand.

Not that it has necessarily helped us get more done in a day, but her happy chatter is a welcome boost of spirits. I woke up this morning thinking, 'I have a lot of important things to do today, but the most important thing I'm going to do is take care of Sheila Mae.'

2007-10-22T12:48:00.000+08:00

This footage is of literally Christian's first contact with his family. We received a package this morning with a teddy bear, a photo album of his new family, a disposable camera, and this card:

To our darling little boy,

Welcome to our family. You are new to our family but have been growing in our hearts for a long, long time. We love you.

See you soon.

Love,

Mummy, Daddy + Criza

xxxooo

2007-10-20T16:33:00.000+08:00

It is wonderful to care for a family when their baby is being born. This morning two of our midwives had the pleasure of helping Alice and Romeo in the birth of their 4th child.

Little 6#4 oz Jade Hansen was born very quickly, which makes mom and midwives very happy. Shiphrah Bahay Paanakan has been blessed to assist in all four of Alice's births.

2007-10-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

Christian is our Christmas baby. Just before Christmas last year, he came into the little children’s home. He was three weeks old then, and our prayer now is that he will join his new forever family in Australia before Christmas this year. Just a week ago we received the wonderful news that the family we matched him to has accepted him as their son.

They are good friends with the family who adopted Marijem from us earlier this year (see related story at http://gustafson-family.blogspot.com/search?q=mary+ana+kadeesha), so the two will grow up in the extended tlc family. All we await now is the good news of a travel date for mom, dad and older sister.

2007-10-18T13:01:00.000+08:00

Erikson's term for it is 'genera-tivity.' When I met with Edith today to discuss her plans for retirement she said, "If it comes time for me to leave the little children's home, you don't need to have a party for me. Instead, let's help those who really need it." And she told me about the dire situation of one of our workers' sister. Edna is Marivic's sister. Her husband died some years ago from an accident doing dynamite fishing off the shore of Cavite. This is hardly an honorific way to die, but Edith's concern was all for Edna and the children she is trying to support without a regular income. "She works very hard and has a good attitude," she said; "If you need to hire another employee, you should hire her."

When Edith was a young woman, she attended Bible School out of obedience to her eldest brother. "For Filipinos, the kuya is like a second father; I didn't want to disobey him." Gradually, she began to learn the Bible and to discern God's call on her life. She spent nine years working in the remote, mountainous regions of Camarines Norte, pioneering house churches where there were only very few established churches, far apart.

Then she describes a transitional experience in her life. She took care of a young girl who had an ovarian cyst and then died of cancer two years later. She is trained as a pastor and was closest to the girl who died, so the pastor in charge asked her to preach at the funeral. But she said, "I felt as if someone was choking me; I could not preach because I love her."

After going through a number of employment and ministry situations, she came to work with us in January of 1994 as a careworker. She will be obligated to retire in January this next year, after 13 years of service, because she is turning 65. I asked her what she feels God is calling her to now and she said, "God is not finished with me yet." She hopes to work again in church support. Many of her former students and associates are working in church leadership.

She described a dream she had while she was pioneering house churches in the Bicol mountains. It was kaingin, when people chop down the tall grass in preparation for planting crops. This has been the image of her life, preparing the soil for the work that God will do in the lives of others. How many children have first-experienced God's love for them in Edith's arms?

2007-10-13T11:57:00.000+08:00

We've known Norma for years. She's a well-known seamstress in the area and has sewn things for us on all sorts of occasions. Sara's dress for Joel and Jena's wedding. But now we have her and her husband (and his brother) making bags for the little children's home.

2007-10-13T11:32:00.000+08:00

2007-10-12T10:48:00.000+08:00

Timmie and Dawn, two of my students in Philosophy of Religion at Ateneo de Manila University, have just submitted their final contribution to the seminar. They are introducing us here to the ancient Greek, Xenophanes, and his thinking on the relationship between what we know and divine revelation. If theology captures for us an ideal and an impetus for our thinking, Xenophanes insists on grounding our speculation in the world as we experience it.

As expected, I have learned more than I thought I could possibly learn in a semester. And my students have been delightful. Thank you guys.

2007-10-11T16:07:00.000+08:00

This blog is long over-due. But little Amber's new family is from right here in the Philippines. Many of you will have heard us talk about Amber. She came into the home two months premature, six months ago. She was extremely vulnerable and spent her first two months with us in isolation. (For two stories on her, see the following link to the HELP blog: http://helpintlmin.blogspot.com/search?q=amber).

Mike and Winnie live in Cavite, just a bit south of Manila. We had them over for lunch and hope that we will get to see them again as they don't live as far away as most of you do.

An adoptive family is a big family. We feel, when a family comes here to take one of our children to their home, as if they are joining the team at the little children's home. Here are Marisa and Merlinda, Mamarlyn and Antonia, four of the caregivers who have been there for Amber since she was newborn. They are flanking Mike and Winnie who hold Amber now. (On the far right is Tara, the social worker with the Department of Social Welfare and Development who facilitated the match.) Welcome to the tlc family.

2007-10-11T13:01:00.000+08:00

Amber's parents, Winnie and Mike, were able to join us at the little children's home for a seminar on infant massage. Cindy volunteered to teach our careworkers about listening to the signals a little ones is giving, and also how to stimulate and soothe them with massage. Of course, much of what she shared was very much a refresher, but our work is always evolving through education.

2007-10-07T22:53:00.000+08:00

Here's a picture of Shiela Mae, just taken today. She's so beautiful.

She has been matched to a family in the United States for four months, and we are still waiting for her visa to come through so they can come pick her up.

Our heart goes out to her and to her new family, waiting so long to be united for the first time. Shiela Mae will be the last of her 'batch' to go to her forever home. Angeline and David are already blessed to be in their new homes.

'God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing' (Psalm 68:6).