Arise Ministries LC: 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