Erickson’s Philippines Updates

We would like to thank our families and several churches and bible studies in the Rochelle area for donating book bags and school materials for the kids of Face The Children. The boxes were sent at the beginning of May, but got re-routed to Taiwan because of an earlier typhoon that prevented them from coming straight to the Philippines. For the first week our kids carried their books in their arms or borrowed plastic bags from us. I can still remember hearing the loud screams of excitement that came from the girls as the delivery truck pulled into our compound! What fun we had picking out the bags and giving the kids the rest of their supplies.

Andrea and I are both teaching at Frontline Christian Academy, and seventeen of the kids from FTC are able to attend this year! Andrea is teaching the English Language class to high school years 1-3 on Tuesday and Thursdays, and I am teaching the computer science class for all four years of high school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is nice to be able to contribute to all areas of their growth-physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and now educationally.

Do you remember getting your child ready for school? The excitement, the anxiety, the CRAZINESS!? Now multiply that by 17 kids, and you will understand how our past few weeks have been. Last year 8 children from FTC were able to attend Frontline Christian Academy (FCA). This year we were able to send 17! The Lord is continuing to provide real opportunities for these children. It is VERY possible that one day we will hold up two pictures of the same child and see quite a difference. The first picture would be a child sleeping on the street, the second picture would be that same person as a pastor, missionary, doctor, lawyer, carpenter, tradesmen… I look forward to the future when we can see even more results of God’s work in their lives right now.

In the pictures above, the girls and Jefferson are covering their school books with plastic. Pictured throughout the three pictures are: Jennilyn, Lanie, Judea, Jessalyn, Jefferson, and Krishelle.

We are happy to announce that we survived Typhoon Frank, a level 3 typhoon that had winds of 120 kph (~75 mph), with gusts reaching 150 kph (~95 mph). The worst of it hit us from midnight to 5 a.m. Praise God that he protected all the staff and kids! We were without power at FTC for about 15 hours and other nearby places were still without power after ours came back on.

First Picture: Alan gathers some loose GI roofing that was ripped off of the cafeteria area in the middle of the night. If the wind had gotten hold of this metal again, it could have sent it flying through the air fast enough to seriously damage someone or something.

Second Picture: You are looking at what WAS our sandbox. I did not know when I designed it (with a tarp on the bottom to prevent weeds and such from springing up) that it would double as a swimming pool during typhoon seasonJ. Pictured are Peter (front), then Tutoy, Peter, Banjo, and Roldan (left to right).

Third Picture: The flash from the camera really captured the water running off the roof of our house. I should let you know that I took the camera out AFTER the really bad rain and wind was done.

A church from Illinois called Community Christian Church recently sent 18 boxes of supplies to us here at FTC and PFMI. This was spear-headed by Bob Clinkert (you might remember him, he made the FTC dance video available online) and executed by CCC’s youth group named StuCo (Student Community). These boxes were very timely and contained clothes, shoes, children’s books, Bibles, stuffed animals, board games, soccer balls, basketballs, and so on… Thanks to Bob Clinkert, Shawn Williams, and all of the CCC people who helped make this possible.

The first picture shows Andrea working hard sorting through the boxes. The second picture shows mainly clothes, with some toys and footballs in the background. The third picture is children’s books and Bibles. What an awesome blessing!

To help aid us in improving the quality of life and instilling a real work ethic inside the kids, the staff cleaned out a large area that was getting overrun by weeds and tall grass. We currently have 27 children at FTC, plenty of workers, right? I believe what will have the most long lasting impact on the kids lives is leading by example. If we cannot get out there to dig through rock and cut down weeds and grass, then why would the kids do it, other than the obvious “because we said so” reason? We are looking to develop the leaders of the future. I believe that we will do that by continuing to lead by example and living Christ-centered lives to the best of our ability.

Remember when you were a kid and you played in a small 2 foot by 2 foot sandbox? When I had the idea of making a sandbox for the kids I knew that 2’X2’ would be WAY too small for 30+ kids (counting staff kids). It took us two days to sift through the mud/rock/cement combination and to collect whatever spare pieces of wood we could find, but as you can see, we were successful in creating a 13 foot by 15 foot sandbox for the kids (and adults, too, of course!)

In the first picture Rally Razon dumps the bags of sand in the box with the kids and shows them how to rake through it. In the second picture you see “Fernan the Merman”. The third picture shows Shylla who mistakes Philip for a piece of chicken.

The sandbox goes along with our mission: Rescue, Restore, and Rejoice. Doing things like playing basketball, riding bikes, and playing in the sandbox all contribute greatly to the emotional restoration that is going on inside the kids.