Throughout our time in Manila, I shared bits and pieces about what wedid on my social media, but I wanted to share a little it more about what we’ve really been doing through Kids International Ministries (KIM).
We had a white board in the dining area that we used to sign up for our daily ministries and I would love to give a glimpse into our list.
(We had 3 teams at KIM for the month, plus PVT, so there were a lot of Racers there!)
Feedings: Twice daily, a group from KIM goes into local communities (sometimes within walking distance, sometime a 35 minute drive) and feeds the kids in the community. They do a little bit of worship and a skit to get the kids involved and then provide the kids with a meal.
Children’s Home: I spent a lot of time here while in Manila. There are about 50 kids that live in the children’s home, from birth through 17 years old. I spent a lot of time playing with the toddlers. Other member of our team held babies and played basketball with the older boys. The children’s home isn’t specifically an orphanage. There are children there who have lost their parents, and there are also children who came from abusive situations among other situations as well. There is also an opportunity to adopt through this orphanage.
Elementary School & High School: Kids International partners with a local school, Cuatro Christian School. There is an elementary school (Kindergarten through 6th grade) and a high school (7th-10th grade). In the future, 11th and 12th grade will be added to the high school as well. Many children in the Philippines do not finish their education for multiple reasons, but Kids International & Cuatro Christian provide the opportunity for kids to have an affordable education from kindergarten through graduation. I spent a good portion of my ministry time working at the high school and a few of my friends spent consistent time at the elementary school.
Construction: KIM is in the process of preparing to build a new high school in order to hold 7th-12th grade. Some of the squad got to spend time doing construction in preparation for the new high school and also in preparation for the mural project!
Mural: Norman was our host for the month. He is from the States and runs KIM. In looking for new marketing strategies, he had some of our teams paint murals throughout the community. There are more to come with future teams, but Hattie did a ton of planning and brainstorming to get this started! (If you want to learn more, check out Hattie’s blog (Late Night in a Filipino Alleyway) to learn more about the project. and #KidsInternationalMinistries on social media to see some of their work.)
Clinic: Kids International is looking for ways to help children from the womb through adulthood. One of their ways of doing so is through the Pregnancy Clinic! Rona is the beautiful woman who runs the clinic. She works with pregnant mothers from the beginning through the time they give birth. It’s a beautiful ministry that has helped tons of women. Some of my friends even got to help deliver babies!
Library: The library for Cuatro Christian High School just happened to be located in the building of KIM where our teams were staying. It is attached to the high school, and also connected to the building we were staying in. A couple people on the squad got to help organize the library!
Cooking: With KIM doing two feedings daily, and hosting up to 80 people at a time, food needs to come from somewhere! Our group had the opportunity to help cook for the feedings and also for everyone staying at KIM!
Tondo: Tondo is a part of Manila that we had the opportunity to visit twice while in the Philippines. We took a bus, two trains and a jeepney to get there. Upon arrival, we did two feedings, one of which was on top of Smokey Mountain, which is also known as Trash Mountain. I met some of the most incredible people in this place (that sometimes is looked down upon in in Manila) and had some of the best worship while in Tondo.
