The people, the workers, the need in Tanza, Philippines

"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (1 John 3:17).

We know we can't help everyone in need. So it seems that our God has put these particular Filipino people on our hearts, and we want to be faithful and obedient.

Please feel free to tell your friends about this project and about this simple website.

Dear James,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I am writing to you at the prompting of my friend and ministry partner Chris Cordova. He asked that I write you to share a bit about our work here in the Philippines.

Chris and I are missionaries with the non-denominational organizationFirst Love International (www.firstloveinternational.com). Together we are ministering in a very poor squatter village in the Philippines called Tanza. Tanza is located about 2 miles from our city's garbage dump, and life is difficult for its residents. The 9,000 people living in Tanza continually face hunger, disease, and unemployment. It is our desire to share the love of Jesus to these downtrodden people, and we do this through compassion ministries centered around our local church plant in Tanza.

Our biggest ministry each week is our feeding program for children. 3 times a week we feed 400 kids a nutritious meal, and take the opportunity to share Bible stories and songs with them. The feeding program provides the best food some of the kids eat all week, and it also helps relieve the financial burden of families living on little or no income.

For the 2 years that we have been working at Tanza, we have seen too many sick children to count. Parents continually approach us to help with the costs of check-ups and medicine. We assist as we are able. We currently feel led to begin conducting a simple medical clinic at our church in Tanza. We are in the process of raising funds to make this dream a reality. We want to bring a doctor to our property twice a month to treat the sick children that we work with. Most of the kids can be treated for a few dollars, but even that cost is too much for most families in Tanza.

In addition to children's ministries we target adults in a variety of ways. Twice a year we offer a 10-week educational program for pregnant mothers, teaching them to care for themselves and their newborns. Chris is involved in discipling a few of the young men in the area each week. We also have a few single mothers and old ladies that we help with groceries, school costs, and house repairs.

All of our activity at Tanza is performed with the goal of reaching the lost for Jesus Christ. We feel blessed to take part in caring for people's temporal needs, but we realize that the greatest need of all people is to find salvation from sin through Jesus. We ask you to pray for us, our work, and for the people at Tanza. We would also ask that you prayerfully consider how you may be able to help us as financial partners in our work.

Our proposed medical clinic will need around $100 per month to operate. We are also searching for a new pastor to fill the pulpit in our church. We are seeking to raise $200 per month to cover his salary. If you are able to assist in any way, we would be grateful, blessed, and encouraged beyond words. Thank you for taking the time to consider our work in a faraway corner of the world, and God bless you as you continue to serve Him!

Humbly and sincerely,
Dave Clinton

If you want to give a gift of love to the people in Tanza, write a check out to First Love International Ministries, and write "Tanza Clinic" on the memo line. You can mail the check directly to First Love, or you can give it to James Eubank in La Junta, Colorado. James will mail in the collected checks once a month, and the deadline will be the first Tuesday of each month.

So the next upcoming deadline will be November 3, 2009, for you to give a check to James Eubank. Make your check out to First Love International Ministries. All donations go 100% to First Love. By the way, First Love is a member of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). You can be sure that they spend your gifts wisely and according to strict accounting guidelines.