Erickson’s Philippines Updates

I’m not usually a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but this year I’ll make an exception. We now have 28 kids living with us full time at Face The Children. The demands continue to increase as we are catering to not just “regular” kids, but also to kids with attention deficit disorder, behavioral disorders, one blind boy, one girl in a wheel chair with polio, one 6-year-old who cannot talk (which of course is sometimes frustrating for her), kids who have been abused and abandoned, and many kids who are fighting feelings of rejection, disappointment, hopelessness…the list is endless. This doesn’t even count the thousands of kids still living on the streets…

In anything and everything we do with the kids here in the Philippines, there is one main objective: I want God’s plan for their lives to be realized and grasped, never to be let go of. I always tell the kids that whatever they do, “I hope you do it a hundred times better than I ever did, or could have done.” That is the model of investing. You invest because you want a greater return. As we invest in the lives of these kids, I pray and hope that the return in their lives will be surpassed only by the people they will one day disciple and invest in.

Aside from that, we will also begin building the permanent dorms for the kids soon on the other piece of property that the Frontline ministry owns (in Sto Nino). This will be a good experience for me, as my project managing and working with people skills ascend to a new level. The plan is for some of the team staff, Face The Children, Frontline Christian Academy, the Frontline Training Program, and a Frontline Worship Center campus to all comprise one central camp for the Frontline. This is exciting and presents many opportunities, as well as its challenges and obstacles to be overcome.

Overall, I am looking forward to a new year, fresh full of new opportunities and adventures. Along the way, I’m sure God will place many new kids in our path, both for long and short term. We continue to trust God everyday. Happy New Year everyone!

As I sit to write about this dream and prayer that God has brought to life I am awed at how God truly does answer the prayers of His children. As most of you know, we went through a miscarriage in February of last year. Since that time, God has really been working in my life. For the 3 years prior to this, I really was in a state of depression. I think in my mind I thought having a baby would make me happy, even though I taught to those around me that God is our source of joy. Through the miscarriage, I realized that it is my relationship with Jesus that will make me smile during the storms in my life. I actually think these past 9 months have been some of the best months of my life. The Lord has encouraged and stretched me in many areas. He has brought back a lot of confidence that I lost over the years. I’m active again – playing sports, running, and even jumping rope. He has put a love for music back into my heart. It feels in some ways that I had put my life on hold for awhile.

About 18 months ago, Mike and I went to an adoption seminar hoping to do a domestic adoption here in the Philippines, but found that we had to live here for 3 years before we could proceed any further. The 3 years ended in August. We really hadn’t thought much about it until a situation arose and someone in the dump site wanted to give up their baby. Unfortunately, that fell through because someone else was already adopting that baby. Because of that, we began to think more about it so we inquired with our social worker. The day he came, he said, “Yes it is possible, and actually there is a little baby girl in the city hospital. Would you like to go see her?” Within the hour we were looking at the little girl that two days later would be in our care. It all happened so fast and without much warning, and then I stopped and realized that the Lord was answering my prayer!

I wanted a little girl and although I would tell God, “Whatever your will is Lord.” – He knew my heart . . .that I wanted a baby girl. Just four days before this happened I received some boxes from my mom and mother-in-law, and inside were baby clothes. I remember looking at them and saying, “God please bring life to these clothes.” You see, God heard the cry of my heart. I still don’t know the road that is ahead of us. It could be a long and hard journey for this adoption to be finalized. There may be choices and sacrifices that we will have to make that will be hard. There is also always the chance that we will not be able to keep this little girl. Maybe our hearts will be broken. But in my heart I know that whatever the outcome, God has answered my prayer.

He has sent to Mike, Josiah, and I, a little girl to love and to be part of our family. He doesn’t promise us how long we have to love, hold, and care for the ones in our lives that we love. We are celebrating this little soul God has entrusted to us. We ask for your prayer and wisdom in the coming months and years as we walk through this next chapter in our lives. Her name is Ellianna Kristine. Ellianna means “my God has answered me,” and Kristine means “Christian” or “anointed.” We chose Kristine after my niece, who is fighting a battle against a severe disease, and needs a lung transplant. My niece’s heart is to be a testimony to the world for Jesus. Our prayer for Ellianna is the same - that she lives her life for Jesus and follows hard after God.

–Andrea