Acts of Love
| With COVID-19 threatening to become a worldwide pandemic, February has not been an easy month to cope with. Thankfully there are no confirmed cases yet here in the Bicol Region, and fear and panic have not yet gripped the hearts of the people here. For us at Tiwala Kids and Communities, even in the midst of uncertainties, our hearts have been filled instead with encouragements and love from people who believe in what we do. Here are several acts of love we received the past weeks: |
| Concerts Tiwala Kids and Communities recently participated in two concerts. The first was the concert by Jana Alayra, a Christian worship leader known for her upbeat songs for kids. We use many of her songs in our weekend classes and so we were really excited to attend the event and even volunteered to help in the preparations for it. The staff of Tiwala were also privileged to attend the training where Jana shared key principles on how to lead dynamic worship for kids. We would like to thank Generation Christian Fellowship, a partner church in Legazpi, for sponsoring the concert so that it would be free to everyone who attended. It was truly a blessed experience for us at Tiwala! |
| While we knew about Jana’s concert a few months ahead, the second concert we attended came as a pleasant surprise for us. Three days prior to the Legazpi concert of SB19, an up and coming Filipino band, we received a call from their talent management agency informing us that they saw our webstie and asked us if we would be open to receiving a donation for our scholarship program during the concert. We were dumbfounded and at first thought it was just a prank. But much to our amazement it was indeed true and on the day of the concert, we were handed the donation by no less than the SB19 members themselves! Our Tiwala teacher, Anabel, got to share a few minutes of limelight with the band as she expressed gratitude and explained to the thousands of people attending the concert about Tiwala’s mission and programs. What an awesome opportunity indeed! |
| Fun Run for a Cause Coinciding with the Jana Alayra concert was the media launch of “Sili (Chilli) Run”, a fun run event of Bicolano Running Photographer, and organized by Green Media Events. The activity aims to showcase the Bicol Region and promote health and wellness. The organizers said that they also found our website and decided to give part of the proceeds to Tiwala’s educational programs. The fun run will be held on April 26 at the CCP Complex in Metro Manila. We are grateful and honored that they chose Tiwala Kids & Communities as the beneficiary for the said event! |
| Birthday Party On top of these groups reaching out to help Tiwala, we also received another wonderful surprise when a family found us on the internet (again!) and wanted to celebrate their son’s 4th birthday with Tiwala kids. They drove all the way from Cavite to spend an afternoon with us. It was an enjoyable party as the children sang songs, received gifts, played Filipino games, enjoyed delicious food, and got entertained by clowns! Thank you so much to James Blunt’s family for sharing their blessings and sponsoring a memorable party for Tiwala children! |
| Teens Find True Love Series Aside from running our regular programs (scholarship grants, digital learning, tutorials, and family strengthening sessions), Tiwala also took advantage of the month of February to teach the Tiwala teens about true love. Around forty young people attended our weekly sessions where we shared with them about finding true love in the Lord. It was a great opportunity to point teens to the greatest act of love done by Jesus and the importance of responding to it by being a channel of love to the people around them. |
| Of course, we are also grateful to all of you who continue to support us through your prayers and practical help. Thank you for your acts of love and compassion to the children and families we work with. We are indeed so blessed to have you as our partner. May you also be filled with the daily inspiration and provision you need as you continue to be a channel of love to others. Blessings, Tiwala Team |