|  I will have to start
not in the Philippines, but in Africa.
It was during a short-term trip to Uganda, I first realized
there is a battle of epic proportions being fought. The
opposing forces of this battle are the Goliath of today’s
world (represented by hedonism, apathy, idolatry, poverty)
and a whole generation of children. It is very much a one-sided
battle at the moment.
That trip to Africa was my first “wake up”
call. The second came while my husband and I were planning
a move to the Philippines, when I met a missionary couple
heading to Europe to curb the burgeoning worldwide street
child problem.
One of the worst situations for street children is situated
in Manila, Philippines. For the next several months, I researched
everything I could about street children. By the time we
reached the Philippines, I had a good understanding of the
magnitude of the problem, but was unsure of what to do from
there. It was during this time God seemed to pull me deeper
into the Word, and in particular the Psalms, Isaiah and
Jeremiah.
This time of grounding helped tremendously in the difficulties
ahead. Soon after arriving in Manila I joined up with Alay
Pag-Asa, a Filipino street child organization, and was exposed
to living conditions that are almost beyond description….slight
young boys, bowed under the weight of bags of cement they
unload from ships 14 hours a day; deliriously sick children
bitten by rats as they sleep on dirty pieces of cardboard;
children living in hot tin boxes on the Pasig River while
dead bloated animals and the filth of the city bob in the
water around them; a little girl, so exhausted from selling
on the street that she lay sleeping on the median of a busy
intersection, oblivious to the traffic, noise, and the pouring
rain.
These are just some of the scenes that stick in my mind
from my early street outreaches with Filipinos. I remember
thinking our pets in the U.S. live better than these children
made in the image of God!
I learned not only of the terrible suffering of these children
but also the sacrificial love of Filipino believers for
them. I worked with Alay Pag-Asa for a little over a year,
traveling the city with their street outreach team, developing
a baking program for the residential children, and going
to camps.
It was at one of these camps where two of Alay Pag-Asa’s
founders, Buboy Quila and Denton Bardoquilla, and I sat
around a picnic table and first discussed the idea of starting
another street children ministry through Mission to the
World. Buboy Quila soon joined our MTW staff.
We were pleasantly surprised at how readily the national
churches took up the call to help these children, realizing
they had the desire to do so, but lacked adequate training
and resources. In January 2001 we took in our first three
girls at the Ang Bahay Parola (“The Lighthouse”)-Commonwealth
center. With our Filipino church partners, we are fully
committed to doing everything we can to develop Christian
leaders here in the Philippines, and equip these children
to face their Goliath.
Renae Johnson formerly served with MTW, Philippines in
Manila.
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