Kid's International Ministries

Our "home" here in Manila has been with Kid's International Ministries (KIM). Jeff Long,the director of the ministry is a long time friend of Vince Burke. After morning church service at a local church, Jeff Long took us on a tour of the many ministries occurring in this neighborhood of 5,000 people called Cuatro. In addition to the large guest house(YMC)where we are staying, there is a Children's Center (orphanage) for children from age 0 to at least 15, a Christian School, and a home for 29 at risk girls. The goal of Kid's International Ministries is to begin in the womb to change the cycle of poverty and to share The Cross with everyone they assist. Though it breaks our hearts to see the orphans and the girls who's lives have been nearly destroyed, it is also amazing to see how Christ is transforming lives in this community. At the orphanage we played with a happy, smiling baby girl named Desirae. Her mother did not have the resources to take care of her, but for the last month that Desirae was in the womb her mother lived at the YMC and was able to give birth to Desirae in a safe, healthy environment rather than on the muddy floor of a squatter home. Though she does not have a mother or father, Desirae has been loved since her birth. KIM is involved with international and domestic adoptions and they have placed over a dozen children into international homes. All the families that the children go into are Christian families. At the home for the girls at risk, we walked in expecting to see timid, fearful girls, broken by those who harmed them. While I know they still have many years of healing ahead of them, what we found were smiling faces, welcoming us into their home and lives. They proudly showed us their rooms, each painted a different color with encouraging scripture verses and phrases painted on the walls of their bedrooms and throughout the house. Some of the girls played the piano and sang a worship song for us. The love and truth of Christ shared with these girls ages 9 - 16 has brought them hope and life. - Jennifer Edmunds