Several Cases: Answered Prayers

TCLP delights in sharing stories of successes. But these are a few so far. 

In light of what went before, however, these are glimpses of what can be done with much support and prayer.

May Ann Rose Brilliantes is   Manobo  and Mamanwa. She has been with TCLP since she was six years old and in Pre-School. She’s been with TCLP ever since and currently she’s now 3^rd year high school or 9^th grade. Her father  left her, her siblings and her mother when she just turned seven years old. Her father  was involved in theft and robbery and has been wanted by the police until now.  May Ann Rose never saw her father again since that day that he left them.  She continued going to school inspite of the different rumors going on in their small community about the circumstances of how her father had gone missing. She was embarrassed at first but eventually she decided to keep her head high and face the music.

She never gave up and continued going to school no matter what. She’s been doing well and is now one year away from finishing high school. Her mother, Evelyn, also never gave up. When her husband left, she became both the father and mother to her five children. She did everything to survive and did odd jobs in the community by working as a maid, she did laundry for the people in the neighborhood whenever she’s needed and also became a nanny to families who needed extra help from time to time.  May Ann Rose prays that God would give her a chance to go to college and finish a degree. She’d like to be the first one in her family to be able to do that and get a good job in the future. She would like to be able to help her mother so she doesn’t have to do all these odd jobs around the community to provide for the family and let her rest.

May Ann Rose is very thankful  that she’s able to go to school via TCLP through the kind and generous donations of people who have been partnering  with MCN all these years. Through TCLP, she has learned about the love of Jesus  and it was Him who gave her and her mother the hope and tenacity to keep them going all throughout this time

Jeffrey  is from Bangunay, a town which is probably around 30 kilometers away from Mt. Zion Tribal Training Center which is located in Mahayahay, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte. He’s a smart kid who had dreams of being able to school. He got accepted as one of the Dormitory students at Mt. Zion.  Like most of the Dorm kids, he stayed at the Mt. Zion campus from the beginning of the school year  June,  up to the end which is in March of every year. He sacrificed being away from his family for ten months out of every year so he could go to school. His parents couldn’t afford to send him to school since they are very poor. Life’s just about striving to make a living so they can have three meals a day.

He’s very gifted with music and plays the guitar real well. He’s part of the Youth Group in the church especially in the Worship Team. Jeffrey was with TCLP since he was in 4^th grade and graduated high school in March 2010. He’s now going to a bible school in Cebu City where he’s training to be a pastor. He plans to go back to his own town when he finishes  in two years and wants to start a church there among his own people.

Jemuel “Em-em” has always been a very happy kid inspite of his circumstances. His father was a Datu, a title given to a person in the Mamanwa tribe who is a respected elder or head of the community. His mother died when Jemuel was just almost six years old. Jemuel  joined the Dormitory Program of TCLP when he was six years old and in first grade. His mother died a year before that and a couple of years later, his father died as well. His older brother and an uncle sort of acted as his guardians but he was in the Dormitory most of the time. Unlike most of the Dormitory kids, once school ends in March or early April, they’re so eager to leave to be with their families for the two-month school vacation for the summer. Jemuel has always been different. He’d hang out in the Dorm longer because he really doesn’t have anywhere to go home to like the other kids every year. He would help out in the Dormitory and do all sorts of chores.

This pat March 2011, he finished sixth grade. He was very excited to have finally finished elementary and he had a beaming smile on his Graduation Day. He just started 1^st Year High School this past June and he looked a bit more mature now. He looks forward to finishing high school and dreams of being able to finish a four-year-degree. He’s very thankful that he’s with TCLP so he could go to school. 


Kids like these deserve chances. And you increase those chances if the kids get some support. Read all about supporting these children at the MCN website here http://www.mcni.org/tclp.html - and if you feel led to support one of them, may you be blessed for your kindness and generosity!

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Feeding the Tribal Children

The Mamanwa and Manobo kids who live in the area of Mahayahay, Kitcharao where Mt. Zion Tribal Training Center is located have a hard time getting three square meals a day.

TCLP started the Lunch Feeding Program because many of these tribal children were dropping out of school or were missing school a lot because they didn't have breakfast and eventually lunch too.




TCLP felt that it can't provide all the meals but at least we would be able to provide lunch and at least they can have one balanced meal a day. The lunch is also an incentive to keep the kids in school because kids who don't show up in school don't get to have lunch. Kids who go to school near Mt. Zion come to the center at noon. 


See how they appreciate the meal prepared for them in this video:

They come, wash their hands, pray for their meal and enjoy a good meal. They go back to school after lunch to attend their classes in the afternoon. Lunch is brought by our TCLP staff to the kids whose schools are farther from Mt. Zion.




Lunch is brought there via motorcycle.

Please help us pray that we find more resources to be able to help these children grow well - heart, mind, body and soul.

One of the pillars of TCLP and Village Health

Click on this link to watch a brief video of one of the visionaries of the Tribal Children's Literacy Program.


John and Katy Ricards serving in the Philippines

Not quite a "walk in the park"

The daily routine of going to school is no easy task for the Tribal Children.

Some of them walk an average of two to three kilometers - one way - from their homes to the school that they attend. And back, at the end of the day. Fortunately, a number of them have been placed in the dormitory of TCLP so that they avoid that problem. But there are those that cannot be accommodated there and that is what they have to contend with.

And those who remain at home still do their bit when they get home to help by fetching water, firewood and doing other chores that most children in the urban areas don't even think about anymore.

Worse, these children trek these distances without the benefit of shoes and other sturdy footwear. Slippers or flip flops, if they are lucky.

And this, during all sorts of weather -rain or shine.

TCLP is looking for donor organizations who could provide these children with decent shoes for the mountain regions, as well as raincoats, rubber boots and umbrellas.  


Some who live across a river have to cross the river on foot and during the rainy season, when the water level is higher and stronger, they are forced to stay home because of the absence of even a sturdy foot bridge.  This is why they would welcome the rubber boots.

Backpacks with school supplies will always be welcome. But shoes, rubber boots, umbrellas and raincoats will help them go their long way a lot better.

Click on this link - http://www.mcni.org/rtp.html -  and select "Educational Assistance" to donate online. Or you can always contact Byron and Joy Gary through their email byronjoygary at gmail dot com.

Blessings to you for your generosity and prayers!

The TCLP Missionaries- Byron and Joy Gary

The story of our missionaries that lead TCLP is a faith filled one.

Byron and Joy Gary are the lead team of the Tribal Children's Literacy Program in the Philippines, and have been working with this ministry for the past fifteen years.

Ever since they relocated to the Philippines from Syracuse, New York in 1998, Byron and Joy faced challenges that would cause anyone with a less determined heart to turn back and never return.

Yet, return they did and stayed the course - and throughout that time, they saw the Lord God's hand,  provision and grace abound in their lives and in the lives of the tribal people that they serve.

Byron and Joy primarily provide the cohesion among the management staff of TCLP to work together as a unified team.

They work with the staff of the Mt. Zion Tribal Training Center, in the province of Surigao, in the southern island of Mindanao. Byron oversees the maintenance of the buildings and other properties in Mt. Zion.  

Byron also assists and supports the office personnel in the MCN Philippine headquarters in Canduman, Mandaue by doing banking and other tasks closely related to the office.

Joy closely coordinates with the TCLP field directors in Surigao, Agusan and Zamboanga and makes sure that records and rosters are maintained so reports for monitoring are generated. She also acts as a liaison, interpreter and go-between between the American missionaries and the Filipinos involved with the work of MCN and TCLP.

Their tasks and duties include a ministry of helps and hospitality, as most of the tribal pastors and workers arrive in Cebu for meetings and personal intentions, they act as hosts to the visiting workers and they make sure that they are well cared for while they are in Cebu - from meeting them at the pier or airport, attending to their stay at either the headquarters in Canduman or at their residence, as well as feeding them their own home cooked meals while coordinating their appointments in Cebu City.

Their 11-year-old girl, Faith Joy, is a miracle in herself - having been born prematurely with conditions that would have gone against her survival - not to mention the attendant financial challenges that went with putting her in intensive care during the early part of her fragile infancy.

By the grace of God, Faith Joy is a healthy, normal and bright child who brings great joy and happiness to the hearts of our missionary leaders.

God is good - and He has demonstrated His faithfulness greatly through the Garys.

To provide provide support for the Gary family, please click on this link - http://www.mcni.org/Missionaries-Gary.htm  - where you will be taken to the MCN page to donate online.

Otherwise, you may send your check donations to this address: 

MCN

PO Box 3684

Oakhurst, CA 93644

Please write on the check: for Byron and Joy Gary

You can communicate with Byron and Joy directly through this email address: byronjoygary at gmail dot com. (Please note that we refrained from making a direct link to avoid spammers.)

May the Lord God richly bless you all!

from the Garys - Byron, Joy and Faith Joy

The Tribal Children's Literacy Program - how it all began, and where it's going

TCLP started as an outreach program of MCN International to the Mamanwa people in 1988.

Upon realizing that the Mamanwa tribal people were nearly 100% illiterate MCN began to investigate ways to teach them to read and write. Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) had produced literacy material for the Mamanwa in 1976, but it had gone mostly unused for more than two decades.

The Mamanwa often settled near towns and cities where public schools were available, however few ever went to these schools due to the lack of any aid to assist in enrolling, the general lack of experience of their parents in the value of education. 

The Mamanwa also feel shame because they’re being called “kongkings”, a derogatory term about their kinky, curly  hair and dark skins directed towards these Negrito-looking people in that area in Mindanao. The Mamanwa is one of the few tribal groups in the Philippines who don’t have the same features of the most Filipinos who have brown skins, straight hairs and who mostly have the Malay features.

In 1994 MCN began a Pre-school program to better prepare Mamanwa children for the 1st grade. In 2001, a two-story dormitory/dining hall/pre-school classroom building was constructed to house Mamanwa children whose parents lived far into the mountains for their children to attend any kind of school.


In the video link here, Byron walks you through the dormitory area and the playground that needs to be repaired.

Since 1993 MCN, through TCLP has aided over 2,000 Mamanwa and Manobo children to enter Philippine public schools. 

We have seen a majority of these complete elementary school (grades 1-6) and most of those who complete elementary school enter high school. To date over 50 Mamanwa children have completed high school through TCLP and 4 have graduated from college. This is quite a change for them as fifteen years ago you could not find a Mamanwa who had completed elementary school.

TCLP has set for it’s objectives in 2012 the following goals:

1.      Encourage the children in TCLP to apply themselves more especially by not missing school often.

It’s very easy for the kids to miss school because their parents bring them when they go to the mountains to haul wood, to tend to their small farms or to pan for gold. Also, they miss school because the children are asked to babysit their younger siblings while the parents go to the mountains.

TCLP will continue to educate the parents to see the value of education that their children are getting.

2.      Weed  out the children in the program who don’t really want to go to school but who just enjoy the benefits given to them without doing their part of the agreement.

3.      Encourage the parents  and their children  to attend Sunday Services.

4.      Foster better relationships between the TCLP staff and the teachers in the different schools where the TCLP children attend for proper monitoring of the children’s attendance and performance in school.

5.      Expand TCLP sponsorship so more children can be given a chance to go to school.