by Marinette Villalobos
Volunteer, RestoreHope for Children at Risk
One chilly afternoon in the town of Mendez, Cavite, we visited a friend who inspires us in his passion in the children’s ministry. Kuya Lee, as we call him (“Kuya” means older brother in Filipino), was one of our participants in the child sexual abuse awareness and prevention facilitators’ training held at the Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel.
Despite his passion for the ministry, he confessed that he longs to see the impact of the works of his hands on the lives of the children that he worked with. He said, “It seems that, after all these long years in the ministry, we don’t see a visible impact in the lives of the children and the families that we work with.”
Whether we are in the children’s ministry, pastoral work, or working as a community volunteer, social worker or non-government staff, we share similar paths and feelings with Kuya Lee. Cheer up!
As Christians the measure of the standard of our work is in obedience to God’s call. The impact of what we are doing may not be visible in the human eyes but the Lord takes pride in everything that we do in obedience to His call. The magnitude of our calling should not be covered by our “successes” or the visible impacts that we made in the lives of the people that we serve but by the joy of serving the One Who called us to do the job. “Then Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. . .” 1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV)
RestoreHope for Children At Risk, Inc. is an evangelical Christian organization that aims to enable and equip churches to respond to the issues of ‘children at risk’. RestoreHope for Children At Risk’s vision is a responsive and supportive church towards Child Protection. Tamar Project, an initiative against Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) commenced in Chiang Mai, Thailand during Viva Network’s Asha Forum Asia 2nd Conference in March 2005 and borne out of passion of several Philippine delegates from various organizations (Stairway Foundation, Kanlungan Sa ERMA, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse, The Salvation Army Asia-Pacific) and other individuals who share the same vision of mobilizing churches and communities to protect children. One of our goals is to educate, equip and enter into partnership with churches and communities in their response to CSA through capacity building, resource generation and link them to organizations that offer services for the healing and recovery of the child. Our programs and services are 1. Advocacy through awareness campaigns and resource and materials compilation and development; 2. Capacity Building trainings for churches and communities; 3. Seminars, forums, and consultations. We invite you to prayerfully consider being a part of this ministry. Please contact us for more details at: restorehope4car[at]yahoo.com.ph / Fax+63 46 8503665.