Cubao

Tuesday afternoon Brian and I spent time with Topher and Dan. We first went to Binan to look for some boys for ABP 2. We went to what was probably the worst smelling market that either of us had ever been through. I don't think that I have ever been more happy to be able to take a deep breath of second-hand cigarette smoke in my life. Most of the boys that we had gone to look for were gone. The police had rounded them up because of their "rugby" (glue that is inhaled for a high) use and taken them to some other homes. We did find one boy though, Julius Tolits. He actually spent about a month at ABP 2 before and wants to go back. Tolits agreed to quit using rugby in order to get back in the home. We went back to the market today and he was off of rugby, but wanted to tell his grandmother goodbye before he goes to the home. So tomorrow the social worker from ABP 2 will go meet with him and his grandmother before taking him to the home. We also handed out bread near the market yesterday, and Tolits took us to the home of a family that he knew. We were able to give them some bread and to pray with them.

Last night we went to Cubao, which is in downtown Manila, to do some more bread ministry and look for more boys for ABP 2. We were able to share with a group of street children and young adults. We prayed with them and a few of them prayed to accept Christ as their savior. While we were sharing with them a man stopped by to thank us for coming and sharing with the street kids. He said that he lived on the street until he was 15 and became a Christian. He was very excited and thankful for our ministry. We also talked to a few women who were living on the street with their children. It is really hard to describe the things that we saw. One of the women would like to put her daughter in ABP 1, but first we must find out if there are any openings.

Today Topher took us to the railroad tracks to speak with a couple families. We talked with one boy whose mother would like to put him in ABP 2, but his father won't allow him to go. We also may have found another girl for ABP 1. We visited Kenneth's mom and prayed with her today. Kenneth is one of the newest boys in ABP 2 and has only been there about a week.

Please pray for the kids that have had to leave the ABPs because they exhausted their time. The aftercare program which was keeping them in school has been cut because of a lack of funding. It has gotten to be really hard and discouraging for these kids.

Brian and I leave for the retreat tomorrow and it appears that we along with the other intern, Josh, will be leading the program for the pastors' children. Please pray that we would minister to them well and that God would speak through us.