When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:36-38

I just returned from a short term mission to the Philippines where we helped to plant a church in San Fabian and a youth center in Dagupan in the province of Pangasinan. I also had a chance to minister to the children at a shelter for street children which we helped to establish in November of 2003. There are estimates of over a million street children in the Philippines, (most of them in Manila) with over 500 of them in the city and neighboring towns of Dagupan, where we started our ministry. The problem of street children in the Philippines is overwhelming, with many children forced into begging, scavenging, stealing and even prostitution to help support their families. Many are abandoned by their parents who leave them behind when moving to another city or town. Many are left to relatives, friends and even strangers only to end up being used, abused and neglected. When one considers that the shelter cares for forty children, less than 10% of the estimated number of street children, it is no wonder that some of the locals question how we can possibly hope to impact the enormous problem with our little shelter with limited resources.

We are not discouraged when we think about the story of the man walking along the beach with thousands of starfish on the shore. He was picking up starfishes and gently tossing them back into the ocean. Another man walking in the opposite direction stopped the man to ask what he was doing. He replied that the starfishes would dry up and die if left on the beach in the hot sun. The other man told him that he was wasting his time, since he could not possibly toss all the starfishes on the beach to save them. He asked, "What difference would you make just to save a few and let the others die?" The man picked up a starfish, looked at it, and gently tossed it into the ocean and he said to the other man, "I don't know, but I made a difference to that starfish."

When one looks at the numer of public schools and the number of children who are "at risk" in our public school system, it seems rather overwhelming task to find a caring mentor for each one.. But like the man tossing starfishes into the ocean, we can and will make a difference, one school and one child at a time. "Pagpalain kayo ng Panginoon" (The Lord Bless You!) ...Papa Dennis