- Christmas Cheer to Retirees
- Every Christmas, members of our Family International community visit a nearby retirement home to interact with the elderly residents, and bring some warmth and cheer into their lives.
- Donating Educational Materials to Daycare Centers in Parañaque
- During December 2007, Family International volunteers were able to assist over 1000 children in poor schools with food staples such as rice, canned goods, and biscuits.
- Comfort for the Needy
- We were invited to take part in the anniversary ceremony and celebration of a local hospital that offers free care to the underprivileged. Andy, Marie, and their children sang and performed, much to the delight of the audience, which included both patients and hospital staff.
- Cebu Prison Ministry Update
- For the past three years, we have been teaching Bible studies and motivational classes at the local women’s prison, which holds about 240 inmates. When we started visiting them, most were downcast, unhappy, and full of anger and bitterness.
- Nutrition Program Gains International Sponsor
- Jenny, a Filipina-American living in Chicago, had wanted for many years to do charity work in her parents’ homeland, the Philippines, which she hadn’t visited in 16 years.
- Able to Laugh Again
- We have visited a home for abandoned elderly women several times over the past few years, and we recently increased our visits to once a month. Our five boys sing to the women, which not only makes them very happy, but also inspires the Catholic nuns and volunteers who care for them.
- Healthy Bodies, Healthy Outlook
- When we took our regular supply of donated fruit and veggies from the market to a local women’s refuge, a woman we hadn’t met before came out to receive the delivery. She explained that she had worked at this refuge over a year ago, and recently returned.
- A Turning Point
- The FreeZone Youth Activity Center, established and staffed by the Taipei branch of the Family International, holds Bible classes, and offers counseling and other activities to help Taipei’s youth build a positive outlook on life and become good citizens.
- Aid to Evacuees
- The Mayon Volcano had been spewing ash 800 meters (2,625 feet) into the sky over southern Luzon, the largest of the Philippine islands.