Theresa G of M3 invited us to attend this talk by Sherlyn K of Acts29 sponsored by CHARIS in March 2014.  Pres and I came straight from work to catch this event so the talk has started when we arrived.  Only thing we knew about Acts29 back then was that it’s one of those CHARIS groups doing mission trips and immersion programmes.

(Photo grabbed from CHARIS site http://www.charis-singapore.org/)

First question that would always come to mind when attending charity talks like this is how can we help?  Then speaker Sherlyn K to our surprise started talking about familiar stuff like Filipino names, terms, and places.  Who would have thought this charity group’s focus is on sending Filipino kids belonging from families in dumpsites to school?

It suddenly hit us:  We should definitely join and support them in their cause!

Sherlyn K mentioned about their problems with the children’s birth registration and instantly I thought to hook her up with VERified, a group formed by friends from law school that provides services regarding problematic birth, marriage, and death certificates for possible assistance.  At the end of the talk, Pres and I came up to Sherlyn K to introduce ourselves and asked if we could help them in ways we can.

I was telling her I stayed for four years in a university very near the Payatas dumpsite where Acts29 has a formation centre for the children they send to school and I have not once been there!  What they’re doing is simply remarkable!

Education is probably the most important gift one can give to these children and their families.  This could be their only ticket to escape the poverty trap.  Acts29 is helping them realize this.

“We rise by lifting others.” – Robert Ingersoll