11th Child in Brood of 14 Graduates from VOHCS-Caloocan

Who says graduation programs happen only in March? Visions of Hope Christian School in Caloocan, in partnership with BLESS (Basic Life Empowerment and Support System),  held its first closing program on June 11, 2012. Seven students received certificates with confidence, having acquired not just academic knowledge but also spiritual learning because they were taught of their worth and the importance of having a relationship with Jesus. The program was held at the Hope of Glory Worship Ministry Center in  Caloocan. 

Teacher Tina Gellor, Peer Servant for VOHCS,
makes the welcome remarks …

...and Teacher Mel leads the singing of the national anthem.

Here and in next six photos, pupils from VOHCS in Laguna read 
descriptions of the school beginning with 
the letters in the acronym VOHCS.  
The children from Laguna performed this special number to

     encourage the VOHCS-Caloocan parents and graduates.

The children express thanks to VOH for teaching them
 to become the persons of value God created them to be.

Mrs. Rowena Kakilala,  BLESS Philippines director, speaks words of
encouragement  and inspiration. She told the children:

 “God has a plan for each of you and  He has a purpose
 for your being in this program.”

    Rowena Kakilala asks children what they want to be when they grow up.

  One girl said she wants to become a policewoman. 

 One boy said he wants to be a soldier.

Ms. Kakilala challenges parents to know God so that their 

children will know God as well. "Everyone has an eternal destiny.

 Someone died for you. 

You have to make a decision and choose to follow God," 

she said. 

She also said that parents should tell 

their kids how much they love them

 and that loving children includes disciplining them.

 "He who spares the rod hates his son,

 but he who loves him is careful 

to discipline him," she said, quoting Proverbs 13:24. 

“We can use the rod in disciplining them but we should explain to

 them why we did it and should explain it in love.”

 Maricel delos Santos, one of the parents, speaks of
how  God  changed her son's life  through VOH and BLESS.
"When JB  comes home from school he teaches his
 younger siblings songs  he learned in school," she said.

JB delos Santos is the 11th child in a brood of 14. His mother says: 
"He used to be quiet and shy and would

not play with other children. He has learned how to make

friends and has become a happy boy."

Here and in next photos, the children
 receive their certificates from Weng Kakilala.

                 

The children with Teacher Elisa, Teacher Tina,
Teacher Catherine and Mrs. Rowena Kakilala.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

 “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 

 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and

 become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 - Matthew 18:1-3

Photos and reportage: Michelle Taway

Children Receive Christmas Gifts in June

Boys and girls in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City open gifts sent from halfway across the globe. 
Twenty-four children from this group made a decision to ask 
Christ into their hearts during the gift-giving activity. 

Christmas gifts in June? That’s exactly what 130 children from four poor communities in Metro Manila  received right in the middle of 2012! The children are regular attendees of the Visions of Hope Foundation feeding program.  

The gifts, packed in shoe boxes and just in time for the new school year, were from the Operation Christmas Child (OCC) project of the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse. They included school supplies, hygiene items, small toys, hard candy, and a stuffed animals.  

OCC volunteers have been collecting, packing, and sending gift boxes to needy  children in countries ravaged by natural disasters, famine, war, disease, terrorism, and poverty since 1993.

Malibay, Pasay – Twenty seven children from this community 

received shoe boxes. One of the recipients is a boy who, Sunday after Sunday,

 attended Sunday School wearing the same pair of pants –

 the only pair he owned. Imagine his joy to find in his shoe box  

a pair of pants seemingly tailored exactly for him.  

Isn’t God amazing?

Rosemarie Trinidad, 11, who comes from a family 
of 10 children, said, "Maraming salamat po sa
ibinigay ninyo na mga regalo sa amin!
Napakasaya ko po dahil ngayon lang ako
nakatanggap ng ganito. ("Thank you so much for the
gift!  This makes me so happy because I have
never received anything like this before!)

East Libis, Baesa, Caloocan.-- Thirty three children who 

consistently attend the 

 twice-a-week feeding program here

  received shoe boxes on June 2, 2012.

 Each time they come for a meal,  the children sing songs, 

play a game and listen to a Bible story.  

The story they listened to this day was

 Jesus Calms the Storm from Luke 8.

In Taguig City, 50 shoeboxes were ready for distribution, but because of heavy rains and flooding, only 21 children made it to the CCT Community Center. Later in the day, CCT staff, volunteer workers, and senior members of the Brigada Bata (Children’s Brigade) delivered the gifts to the homes of the children who could not come to the community center.

As a result of the gift giving, many grateful parents have opened their homes for Bible study.