Website Is Up!

This WILL be just a short note:

It needs a  lot of work, but my website for Educate: Bohol is up and running.  Some of the pages are still blank, but there aren't any broken links and my SSL seems to be working.

Visit me at http://www.EducateBohol.org .

And while I was typing that little paragraph, I was contacted by another VBS group possibly interested in supporting Educate: Bohol !!!  God is soooo good.

No News is Good News

I don't really have anything to add this week.  I'm a little sad that my blog entries have gone from "daily" to "weekly", but I just don't have a lot to add at this point.  Also, the fact that I'm now working 50 to 60 hours each week (I even go in on my days-off to check on the crew), makes it difficult to sit down and write for a while.

Just to update what's going on:

My mission work in the Philippines WILL be the featured mission during First Christian's VBS program this June.  Not only is this a fun way to gather supplies and support for the mission, but it is also a wonderful medium for spreading the word about the work going on in the Bohol.

I am working on a name for the 501(c)3 that I will use to formalize my mission outreach efforts.  After some discussion with my pastor and others, I have decide to limit the scope of my outreach to just the province of Bohol.  I can always expand my outreach at a later date if I see the right opportunities and have the backing of my supporters.  I am not set on this name, but my current thoughts for a name are "Educate: Bohol".  Here is my first attempt at a mission statement for the organization (subject to modification):

Scott in Ms. Maribel's 4th grade classroom

"Educate: Bohol is a faith-based, U.S. public charity which assists the children of the province of Bohol, Philippines, in gaining a basic education, providing school supplies for students and teachers, library books for schools, and establishing church-based literacy programs throughout the province.  We will also provide limited special education-services to schools, church groups, and individuals as needs and resources allow."

I will have the opportunity to speak during an adult Sunday school class this next weekend.  It has already been suggested that this class will take on the project of sending books to the Icthus Christian Academy.  That would be simply wonderful!  What I like about the way these small projects can work, is that I don't necessarily need to be involved in the gathering and sending of books or materials.  Once the group has the basic information on where and how to send their filled Balikbayan box, they can send it themselves.  Using the library project as an example, once a group has started the process, they can continue to send boxes of books on their own as many times as they wish.  If they can fill and ship one completed box of books each month, in a year's time, they could have  made a truly substantial contribution to the gaining school.  All I need to do is educate them on the process and identify the school to receive the boxes.  How simple!  More importantly, what a blessing!  I know that the Icthus Christian Academy will be excited to receive even one box of books - can you imagine their joy if they would receive one box each month!!!

Once I get these initial projects on their way, I will be faced with the challenge of identifying additional recipients of books and supplies.  This may require a trip to Bohol for a few weeks.  I also want to visit the Icthus Christian Academy to examine their curriculum and to do some teacher training as related to providing special education services and intervention techniques.  In order to do that, I need to have gathered some substantial financial support -- for me, this is the difficult part.  At this point, I can only turn it over to God, as on my own, I don't know how to make this happen.  Once I do get to return to Bohol, I will then need to do some campaigning here in the U.S. to find other churches and organizations who would like to participate in one of these projects in Bohol.  Because these are such simple projects . . . Sunday school-level projects . . . getting people interested should not be too difficult.

My son is engaged.  His wife-to-be is the daughter of a Missouri preacher.  Maybe that church will be the first church I approach for one of the other Educate: Bohol projects that I have waiting in the wings.

I guess I had something to add after all.  That's a good thing, too!

A Work In Progress

I spent a couple of hours this past Monday visiting with Pastor Tom of First Christian Church here in Albuquerque.  It was a good meeting.  The topic was essentially about how to get me situated so that I could become a full-time missionary to the Philippines.  Now that doesn't mean that I would be in the Philippines full time, but that my efforts and "employment" would be focused full-time on the Philippines, regardless of where I was living.  Although we talked about a number of ways that I might be "organized", but the idea of forming a 501(c)3 non-profit was likely the best choice.  It would allow me to do things that would be more difficult if I was under the umbrella of the church itself.  It was noted that this process of forming a 501(c)3 might take some time . . . perhaps a year or more.

Now what I didn't really think about until after our meeting was that, I already am on the board of directors of an inactive non-profit.  I had been part of a homeschool education organization, which unfortunately had gained very little support or interest.  I contacted the other board members to discuss the status of the organization, and then offered a possible change in focus: to move from being an educational organization serving homeschool students to being an educational organization serving disadvantaged students (children) in the Philippines.  Although we still need to have a formal meeting regarding this change, the overall mood of the board is in favor of the changes.

So . . . now comes the task of coming up with a new name, a new mission statement, a new articles of incorporation and by-laws, and selecting new and/or additional members of the board of directors.  While that may seem a simple enough set of tasks, there is much more involved in those decisions then one might first think; it is really a very complicated and involved process, requiring a lot of thought and consideration.  That said . . . I'm looking forward to making it all happen, for as each task is completed it means that I am one step closer to working full time to support school children in the Philippines.  I will continue to post here as things develop.

I'm excited!

Oh . . . and I met with the church's mission committee . . . it's possible that my little mission may be the focus of this summer's Vacation Bible School mission project.  I have also been asked to present my work in the Philippines to one of the Sunday school classes . . . with prospects of having the class support one of my "projects" .

I love movement . . . especially when it's movement in the direction I want things to go!  The new momentum is encouraging.  Keep  me in your prayers.

A New World Mission Builders Project

Location of new church near Ubay

When I was visiting the Icthus Christian Academy in Ubay, I had the opportunity to visit the site of the next World Mission Builders church project.  It's a beautiful location.  I don't remember the exact size of the property, but it was a large site, lined with coconut trees on one side, bananas on the other, and taro (a potato-like root crop).  The church that will be meeting on the site is a part of a very rural community.  There is no town or village there.  Just a crossroad.  But the people who live in the community are very committed members of the congregation.  When I visited the location in the middle of the week, there was a mother and her daughter sitting under a tree.  The daughter was practicing some songs that she was going to sing at church the coming Sunday.  I was curious where the "church" met at -- they met right there, under that tree.

As I write this, World Mission Builders is there at that site, constructing a church building.  They've never had that before.  I think they may have met in someone's home if the weather was bad, but this building would be their first permanent meeting place.  I'll bet they still gather under that tree once in a while . . . just because it's a beautiful picture.

Why Am I So Tired?

I was visiting my father-in-law this afternoon.  He lives in a nursing home -- it's a nice place, he is well taken care of, and he seems to like living there.  While my wife was tending to some personal matters with him, I was sitting there enjoying a quiet chat.  Sometime during my visit, I fell asleep.  According to my wife, I was out for about 20 minutes -- even snoring a little.  Hmmmm.  So why am I so tired?

Well, I actually have an answer to that: my new job.  It's not that my work is usually that taxing, but yesterday was a bit more involved then I am accustomed to.  I had four people call in sick.  A couple were understandable, but the other two were . . . well, I won't get into that here in a public forum.  Anyway, their absence created a significant shortage in manpower on one of the busiest days of the week.  Rather then spending several hours in the office and my usual "supervisory" activities, I found myself out doing the "grunt" work -- unloading the 40' supply trailer (by hand/pallet jack) along with hundreds of car and truck loads of "goodies".  (I'm being vague on purpose, as I have not yet decided to reveal my employment situation just yet.) I did that for essential 9 straight hours.  I did take a few minutes to answer some critical emails and to order needed supplies for the next day.  By the end of the day, even my assistant manager was telling me how exhausted I looked.  She was right . . . I was beat!

Pastor Jul baptizing on Good Friday

This has nothing to do directly with my work in the Philippines, but it serves as a lesson about being reliable . . . about being available to help with the needs of others.  There are several wonderful workers there in the Philippines.  Some of those pastors there are working tirelessly to accomplish their tasks . . . and they do so with minimal financial reward -- it's for the Kingdom of God, not for themselves that they do this.  That they get some help along the way is so very important.  I feel very guilty that I'm not there.  Now it's not really my fault that I am still in the US.  It's just the way things are at the moment.  But when the opportunity arises for me to return (and I do believe the opportunity will present itself), I need to be ready to go.  I need to be willing to go. There is no calling-off-sick.  I don't want to let them down.  I don't want them to work until they are exhausted, just because I was taking a day off, enjoying myself.

I'm hoping to have a fruitful meeting next Sunday.  I will reveal more afterward.  All I ask is that you keep me in your prayers, and that I be able to say the right words, to present the best accounting of my work in the Philippines, to encourage and gain the spiritual, physical, and financial support to accomplish some of the things I have already set into motion.  Help me to be bold  . . . for its all for the Kingdom of God.

A Request From Bohol

Some of the construction at ICA

One of the places I visited during my mission trip was the Icthus Christian Academy.  I've made several references to it previous posts.  If I had to chose just one of the many "needs" in the Philippines to work with, it would be ICA.  The school is operated by the two daughters of the school's founders.  


The youngest, Netter Love, gave up the opportunity to work outside of the Philippines as a registered nurse (where she undoubtedly would have had a successful career) in order to take over the book keeping and human resources duties of the school.  However, she is the first to admit that she doesn't have the level of experience and knowledge she should have.  In order to gain the skills she needs, she has decided to pursue an MBA degree.  I'm sharing a portion of a letter she wrote explaining her need for this advanced degree.

As a ministry and institution that exists to share God’s word to the people around us, we continually aim to work for His ministry with our very best. For the past years, we have been seeking solutions and doing some changes to improve our curriculum at Icthus Christian Academy to serve the community better.

Netter Love

Our vision is to be the institution that inspires innovation and bridges the gap in education by providing competitive excellent education engrossed with timeless biblical values. We are teaching our students the character traits of Jesus Christ, demonstrate the love of Jesus by promoting active participation of all our students through our community service projects, and ministering to our students’ their need of having Jesus as their personal savior.

Ever since the school started, we are grateful for all the financial assistance that the school is receiving. It is our desire that someday Icthus Christian Academy will be one of the best schools in Bohol, a school where every parent would want their child to be in. The school shall not only provide quality education but also a school that promotes character formation. That no matter what religious background a child is coming from, the parents will enroll their children with us because they have seen that we are doing something good for their children.

Being a Financial Director and Human Resource Officer at the same time, these are some of my responsibilities:

·         Monitors the finances of the school

·         Allocates budget for some school expenses

·         advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including benefits;

·         undertaking regular salary reviews;

·         administering payroll and maintaining employee records;

·         paying the regular benefits of the employees at the different government offices

·         monitors the staff’s attendance and cash advances

·         collects and monitors student’s fees

·         preparing yearly financial report for school record

·         Prepares financial report as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bureau of Internal Revenue.

 I love my job and I am happy knowing that I am doing something for God’s kingdom. But coming from a medical profession with no educational background or experience working in business management, I feel very inadequate. I know I can do so much more given the right education.

                I believe getting a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) will allow us to achieve our vision of what our school will be in the future. By having an MBA education this will enable me to develop a wide spectrum of the general business knowledge and skills, enhance my skills and help me view things with a business perspective, be familiar with different business laws of the Philippines, taxation, and will provide a perspective on the role of Human Resource Management.

Studying MBA will not interfere with any of my current responsibilities since the classes will be taken every Saturdays. I am confident that with the education that I will be getting from MBA will be of good use for our ministry here.

 * * * * * *

She is need of some financial support in order to pursue this much needed degree.  I hope one of my readers may be able to help her with that need.