Work With the Poor

When you look into her eyes, you will see the spark of hope that started when she saw people going out of their way to make her, and others like her, feel that they mattered.

Her name is Janessa, a 12 year old resident of Habitat Baseco, whose special birthday wish is to get her nose fixed to look normal and function properly.  When Janessa learned that her birthday wish was about to come true, her reaction was joyful disbelief.  Janessa suffers from a medical condition called craniofacial cleft, a physical malformation that also leads to health complications.  The first of a series of surgeries is scheduled on December 2008.

Habitat for Humanity in the Philippines (HfH), Couples for Christ USA and Couples for Christ Foundation, Inc., together with donors from the USA and the Philippines, doctors from the Mijares-Gurango Craniofacial Foundation and the Noordhof Craniofacial Foundation are all collaborating to bring a young girl’s birthday wish come true.

We all have the capacity to change the world if we learn to care and love those who can be easily forgotten.  Janessa is only one child among many others, whether in our Restoration Villages and Mission Areas, a Habitat Community, or the countless other impoverished communities.  All it takes is to make a stand, make the first step, and make a myriad of small steps thereafter.

Social evangelization is sharing and showing God’s love to others – being an instrument of HIS peace and love.  “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me,” -- one child at a time, one family at a time, one Christian community and mission area at a time.

We all pray for the hands that will contribute to the healing of Janessa, and for her, a speedy and blessed recovery.  We will revisit her soon as the series of surgeries take place now and in the coming months.

Couples for Christ USA Inc ("CFC USA") is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501(c)3 Corporation 

                                              EIN No. 26-1108450