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Christmas arrived a few days early for IDEA Philippine’s deaf children.  Because we don’t have a sleigh or snow, on December 14th  IDEA’s office staff loaded up our red van with a mountain of gifts to take to all the IDEA supported deaf centers around the island of Bohol.  There was some doubt as to whether they could fit all the gifts and helpers in but with a tight squeeze they did it.  Because “a picture says a thousand words” we’ll just show you what the day was like.

IDEA’s Santa Helpers used wish lists prepared by the elementary students and shopped for days to fill them.  Then they spent more days just organizing all the gifts for the distribution.  The deaf high school students up at Bohol Deaf Academy and the students in Ormoc, Leyte were able to shop for themselves because their schools are close to a large department stores.  Sponsors sent in money to buy their deaf child Christmas presents but even the children without sponsors got gifts courtesy of IDEA’s general fund.  IDEA spent about $6000 on gifts for 336 deaf children.  Every child was given at least $18 for shopping.  That amount goes a little further in the Philippines so that it might buy a pair of pants, dress, or shoes with a shirt / blouse and underwear or socks.  Most sponsors sent in a few more dollars so their children were able to get a few more things.

It was a long day for Santa’s Helpers

Merry Christmas Everyone!  shhhhhhh

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Dennis Drake: Shining at Sixty

Last November 29, while the entire Philippines was celebrating Bonifacio Day, one of its national heroes, the IDEA Philippines family also had another reason to party. And that was the 60th birthday of our dear founder George Dennis Drake, our own hero!

Without any clue as to what was happening on that special day, Dennis was led by his family and loving wife Marilou Drake to the dark Sta. Fe Function Hall at Dao Diamond Hotel, saying that they’ll just have their intimate family dinner there rather than drive all the way to Panglao, where most beach resorts are located. But what Dennis didn’t know is that a surprise awaits him as soon as he stepped into the hall and the lights were turned on.

Smiles, cheers, claps, balloons and party poppers were everywhere. And the smile that lit Dennis’ face in amazement was enough to power up the entire neighborhood. Inside Sta. Fe Hall, everyone who loved and whose lives were touched by Dennis were gathered. As they say, share the love and it will come back to you in multi-fold.

The night wouldn’t be enough if everyone personally greeted Dennis so they just conveyed their greetings and well-wishes in the form of songs and dances. It was truly more impressive than watching a talent show since all presentations were outpouring with sincerity and thanksgiving to the birthday celebrant. A PowerPoint presentation wholeheartedly prepared by his son and daughter-in-law, Aaron and Ashley took everyone to a trip down memory lane with Dennis of course as the superstar. His family from the US likewise sent their greetings through video. And it can be noticed that tears of joy started to glistened in his eyes.

But perhaps the greatest gift that he received this year was the honor of being called “Poppop” since days before his birthday, his first grandson was born.
Again, Happy Birthday Dennis and may you continue to be a blessing and an inspiration to us all!

New grandson, Koa Elijah

-from your IDEA Family

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Mission Accomplished

Veronica Dunnington and daughter Tiffany completed their stay in Bohol on December 9th.  Veronica was tasked with adding new life and direction for the Tiptip Deaf Church and she dedicated 2 ½ months toward this purpose.

As Veronica looks at the progress of these past months she comments that the deaf community of Tagbilaran, several hundred strong, are receptive to the Word of God.  She has worked with the church leadership in finding new ways to minister to entire families.  Tiffany along with Ging and Jessa (local volunteers) have established a children’s church at Tiptip for both the kids of deaf parents and the neighborhood children.  On their last Sunday in Bohol they had about 20 little kids attend, all hearing.   In the adult church service, more than 60 Deaf were in attendance.

Another important development has been the establishment of home groups.  Numbers of deaf adults, who are also leaders in the church, have begun to meet in informal home groups to build strong Christ centered relationships.  The purpose is not only to understand God better but to demonstrate Christ in their lives by sharing each other’s burdens and joys.

The leadership at the Tiptip Deaf Church has gained a new understanding about the church assuming the role of becoming the heart beat in the Tagbilaran Deaf Community.  To do so, they must address real needs with real solutions.  The key to this is to meet people where they are and just let Christ’s love shine.

Tiffany also joined IDEA’s elementary school outreach team.  This team of deaf high school students take the message of God’s love to the various deaf elementary schools twice a month.  This a very effective program that provides the young deaf children with the basic understanding of Christ’s life and begins to build a vocabulary so these kids can eventually understand the Bible.

Thank you to both Veronica and Tiffany for your willingness to give of your time and resources to help our deaf church.

You have left some pretty big shoes that we will try to fill.

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OUR FRIEND THE TERMITE?

With a little help from an army of termites, IDEA Philippine’s decision to replace the thatched meeting building beside the Dao Diamond Hotel was made easy.  It was either tear it down or let if fall down on its own.  It was getting dangerous to hold events there.

It is funny how these “have to” situations can turn out to actually be a step forward.  Drawing from the resources of the sale of IDEA Philippine’s property, and working on a pretty small budget, we began putting up a new meeting hall.  Because of a recent city ordinance, we could not use thatch or “light” materials.  This meant we needed to come up with a radically new design.

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Because of the hit of Spanish styling of the main hotel building, the decision was made to come up with another Spanish type styling that would resemble the adobe structures from Santa Fe New Mexico.  After almost a year of work, Dao Diamond Hotel’s new Santa Fe Hall is now fully functional and open for business.

Building this structure has offered employment to more than 20 deaf men and women, first in the construction and now in the operation.  The hotel is now able to offer a space for seminars, receptions, and parties for groups.  It also has folding sound proof walls that can be opened and connect with the smaller meeting room and also has an over-flow patio garden allowing for a total group capacity of as many as 500 persons.  It has become a popular place to hold Christmas parties this December.  This new function hall holds great promise for the growth of IDEA’s livelihood business at Dao Diamond.

Do not forget, this is still all about the kids.  As Dao Diamond Hotel and IDEA’s other employment/income generating projects improve, so does IDEA’s opportunities and capacity to reach out to more and more impoverished and neglected deaf children.

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