PHILIPPINES OUTREACH CENTRE (POC) - March 2021

So much has happened in the Philippines since the last time I wrote. The lockdown there has been very severe, with curfews, police patrols on the streets and permits required for travel. All this has had a huge impact on many of the outreach activities of POC.

The children have not been to school for many  months so trying to keep their education on track has not been easy. Around 200 children attend the POC academy but very few have access to the internet or own a tablet or computer This has meant that all learning has had to be through paper modules  The staff have been faced with a monumental task of printing sufficient work for all the children with only 2 temperamental printers to work with. It has also involved literally reams of paper and litres of ink which has been very costly.

In October the school had their annual inspection by the DeptEd prior to the granting of their yearly permit. This hasn’t usually caused a problem. This year the department has decreed that all private schools must either own their property or have a minimum 50 year lease.

For many years it has been Chrissy’s vision to own the school and acquire the derelict hospital that is on the same site as the school. Her vision was to use the building to extend the children’s home and school and provide especially for children with special needs. She has approached the owners many times in the past but they have been unwilling to sell. Recently however they have offered to sell both the school and the hospital to POC. This is an amazing opportunity but it comes with a huge price tag. Chrissy would value your prayers that God would speak clearly to her to show her the way forward.

In 2013 a landslide brought devastation to the small village of Wea just outside Subic. Subsequently POC and their supporters have rebuilt some of the homes and have been conducting Bible studies and children’s ministry. The pandemic sadly brought an end to these visits but they have still been able to take parcels of clothes and food as Wea is a very poor village. Recently as a result of a tragedy the villagers asked if POC would conduct the service for the wake. So with appropriate masks, social distancing and an open air meeting the first Sunday service went ahead. The church is only a roof at the moment but Chrissy and the team are praying for walls and a floor and seating. The village has been renamed LupangPangarap (land of dreams). 

One of the other casualties of the pandemic is that it has been impossible to visit the prisons. The inmates look forward to these visits, the services and Bible studies and they value the gifts of toiletries and other essentials that the team take with them. Hopefully these much needed visits will be able to be resumed very soon.

At long last the Perillo family have been able to move into their own home. After years of living in infested, rundown, rented properties, being evicted at a moment’s notice, they now have a beautiful permanent home.  Chrissy says “it’s the small things that mean so much. We have running hot water and for the first time in 37 years , a door bell! God is so good”