Project Destiny Kids

ARISE and CRY OUT for the children!!!

2011-09-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Family & Friends,

Please pray for the situation here in Philippines:

Just in the last couple of weeks 8 children have gone missing and found dead…various organs missing and up to P500,000 ($1,200) taped inside or around the body. Apparently it is a van that comes by and grabs the kids as they are walking to or from school. Some schools have even suspended classes for now. The children range in age from elementary to 16 years old. Obviously, their organs are being sold on the black market. (Kidneys, heart and eyes) These children were taken from areas near Butuan, about 1 hour away. Please pray God’s hand of protection and justice would come quickly. Pray for the families who are now grieving a terrible loss. Pray all other children would be safe. And pray that those who are doing this would be caught and stopped. God have mercy on us.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

In 2008, the National Bureau of Investigation alerted the public over the rampant smuggling of human organs in the Philippines. The NBI said smugglers are now targeting children who are kidnapped and taken abroad where their organs are sold to foreign nationals.^[102] ^[103] The World Health Organization has identified the Philippines as one of the five organ trafficking hotpots.^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_Philippines#Child-organ_trafficking}

^{http://www.asia-acts.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:ngo-calls-for-the-protection-of-filipinos-from-the-black-market-trade-of-human-organs&catid=34:side-flash}

^{http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2011/09/06/law-deployment-village-watchmen-schools-approved-177769}

Coin Banks for Sale

2011-09-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

PDK boys are making bamboo banks to help raise support for PDK. The boys cut, chisel, and sand the bamboo. While Teresa paints the designs and then the boys varnish them.
We've started making candle holders as well.

Daisy

2011-09-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Daisy was a great pig!!!

Gardens gardens gardens

2011-09-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Cucumber Corner

This is our attempt at a hanging wall garden. We ran out of ground space so we decided to try hanging our gardens on our walls. We used rice sacks attached to a simple wooden frame supported with chain. The planting material is rice hull, sand, and soil. We are attempting to grow Pechay in these.

This is our squash bed

Okra patch...we've already transfered this bed and will create a talapia tank in this spot.

PDK animals!!!

2011-09-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our chickens ...these are our 1st batch...we're already on our 2nd batch

Daisy and Dorothy our 1st pigs...Daisy is already in the refrigerator now, Dorothy will be at Christmas Dinner

Parakeets that we are hoping will breed and we can sell $10 a pair

Our rabbits...they are almost ready for breeding. We will eat the meat and sell them for $10 a pair

Ampalaya Garden

2011-09-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Amazing Ampalaya almost ready to harvest

After just a couple of weeks

Our start with Ampalaya

WHO will...???

2011-03-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Shots fire off. One. Two. Three. Screams are heard, a body flails. A boy is injured, bleeding, dying. A police officer is on the other side of the barrel. The kid. Should not have been there, should not have been doing that, should not be that. Stealing, fighting, vandalizing or just having dinner equals a shot to kill?

The bullet entered the chin and lodged deep next to the spinal column. Unable to speak, unable to react, struggling to just breathe he lay there alone. Who will speak for him?

The first hospital has no vacancies, the second hospital has no vacancies, the third hospital requires massive money just to enter the doors. Where does one get large amounts of money in the middle of the night? The fourth hospital has no vacancies and no doctor that could treat him anyway. Back to the previous hospital, finally with money in hand. It takes 30 minutes to get the boy inside. After a few simply tests it is determined that the boy is critical and must go to the next city for treatment. A five hour trip turns into 8 hours because we have no ambulance driver yet. Who will care for him?

The fifth hospital accepts the boy. But where are the doctors? With no staff available, the boy continues to struggle to breathe, blood continues to fill his neck and still he has no voice. Hundreds of patients no doctor no supplies. Who will see for him?

12 hours later…30 hours since that bullet smashed through his face…he is in surgery. 50/50 is what they say. The officials turn their heads. Who sees this life? Who will take action for this life?

For those who don’t know by now, Lawrence was shot by a drunk police officer in Butuan City February 13. He has undergone three surgeries so far with still one more additional life saving surgery needed. Please pray for Lawrence, for the Butuan City police department, and for the doctors who will be operating on Lawrence. Please also pray for the children still in the street.

Destination...DESTINY

2010-05-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Life is full of ups and downs. The journey to Destiny however is bursting with turns and twists, hills and valleys, storms and surprises.

March brought a surprise to us in PDK when Lawrence jumped the fence and left PDK. No one was more surprised than me. The days and weeks that followed brought news to me that Lawrence was using drugs again and had lost so much weight. We was back living his old life. How could this be? How could a kid who accepted Jesus as his saviour, been water baptized, even preached to his family and walked out daily so much visible transformation now return to his old ways? And for no understandable reason. Why didn't we see this coming? Why couldn't we convince him to return?

I didn't and still don't have an answer to these questions. One thing I do know however is God has a plan and destiny for Lawrence, God has never and will never leave or forsake Lawrence, and God will stop at nothing to win Lawrence back to His loving arms.

Just last week, I received a message from a friend who requested some workers for a goat farm that is just getting started. I took to the streets and recommended a few kids to my friend. To my surprise, one of the kids that surfaced while on the streets was Lawrence. My heart jumped inside me.

Today Lawrence is starting again on the road to the Father's arms. I took him and the other two kids up in the mountains to the goat farm last week. They were all so happy for the chance to start again to make a life. I received a message from Lawrence just the other day. He thanked me for not giving up on him and for giving him another chance to change.

I'm thankful today for the grace of God, for His unfailing love and mercy for us. I'm thankful that God chose me to be part of Lawrence's journey to HIS destiny. Please pray for Lawrence, pray that he will once again surrender his life to God. Pray that God will give him strength, peace, and protection.

Eveybody Loves Hanna

2010-02-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

PDK Mascott

1st Cereal

Everybody loves to hold her

1st watermelon

URGENT PRAYER

2010-01-19T02:34:00.001-08:00

DEAR FAMILY & FRIENDS,

PLEASE PRAY FOR NATHANIEL JAMES....
HE IS BEING HOSPITALIZED DUE TO HIGH INFECTION. HIS MOTHER DID NOT HAVE THE CHANCE TO HAVE PRE-NATAL CARE. SHE WAS ALREADY 8 MONTHS PREGNANT WHEN SHE CAME TO US. NATHANIEL WAS BEING BORN WHEN WE DISCOVERED THAT SHE HAD SEVERAL STDS AND SHE IS POSITIVE FOR HEPAB...WHICH MEANS ALL OF THAT HAS BEEN PAST TO NATHANIEL. PLEASE PRAY FOR SUPERNATURAL HEALING AND MIRACLES IN NATHANIEL AND IN HIS MOM.

OUR OTHER BABY, HANNA JOY, IS 3 MONTHS NOW...SHE WENT TO THE DOCTOR TODAY AS WELL DUE TO A COUGH. SHE IS QUITE SICK AS WELL. SHE IS STAYING IN THE STAFF HOUSE AND IS ON 4 DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS FOR HER LITTLE LUNG INFECTION. PRAY FOR HEALING FOR HANNA JOY.

WHILE WAITING FOR THE BABIES TO SEE THE DOCTOR, I RECEIVED THE CALL THAT ANOTHER ONE OF OUR GIRLS STILL IN THE STREETS DIED YESTERDAY. SHE WAS 18. HER NAME WAS ANN-ANN. SHE DELIVERED A BABY IN DECEMBER AND WAS STILL IN THE STREETS. ANN-ANN WAS VERY ADDICTED TO THE STREETS; SHE STARTED LIVING ON THE STREET AND WAS PROSTITUTED AT AGE 12. WHEN I SAW HER JUST AFTER SHE GAVE BIRTH SHE WAS HIGH AND ABSOLUTELY GRIPPED WITH GRIEF THAT HER BABY HAD BEEN GIVEN AWAY TO SOMEONE ELSE. IT WAS HEART WRENCHING TO SEE HER IN THAT CONDITION. TODAY MY HEART IS BROKEN AND GRIEVED AT THE LOSS OF ANN-ANN. SHE WAS A SWEET GIRL FULL OF HOPE AND PROMISE AS WELL AS HURTS AND PAIN. HOW MANY MORE MUST DIE? SO MANY PEOPLE SAY THEY CARE, SAY THEY WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP, BUT IT IS ONLY WORDS AND EMPTY CHATTER. TODAY IS A HARD DAY IN BUTUAN. THE REALITY OF JUST HOW FRAGILE LIFE REALLY IS CAN BE A SOBBERING FEELING. ANN-ANN WAS HERE AND IN AN INSTANT HER LIFE CUT SO DRASTICALLY SHORT. SO MANY DIE IN THE PROCESS OF MINISTRY HERE. AND STILL WE CONTINUE TO BE LIMITED BY FUNDING AND WORKERS. CHURCH, PLEASE WAKE UP...ARISE TO YOUR CALLING...BE THE HANDS AND FEET OF CHRIST. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE MANY MORE ANN-ANN'S STILL OUT THERE ON THE STREETS TONIGHT. PRAY FOR MORE WORKERS, PRAY FOR MORE FUNDING FOR PDK AS WE CONTINUE TO REACH OUT TO KIDS IN THE STREETS. SHARE THE VISION OF PDK WITH OTHERS AND PRAY, GIVE, OR COME OVER HERE AND HELP OUT!

UNTIL EVERY CHILD KNOWS THE FATHER'S LOVE,
TERESA

Broken Things = LIFE

2010-01-17T05:06:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2010...Nathaniel James entered our world. 6lbs. 4oz, 18.5" long, at 12:45 p.m. our world changed forever. Nathaniel means GIFT OF GOD...James means TO REPLACE ONE THING FOR ANOTHER. God has truly given a gift to "K" and is replacing her pain and trauma with new life, healing, and restoration.

As I peeped through the crack in the door hinges at "K" I realized a few things. One thing I realized is that I am helpless to DO anything. I felt helpless and weak. Then I realized that actually I had the most powerful tool of all...PRAYER. We prayed and declared grace, comfort and God's presence to be with "K" and baby. It was literally 15 minutes and baby Nathaniel had entered our world safe, healthy, and so precious. I also realized that we see in part but God sees the whole picture past, present, and future. I'm amazed at how God deals with each of us where we are in life. God has brought new life in the midst of such pain and death really, He always brings good and turns what the enemy plans for evil. And finally I realized our lives consist of moments...moments in which God is working His purposes and plans for our good. We may not like the moment that we are in but hold on because the moment will change. Praise God it is only the moment that changes not God...He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

January Happenings

2010-01-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

We are so excited about moving into the Girl's House. The girls will still go to the Boy's Shelter House 8-11 a.m daily for school, which will be good for socialization and relationship. The girls are ecstatic and have already started packing for their big move. The House will be good for 12 girls. We are planning to bring in more girls by March.

The girls we have now are 11-18 years old. When asked what was the biggest and best thing that happened to them in 2009, they answered, "I came to live in Project Destiny and don't have to be on the streets anymore." They are so thankful for the chance to change their lives; to leave prostitution, drugs, and pain. They are like little sponges soaking up all of God's goodness and love.

We praise God for Association of Caraga Executives (A.C.E.) who gave a new refrigerator for the girls house! We praise God for Greg May who is allowing us to use this house for the girls!

We will be needing to purchase some items such as furniture, curtains, paint, and cabinets before we move in. We also will be bringing on 2-4 new staff.

Please pray for the needed monthly increase of budget. We MUST have $2,500 monthly in order to run 2 homes for street kids. Last month our monthly support was only $800. Please pray for more provision and any ideas to help increase our funding please don't hesitate to contact us.

New Year!!! New Dreams!!!

2009-12-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

My heart has been heavy with vision...

We really want to open a girls home. There are so many girls and new ones every day. We just can't take in any more girls in the one house, we really need a separate house for girls. Which means a separate staff for the girls. It takes 7 people to run one house. We are planning to open the Girl's Shelter House by February 2010.
We also want to re-open the drop-in center NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need 5 people to run that.
We are also dreaming of an alternative school for all the street kids not just the ones living in our shelters. So for that we would need a whole teaching staff M-F. And this would include feeding breakfast and lunch.
We also have thought about the possibility of starting a business here where the kids could work...thought is a coffee shop where live bands would come and play and board games would be on the tables sort of a family place but definitely a place where street-people could walk in and be welcomed and ministered to.
We want to start "Frontline"; this ministry would be strictly to the streets and those who are still in and on the streets. The Frontline team would go out nightly and witness, pray for, bring food and medical help to those on the streets.
We dream of one day having a YWAM Children At Risk School here in Project Destiny Kids, where people form around the world will come and learn how to do street kid ministry.
Teresa will be asking one of the local Bible Colleges to partner with us. She would teach a course in the college on street kids then the 5th year Bible College students would intern by working in either the drop-in center or one of the Shelter houses or be part of the Frontline team

All of these dreams will happen in God's timing, it's just that they are burning in our hearts now. And kids are literally dieing in the streets now. So we are praying and belieiving for more staff, buildings, and increased financial support.

more more CHRISTmas 2009

2009-12-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

and more CHRISTmas 2009

2009-12-29T21:22:00.001-08:00

more CHRISTmas 2009

2009-12-29T19:43:00.000-08:00

We all had the best Christmas ever! Just want to say thank you to the so many of you who gave and made it possible....The Lowry family, The Hawkins family,The Santos family, Sierra Pines Church, Double Blessings Plus Ministries, Calvary Chapel Fremont Church, Grace Community Church, Laura Rohwedder, Greg May and so so so many more....THANK YOU!!!!!

CHRISTmas 2009

2009-12-29T19:17:00.001-08:00

Christmas Party Feeding behind our Shelter House

Please continue to pray for these rugby boys. There boys are high on drugs literally ALL of the time. Please pray that God will reach down and open the eyes of their understanding that they might know how long, how high, how deep, and how wide is HIS love for them.

Deceived, Damaged, Disallusioned

2009-12-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

Frightened, alone, in pain...kids are drawn to the streets only to find themselves frightened, alone, and in pain all over again. No education, to hope, to future. The only thing in sight is how to escape the current pain and fear. With no self respect, self esteem, self worth...kids willingly cling to whoever or whatever accepts them, "loves" them, and is there even just for the moment.

"J****" and "K*****" are 2 girls who fit this scenario. "J****" we have known for a couple of years now, "K*****" we have just come to know. They are confused on every level. They claim to be "partners" yet the one has a one month old baby and the other is 7 months pregnant by her "regular customer". Clearly at age 16 she is under age but still she is "working" the streets. They are living in a brothel some of the time, the streets the rest of the time.

The two girls have come to us looking for a home, for help, for love. What can we do? I cannot say NO, yet I don't clearly know what YES will look like. We are meeting with them now and decisions are being made as to whether they will come live with us or not. We are laying down very strict rules and guidelines for the girls to follow for their best good. They could start school tomorrow if they choose. They could start a new life now ....if they choose. Please pray for these 4 lives and for us.

Pray that God will send us more staff, a home for street girls, a school building for rugby kids on the streets..........the harvest is so plentiful but the workers are few.....pray that God will see and hear and answer.

Love Revolution

2009-12-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

To repay evil with good...to love enemies.... LOVE REVOLUTION....

There is a group of rugby boys (rugby is the glue solvent the kids sniff to get high) that are staying in the neighborhood near our Shelter House. These rugby boys get high and then come to our house and throw stones and break our lights outside and steal clothes on the line. We have done everything humanly possible to stop them...called the police, put up barbed wire, put up a live-wire, moved the clothes to the interior...nothing has helped. So........ after coming to our wits end we prayed....we felt that either the Word is true or it's not and we choose to take God at His Word and do good to these boys....so.....the next night when the stoning started I went out there introduced myself and told them I wanted to be friends with them and I wanted them to come to our house for lunch the next day. They were all so high but agreed. The next day little by little they started coming around the corner. They were very hesitant and told us they felt ashamed. We told them to come on over we wanted to eat with them. At first they did not want to eat because they thought we were trying to poison them. But when we started eating, they joined. Our landlord came over and burst into a rage, the kids ran, the landlord shouted that he was going to kill them. We had to go mobile and take the lunch to the kids over on the next street away from our crazy out of control landlord. The boys were so happy with us; we talked and shared and learned their names. We are planning to feed them every week now. They came back the next night and shouted. The staff were afraid at first but when the staff went to the window to ask what they wanted and why they wanted to continue doing this....the kids simply asked for us to feed them again. We told them next time. and the boys shouted back, "ok, thank you." and they left...no harm no foul. God is really working in the hearts of these rugby boys. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance. We will no extend our table to these 25-30 boys weekly and by the next time we will also extend the Word of the Lord to them in a Bible study.

Please pray for the landlord as he has promised by December 7, 2009, he will start killing these rugby boys.

Vision

2009-11-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

Things seem to be going very very well. We have 5 kids now in the Shelter House. And we have 9 staff. All are happy and content and seem to be enjoying everything. Today we are taking in a possible 3 more new kids all the siblings of one of the boys. We have 1 staff and Susan who will be leaving soon, and another leaving end of January....so we are really praying for replacements.

We have started girls night and boys night every Sunday night. Our one girl and her baby come to the staff house will all the girl staff and the two boy staff go to the Shelter house. We do girly things like, watch girly movies, crafts, cook, and we started a Bible study on the life of Sarah. The boys on the other hand, throw colored water balloons at each other, run around like wild indians and watch funny PG action movies and eat snacks. We are working on getting the Bible study on Wild at Heart started for them.

All the kids were baptized 2 weeks ago, and continue to grow and change in their attitudes and behaviors. We are so proud of them all. We are starting a new school arrangement which everybody likes. It's called A.L.S. (Alternative Learning System). It is a modular system created and set up for out of school youth to complete a high school equivalency test. One of our board members has been a high school principal for years and is an incredible educator. She was recently promoted to Dep Ed office which allows her to have weekends off. So she is coming every Saturday to test the kids on the modules they complete during the week. We have had one week so far and everyone LOVES it. The staff are learning to be teachers now and love it! After the kids finish the A.L.S. and pass the final test they can then enter TESDA which is a vocational school where they can learn cooking, restaurant/hotel management, welding, carpentry. auto mechanics etc....

My heart has been heavy with vision...

I really want to open a girls home. There are so many girls and new ones every day. We just can't take in any more girls in the one house, we really need a separate house for girls. Which means a separate staff for the girls. It takes 7 people to run one house.
I also want to re-open the drop-in center NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need 5 people to run that.
I am also dreaming of an alternative school for all the street kids not just the ones living in our shelters. So for that we would need a whole teaching staff M-F.
I also have thought about the possibility of starting a business here where the kids could work...thought is a coffee shop where live bands would come and play and board games would be on the tables sort of a family place but definitely a place where street-people could walk in and be welcomed and ministered to.
I also want to start "Frontline"; their ministry would be strictly to the streets and those who are still in and on the streets. The Frontline team would go out nightly and witness, pray for, bring food and medical help to those on the streets.
I dream of one day having a YWAM Children At Risk School here in Project Destiny Kids, where people form around the world will come and learn how to do street kid ministry.
I will be asking one of the local Bible Colleges to partner with us. I would teach a course in the college on street kids then the 5th year Bible College students would intern by working in either the drop-in center or one of the Shelter houses or be part of the Frontline team

All of these dreams will happen in God's timing, it's just that they are burning in my heart now. And kids are literally dieing in the streets now. So we are praying and belieiving for more staff, buildings, and increased financial support.

Project Destiny Kids Shelter House

2009-09-02T04:38:00.000-07:00

Project Destiny Kids Shelter House is finally OPEN!!!! God is such a FAITHFUL FATHER!!!! We cling to the promise in Philippians 1:6 which says, "HE who started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in you."

Big Day for Lawrence

2009-07-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

Lawrence shared his testimony in church this morning. He was so nervous and kept telling me his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He did such a great job telling the congregation where God has brought him. He gave God all the glory for changing him from a drug user and pusher into a boy in love with Jesus. It was hard to stand beside him and not cry with joy at what God has done and continues to do in his life. After church we went to the local swimming pool for fun in the SON!!!

2009-07-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

New Project Destiny Kids Van
(the white one)

Praise God for Mr. J.D a generous kind person who gave a very good discount to us on this wonderful van.

Sponsor a Kid

2009-07-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

We continue to Praise God and declare His goodness!!! We have faced many giants along the road in PDK. We also have experienced the amazing goddness and faithfullness of God. We are in the last stretch before opening the Shelter and having a home for 30 street children.

Consider SPONSOR A KID.
$1 a day will provide 3 meals a day for 1 child
$1 a day will provide schooling for 1 child
$1 a day will provide electricity in The Shelter house
$1 a day will provide medical care

Please consider giving your $1 a day to Project Destiny Kids

The Shelter...garden

2009-07-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

The first completed garden plot (30' X 3')

This is 2 of the 12 plots we will have (30' X 3')

3 more plots being prepared with a layer of water lilies to provide compost at the bottom of the bed.

International Week of Prayer for Children At Risk 1st week of June

2009-06-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

We spent June 7th at Beautiful News Fellowship in Butuan City. Teresa shared about children at risk world wide. We all watched the video AIM LOWER then the whole church received crayons and paper and we drew and wrote our prayers for children and made a PRAYER QUILT. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!!!!!!!

2009-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

The New SHELTER
The Shelter will be home for 20 street boys and 10 street girls

HOME

2009-06-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Where to turn? Smothered in an overcrowded squatter area with addicted, beyond-poor parents or to the streets with air to breathe and even more abuse and addiction waiting? Lawrence, only 12 years old, chose the streets and living with the nuns through elementary school had provided him with no preparation for this choice. Sniffing glue, gangs and violence quickly became his new life . . .

Shortly after Lawrence came to the drop-in center, he declared that he wanted to go to school and was tired of life on the streets. He demanded more from us. Why couldn’t we send him to school and give him a home?

A short-term missionary, knowing nothing about Lawrence, began to share that he felt God had a plan for this boy to go to school. With tears running down my face, I immediately made the arrangements for Lawrence to enroll in school. He amazed us all by finishing his first year of high school above average - this after not attending school for 4 years.
At this time, his family suddenly transferred to a city five hours away, and taking him with them, they told him it was just for summer vacation. But, at the end of the summer, he realized he was not going back to school, not back to church, not back to the drop-in center.

Hearing of his plight, we contacted the family and the parents agreed to sign over legal temporary guardianship of Lawrence to us. And so, Lawrence came home last night to live with us. He will live with us in the staff compound for now until our shelter is up and running. He can't stop smiling...and is so thankful. God is good!!!

Please continue to pray for Lawrence and the many many more Lawrence's who desperately want and need a safe place to call home.

Journey with "N..."

2009-06-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

"N..." came to Project Destiny Kids, tough sassy and with a tantalizing smile. Her new best friends were the 13-16 year old prostituted girls of Butuan City. We soon learned that "N..." had run away from home due to the abusive treatment of her mother and stepfather. She shared with us how they would tie her in a rice sack, hang her from the ceiling and hit her with a stick while hung in the sack. Her parents even shaved her head bald in an attempt to curve her wild ways. She made the decision that she would have no more of that and off to the big city she went. When she arrived in the city "N..." was quite innocent of city life and the life of a street girl. Soon, sniffing rugby (glue), stealing, and a life of prostitution became her new found life.

"N..." quickly shared that she was not satisfied with her new life any more than her home life. She talked of going to school and having a home. She faithfully came to the center day after day. We shared the love of Jesus with her, feed her, clothed her, and offered advice. We enjoyed friendship with "N..." for several weeks, then suddenly she was gone. This is an all too familiar story for us as we work with street kids.

However, "N..."'s story does end there. Almost 9 months later, one of our staff members to a trip to visit the province, as the staff stepped down from the bus she heard a familiar voice calling her name. It was "N..."! The two ran and embraced. "N..." had decided to follow the advice given her. She returned home and talked to her parents and agreed with them that she would go to school and stop running around wild, in return her parents agreed to not tie her in a sack and hit her anymore. Her parents gladly took her back. Today "N..." is attending high school and living at home. She is so happy and so thankful for friends who encouraged her and walked a bit of life's journey with her.

Celebrating Lawrence

2009-04-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Lawrence by the grace of God and hard work successfully completed his 1st year of high school!!! We are all so proud of him and celebrate with him. He is one amazing terrific kid!!!!

Lawrence on his trip to the big city after finish school year

2009-04-14T03:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this website....watch the videos
http://www.love146.org

The Last Few Months in a Glance 2

2009-02-17T05:08:00.000-08:00

Pictures of The New Zealand DTS Outreach Team

New Zealand Outreach Team

Local Pizza Hut donated hats for our celebration

Opening Christmas Gifts

The Last Few Months in a Glance 1

2009-02-17T05:01:00.000-08:00

Kids receiving Christmas gifts

Christmas Dinner!!!

Singing and Dancing at Christmas Party 2008

Me and one of the kids

Me and some of the kids in church

CITY CRY

2009-02-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

WRITTEN BY PROJECT DESTINY KIDS STAFF MEMBER:
Is anger always bad? No. In fact, it is right to be angered by some things. Remember Christ going into the temple with a whip and overturning tables when He saw that people were using this place to make a profit off of people through unholy means. (No, no, your animal is not good enough to sacrifice to God. You need to buy one of ours.) is what I imagine them saying. And the people had no choice.
When I hear about child abuse, I get angry. Over my years in ministry with kids I have seen a lot of it too. Well, just recently here, it happened again. We know that many of the kids here on the street fled there after abuse. Well, Monday we had a heart breaking case come into our doors.
Cindy ( not her real name) said she is 9 or 10 but looks even younger than that, like a 7 year old. Her story goes that she was raped by a grown man bigger than me about 1 month ago. She was so battered that she could not even walk for 2 weeks after. Her mom is gone to another city and her dad is homeless himself. One of our teens saw some of this happening and said that her 12 year old brother was standing there laughing while it happened. Now she is coming to us for help through her cousin who is also one of our teens who come.
We are just beginning with this girl. We want to take her to the hospital for a doctor to examine her. It is likely that damage has been done to her little body. We will also inform the authorities of all we know for legal action to be taken if they can find this man. He is lucky that I didn't see it happening because I don't know what I would have done, but it would not have been nice but for the restraint of God Himself!
Please pray for this little girl. We are and she is going to need a lot of help - physically, mentally, socially, and above all spiritually by both us and professionals. Being a child on the streets, pray that the help can reach her too.
A personal note to my parents: THANK YOU. I never knew how good I had it until I began seeing first hand cases like these. How a person can do this is beyond me and I believe it involves spiritual forces. How it makes me feel is beyond words. I value the raising I had and still have and you should too if you had it.
So what is Jesus Christ feeling? He knows this little girl better than any of us and loves her and I am sure He is torn to see her hurt. Please pray that He will wrap His mighty arms around her and hold her through this. Thanks.

Father's Goodness

2008-09-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit of time since I wrote....so....umm let's see....
It's just so true ...GOD IS GOOD. The past month has been difficult and challenging not to mention heart wrenching and frustrating....but even in the midst of in all GOD IS GOOD.

JR has dropped out of school. He recently turned 21 so we did let him know that we legally can handle children 0-18 unless he would choose to continue in school he would not be allowed at the center any longer. We really were hoping that would give him a bit more incentive to remain in school, but it did not. He has dropped. The pull of vices and girls is so strong. Please continue to lift him in pray...God knows him and God knows exactly how and when to penetrate his heart....GOD IS GOOD

The cut hand boy....has not been seen again. This is typical of him though. Sometimes it is weeks and weeks and then he surfaces at the center. Other kids have told us they have seen him and report that he can not bend his wrist at all but has use of his fingers. Still....GOD IS GOOD

There has been recent gang activity in the city which has made ministry to all of our usual kids a bit difficult. They are afraid to pass certain streets in order to go to the center because they have to pass opposing gang turf. We did have the recent opportunity to meet with one gang's leaders and discuss our situation. A few weeks ago a silly childish teasing situation got out of hand and very quickly we had a riot in the center. Gang against gang. They brought pipes and knives and all their anger and aggression. It was quite a scary scene. But God helped our staff handle the moment and everyone was fine. The kids all left and went their own way. As a result of that day, I requested to meet with the gang leaders. They agreed and we met. We discussed issues of respect, kindness, honor, God's love and plans for us, and peace. It ended in prayer, peace and understanding. We hope to continue this kind of meeting and dialog with these gang leaders.... GOD IS GOOD

We have exactly 40 days to watch God perform a miracle and provide the $30,560 needed to purchase the center or be kicked out in the street ourselves. It's an incredible opportunity for us to trust God and taste and see HIS GOODNESS in the life of the ministry. Please pray and stand in faith together with us to see GOD'S GOODNESS!!!

Father's Desire

2008-08-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

We know that The Father wants the very best for each of us and for each of these precious children. The problem is, they don't realize that God is truly good and has only good things for them. The Father's desire for them is so BIG yet they can see so little.

The little boy that has the severely cut hand, ran back to the streets. These kids are so used to getting what they want when they want it on the streets; it's so hard for them to adjust to "normal" life.....so back to the streets he went. The addiction is to street life.

We chased him down today so that we could take him back to the doctor to follow-up with his injury. He was so scared of going to the doctor that he ran. We ended up having to have the assistance of the police to capture him and bring him to the doctor. He was treated and back to the streets he went.
The good is he was treated and also the doctor, for the first time, really saw the need for these kids and offered any and all help he could in making the next phase of ministry a reality. Someone has offered to give us land and this doctor is the official in that area. He offered to help us build the houses we need to have a restoration center for boys and girls. Praise God for how He works all things together for good; because HE IS GOOD.

Please continue to pray for this little guy. Pray that God will protect him, that God will heal him, and God will pursue his little heart and draw him close to Himself.

Father's heart

2008-08-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

Today started out as any other normal day. The kids started showing up to take their bath before heading off to church. Excited for the day, they quickly lined up to take their bath. Today we fed them a little breakfast so they were VERY happy. Then the kids started telling me that one of our boys got his hand cut off last night. I was instantly worried and wanted to go find him. We finished getting ready and headed off to church. The plan was I would take them to church and leave them with our staff and I would go find our hurt boy. I ended up at the provincial hospital but no boy, then i heard from the City Social Welfare office that the boy was treated for a stab wound and released! I went back to the center only to be greeted by another kid reporting that one of our girls was killed last night! I quickly headed off to the morgue to view the body. As I entered, my heart pounding, then stopped....it really looked like our girl. I held all my emotion and breathing, hoping, praying it was a mistake. I quickly went back to the center to bring our staff back there with me to make sure. I grabbed a photo of our girl to show the officials there. As we entered the place again, I quickly held the photo up. I security quickly jumped up and said, "That's not her, the girl in this photo was just here this morning looking at the girl who was killed". Tears began to fall down my face for the third time in the day. This time tears of joy because our girl is ok; at the same time tears of sadness for the girl who was killed.

Today, I felt the heart beat of The Father. My heart literally felt broken and shattered. The Word tells us how The Shepherd goes out to look for the lost sheep....but what to do when 2 sheep are lost or 100's of sheep are lost or millions of sheep are lost? Oh, how The Father's heart breaks for each one of us and for each one of the children in the streets tonight.

Lamentations 2:19 reminds us...

ARISE, cry out in the night,

As the watches of the night begin;

Pour out your heart like water

In the presence of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to Him

For the lives of your children,

Who faint from hunger

At the head of every street.

Sunday

2008-07-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

This morning we loaded up 18 street children and 2 street babies in a multicab (utility truck/van, used here in Philippines) and headed off for church. The church we go to is called Beautiful News Fellowship. The kids really love it there. The pastor at BNF has such a heart for street kids, worship, and a heart for Jesus. The church is learning what it means to welcome street kids to church, and the kids are learning what it means to be part of the body of Christ. Every week the kids go with us and every week they participate in worship and respond during the alter call. God is moving in their lives BIG time.

They were so cute as they came to the drop-in center early to take a bath before going to church. For now they understand that we don't have the budget or staff to have feeding twice a day, so they come early just to bathe, then we eat together after church back at the center.

Today I just felt so much joy as I watched them worship and learn about God's love for them. The first Sunday we took them to church, they ran into the church and sort of took it over with their voices and running and taking whatever wasn't nailed down. But, today, one month later, they entered early, not late, and greeted people as they made their way orderly to their seats. They are learning so much.

GO GOD!!!!

A New Life

2008-07-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

I have been just so overwhelmed with God's goodness, faithfulness, and nearness in the lives of the kids these past few weeks. I would like to share the story of one boy. He has been with us from day one. I remember when he first came to the center. He would come and sit as close to the door as possible, would not say a word, would not smile, and only worked on a 3-D puzzle we had every single day for the first month. We only knew his name; J.R. By the 3rd week he was starting to smile and even allowed a picture to be taken.

We knew he was a gang member, had many girlfriends, and had the possibility of being a very angry guy. We began to notice that he along with his 3 siblings were coming to the center daily.
1st his brother and his girlfriend who are 15 and 16 years old along with their baby who is now 11 months old.
The next is his sister who is 16 and finally his younger brother who is 15. The whole family lives together is a partially built abandoned house in a squatter area. Their mother left them about 10 years ago and their father is currently living with them but is a violent alcoholic. They also live together with approximately 25 other street kids in the partially built house.

The amazing thing to me is how little by little GOD is drawing them to Himself and changing their lives. The sister, Maricar, started attending school last month. She is 4th year high school. She has had some struggles but is doing well now. In the midst of her struggle at the start of the year, she quit school and stopped coming to the center. We all prayed and prayed for her. The principal of the Christian School where we enrolled her, would not give up on her. Maam Bendoy wanted to talk to her older brother, so we brought J.R. to the school. Before I knew what was happening the principal had persuaded J.R. to study and help his sister to return. J.R. is 21 years old and in 4th grade. He has been attending church with us for the last month and has such a heart for God. He has recently given his life to Jesus. And now he is attending school. According to J.R. :"I'm thankful for Ate Teresa, but it's not because of the food we receive everyday, it's not because of the things that are given to us, it is because of what God is doing in my heart; God is changing me little by little. I'm so thankful to God and for His love in my life. I want to learn to love Him more and I want me life to be lived for Him."