Our Time in the Philippines, by Dean and Christin Heller

KidzKlub Waterfight

2008-11-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 8th, we had a play day for KidzKlub, the weekend outreach program here at Samaritan's Place. Normally during the play days, we will have some organized games, songs, dances and then just free play but THIS time, we did something a little different.

WE HAD A WATER FIGHT!!! YAH!!!!

We filled up buckets all over the side yard and gave each child a cup to use for getting others wet. It was a BLAST and all the kids (who joined in - not eveyone was up to the idea (-; ) were SOAKED when we were done!!

Here is one little guy, trying to get the last of the water in the bucket!

Here is Dean and me with some kids - notice that Dean is about to get drenched!! Ahhh!

As I am sure it usually is during waterfights, the HOSE was the weapon of choice. Whoever held the hose, held the power... but that also meant that whoever had the hose was the one that got attacked by everyone else! Sacrifices, sacrifices...

(Random shots)

Poor Dean... he is getting a bucket over his head again! (-;

Wait a second... WHO is that that is pouring the water on him?

Hmmm... looks a little bit like me, Christin. (-: Whoo hooooo!!

This is a shot of some of us after the waterfight!! YAH! We had such a fun time!! Who knows, maybe the waterfight will become an annual thing for KidzKlub!?!?! (-:

It's Christmas time!!

2008-11-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, November 5th, a group of us from SP hopped into a van and headed into Manila for a shopping area called "Divisoria". Our purpose? TO BUY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! Yah! With the many donations that SP received from all of YOU, we were able to use those funds and get some amazing presents for the kids both here at Samaritan's Place AND the many kids that come to the outreach, KidzKlub. So, below are a few pictures of that day. Enjoy!

The busy streets of Divisoria. It actually wasn't bad the day and time that we went (we left SP by 6:00 am and arrived to Divisoria around 8:00 am) so we were really thankful for that! Usually, you are squished into a "line" and kinda shuffle through all the stores/stalls.

One of the main intersections in that part of town. Divisoria is interesting because there are shops and stores all through the streets and then there are two huge buildings, filled with stores (think one of the malls is called 168) that are about a block away from each other. So, if you can't find what you want in one place you just keep walking and check out the other.

Here is (L-R) Ruth, Ghie, Gina and MariCris. We all had to continually update our "books" of how much had been spent on each child, how much was left and what we were anticipating spending elsewhere... yes, by the end of the day, all of our minds were exhausted with computing the numbers over and over... but, thank the Lord for calculators!! (-; Those definitely helped keep the confusion to a minimum.

Here is Ruth, MariCris and Dori, outside one of the toy stores we shopped at. It was great because when you buy things in bulk, the vendors would drop the price by a few pesos per piece, so we got some great deals! Especially for me, because I was buying things in bulks of 20 to 80 at a time (for the outreach kids)!! YIKES!

Again, shopping for the kids, but this time we are inside Divisoria. It was really nice because Joe, one of the housefathers, would meet up with us often and get our MANY bags and take them back to the van whenever our arms were full, so we could keep going and shop more. He was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but we sincerely appreciated his help.

Above, this is all of us with most of the stuff back at Samaritan's Place around 8:30 that night. We got a TON of stuff and we still had/have more to get! WHEW! What a very long, but very FUN day!! WHoooo HOooooooo!

That Friday, we all assembled in Unit 4 and started wrapping the presents. It took us about 4 hours to get everything done and to have the presents all under the trees! Now the kids are all trying to guess which presents are theirs, since we secretly assigned each child a number and marked the presents with those numbers, instead of the child's name. They said it keeps the kids from trying to open their presents early! Oh, the suspense of it all!

A shot of all of us, wrapping the presents. Meca is in the middle of our group thinking, "Hmmm, I wonder which one of these is mine?"

It was a really fun week, full of shopping, wrapping and singing Christmas songs and it is only mid-November! WOW! But the kids and staff alike are so looking forward to Christmas and getting to open the presents that everyone worked so hard to get, so it is all worth it!!

Merry Christmas!!

Taal Volcano

2008-11-06T01:36:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, Dean and I hiked Taal (pronounced Tah-all) Volcano a while ago. We headed out across the water by 9am, but it was ALREADY incredibly hot. We didn't get done with the excursion until about 1:30 and as you can guess, we were exhausted from the climb, the heat, and our tour guide (more to come on that).

Hope you enjoy the recap of our day!!

We were able to find a place by the water that would take us (cheaply) over to the volcano. Taal volcano is unique in that it is set in the middle of a lake, with a lake inside of it. So there is a lake, surrounded by a volcano, that is surrounded by water, that is surrounded by land.

Make sense? (-:

Here Dean is trying to get his "life jacket" fastened... not really an All-Size-Fits-All version.

Here is a picture of our boat, coming up to get us in order to take us over to the volcano. The water was really clear and was reflecting everything above it. Really pretty day...

Shot from our "boat". (-:

Another picture from the boat...really beautiful...

Once we got over to the island, we were met by MANY of the locals (they live right there on the island) telling us that we needed a guide to take us up the MANY paths... So, we hired a guide and took off walking... Our poor guide quickly grew tired and practically begged us to buy a horse so that I (Christin) wouldn't be so tired. WHAT? I told him I was fine, that we were not renting a horse and that we were hiking because we like the exercise. He was not happy with that answer and tried 3 more times to convince me of my fatigue - all because if we rented a horse, then he would get to sit on it with me and therefore, not have to hike up the side of the volcano... I finally said, "I'm walking and that's it" and he dropped it... but not without a lot of huffing and annoyance at me... I bet he was SO glad he decided to take these crazy Americans to the top! (-;

Shot of the walk to the top - some places were forest-like, others were like more grassland-like. Very quiet and peaceful...

While trekking up to the top, there was a spot where some of the steam was coming out of the volcano - this is a shot of that. Both Dean and I put our hands over it and - yep, you guessed it - SUPAH HOT! OUCH! But still, glad we did it. (-; I mean, we felt the STEAM OF THE VOLCANO! How cool is that? (-;

Shot from the top of the mountain, looking down into the "crater" of the volcano, which has a lake in it now.

Another shot of the inside of the volcano - that is steam and lava in the water, right under the surface. The guide said we could go down and swim in it, but we decided against it... we were too tired! (-:

This is a shot of the "stores" at the top. The vendors were selling drinks (we got one for our exhausted guide) and shirts. They actually live down the mountain and hike up it everyday to manage their stores.

Dean, resting in the shade... very very hot day.

Right at the top of the volcano, the trail gets really steep and the people had to put in this cement bags in order for people to be able to get to the top. I know the picture doesn't show it, but it was PRETTY steep...

Walking back down the mountain....

This is a picture of the horses at the bottom of the mountain - you know - the ones the guide REALLY REALLY wanted us to rent. (-; I bet the HORSES were really glad we didn't rent them...look how tired they are... poor little horsies...

Back on the boat, heading back to the mainland.

It was a great adventure and we are glad that we did it - neat experience to have. But I think the thing that we were MOST excited about was that the volcano didn't blow while we were on it. YAY! Thank you Lord!!! (-:

Some of our favorite pictures

2008-10-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

Below are some random pictures of the kids and staff - hope they make you smile!

Angel is examining her cracker to make sure their is enogh salt.

Here is a picture of Christin with Isabel. Any time we have a camera, Isabel is always in the center of the pictures...as you can see.

Cedi is always happy when he is near his Tito (Uncle) Dean.

We have taught the staff how to play spoons. Lets just say that they are very competitive.

We made chocolate covered peanuts for the kids and Haymes has decorated his face with the chocolate. Needless to say it was very hard to stay clean with the heat and humitity melting the chocolate very quickly.

Here is Meka throwing a temper tantrum. She is so upset that her hair has stood straight up. This hair style is actually very common with the infant girls here at SP. The caregivers have a lot of fun with Meka and Angel's hair.

Khomer is showing his "cool" side.

Dean loves to play with Cedi's ears and got a little carried away.

Here are the three sisters (Jenny, Bea, and Roxanne) showing how close they are.

The four infant were playing peek-a-boo at the same time.

Cedi looks way better in Dean's hat than Dean does.

Smore night

2008-10-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

Smore night at Samaritan's Place!! Below are a few pictures of that blistery cold night a few weeks ago (totally kidding on the "cold" part) when the staff got together to have some good ol' fashioned smores! Yuuuum!

Since SP is in a residential community and not on a farm, we had to build the fire on some old metal sheets and put scraps of wood on it to use as our fire pit.

Here is a picture of some of us carefully toasting our marshmallows... the wind direction kept changing so we had to hop around a lot, making sure we didn't start to suffer from smoke inhalation!

This is Joe, one of the housefathers, working on another marshmallow for his next smore. All in all, the staff really enjoyed the experience and suggested that next time we do hot dogs and even make some beans or something... sounds like it might turn into a real nice cookout by the time we leave! (-: Yeee haw!

The infants are MOBILE!!

2008-10-10T02:35:00.000-07:00

So, as you may have read in our latest update, all of the babies (minus Tony, who is only 10 weeks old) have recently learned how to walk!! YAAAAYYYY! Below are pictures of them using their new talent...

This is Cedi - the little boy who the doctors were wondering if he would ever learn to walk. Looks like he is walking to me!! See how excited he is? Too great...

Dean is the one taking the picture here - Cedi loves his Tito Dean!! In the background is Richelle, the social worker here at SP. She has been with Cedi since he was born and they are very close....She is VERY proud of him!!

Aaahhhh! Here Cedi lost his balance and is about to fall into Dean's lap. Catch me!!

Ok, here is a picture of Meka (she has known how to walk now for a couple of months) and her little sister, Angel. This picture was taken during the first few days of Angel walking and it was super sweet because I (Christin) told Meka to help her sister walk and to go hold her hand and Meka waddled right over to Angel and did just that! Super smart and wonderful little girl!!

And this is McCoy, the last of the walking team. Here he is sporting his new skill out in the garden while wearing a very flattering Garfield shirt. Look at that concentration...

Island Cove adventure

2008-10-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Below are some pictures that we took while at Island Cove, a little amusement-like park close to Manila. It also had a small zoo, so here are a few pictures from that! (-:

Here I, Christin, am seriously 2 feet away from this tiger. I could have reached out and pet him, but I wasn't sure how friendly he would be to visitors. (-: There were about 12 tigers in all in various cages - it was pretty amazing to see them so close up! Not sure if that would fly in the US... (-:

Here, Dean is petting a baby tiger cub who is about 2 months old!! That was a "first" for both Dean and I - and yes, the cub was very soft and sweet.

In another part of the zoo, they had about 100 different crocodiles, all separated by age. They were EVERYWHERE! Neat bit of trivia we learned - in order to stay cool, crocodiles will open their mouths which allows them to stay about 10 degrees cooler. I kinda thought it was because they wanted to show off their nice dental work. (-:

Here is an ostrich, eating in the shade. They were HUGE!

We ended up spending over half the day at Island Cove and got a pretty nice burn during it, but all in all, it was a great adventure and we have some pretty great memories from it. (-:

Where o where have we been?

2008-09-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Wonderful Blog-Readers!
As many of you may have noticed, we haven't posted anything on the blog in a LOOOOONNNG time and the reason for this is because our computer went belly-up on us and was in intensive "therapy" at an HP "hospital" in Manila for the past month... kinda touch and go there for a while but now our lovely computer is back at home with us at SP and we are slowly nursing it back to health (ie, updating our anti-virus software, etc.) It is still acting funny (the mouse keeps disappearing?) but we are hoping it will make it till we are back in the US and can have someone look at it.
Either way, wanted to let you know that we will be posting pictures and updates very soon so please do not despair. (-:
Hope you all are doing well, Christin

Trip to Thailand

2008-08-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

On July 24th through the 29th we had the great opportunity of going to Bangkok, Thailand. A requirement of the Philippines is that any foreigner must leave the country for a night after six months, in order to return and stay for another six months. So, for our excursion we chose the beautiful country of Thailand. The below pictures are just a little of what we did..sorry they aren't in chronological order...we are still figuring out this blogging thing. (-: Enjoy!

The view from the top of our hotel. It was really breathtaking!

One of the things we got to do was visit a small zoo...here Dean is scratching an itchy spot for a little monkey. It was hilarious because the monkey kept moving around so Dean could keep scratching his back, neck, arms, etc. We were cracking up because it was like he was saying, "That's great...now, a little over to the left!"

Where are we and where are we going? We had about 4 different maps of Bangkok, so we were well prepared for checking the city out.

A small glimpse at the streets in Chatachuk market, one of the world's largest markets. We had no idea it was so famous but they said that people come from all over, just to rummage through the trinkets and see what treasures they can find! It was a really neat place to check out but SUPER crowded!!

This is us, dining at a small, outdoor "restaraunt" at Chatachuk. We had authentic Pad Thai and something else that looked like an eggroll - it was DELICIOUS and very cheap!

This is me, waiting in line at Customs when we entered the country...please let us in! We promise we aren't drug smugglers!!!

The view from our hotel room during the day...

The view from our hotel room at night...

One of the many houses on the river that we got to see during our river "tour".

One of the famous Buddhist temples...not sure what it is called, but really famous...??

This is us as we began the river tour of Bangkok.

A really neat bridge we got to see on the tour.

Houses and businesses positioned right on the river.

View of Bangkok from the boat.

We learned that many people will put their goods in a small skiff and row up and down the river and try to sell things. They have a famous River Market where there are rows and rows of boats and people just buy things directly there, right on the water. Pretty neato!

We went to a snake show while on the river tour...they didn't really tell us about it when we signed up for the thing, and I think I know why. I (Christin) was terrified! Here a young guy holds a viper INCHES from his head! The viper actually did bite his hair and when he pulled the snake back, the venom was on his head! I mean, TERRIFYING!!!

Here is a cobra, getting ready to try and bite this man... At one point the snake went over the small two foot wall that stood between us and the snake tried to move into the crowd...needless to say, I was practically sitting in the poor ladies lap that was right behind me I was so scared... don't worry, I apologized later...

Our last night in Thailand, we got dressed up and ate at a nice restaraunt. Here is Dean's meal..chicken curry served in a pineapple! It was really good and really fun to eat out of!

Us, at the nice restaraunt, waiting for our food. Sorry the picture is blurry...

And that is it! Hope you enjoyed seeing some of Thailand with us! We have a gazillion more pictures if you ever want to see more, so just let us know...especially the snake show part...(-:

Summer guitar recital

2008-08-11T18:00:00.001-07:00

This summer I, Christin, worked with four of the older kids here at Samaritan's Place and taught them how to play the guitar. They learned basic chords, parts of the guitar, the strings, simple beats and songs. As part of the lessons, I required them to each learn and play at least one song in a recital for the other kids and the staff at Samaritan's Place. They all did GREAT and I was really proud of them!! As a "present" for all of their hard work, they each received an official copy of the songs they had played and they got to choose a pic to keep.

Below are the pictures of the recitals.

This is me and Darline - Darline was the youngest student I had.

Darline playing her song...

This is Jesryll. She is incredibly good at the guitar and decided to play THREE different songs for the recital. Very gifted in music I think...

This is Jaylord - I was really impressed with his determination to learn the guitar because he is LEFT handed! He was a real trooper and practiced a lot in order to be ready for the recital. He did a really good job!!

Here's a pic with me and Francis (sorry we don't have any solo pictures of him above..), Jesryll and Jaylord. I think they are very happy and relieved the recital is over...(-;

Sweet little Chad

2008-08-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

If you have read our most recent update, we told you of a little boy named Chad being adopted to a family in the states and how he (Chad) left with them two weeks ago. In light of that, we wanted to share a few pictures of Chad while he was here at SP....Here, a week or so before he left for the United States, Chad was playing in the dirt, and not supposed to be. Busted!

This is the night before we left for Bangkok - the last time we saw Chad. He was getting tons of hugs and kisses those last few days from us! He's a sweetie...

This is Joseph and Gena, the houseparents of Chad. They were the ones that were taking care of him and being his "parents" until he was adopted by the family in Arizona. They considered Chad as one of their own... Very selfless and loving people.

This is a picture of Chad that we took when we first arrived. Amazing to see how much he has changed in the months that we have been here. You'll notice he is holding a ball - that is one of his all time favorite toys. If he sees another child holding or throwing any type of ball he will yell, "BAH!" and run after it! So funny!

American Cemetery in Manila

2008-07-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

We got the chance to visit the American Cemetery in Manila and it was breathtaking and sobering at the same time. The cemetery is situated on a sprawling 61.5-hectare plateau, where the remains of more than 17,000 American soldiers killed in the Philippines and New Guinea during World War II have been laid to rest. With a total of 17,206 graves, it is the largest cemetery in the Pacific for U.S. personnel killed during World War II and also holds those that died during the war from the Philippines and other allied nations. Many of the personnel whose remains are interred or named were killed in New Guinea, or during the Battle of the Philippines (1941-42) or the Allied recapture of the Philippine islands.

There are countless white tombstone markers across the lawn, each one representing a life that was given during the war.

While we were there, some military personnel (we think they were pretty "high up" to be holding their own ceremony) came and paid tribute to those that died. It was very sad watching it take place and knowing why they were doing it - that so many people died to protect the freedom of others.

This inscription was on the first main wall when you enter the cemetery. They have name after name on the walls of the cemetery, remembering those whose bodies were never found. It was staggering to see how many there were.

Above is the start of the "walls" with the soldiers names on them.

This is what is looks like as you walk throughout the cemetery, reading each name and where they were stationed and what their task was...

This is a view of some of the tombstones - in the background is Manila.

Meka and Angel update - two special little girls

2008-07-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Above is Angel, when she first arrived at SP. Her body was very malnourished and her hair was so unhealthy that it wouldn't lay flat on her head. She is about 5 months here.
This is her older sister, Meka, when she first arrived as well. Although Meka was about 19 months when she arrived, her feet were not even a size zero - that is how malnourished she was. Although she looks chunky in this picture, her body is actually very swollen and toxic. Her stomach was incredibly puffy and due to that, she could not lay down on her tummy or crawl or roll because it hurt her too much. She was also very "unresponsive" and quiet, not full of much life...
Here is Meka, just four and a half short months later, in June. She turned two years old and we celebrated by letting her blow her candle out... Look at that smile...
And this is Meka on the day she learned to walk, just three weeks ago. God is so Good!!! Back in February, she was a shell of a little girl, with no life or sparkle and now, she is healthy, happy and walking. As you can see, she was ECSTATIC about her new talent and laughed every time she walked... We were almost crying when we watched her do it...amazing to be a part of this change and see how the Lord can take anything that is "broken" and restore it completely...
Again, her first moments of walking on her own with one of the SP staff "backing her up" in case she wobbles... And, just so you know, her feet are now up to a SIZE 5!! And, she has some of the coolest shoes around - including bright pink sneakers! I mean, this girl is STYLIN'!
This is a recent picture of Meka and Angel, chilling in the crib in the play area...Meka is saying, "Uh, can you let me out of here please?" They are very happy here and incredibly loved, but now, we need to find them a home with two incredible parents so that they can experience the absolute blessing of a family and the love that is found in one...

The beauty of the Philippines

2008-06-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

Below are some of the pictures we have taken of the incredible skies and landscape while here in the Philippines. All of the pictures are from within the grounds of Metrogate Estates, the place that Samaritan's Place is located at. Often times, we will be out on walks and overcome with the absolute beauty of what God has created, so we wanted to share it with you all. Enjoy!!

How to leave a comment on this blog

2008-06-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
There have been some inquiries regarding how to leave a comment on the blog so we wanted to let you know how to do it, if you would like.
All you do is decide which "post" you want to comment on and then, beneath that post there will be a line that says "Posted by Dean and Christin Heller O Comments". If you want to leave a comment, just click on the green "O Comments" link and it will allow you to leave a comment for everyone to see.
And that's it! Hope you all had a great weekend with your families!! We miss you all!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

2008-06-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

We want to wish Roger Heller and Doug Thomas a Happy Fathers Day. Above you will see our smiling faces holding your Fathers Day cards. Needless to say, your cards will be a little late since we took these pictures this afternoon. But we are sure you will like them when you get them. We love you both dearly and are proud of each of you.

Some pictures of SP and the grounds

2008-06-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Samaritan's Place!

This is SP from the side. There are 4 apartment like homes that make up these two "duplex" homes.

Here is the pavilion, with SP's very own jeepney under it, in the area we call the garden.

Here is the trampoline and swing set in the large garden.

Here is the babies room, right down the hall from our own room in Unit 3.

This is our room - aren't you impressed with how clean it is? (-:

We have a small refrigerator in our room and the windows look out onto the back of SP and other homes.

We have our own shower, toilet and sink in the room, which is really a great blessing that we are so thankful for. To the right is the door, leading to the hallway that takes you downstairs.

Our Anniversary trip to Baguio City

2008-06-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Baguio, a city that is about 7 hours north of Manila, for a few days this past week as an early celebration of our 3 year anniversary! Yea! While in Baguio, we checked out a lot of the local sites, one of them being a Butterfly Sanctuary.

The woman tending the butterflies put one of them on Dean's face - needless to say, it really tickled.
This is me getting super excited because the butterfly was starting to grab onto my finger!
There was a large park, called Burnham Park, where lots of people were out on picnics, riding bikes or renting these boat like contraptions so they could row around the small lake. It was very pretty...and COLD!! Seriously, we were wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts the whole time we were there! Who would have thought it could get cold in the Philippines!?
We had to travel up into the mountains in order to reach Baguio. Here is side of a mountain, where they were growing rice. Pretty amazing!
Rice fields at the bottom of the mountain.
Oh, the story behind this picture. This was taken outside the Botanical Gardens where upon arriving, these two natives approached Dean and asked if he wanted a picture. Dean said yes and I moved to take the pic. Welp, right away, a mob of about 20 other natives swarmed Dean and all lined up to be in the picture. I kinda gave Dean a look like, "That's odd" and he just shrugged his shoulders. Upon seeing our confusion, a tourist that spoke English informed us that we have to pay 10 pesos for every native in the picture. I said, "We don't have that many pesos on us!" The natives realized what was happening and refused to move and got angry at us. When Dean said that they would have to leave, some of the natives started yelling at the others, demanding that they leave, while others stayed. IT WAS CRAZY and a bit scary!! Finally Dean said, "No - only two people!" and they realized he was serious, so the two above natives kicked everyone else out of the picture. Another vendor asked if I (Christin) wanted to be in the shot and I politely said no, for fear of having to pay him pesos! Jeepers! So, this is the picture with the remaining natives, who triumphantly received their 10 pesos each! I think we should write a letter to the police department in Baguio and apologize for the small riot we created...

One more beautiful shot of the countryside...absolutely gorgeous!

Sportsfest at Samaritan's Place

2008-05-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

Here is the triumphant white team!

Early in the morning waiting for the first event.

The kids working together to throw the balloon over the net in the water balloon toss.

Tug of war

waiting for the ball in volleyball

The kids waiting during the awards ceremony. Every child got a tons of candy.

The block dash

Dean and Richelle helping one of the children during the sack race.

The basketball championship

Trying to reach the prize in Palosebo.

Happy Mother's Day!!

2008-05-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

We want to let Nancy Thomas and Jan Heller know that they are both loved and missed. We wish we could be with you on this special day. Just know that you are in our thoughts and prayers and we hope you get spoiled on this day...Happy Mother's Day!!!

Having Fun at Kiddy's ArtsTown

2008-04-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids and their artwork from Kiddy's ArtsTown. Kiddy's ArtsTown is a kids art center located in a nearby mall where the kids sit and choose their own picture to paint. Once done, the artwork is baked and then peeled off the paper to become a window decal. The kids had a BLAST doing this and they also really enjoyed the McDonald's lunch that came before Kiddy's ArtsTown. We think we have a couple Picasso's in our midst!!

Dancing Time!

2008-04-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

(your love has captured me...)

(Sing it!!)

These are the kids, performing their "trademark" dance to the song 'Every Move I Make' (great song!) for some visitors in February. Whenever we have groups come in, the kids will sing and dance to this song, showing off their dancing moves and their big smiles. Oftentimes you can walk around SP and here SOMEONE, either a staff member or one of the kids, singing the song and doing the motions. Pretty cute...

Kids before Wednesday night devotion

2008-04-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

These are some of the kids that are in Unit 1. Every Wednesday night the kids and staff get together for a short devotion where we sing a few songs and then someone will teach a lesson for the kids about the Lord. The kids and staff really enjoy getting together for this time, as you can tell from their smiles.

Marc and Marilen

2008-04-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

And this lovely couple is Marc and Marilen. They are the founders of Samaritan's Place and reside in Unit 4 with thier daughter, Michelle. They also have a son named Chris who is attending Faith Academy here in the Philippines. Marc and Marilen just celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary - congrats! Marilen is the head of all operations here at Samaritan's Place (a job that never stops) and is the skilled creator of SP's website. Marc is in charge of all finances and contributions and oversees the current building project of SP. They have big hearts and have cultivated a loving, Christ-like environment here at SP. They are great!

Unit 3 housemates

2008-04-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

These beautiful ladies are our "house mates" in our unit, Unit 3. Going from left to right is Richelle, Ruth, Criselle (but we call her Bhe) and Dori. Richelle is the incredibly skilled social worker at SP and knows anything and everything about SP. She has been with the orphanage for over 5 years and has been a great help to us here. Ruth and Bhe are the infant caregivers and work tirelessly to provide for the four babies in SP's care. Ruth is full of energy and we can often hear her singing to the babies while she works and Bhe, full of laughter and smiles, is eager to learn English (she already speaks really well!!) and how to play the guitar. Last is Dori, the glue of SP and the one who makes things run smoothly. She handles some of the finances with SP and is the overseer of our unit.

James and Ghie

2008-04-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is James and Ghie (pronounced "G") and they are the new house parents of Unit 2, as they just joined SP staff this past November. They have a little boy and parent a total of 9 children, ranging in age from 12 - 2 in their unit. James plays the guitar and drum and has a great sense of humor. Ghie is very warm, giving and always quick to smile and make anyone feel welcome.

Joseph and Gina

2008-02-26T04:08:00.000-08:00

These lovely people are Joseph and Gina Cahatian, the house parents of Unit 1. They have three children and are a GREAT couple. Jo is incredibly skilled at the guitar, construction and anything else he puts his hands to. Gina is a strong, no-nonsense kind of woman who likes to laugh and is a wonderful cook. They watch over 9 kids, ranging in age from 10 to 2 years old. They have been at SP for 7 years.

Life in the Philippines

2008-02-26T03:58:00.000-08:00