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!