Broader Horizons
| It’s an eventful period for all of us at Tiwala Kids & Communities. In a span of four months, the Lord opened up new places of outreach, Tiwala forged new partnerships, and reached new milestones. Here are the highlights of the previous months: |
| New Outreaches and Endeavors Tiwala Kids & Communities is a small charity that has mainly operated in Legazpi City. But at the beginning of 2021, we were able to reach out to residents of San Miguel Island and the municipality of Manito through various projects. For our post-rehabilitation rebuilding project with Global Aid Network (GAiN Philippines and Australia), we were able to help eight families on San Miguel Island. Their houses were destroyed by the consecutive typhoons last year. The rebuilding involved the use of concrete structures to withstand succeeding storms. Aside from GAiN, Saskatoon New Life Community Church also sent monetary donations not just for the rebuilding of houses but also for the school supplies of 81 children on the said island.Meanwhile, Tiwala expanded its scholarship program to Manito, Albay. We are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Ramon and Nerissa Daen for their willingness to supervise the educational assistance project there. Eight high school students were added to our scholars, making the total of fully sponsored children to thirty! We rejoice that more children are now receiving monetary assistance for their education. Our ministry in Legazpi City has also embarked on a new endeavor – a livelihood project for Tiwala mothers. Through our partnership with GAiN, we were able to purchase additional sewing machines. We then loaned them to Tiwala moms so that they could sew textile products such as masks, hygiene kits, and bags while they were at home. Other moms sell the products. We’re excited about this endeavor because of its potential to augment the income of the families we are reaching. |
| New Partnerships The new outreaches would not have been possible without the help of new groups who forged partnerships with us in early 2021.It is a huge blessing to partner with Global Aid Network (GAiN), a humanitarian relief and development organization that is dedicated to bringing hope to the helpless. They provided three project grants to us: the post-typhoon house rebuilding mentioned above, Tiwala’s livelihood project, and scholarship grants. Meanwhile, Verraco Coffee (www.verracoffee.com), a social enterprise bringing specialty coffee from the Philippines to the world, also forged partnership with Tiwala Kids & Communities last month to bring free education to underprivileged children in the Bicol Region. This start-up is committed to helping indigenous tribal people and backyard farmers find a market for their products. Moreover, an ongoing 21-Day Challenge initiative has also chosen Tiwala Kids & Communities to be its charity beneficiary, donating a portion of the motivation fee to us. The 21-Day Challenge is a community that seeks to motivate people on the journey towards a healthier life. Aside from all these, Albay Pasa-Buy, an online local business providing services and products to Bicolanos, donated school supplies for the modular learning of more than 200 Tiwala children. These donations-in-kind provided the necessary supplies for our children as they cope with the challenges of learning during the pandemic. These partners have allowed us to increase our impact on the communities we serve. We are thankful that the Lord is bringing people and groups to come alongside us in our mission of portraying His love to the needy by providing practical and spiritual help. |
| New Milestones 2021 also ushered in new milestones for Tiwala Kids and Communities. The staff team had a back-to-back celebration on March 26. We did not just celebrate our 14th founding anniversary, but on the same day, we also received an award from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It was a commendation for our humanitarian response and assistance to affected communities in times of emergencies and disasters. Such milestones filled our hearts with awe and praises to the Lord for His faithfulness to Tiwala all these years. But aside from the award and anniversary, we were also encouraged to see the work of transformation in the lives of our beneficiaries. For example, more than twenty teens are undergoing a discipleship module and have shown a deepening interest and commitment to grow in their relationship with God. When restrictions in the city were eased, they eagerly attended our face-to-face sessions and actively engaged in the discussions. Another noteworthy milestone was witnessing three Tiwala mothers in our Bible studies stepped forward on Easter Sunday and publicly proclaimed their faith in Jesus through water baptism. As they did so, they testified of the Lord’s grace and lovingkindness upon them. We’re excited to see more of our beneficiaries experience genuine life-change and make a similar step of faith. |
| Thank you very much for standing by us all these years! Your prayers, encouragements, and donations enable us to have a wider reach and serve more people for God’s glory. Maraming salamat! We look forward to many more opportunities to make a positive impact with you. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family.Blessings, Tiwala Kids & Communities Team |