Saturday's Kids Service - Tondo Kids to POA Kids.

Tondo, Metro Manila, November 14, 2009
These kids come from the poorest of the poor area of Manila. A place notoriously called, Smoky Mountain, after the monstrous mountain of garbage that has been left from years of being the Manila Dump. These children's parents are scavengers, who make their living from pulling things from the smoking garbage heap. These children wear clothes from the dump, they live in shanties made from salvaged debris. And they are the cutest, smartest kids you have ever met.

We spent the day with them Saturday and it was so very rewarding for all of us.

Brenda is with Sister Sonja Trinidad, the pastor's wife. She is a tremendous leader and gifted in ministering to children. She is very organized, thorough and tireless. What a wonderful person.


Sister Sonja had a team ready, they had the children separated into classes, by age, and had detailed information about each of them. That helped greatly in knowing what to put in each child's backpack.

This young man is a bible school student who works with the children every Saturday.

POA Kids, get ready for a whole lot of really neat pictures. These Tondo Kids worked really hard on pictures for you.

It was so touching watching these kids working on the floor, on chairs, and anywhere. When they were done they would come up to us to show us, and then they would read what they wrote to us.

Some of these little guys needed help and the kids staff was so helpful and attentive.

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, clothes, coloring books, crayons... It was awesome.

Mark worked on his with great care. It seems everything he does, he puts extra effort into it. It was really neat seeing him fit right in with the kids. He was not intimidated in the least by the new surroundings and all strange street kids.

Mark, working on his picture, using a chair as a table.

Most of the kids got clothes, the ones that didn't were the bigger ones.

Everyone of the children said, "Thank you Ma'am Brenda."

They also said, "Thank you POA Kids!!" They said that all together and did it really loud.

The clothing sets were a huge hit! These little girls got in their backpacks and were holding them up, oohing and ahhing.

Thank you Little Treasures in Alexandria for donating these 65 brand new, complete outfits.

The hand towels were cherished by all of the kids. Even the boys seemed so proud to be getting them. Sister Sonja and her staff teach these kids how to take a bath, and by the looks of the open sores on some of them, this is a very important lesson for them to learn.

This kid shouted, "Tooth paste, toothbrush, soap, towels!!! Thank you!!!"

Mark with the kids, waiting for their "prize."

Mark's little brother and little sister hammed it up for the camera.

Mark's youngest sister shoes were too small for her feet, but this was the best she had. We are going to see if we can do anything about that.

This girl and her friend were overwhelmed with what they just recieved. Sister Sonja said, with tears in her eyes, "We just have to give them hope. If they have hope it can start them in the right direction. It can save their life."

They all shouted, "Thank you POA Kids!!"

Then they started waving them back and forth saying, "God bless the POA Kids."

The kids were a bit hyped up by all the gifts. We probably should have given them to them after the service. But in spite of that, they still went into prayer in such a beautiful way. I wouldn't trade a service like this for anything.

Mark is definately a thinker. He was listening intently during Sister Sonja's lesson about Jesus.

Sister Sonja walked down the aisle talking to the kids, and made her way over to Mark, and spoke looking at him. It was a real connection. She was telling him that Jesus was more than a statue, more than a God who makes stuff and controls stuff... "He is a friend that is closer than a brother, and He wants to live in your heart."

Mark watched her intently and tears welled up in his eyes as he was moved by what she said.

The Assistant Pastor praying with Mark and his brother.

I did not want to push Mark, or make him feel pressured, so I kept my distance, watching him. However, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes when I walked past, and he smiled, and nodded his head at me. I just felt it was right so I knelt down beside him and talked from my heart to him. Mark listened intently as the tears continued to fall.

Hamburger steak, with gravy and rice for everyone!! What a treat!

Seconds!! All the kids came up for a second helping of rice. I wondered how many of them had the privilege of eating until they were full.

I know... we just gave them toothbrushes and tooth paste but we HAD to give them candy. It was just the thing to do. They each took a turn around the table and got to get one of each.

As we went to drop Mark and his family off, it came a thunderstorm. Mark jumped out and ran to get a tricycle (motorcycle with side car). Brenda stepped out and these neighborhood girls came over to Brenda and asked if she wanted to be under the umbrella.

Spending POA Kid's Money!!

POA Kids!!!

Your money was SUCH a blessing to the kids in Tondo. We didn't really know what to buy these kids, so we asked Sister Sonja Trinidad, the Pastor's wife. She said, "They all carry things to school and a backpack would be such a blessing."

So, we went to one of the BIGGEST malls in the world, the Mall of Asia, and thought we could find what they needed there.

Now, this broke my heart, but she also said, "The thing they would like the most..." (Now I would not have guessed this in a thousand years) "...they need a hand towel and a face towel so they can take a bath properly."

She said that they were trying to teach these street kids about things like keeping clean, and taking care of yourself.

"They would also love to have a bar of soap."

Oh my!

So, that is exactly what we did. With YOUR money, we bought each kid a really neat package. A backpack, a hand towel and wash cloth, and a bar of soap.

Our First Day With Mark

We were prepared for a long search, but this lady recognized Mark instantly from the picture.











Randy's Uncle.

Mark leads us home.

Mark Shopping. Chocolate milk was a BIG hit.

Mark thought of his mom. He bought her a pot scrubbing pad.

Checking out.

The basket ball court near Mark's house. We want to hold a street service here.

He was so excited to show his family what he had got them. It was an early Christmas.

A thoughtful boy, he handed some of the things to neighbor kids.

The thing that Grandma was most excited about was the toothbrushes.

Mark Is Found!!

Mark's Mom, Sister, and Grandma looking out
the window of their house.

Mark at his front door.

Many of you may be wondering who Mark is? After all, there are people talking about him on blogs, the POA has handed out pictures of Mark to thousands, and they are all praying for him.

This is one of the most wonderful stories you will ever hear.

Back in April of this year, Melani, Brenda, Kendra, Kori and Jordan were taking a bus trip up north of Manila and were waiting in the bus terminal when a young boy boarded the bus holding a stack of daily newspapers. A conversation began.

“What is your name?” “I am Mark.” He replied.

Since it was about 1:00 in the afternoon and he appeared to be young they asked of him, “How old are you?” His replies were always sure, with a quiet confidence and organic charm. “I am twelve ma’am.”

“Mark, do you go to school?” “Yes ma’am. I go to school from 6:00 am until 12:00 and then I go to work, selling papers.”

“Everyday?” The twelve year old replied, “Every day ma’am.”

That was about all there was to it. Just one of the thousands of people we pass every day, like ships in the night, not really aware that you just intersected another living soul… an immeasurable treasure we too often take for granted.

They sent him on his way after buying a paper, giving him a tip, and loading him down with some candy. And that was it… or so they thought. For some reason, none of them could get Mark out of their minds. Driving down the road, the country side passing by… the group was silent, as though something special had happened, but they weren’t exactly sure what.

Melani said, “That is Bradyn. My boy is 12.” They all let that sink in, and little by little it began to flow out of them. “When we go back, we need to find Mark.”

They didn’t know what they would do once they found him, they just all agreed they needed to.
Later, when Melani was looking through her pictures, she found a good one of Mark.

That was all there was too it, to the meeting that is. It began months of focused prayer for Mark and his family.

Brenda, Jordan and Kori and I were in that bus terminal back in May, we looked for Mark and he wasn’t there. Everyone told us that it would be almost impossible to find him. After all, what is one kid among 14 million people? After the four typhoons, the devastating floods, and the diseases that followed… what is the chances Mark is still… we didn’t want to think about that.

On the plane coming in last night, I looked out the window, over that vast ocean of lights that stamped the earth where the great city of Manila lay, I asked God out loud, “Lord, please lead us to Mark. I know it may be impossible for me to find him, but nothing is impossible for you.”

We left the hotel with a prayer for Mark, and headed out into the traffic and sea of humanity.

We hired a car at the hotel and told him what we were doing. He didn’t get it at all… he did later though. The first thing we did was go by the Philippine UPC headquarters office to enlist some help. We had pictures of Mark printed and distributed and told them, “Whoever finds Mark will get a 1,000 peso reward.”

Since that was worth about 4 days wages, there were many who were suddenly interested, very interested in Mark. Brother Don Callo said, “How many Marks do you want to find?” And everyone laughed.

Someone was going to go to the newspaper company pictured in the photo of Mark, and ask for help finding him that way.

Brenda and I went to the bus terminal, this was third time Brenda and I had been to this terminal, and the first two times had not been fruitful. But this time was different, we both felt it.

There were so many people praying for Mark. I would imagine there are literally hundreds of refrigerators with Mark’s picture on them.

When we were pulling up to the bus terminal Brenda said, “This has to be a God thing.” My heart was beating fast as I realized how close we were to a miracle, I could feel it.

The first person Brenda showed the picture to knew Mark. “That is my nephew. What do you want with him?” I didn’t blame him for being guarded as to our motives. Brenda drew a crowd and soon everyone wanted to know what was going on.

I felt my words were so inadequate in my attempt to explain why we wanted to see Mark, but I kept explaining anyway. “We are missionaries, and…” I did my best to explain how there was church back in America praying for a poor, squatter kid, living in a ghetto. I didn’t think I was doing a very good job but they had less guile than I must have because they accepted my story, and suddenly the whole nature of the crowd changed. They were all talking to each other, telling each other that the “Americanos are missionaries and God told them to find Mark.”

They all were so excited, the security guards began helping us, giving us advice, and talking a mile a minute.

Mark’s uncle, Randy, jumped into the front seat of our car and said, “Get in, I will take you to Mark’s house.”

Brenda and I were stunned. We just looked at each other shaking our heads. “I can’t believe we are going to Mark’s house!” Brenda whispered.

The story took an even more thrilling, and miraculous turn, when Randy took us in a direction toward the ACTS bible school. The place we have lived and worked out of for many years. We ended up just a few hundred yards away from the Bible school! We had passed this little shanty town literally thousands of times.

To get to Mark’s “house” you have to go down a small side street, past lean to’s and squatter’s houses. These were some of the poorest of the poor. We were so excited though because we would soon be seeing Mark.

People were so friendly and nice as we passed them. The little street cantinas with people sitting on buckets, or boxes as chairs, the kids taking baths in laundry pails, the old men flashing toothless smiles, the young men killing time because there was no job to be found.

Randy led us into a small opening in the endless shanties, and after a few turns in an even smaller alleyway, we came to an uneven ladder that led up into a dark, and confined loft.

My heart constricted and my eyes watered as Randy said, “Here is Mark’s house.”

He went up to knock on the “door” while we waited downstairs. The door opened and a woman came to the top of the landing and looked down on us with muted surprise. Her eyes did not have hope in them, rather, I felt she was looking down on us, “Good things don’t happen to us. This must be a trick.”

We were invited in and found that Mark had just gone to work not long ago. We visited with the puzzled mom and grandmother, and Mark’s two sisters and one brother, all younger than Mark.

Mark is the man of the house. This twelve year old boy’s father had abandoned them to start another family somewhere and so it was left to Mark to watch out for his family.

We tried to explain to Mark’s family what we were doing and the thing that got through to them the most was when I said, “God has heard your prayers. God knows your name.” A flicker of hope came into Mark’s mom, Tess, and a smile appeared briefly.

We gave Tess some money and told her to feed her family, or give them a treat of some kind… but we hadn’t seen Mark, so we headed back to the bus terminal.

When we got there it seemed like everyone was at the side of the street waiting for us. All of the porters, the vendors, the bus conductors and even some passengers were waving at us when we walked up. They were waving their hands excitedly and one of the security guards came over to us and said, “You missed Mark by seconds! He got here just after you left and went running home.”

They told us to wait for him that Mark would be back. It was quite a run to Mark’s house from the terminal.

Everyone wanted to put there two cents in on Mark while we waited. “He is a good boy.”

Someone else said, “Mark is a hard worker.” A guy standing by me said, “You are helping the right boy.” This little boy had the respect of a lot of people.

We went into a 7 Eleven and were going to buy a drink and some donuts for the people who had worked so hard to help us connect with Mark. I was standing by the refrigerator when I heard someone say excitedly, “Here he is!” Standing in the aisle of that store was a handsome, smiling Mark.

His back was straight, his head up, his eyes bright and what a smile! He was looking at Brenda with recognition and was not one bit shy. Brenda asked for a hug and he gave her the minimum, and stood back and smiled up at me.

I want to find out what this kid has been praying for the last few months because I got the feeling that he was not shocked by this at all. It was as though he was stepping into an expected destiny.

Strangely, it was not awkward at all. I had been wondering what I would say to Mark, but it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t just words, prayers go before you, I believe prayer creates and builds relationships between spiritual entities, and it felt like he was an extended family member, and it seemed he felt that way too.

Brenda and I were fighting back tears, Good Lord! The LAST thing we needed to do was go blubbering all over this kid! So, Brenda went down the chip aisle and squirted out a few tears and then regained her composure, and I was left to be the strong one, so I just said to Mark, “Let’s go shopping!”
“Get whatever you want, we are going to bring some stuff home to your family.”

After seeing where Mark lived and the obvious poverty of their family, I wasn’t surprised to see him carefully choose a single bag of potato chips and walk back to me with grateful eyes. I said, “Oh no, that is just the beginning! We are going to get lots of stuff!”

It took him a while to catch on. He always reached for the smallest thing, and would get one. One small pack of coffee mix, I went behind him and grabbed a handful. He just looked up at me with big eyes. This was not his reality at all.

A crowd had formed at the glass front of this 7 Eleven. The guard only allowed prospective shoppers in and Mark’s friends, and those who knew Mark were gathering around the windows as though the NBA Finals were being shown. From time to time he would wave at one of them and they would wave back.

A woman must have heard what was going on because she came into the store and walked over to Mark and put her hand on his head and looked at me and said, “You could not have chosen a better boy to help. Mark is a special boy. Thank you, thank you so much for blessing him like this. He deserves it.”

That little 7 Eleven was not used to be people filling up shopping baskets like that, and it took every employee in the place to check Mark out. We went down every aisle, except the booze aisle and the refrigerated section (because he didn’t have one at home) and had a living blast doing it.

As we walked through the crowd that had gathered outside they were patting him on the back, they were tussling his hair, they were saying things to him, “Mark, you are famous now!” “Mark, you are big time!”

We put the bags of groceries in the trunk of the car, and took Mark and Randy back to Mark’s little village.

As we walked in, the people were calling out to Mark, but they weren’t calling him Mark. They were calling him by his middle name, “Christian! Who are your friends Christian? What are they doing with you?”

He is known as Christian at home. Mark Christian DeLaCruz.

The family sat on the piece of thin plywood that served as the bed the six of them slept on and the bags were gathered around their feet on the floor. They just sat there looking at them.

We asked them to look through the stuff and it took them a while to get into it.
The first thing Mark did was take out a Coke bottle and walk over to Brenda, “Ma’am, are you thirsty?” Brenda declined and I looked at Brenda’s eyes and could see she was not far from losing it.

Mark, or Christian, began to go through the bags showing his family what he had brought home. There were more oohs and aaahs than I have heard in the last 5 Christmas’.

The first thing Christian’s grandmother got out was a toothbrush and she opened it up and began telling the little girl on her lap what it was. Demonstrating by pantomiming the brush stroke.

Christian began organizing everything in the bags. Candy in one, toiletries in another, chips in another, drinks and so on, until everything was organized.

We were driving away when our driver said, "I asked about this boy while you were shopping. Everyone says good things about him. I can tell by observing, this is a special young man." He drove for a little while and then he looked into the rear veiw mirror at me and said, "Thank you for doing this for my people."

Saturday Mark, and his family are going with us to a children’s service. He doesn’t know it yet, but I am giving him an iPod with some Christian music on it. I know that will blow his mind.
I believe that we will see Mark and his whole family respond to God’s touch this Saturday. Then we are connecting them with a great church that is very near to their home.

For all of you who prayed, for all of you who sent… you were there with us today. This is your deal too, and I hope you all pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.

A Large Crowd is Headed East

11:00 A.M. Tuesday, November 10, 2009, cruising at 35,000 feet, somewhere between Houston and Honolulu… actually, passing over the Baja Peninsula.

As we head east, way east, to the other side of the earth, I am filled with the beauty of our adopted people, the Filipino and with the wonderful people who sent us to them.
Sitting on the plane, 22 more hours of travel ahead of us, I am not discouraged by the flight or any other sacrifice involved in such a trip as this, because we are going to the Philippines!
Just typing out that word makes my heart squeeze a little tighter.

The Philippines is the only Christian nation in Asia. We can’t wait to get there during this time of year. The malls will all be decked out with Christmas decorations, and everywhere you go there will be lights, and Christmas music playing. They actually started all of that last month. They go crazy over Christmas.

Though the average Filipino does not make much money, they don’t let that stop them. The atmosphere is festive; the creative talents of these people fairly explode in a flurry of seasonal energy and though it won’t be a “white Christmas” (actually, it will be a “hot and humid Christmas”) they always make it a wonderful Christmas.

They are making gifts and preparing the parties that will go on for up to three full weeks, they actually give gifts to each other for a couple of weeks. No last minute shopping for most of them. It takes weeks and even months to make the gifts they will give. I remember one year I got a hand carved top from a pastor there, complete with throwing string to wind around it, and I was as proud of that as any kid would be of a PlayStation today. It just meant more.

But, it is more than the parties and the gifts… the Filipino exist on a level of spiritual awareness that is unique the world over. God is a BIG deal with them.

The Filipino has a heart for God and it is on full display during this time of year. Sure, Christmas is commercialized, just like in America, but there is an undercurrent of religious passion that carries it all along.

I have never seen people who wanted to know about God like the Filipino. Jesus is a subject that is not off limits, like in so many other places, in fact, if you strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger it is usually not very long before you are talking about Jesus. They want to know more about Him, they are just waiting to be told more about Him. It is one of the few places on earth that if you hand them a tract they will actually take it, and read it. They might even stop to talk to you about it… “What does this mean?”

In times past, preachers and zealous saints, would stand up at the front of a city bus and begin to preach to the passengers about Jesus. Our preachers did that so much that finally the bus companies were forced to prohibit our preachers from doing so, because passengers would miss their stops on purpose… they just HAD to hear more about this Jesus!

That is why I love coming to this land of enchanting people. There are other places where the climate is better, the environment cleaner, conveniences of life more available… yet I have never found a place where there is more hunger for God, a soul craving for righteousness. A heart cry…

So, we head east.

Not to sound holier than thou, or some spiritual giant, because I am certainly not, but I can’t think of anything more worth my time than investing in people who are hungry for God. Any fisherman will tell you that if you have found a place where the fish are biting mark that place and keep going back until the fish move on. We are told to be fisher’s of men, and this is the best fishing hole in the world.

We want to share this moment with you all, because we only go because you sent us. I wish I could name you all, but since I can’t I will not name any. But you know who you are. You are heroes, you are missionaries, you are the hands and feet of God.

You are heading east with us right now! This is your trip too.

We are going physically, but you are going also, because whatever blessing God gives us for doing this, will be divided EQUALLY to each one of you who sent us. (I am so moved by your compassion! We do what we do because we know and love the Filipino, you are doing what you do without knowing them. I think that means your love is greater than ours.)

The people who gave finances, food items, toiletries… paid for rice, and the wonderful lady who is helping a bible school student get through school, and sent a special gift for that student with us. The couple who secured over 100 toothbrushes and toothpaste to give in the street kid ministry…

The prayer warrior who prayed for us the day before we left, gave us a word from God and promised to cover us while we are gone… (you ARE going, even though you told us that you thought you would probably never make a missionary trip. It is a matter of perspective.)

The guy who bought our family tickets to you know what… wow, that was awesome!

The man who has been dreaming of Venezuela City and found out there is only one in the whole world… we will be going there my friend. God spoke to you and while we don’t yet understand it, we are going there.

The lady who got turned onto missions in such a way that she went out and bought 65 children’s outfits for us to bring and distribute.

The other lady who worked tirelessly to coordinate the relief efforts and works on it still.

The church in Arkansas who had people come to the pastor and say, “We have just been feeling to help the people in the Philippines get through these disasters.”

The Sunday school supplies, books, crayons and teaching resources, thank you!

The young people who are saving their money so they can make a trip one day and who have been praying for God to move in the Philippines.

Our young friend who has committed to give up drinking sodas until we get back on American soil, and the young lady who lays awake many nights with tears pooling in her eyes because she hopes that one day God will allow her to go back to the Philippines. (Timing is everything, and right now, you are sending the best thing… your prayers.)

Change the World, (oops! Sorry, I wasn’t supposed to name names, but you will understand.) This is a children’s ministry who took on the challenge of raising money for missions… that ministry took weeks to collect all kinds of coins… the children who sacrificed to give… wow! You were amazing! So many of you did so much, like the little guy who emptied out his entire piggy bank and didn’t even bat an eye when it came to over $100!

Our own kids, who are without Dad and Mom for 13 days. We stocked the fridge and freezer, but they will miss mom’s cooking, cleaning, organizing, and stuff.

You are all heading east. Every mile this plane flies stretches your sphere of influence, your ministry is expanding, because you are sending and in God’s way of seeing things, sending is the same as going.

So, fasten your seatbelt, hang onto your passport, and take your motion sickness pills because you are flying right now! Your ministry has just gone INTERNATIONAL!

You will be driving into the ghettoes of Manila, you will be feeding street kids… you will be searching for God’s Will in Venezuela City, you will be praying for people to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, you will be clothing the desolate… I guess the easiest way of saying it is, you will be the hands and feet of God.

Oh, and one more thing you will be doing… you will be looking for Mark! There is something special about Mark.

Please pray that God leads us to Mark.

RICE 4 LIFE

RICE 4 LIFE

We are trying to keep our brothers and sisters from starving in the Philippines.

It is that serious. Manila has seen many floods over the years but what happened last week was unprecedented. The rains fell at an almost unprecedented rate, 16.7 inches in less than 12 hours! The already flooded reservoirs, rivers and valleys just could not keep up.

In order to save the dams from bursting, the authorities released huge quantities of water creating the perfect storm of devastation. Eye witness accounts said the flood waters were coming in slowly for several hours and then without warning the waters rose 8 feet in less than one hour!
People scrambled to get loved ones up onto roofs and took what possessions they could put their hands on and retreated to the roof tops and second floors.

At least 18 churches are totally devastated and 299 of our member’s homes have been total losses. 53 families in the church of General Superintendent Alfredo Bodegas. Sadly 2 are confirmed dead, one of them a 43 year old man. That is only the tip of the iceberg as communication lines are still down and there are many areas still unreachable. (Another typhoon is headed their way and is expected to make landfall Friday!)

Food, clothing and water are desperate needs right now. We have over 200 churches in the city and tens of thousands of saints who are now competing with 10 – 14 million other residents of Manila for these basic essentials of life.

So here is what we are doing.

The Headquarters Office and Church was not flooded as it is on some of the highest ground in the city. This has become the distribution center. They have volunteers who are working around the clock portioning out rice and sardines into family sized containers and are getting them into the hands of our church members across the city.

1 sack of rice weighs about 110 pounds and costs about $55 (US dollars)

Compassion Services International is going to be able to help, but the need is immediate and it will take them a little while to spring into action.

We will begin helping immediately!

If you are interested in helping immediately please email me at bmmallory@aol.com. We will get the rice purchased THIS WEEK!