Featured Story
August/October 2006
Fulfilling My Dreams
Orphaned and abandoned, Jorlinda shares
how she found a loving family and a new future at Arms of
Love
A testimony written by Jorlinda Nuera, who recently
graduated from the Arms of Love Children’s Home in the
Philippines. Jorlinda writes in English as her second
language.
Life
has been a constant struggle for me. I was orphaned by my
mother when I was three years old. She died while giving
birth to my twin siblings. From that time on, my father
always came home drunk. My sister (who is a year older than
me), the twins and myself were left at the care of my
grandmother.
When my grandmother was at work, my sister Mercy and I were
left to feed the twins. One time, my father came home drunk.
He struck my grandmother. My grandmother left us, and from
that time on, we were left to take care for the twins by
ourselves. Since we did not know what and how to feed the
babies, they soon died.
My father re-married, and stayed with his new family. He
never supported us. I lived with a relative. At a very young
age, I learned to work hard in order to put something on my
empty stomach. It hurt when I heard my cousin tell me that I
do not belong to their family and that the food I was eating
was theirs. Yet, having no one to turn to, I continued
living with them.
In exchange for the food I was eating and for giving me
shelter, I worked hard. I fetched water at the well,
gathered firewood, did the laundry and cleaned the house. I
was wondering then if God is really real. I felt so alone
and hopeless.
When I was seven years old, my grandmother took me to live
with her. She let me go to school. But one day, she told me
that she could no longer afford to send me to school. So at
ten years old, I started to be a working student. I stayed
with my teacher. I had to cook for her, do her laundry and
fetch water for her bath.
My life took a turn when my eldest sister who had been
living at the city took me to live with her. She worked as a
house helper of a missionary. There, I learned about a
loving God and learned that there is still hope, despite my
desperate situation. The missionaries offered to let Mercy
and I live at their house and they sent us to school. We
were treated as if we were their own children. It was the
first time I felt loved and valued. I will forever be
indebted to that family.
When they left to live in America, I was admitted to live at
Arms of Love. Living at Arms of Love is like living with a
big happy family. It’s so much fun living with many children
and the staff, who are very supportive. They encourage us,
mold us into well–rounded individuals, and teach us positive
values that will help us achieve our dreams.
The support I receive from Arms of Love is more than what I
would have expected. The values I learned are more than
helpful in coping up with the struggles I underwent. And the
God I now worship is simply awesome and mighty.
I am now in college taking up Midwifery. Since I have to
work in the hospital, I had to undergo an immunization. The
first medical test I took shocked me. The result of the
screening test said that I am positive with Hepatitis B! I
cried and cried wondering what has been the cause and why
God allowed it to happen to me, especially now that I am
nearly fulfilling my dreams.
But soon, I realized that God always works for what is best.
With prayers and encouragement from my Arms of Love family,
I got the courage to move on. Maybe God was using this
situation to let me reach out to others. Among all the
freshmen midwifery students, nine were screened to be
positive with Hepatitis B. Realizing the work God wanted me
to do, I began sharing with them that God is the greatest
physician and that he is our strength is times of our
weakness. I boldly told them everything I know of our
Savior, and they also learned to lay their hope and trust
with Jesus.
We all took the confirmation test again. I would like to
thank God for all the wonderful things and the miracle he
worked in me. Do you know what the result was? All nine of
us confirmed to be negative of Hepatitis B. We all praised
and continue to praise God for this miracle.
Now I am on the verge of achieving my dreams. I would like
to take this opportunity to thank God, first of all, for
being the “ROCK” I can always lean on. To Robert for
founding the ministry who gives hope to hopeless children,
and to all of the sponsors of the children for the love,
support and prayers.
Lastly, I am proud to say that I am happy to belong to the
Arms of Love Family.
Stealing to Provide for Eight Siblings
The
Morala children were part of a family of eleven: two parents
and nine children. Their parents survived on a meager income
derived from a simple lifestyle as farmers. However, they
were then abandoned by their father years ago, and their
mother subsequently became mentally ill and unable to care
for them.
After their father left and their mother became unable to
provide for them, the three older boys, Dominador, Jude and
Janil -- who were between 10 and 14 years old -- began
stealing scrap iron and selling it in the city order to
generate income to feed their five younger siblings.
Meanwhile, the five youngest children, who were between 1
and 9 years old, began begging for food on the streets.
Dominador, Jude and Janil were detained at the city jail on
charges of theft. The municipality would not release the
boys until someone was willing to receive them and care for
them. When we became aware of their situation, the three
brothers were received by the Arms of Love Children’s Home
in the Philippines. Arms of Love then also received the five
younger children in order to keep the siblings together. The
mother was subsequently admitted to a mental hospital for
treatment.
Child Sponsor visits Arms of Love Philippines
By Bob Yarbrough
I
met Robert Benson about six years ago, and that is when my
wife and I learned about the Arms of Love ministry. Barbara
and I prayed about it and we decided to sponsor a child. To
be honest, we love Arms of Love and its vision, but we were
very busy with our lives, and so we needed to be reminded on
occasion to send in our sponsorship.
Recently we began teaching a series on Isaiah 54, and how we
need to continue to grow in vision and ministry. It was
during this time in God’s Word that we began to look at our
relationship with Arms of Love, and we began to think about
increasing our vision for this ministry. I had heard that
there was a team getting ready to go to the Philippines and
I felt compelled to join the team.
Before I knew it, I found myself in Bohol, Philippines
standing in the middle of 30 to 40 children singing songs of
praise to Jesus. Children who had been violated and
abandoned were singing songs to Jesus. My heart was captured
by the joy on their faces.
I spent a week on the property working hard to accomplish
all that the team was sent to do. We wanted to help the high
school and college age kids with their education, so we
brought some computers, set up a computer lab, and
established a connection to the Internet. We worked hard
during the week we were in Bohol and were able to finish our
work.
During our tip, I talked with a student who was struggling
with her tuition. She needed another $120 in order to
complete her semester, and she had to have the money
immediately or the college would not allow her to take the
final exam. She had exhausted every avenue and was broken
hearted that she would not complete her semester. The team
quickly put together the necessary funds. It was nothing for
us to raise $120, but it meant so much for her. The joy that
she expressed to us will forever impact my worldview.
I am looking forward to my next trip and I am asking God to
help me raise further support for this wonderful ministry. I
have developed a list of needs that I am sharing with
others, and somehow, I know that these needs will be met.
