It’s an old building with a cement face, unassuming and most likely unnoticed by those who pass down the quiet little street. A few boys toss a basketball around outside, some sit and watch, while the others walk in and out of the metal gate that opens into the house. Another home is living and breathing. But subtly, something remarkable is happening within these cement walls.
A garden is growing.
Jepoy, a young boy of 16, sits on the steps next to his older brother Ervin, both watching quietly as the basketball gets tossed around, a few hoops landing. John Rod sits on the side of a motorcycle, laughing as he shares a joke with Bubot. Two little boys, 12 and 13, peer through the metal gate, not sure yet of their place in their new home. For these boys, several months have passed since their days on the street. For some, years. And yet, as distant at the past might seem, the streets are still as familiar to them as their own family. At least, for those whose families are still alive.
In the Philippines, over 1.5 million children live on the street. Many of them still live with their families, though they pass their days begging or working the streets to make money. Some have been orphaned since birth, and have lived on the streets as long as they can remember. Most children are forced to live on the street because of family issues, poverty, and abandonment. And for those left to the streets, most wander place to place, never knowing where they will go next or how they will find their next meal. Children as young as 5 turn to drugs like rugby, a glue which they breathe in to fill their hunger cravings. Hope is limited only to believing for the next day, the future being entirely uncertain.
But God’s broken heart has fought for these children. In 1955, the Children’s Garden began as an orphanage for street children, and held up to 200 children at one time, from infants to 18 years old. Unfortunately, in the 1970’s a major donor dropped out, causing the home to close. In 2000, the board of directors purchased a property in Antipolo City, hoping to have community involvement in restarting this home, but the final vision never materialized. But God wasn’t done yet.
Sharon Gersava Wark was a young 20-something, serving at a church in Antipolo City in the early 2000’s. When she saw the street children out late in the courtyard of the city’s cathedral, her heart felt pulled towards them. Under the leadership of her pastor, Buddy, she and a couple of young adults from her church decided to visit these children every Thursday night, bringing food and games in hopes of building relationships with them. Soon, their weekly hangouts with the street kids occurred twice a week, then nightly as the group expanded. They didn’t have much to offer the kids besides the occasional snack, but in building relationships with them, they desired to find a way to help the children get out of their present situations. They wanted to offer a shelter for them to go to, but seeing as they were young adults with very little money of their own, they didn’t know what option to give. So they decided to pray. And in 2004, Pastor Buddy connected them with an older woman – a board member from the original Children’s Garden – who told them that they owned a property in Antipolo City which they would give to them for free. The older board members of the Children’s Garden decided to pass the legacy on to these young adults, to continue the vision that God had for the street children of the Philippines.
“So we moved there in 2006, we have a shelter, but we didn’t have anything to feed them,” said Sharon. “We had the guys there, I think we had 25 boys right away (ages 12-18) – we didn’t know what we were doing. We were learning, day by day.” The first couple of years at the newly revived Children’s Garden were testing for these young adults. When they moved into the space, it was nothing but gray cement walls, with no dividers between rooms. Finding people to take care of the boys proved to be a challenge, as Sharon and the other young adults also needed to have day jobs to support themselves. They were able to find volunteers who could take shifts feeding the boys and watching them, but were only able to pay them very little each month. Finances were tight, and providing for the boys’ basic necessities was a trial of faith.
“There was a time when we didn’t know what we would eat for the next meal… we were just praying ‘God we don’t have any food any more, help us.’” But in the midst of their worry, Sharon remembers, God always provided. “And then moments after, our phone rang, and (someone) was asking “Where is Children’s Garden?”…. After a few minutes after the phone call, there’s a car parked in our garage, and then he was the one who called. And… he got off his car with bags of groceries, and rice – everything that we needed that would last us several weeks.”
“And we have a lot of cases like that, you know – it was a long very challenging situation, living on the edge moments…” During one particularly challenging financial season, their bookkeeper approached Sharon with concerns about their budget, realizing that they were very quickly running out of money. “Are you worried?” Sharon asked her. “I want to answer your question “yes”, but my answer is ‘no’”, she said. They prayed, remembering God’s faithfulness, but no money came in those next three days, and they were left with only 200 pesos (approximately $4). Sharon gave a small amount of money from her wallet, hoping that would tide them over for a couple of days. She was now being tested too. A hairline away from panic, a friend gave her a call: “Ate, I just sent money through Western Union, you can pick it up from there.” “I was just in awe about what happened – ‘God you are just so real!’” Sharon remembers. A single mother of two kids in University gave a significant amount of money sacrificially to Children’s Garden, simply because God prompted her.
“We have many occasions like that, many occasions like that, and I’m just talking about the financial side of Children’s Garden – we have many life transforming awe moments that God has showed up in our lives as well.” Over the 13 years that the newly-revived Children’s Garden has been in operation, they’ve seen dozens of boys come through their walls. Dozens upon dozens of incredible transformations as young boys come off of the streets, abandoning lives of addiction, thievery, and brokenness, and step into a new hope for a future with Christ.
“It’s just so cool to see them before, when they were on the streets… you see a lot of hopelessness back then, but you see hope as well. This is what ignited our hearts, holding on the promise of God that he has a great future for us, and this applies as well to us. God has plans for each of those boys also, and he moved our hearts to ignite our passion to keep doing what we’re doing at Children’s Garden.”
“Jepoy and Ervin – when we got them at Children’s Garden, Jepoy at 7 years old was smoking, solvent, drinking, on the streets – living on the streets,” Sharon remembers. “And just recently, he just got an achiever award, he was recognized as one of the smartest students.” Jepoy and Ervin found Jesus at CG, and discovered a greater purpose for their lives through the encouragement of their leaders and their new-found faith in Jesus.
John Rod, 17, moved to Children’s Garden a year ago. Abandoned at birth, he grew up in an orphanage until his early teens, when he aged out and was referred to the Children’s Garden. Adjusting to this new home was initially a challenge, but in discovering Jesus at CG, he has found a new freedom to run towards Christ.
Joshua, 12, was kicked out of his house after he stole money from his foster father. His foster mother, a Christian, decided to send him to Children’s Garden to protect him. In the few months he has spent at CG, Joshua has found community with the other boys, and has grown deeper in his understanding of God’s forgiveness for him. He has a deeper desire to connect with other people, and to learn more about Jesus.
Dennis, 17, was put in an orphanage at birth after his mother ran away from his abusive drug-addicted father. He lived in the orphanage until he grew too old, and then moved to the Children’s Garden. At CG, he learned about Jesus through the teaching of Wark and the other leaders, and has surrendered his life to sharing the Gospel and wanting to help others.
Bubot, 18, has lived at Children’s Garden for 3 years, after living with his father for 14 years. It was an abusive situation for Bubot, as his father was addicted to drugs and very abusive. After moving to CG, it took him two years to fully embrace Jesus. He remembers vividly the night when Christ called him to forgiveness. He had been invited into a prayer circle to be prayed over by the boys and a local pastor, and felt the Holy Spirit paralyze him as he heard God audibly tell him to follow Jesus. Shaken by this, he surrendered his life to Christ, and has seen a radical transformation in his heart and life since then.
Most of the boys that come off the street enter into the Children’s Garden with little to no formal education. Some young boys don’t even know the essentials of reading and writing. Others are so far behind in their schooling, they are unable to join into the public school system. CG educates some of the boys through an Alternative Learning System, with the hopes that they’ll be able to catch up quick enough to enter back into public school. Patrick, one of the older boys at CG, came in at age 17 having stopped his education at Grade 5. But last year, he took an exam and qualified for college – and even received scholarships.
Life at the Children’s Garden also involves a heavy discipleship process, with daily devotionals, meetings with staff, and various spiritual activities. “It’s not a typical organization – we want them to know that they’re loved, that we loved them, and we want to disciple them. The discipleship at Children’s Garden is not just, you know, let’s sit here and talk about the Bible – it’s by living life together, you know, in a real sense. We go out together, we go out to the street together, we go to church together, we pray together, we challenge each other in everything, and that’s our hope that we keep telling them.” The staff of CG go out into the streets weekly to do street feedings, and they offer the boys the opportunity to join in. Most of the boys are more than thrilled to care for and share Jesus with those who were once where they were.
Many of the boys have come from unbelievably difficult pasts, but have found bright futures in their time at the Children’s Garden. Patrick wants to be an airline steward and travel the world. Bubot wants to be a dancer. Joshua wants to be an architect. John Rod wants to be in the military. Most, if not all the boys, want to be missionaries one day. “As long as they get the values from Children’s Garden and they continue to be followers of Jesus wherever they go. That’s why we serve. That’s our vision. Yes, they may have a rough background. But God is not done with them, and He can make something beautiful out of each of them.”
Once the boys reach the age of 18, they have a choice to start their own lives as adults, or move on to Second Phase, a smaller home tied to Children’s Garden for boys ages 18-21. This home acts as a more intensive discipleship environment where the boys are able to transition into their careers as adults as well as into spiritual maturity.
“Our hope and our desire and our vision is that these men, these young men, will lead up to be men of integrity, and that will go be a Filipino law-abiding citizen, men that will provide for their family, when there was no father… because the common factor with all of the boys, even the girls, is the absence of the father. Most of them didn’t have a father, some of them didn’t know their father, some of them have a step father, maybe has a father but there’s no father image.”
Most of the boys haven’t seen their parents in years. Some have never met their parents. Many of their parents are in prison for drug abuse or illegal activity, others parents left the family to run away and have not been found, and some parents have been too ashamed by their past decisions to reconcile with their children. “Our desire is to reconcile them back to their family, because our boys are, you know – these are older boys, these are not up for adoption boys, and we’re raising up boys and girls,” Noting Joi, one of the girls who was raised up at the smaller CG girls home, Sharon recalls: “Joi we raised up at Children’s Garden and were able to reconcile her with her family, with her dad, again, to forgive her dad.” Sharon and her staff are also working hard to find the parents of some of the boys as well, hoping to reconcile their families and bring forgiveness and grace to their own broken pasts.
God has provided immensely for the Children’s Garden. In the last 13 years of operation, their support has grown, as well as their staff. Several years ago, Sharon met Billy Wark when he came with his World Race team to serve with the Children’s Garden. In the years that followed, Sharon and Billy grew closer, and Billy eventually moved to the Philippines to serve at CG and begin a relationship with Sharon. They were married shortly after, and now are faithfully keeping the Children’s Garden operational. Over the last few years, many World Race teams have come through those metal gates and to disciple the boys and serve the community. Some children who have graduated from CG have even come back to serve as house parents. Running CG has still been challenging, as many boys struggle with adapting to life at CG and decide to escape or revert to their old lives. Financially, the organization survives, but sometimes struggles to get enough support financially to keep the boys healthy, fed, and cared for. They sometimes lack the funds for extra clothing or items for the boys, but have had many generous donors give support when they needed it.
But they hope for the future. They find comfort in keeping their numbers small at CG – twenty boys at a time – in order to keep relationships strong between the boys and the staff, but they hope for more homes to open up in other areas. They also hope for a larger space for their girls home, which currently can only house up to four girls at a time. Dreams of opening up a drop-in center for street children lie at the front of their minds, but they trust God to bring fulfillment to these dreams at the right time.
“We are just a group of low-class, very ordinary Filipino people, but then to be a part of something bigger that God has allowed us to be a part of – you know, there’s a lot of challenging moments… but then we come back again, forgive, and love again. We just want to build an environment, a family environment, to everyone at Children’s Garden, because that’s what they were missing on the streets.”
And a family it is. A wild bunch of young boys, hopeless and broken but finding new life in the Lord. A bold and faithful group of Christ followers whose hearts break for the hurting, and who strive to bring justice and love to a broken people.
A garden, growing through the cracks in the cement, finding new life as beautiful flowering vines, freely growing upward.
“But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.” Psalm 10:14
If you would like to send donations or offer support to the Children’s Garden, please visit their website at: http://www.americanhelper.org/?post_causes=support-the-childrens-garden. All donations are tax deductible.
To learn more about the Children’s Garden, and watch video testimonials with some of the current CG boys, visit their website at: http://childrensgarden.ph/.
