HeartSpeaks

Appeal for funds $160, 000 SGD to give kids a home

Dear friends,
after much deliberation over the past couple of years, acts29 has decided to take our mission one step further. This year we took in another 4 children/teens into our formation house. There are 5 now. And we have another 5 on our waiting list. The kids we are taking in are orphans, abandoned or from struggling single-parent homes. Interestingly, we did not seek these kids out. They are coming to us and asking for a home. And those we have asked are in dire need of help. As more kids are coming forward, we need more help to keep our mission going!

To effectively serve the needs of the poor, we have decided to register as an NGO (Foundation) in the Philippines. We need 1 million pesos (about $30, 000 SGD) in an approved bank to be an NGO. This will take place in the first quarter of 2012.

To rehabiltate the kids effectively, we are looking to buy a hectare plot of land which will comprise little satellite homes, a main building (activity centre/dining/kitchen and chapel) and a vegetable farm. The land and construction will cost $130,000 SGD.

Of the 5 with us, 4 are in formal school and at the top of their levels. The 5th kid will take an entrance exam to enter high school in February

The purpose of our formation house: to form the children and teens to Know God, Love God and Serve God.

At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.

We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."

Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing - but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks - but homeless because of rejection.
- Mother Teresa

Help us to provide a home for these kids. To make a donation for this cause, kindly email sherlyn@acts29mission.org

6 months missioner as house parent

acts29 is opening its 2nd formation house for 5 children this January.
We are looking for a Catholic single/couple to take on the role as houseparent/s for 6 months

Age: 25 years and above
Strong Catholic faith
Able to cook and manage the household
Oversee to the daily menu and nourishment/health of the residents
Able to share the faith and God's love
Able to work together with acts29 team in the Philippines.
Willing to learn to speak Filipino during the 6 months

Provided: Lodging and meals

Please email sherlyn@acts29mission.org

June Mission Trip 2012

5 Days: May 26 - 30

Who:
Family groups and sponsors of acts29 kids

Award ceremony for scholars
Mother's Camp for acts29 Mother's Support Group (Payatas)

Cost:
1. Accomodation (Volunteer House) and Food*:
Adult Rate: $50 per person per day
Student Rate: $30 per person per day
*Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

2. Airfare est: $300 (Cebu/Tiger/Jetstar)

Total cost estimate: $500

Closing Date of Registration: December 30, 2011

How to Register:
Drop us an email at enquiry@acts29mission.org or sherlyn@acts29mission.org and state the date of the mission trip you are signing up for.
We will then get in touch with you.

Briefing and Preparation Days:
to be confirmed
QnA
Q: What if I cannot commit to all 7 days?
A: If you can make it for 4 days or more during the period of Feb 16-23, you can still participate in this trip.


Q: I am not Catholic. Can I still go with the group on the mission?
A: acts29 is a Catholic mission community and we welcome non-Catholics who are interested to know more about our mission. If you are willing to observe our prayer time and participate in all the other activities, we welcome you.

Q: If I cannot make it to the briefinging/preparation meetings can I join the trip?
A:The briefing and preparation meetings are conducted to sensitize one to the culture and life of our neighbours. It is important that participants attend at least 2 out of the 3 meetings.

Q: What is the minimum age?
A: We accept participants 16 years and above, provided they have been overseas on their own before and can take care of themselves. Participants below 21 years old will require consent from their parents.

March Mission Trip 2012

7 days: March 10 - 17
Facilitate and Coach

Who: Youths and Adults
to work directly with students of Paaralang Pantao (Payatas)
A Sports Carnival for the children to learn about sports and games

Cost:
1. Accomodation (Volunteer House) and Food*:
Adult Rate: $50 per person per day
Student Rate: $30 per person per day
*Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

2. Airfare est: $300 (Cebu/Tiger/Jetstar)

Total cost estimate: $500

Closing Date of Registration: December 30, 2011

How to Register:
Drop us an email at enquiry@acts29mission.org or sherlyn@acts29mission.org and state the date of the mission trip you are signing up for.
We will then get in touch with you.

Briefing and Preparation Days:
to be confirmed

QnA
Q: What if I cannot commit to all 7 days?
A: If you can make it for 4 days or more during the period of Feb 16-23, you can still participate in this trip.

Q: I am not Catholic. Can I still go with the group on the mission?
A: acts29 is a Catholic mission community and we welcome non-Catholics who are interested to know more about our mission. If you are willing to observe our prayer time and participate in all the other activities, we welcome you.

Q: If I cannot make it to the briefinging/preparation meetings can I join the trip?
A:The briefing and preparation meetings are conducted to sensitize one to the culture and life of our neighbours. It is important that participants attend at least 2 out of the 3 meetings.

Q: What is the minimum age?
A: We accept participants 16 years and above, provided they have been overseas on their own before and can take care of themselves. Participants below 21 years old will require consent from their parents.

February Mission Trip 2012

7 days: February 16-23
Launch of TB program in Payatas
Medical Mission Trip
Health Camp for Parents

Who: Medical doctors, Medical students, Nurses, Nursing students, volunteers interested to assist
Cost:
1. Accomodation (Volunteer House) and Food*:
Adult Rate: $50 per person per day
Student Rate: $30 per person per day
*Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

2. Airfare est: $300 (Cebu/Tiger/Jetstar)

Total cost estimate: $500

Closing Date of Registration: December 30, 2011

How to Register:
Drop us an email at enquiry@acts29mission.org or sherlyn@acts29mission.org and state the date of the mission trip you are signing up for.
We will then get in touch with you.

Briefing and Preparation Days:
1. January 6 Friday, 730pm - 930pm
2. January 20 Friday, 730pm - 930pm
3. February 10 Friday, 730pm - 93pm Mass and Sending Off

QnA
Q: What if I cannot commit to all 7 days?
A: If you can make it for 4 days or more during the period of Feb 16-23, you can still participate in this trip.

Q: I am not Catholic. Can I still go with the group on the mission?
A: acts29 is a Catholic mission community and we welcome non-Catholics who are interested to know more about our mission. If you are willing to observe our prayer time and participate in all the other activities, we welcome you.

Q: If I cannot make it to the briefinging/preparation meetings can I join the trip?
A:The briefing and preparation meetings are conducted to sensitize one to the culture and life of our neighbours. It is important that participants attend at least 2 out of the 3 meetings.

Q: What is the minimum age?
A: We accept participants 16 years and above, provided they have been overseas on their own before and can take care of themselves. Participants below 21 years old will require consent from their parents.

Dear friends,
do visit our online shop  http://acts29shop.wordpress.com

See you there!

What does mission mean to me?

I went back to the 1st basic question and that is "what do I seek?"

We are all searching for something... because innately we are looking for something to fill our hearts. We may be looking everywhere and conceiving every possible dream and ambition to attain what we think our heart so desires and that searching brings us on a journey through life.

However, there is in all of us a deeper reality, (often buried under the peels and moulted skins of one's life journey) one that is deeply connected to our existence and being, and that reality is God the Father's love for us.

Until we allow ourselves to experience God's love, can we then grow into the persons we were created to be and bring forth from the depth of that God experience - the Child of God within ourselves.

Today, as all the past "todays" have been, our world continues to look for signs because we want to see Jesus. And our hearts remain restless unless we see Jesus. Or in St Augustine's words: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you".

So Mission Sunday reminds me of the call to serve. As a community who have experienced the love of God in our lives we should work to make Jesus visible to others. The reality of Jesus in our lives should continue to be lived in our community, in our society and in our world.

We are called to be witnesses of His love and to communicate hope. Our world and our generation more so is obsessed with getting connected. We are in someway connected all the time. Connected to a mobile network or a wireless network, connected to FB or MSN or yahoo or to our email server. If we could, we might even want to stay connected 24/7.

In this 2nd millenium, let Mission Sunday also remind us to stay continuously connected to God.
Let us take advantage of the free wi-fi He's given us... we can pray all day, all the time, any day any time...

Easter and a growing mission

Dear friends, on behalf of acts29 I would like to wish you a joyous Easter!

It's been awhile since our last post. No, we've not been idle. In fact we've been busier than ever.

This December we welcomed the following people on board our acts29 mission team!

1. Eugene Basquinaz joined us as a missioner and full-time supervisor.

2. Teresa San Miguel, our full-time house mother.

3. And we're happy to welcome back on our team once again, Maylene Grace Batol as our Philippines advisor.

2010 was a tough year. Our mission goals were put to the test and there were heartbreaks along the way.

Nicassio our 12 year old resident decided to leave our community house and headed back to Payatas. On the brigther side of things, Joannie our 20 year old resident, came back from Payatas to live with us again. And she is looking forward to resume her studies this June. This Lent we also welcome a brood of siblings from Payatas into our home.

Jerlyn Dolloso, 16. Gelenito Dolloso 12. Jimboy, 10 and little Julian 7 years old.

Thanks to the support of well-wishers and like-minded missioners, we were also able to purchase a unit in Erap City and will be building our Volunteer Centre there. However, rebuilding the unit to a double storey hospitality centre is really going to cost! But at the same time, we want to offer our visiting missioners and volunteers a conducive environment of rest and prayer during their very busy and hectic time with us.

We are also now starting a funraising project to buy another plot of land to build up our centre there. The centre will be a 3 storey building, equipped with a library (to encourage reading in the community, medical clinic (for medical missions and visiting doctors/nurses ) and most importantly a prayer room. The centre will also be our community home and we will be conducting prayers from Taize on a regular basis for the larger ecumenical community.

It's not been easy seeing to all the needs of the kids and youths, but Eugene has come up with a great programme. Most importantly the faith of our kids and youths come first. Some day, they will leave our home, when they want to and when they are ready to... so what do we hope they take with them? That in time with acts29 they have come to know God, love God and serve God.

We also wrapped up the school year in the 1st week of April and all the scholars managed to meet the target to hold on to their scholarship. Special mention goes to Clover for overall excellent academic achievement!

Tomorrow, our scholars will start on their summer swimming program. We wish them all the best!

We are also very grateful to the support for parishioners from Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Through their advent fundraiser (to buy nativity story books for the kids in Payatas and Erap), we discovered there weren't such books written in Filipino for kids. Perhaps because such words would be too deep for kids to understand. May has put together a simple version of the Nativity Story. We are now waiting for June to come. So the kids can hear the story told to them and illustrate their favourite parts of the story. Then, the printing will take place and this December 350 kids will receive the Nativity Story with their very own illustrations.

This June we will also be conducting a medical mission for all kids from Paaralang Pantao (Payatas and Erap). Mainly, there will be deworming, TB testing, and overall health check.

How to Help

1. Long term - Volunteers/Missioners with an attitude for mission for 6 months to 1 year to provide faith formation

2. Short term - Volunteers/Missioners with an attitude for mission to conduct children's rights sessions

3. Donations - $100, 000 for building of acts29 centre and volunteer centre, $500 - medical mission, daily lunch program for Paaralang Pantao

4. Sponsor our scholarship program - $300 a year for elementary and $400 a year for high school. There are bright kids with a desire to learn in need of sponsorship for formal education

5. Sponsor our birth certificate project - a handful of our kids still have no birth certs and wont be able to start school this June.

T0 contact us directly, you can email enquiries@acts29mission.org or sherlyn@acts29mission.org

God's peace be with you!

Sherlyn