Yay for Albert

We are so happy and excited for Albert this week!  Albert is 16 years old but when we received him in our ministry he had only completed 1st grade.  We enrolled him in a program here that allows him to take an equivalence test so that he could pass elementary school.  He completed the test last October and we just received the results this week that he passed! We are so so happy for him as is he.  This means that now he is officially considered a graduate of 6th grade and he can start high school.  As of now the Philippines does not have a 7th and 8th grade like we do in the US.

He also took another exam in November that is a placement test.  This test checks the level of competency he has in school against his age or the proper grade he should be in.  Therefore, since Albert is 16 he could essentially be placed in 4th year high school if he does amazingly well.  So we'll see how he does.  We have yet to receive those test results but we should get them next month.  We are hoping that he gets placed in 2nd year high school and can go into that grade next year with his friends.  As of now the local high school has allowed Albert to be temporarily enrolled until he gets his test results.  His teachers think very highly of him and are willing to help him get official grades this year so all his work can be counted.  Please pray that the test results of this 2nd exam are positive and he can continue on to 2nd year high school next year!  Thanks!!!

February Newsletter

Hello again to all the friends and family of Arise Ministries. This month has been a nice, regular month (which is nice for a change!) Actually, we have been doing really well since we’ve returned from the U.S. in the beginning of December. We thank all our family, friends, and supporters for your prayers, we couldn’t do it without you!

We still have 15 kids with us, and as we noted last month, our little buddy Irish will be returning to stay permanently around April 1st (she will make 16 kids). The kids are improving their grades in school and prefer the new schools in Calapan. This week the city hosted the regional high school sports competition, so the high school didn’t do much school work. Instead it was a fun filled week of cheering on our city and province against the evil hordes of Palawan, Romblon, Occidental, and Puerto Princessa. The boys loved watching the soccer and have been training intensely every day so they can try to make the soccer team next year.

We had 2 new baby goats born this month. They are a boy and girl and Layla and Sierra named them Bella and Jacob. Their mom does not have very good mothering skills so she doesn't like to feed her babies. Everyday we go out and make the mom lay down so her babies can nurse. We have also been milking her to make sure she produces enough milk. It has been tedious but Jack is working hard to make sure the babies live and that they are healthy. So far so good and they are absolutely adorable. They both fell asleep the other day in Sierra's arms!

All the kids are very thankful for the sponsors’ increase in their food budget. They really enjoy the greater variety of ulam (ulam means any other food that goes with your rice) during the week. They are also eating more and some are even getting a little chubby! We are also beginning to get bunk beds made for all of the kids. The plan is to have one made per month. We had our first one installed this month in the boys house and they were all so excited! So thank you so much for that, and thank you to all our sponsors and supporters.

We hosted our first ever Valentine’s Party and had a blast. Tammy and Sierra made chocolate chip cookies and Marshmallow popcorn balls. These type of treats are super special for the kids because any type of baking in the Philippines is very rare. We also traded Valentines and the kids loved getting all the kind words of encouragement from each other. It was a lot of fun.

Jack has been teaching classes to the staff on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. That has been going really well. The classes focus on parenting, Biblical Principles, and Life Lessons. The staff seems to really enjoy the classes and they are a great way to interact on a regular basis. Tammy teaches school to Layla on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and she loves having school like the other kids. She always wants to do her “projects.” She is now able to recognize all her letters (big and little) and she is getting good at writing her letters. She impressed Tammy when on her own, without any prompting, she copied down ‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’ Tuesdays and Thursdays have been fun because Jack takes Ellie and Layla for the day and Tammy gets to take care of administrative tasks. This has been very helpful in getting things organized and paperwork processed.

We are also now having youth group on Wednesday nights. It is super fun! Sierra and our student/staff member Carmona help Jack lead the youth group. It is amazing how 50 kids will just show up on a Wednesday (school) night ready to have nice clean fun and hear about God. We also have been having life lessons classes with the high school kids on Friday nights. This is a good time where we can help the teenagers dream big and start to put their dreams in to action in a kind and loving Christian environment.

Until next month…Blessings!!! With love, Jack, Tammy, Layla, & Ellie Fairweather

Prayer Requests:

• We are still in need of a social worker. For whatever reason it has been very difficult to find a qualified person in our area. 
• We are still in need of a house parent for the girls. Carmona is getting ready to start college and we are still looking for a kind Christian to take her place. We have some people that have applied so prayer for who God has for this position would be greatly appreciated. 
• Prayer for our licenses to be completed. Currently we are working on obtaining our final license with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. We just recently completed our Mayor’s Permit which was the second stage of becoming fully licensed here in the Philippines (woo hoo)! 
• We have been looking at a piece of land near our current location. The price is right…but it is a little farther away from town than we would like (the big problem there is having internet). We wouldn't move there for at least a year and a half, but we are trying to be wise with the decision. 
• Prayer for Rhiena’s health. She still has pneumonia despite now being through 2 courses of antibiotics (including Ciprofaxin). 
• Prayer for Rodrigo who has had on and off ear infections since we found him on the street 2 years ago. He would have had tubes in his ears if he lived in America, but he is a bit old now. 
• Continued prayer and financial support for this ministry. We can’t help the lost and hurting without people helping us! 

The Worship Team

Tammy and Ellie at Mimaropa

Dennis and Gwen at Mimaropa

Jielyn and her Valentine's

Mac Mac passing out Valentine's 

Marshmallow Popcorn balls we made for the party

Ryan showing off the Valentine's he received!

Layla being a superhero!

Ellie being a superhero!

Tammy telling the mama goat to do a better job being a mom and to start feeding her babies!

Valentine's Day

We threw our first ever Valentine's Day party for the kids on Sunday night.  We made them marshmallow popcorn balls and chocolate chip cookies!  We played a few games and passed out valentines.  It was really a lot of fun.  I had all the kids make a mailbox for their valentines but not all of them made one, or they didn't make a very big box.  What was neat was that I had a few of the kids say to me that they didn't think they would get that many valentines and that is why they didn't make a box, or a nice box.  They were all so excited to read what others wrote about them.  It is always nice to have someone write something nice to you...we all need encouragement like that.  Our kids really need that type of positive reinforcement in their lives.  We will definitely be throwing another Valentine's Party next year!  Here are some pics of the fun times we had!

making popcorn balls!

Rizza

Rhiena

Lyka

Carmona

Layla

Jeric

Erick

New Baby Goats!

Yesterday while we were at the market getting our food for the week one of our mama goats gave birth to 2 babies!  We have a boy and a girl and they are adorable.  The mom is having a hard time accepting her babies and we're not sure why.  We talked to the vet and he gave us some ideas on how to get the mama to be a good mama.  We thought we were going to have to milk the mama ourselves and bottle feed the goats, but it seems like she is doing better.  Plus, Jack tied the mama up so she can't leave her babies and that is working so far.  Layla named the baby goat Bella and Sierra is still debating on what to call the boy goat, but she has had some good suggestions.  The baby girl is black with some white and the boy is black, white, and brown.  Here are some pics:

Animal Adventure

Here is an update on what is going on with our animals.  We finally have some good news about how well they are doing.  It was getting pretty rough there at times with the animals dying, but things are looking up.  God's provision and faithfulness are amazing!

1 momma chicken had 11 babies, Dennis “rescued” the 11^th one by helping it out of the shell.

1 momma had 10 babies.  They are the tiniest, tiniest cutie little baby chickens you could imagine…and they are all healthy and thriving.

The Momma turkey had 7 healthy and strong babies.  The Tom turkey is so excited about his new kids.  He attacks Jack whenever he gets within 20 feet of the babies.

The goats are pregnant and one should be delivering any day.

The big momma pig is pregnant and should have a nice litter of piglets in April.

We have 3 hybrid chickens that are laying eggs.  We sent them to the incubator because the chickens won’t sit on them.  Jack brought them to the incubator place and they just laughed and said they don’t take turkey eggs.  When Jack told them they were chicken eggs (just really big chicken eggs) they laughed even more.  When Jack told them the momma chickens were ½ native chickens and ½ commercial chickens they laughed even harder…then to top it off they were rolling laughing when Jack informed them that the daddy chicken is a Chinese chicken!

We got a few chickens to eat (they are still alive) and on the way home one laid an egg in the bag, and another one laid an egg 5 minutes after we got home.  They continue to lay eggs…so they might get out of the dinner menu just yet.

January Newsletter

Hello again everyone.  It has been one year since we set out on this journey to the Philippines and it has been quite a year full of ups and downs.  As we look back upon this year we thank God for our provision.  We thank you, our supporters, too.  Without you we couldn’t do what God has sent us here to do.  Lives are being changed.  The Kingdom of God is moving forward.

We currently have 15 kids in our full time care.  We are blessed to be able to minister to them daily.  We are also blessed to be able to minister to many of their families on occasion.  Whether we are visiting a mom in the city jail or an alcoholic dad, we are blessed to be able to minister to the families.  The 4 Briones siblings went back to Puerto Galera for a week over Christmas.  Their dad, who is an alcoholic, only drank alcohol 1 time during their stay.  He was remorseful for the one time and apologized to his kids.  The Kingdom of God is coming to that family.

We’ve been back in the Philippines for a month now.  We were in the U.S. for the month of November and we had a great trip.  Since coming back to the Philippines things have been going pretty well.  All of the kids went back to visit family or friends for the Christmas season.  There were no major problems while the kids were out of town, so that is a huge blessing.  Praise God! 

We had a super party on December 31^st as we celebrated Christmas, New Years, and Dennis’ birthday.   It was a wonderful night and our eyes welled up a number of times as we saw the joy on the kids and staff’s faces as they received the gifts.  The kids are so thankful to all of you that so generously gave them gifts this holiday season. 

It was with sadness and joy that we send Mato, Wang Wang, Kimberly, and Desiree back to Manila to stay permanently with their dad.  Their dad was working in Saudi Arabia (their mom is in jail for drug pushing) and came home to stay.  So they are able to stay with their dad and their dad is able to take care of them.  We are glad they are with their family, but of course we are sad to see them go.  We hope and we pray that we were able to lay down enough of a Christian foundation that they will grow to be followers of Christ in their adulthood.

Jack was able to go to visit Irish’s family this month.  Irish, age 7, was placed with us in April by her uncle.  When we moved to Calapan in September Irish went back to stay with her uncle.  The uncle sent her back to her abusive family in November, so Jack went to check on the situation.  By the grace of God, Jack was able to find Irish’s home in another province in a city that he had never been to before.  Talking with the family, we gave them the option to have Irish come back and stay with us.  The family has 9 children and is poor.  The father abuses Irish because he doesn’t believe Irish is his child.  The family decided to send Irish back to stay with us after she finishes her school year!  We are very excited to have her come back.

Sierra has been staying with us now for a month.  She has settled in and her ministries (worship and mentoring) are going strong.  Her worship team has started practicing and she has started teaching guitar and drum lessons to the kids and staff.  Our neighbors are getting involved too and a number of them are taking part in the music lessons.  She is also doing a wonderful job with mentoring the teenage girls and conducting daily devotionals.

Now that we have been operating for a year we have a little better understanding of the cost of caring for a child.  We have found out that free public school isn’t really “free” and that Albert (age 16) eats more than Rodrigo (age 7).  We have adjusted our child sponsorship to $55 a month to account for the actual cost of caring for these children.  If you sponsor a child and are able to increase your sponsorship to $55 a month, we would be so thankful.  If you can’t, we understand and it is no problem, and we are STILL SO THANKFUL FOR YOU!

We would like to thank all the people who so generously gave for our washer and dryer, air conditioner, and bed.  Thank you all, once again, for your support, thoughts, and prayers.  We love and miss you very much and look forward to seeing you during our next visit to the U.S.  God bless and love,

The Fairweathers

Prayer Requests

Health:  Tammy, Ellie, and Rhiena are sick with the flu and cough.  They are all on antibiotics now.  Please pray for their speedy and complete healing.

Car:  That we can quickly find a buyer for our SUV and find a good smaller car to replace it at a good price (we don’t need the 4x4 now that we don’t live in the mountain).

Irish:  That Irish can come back to stay with us in April without any major problems.

House Parents:  That we can find new house parents for the girls.  Carmona is the house mom for the girls but will be starting college in June so we are looking for replacements.

Social Worker:  That we can find a qualified social worker with a heart for Jesus and children.