How you can help

TEAR Fund NZ is helping the destitute street dwellers in Manila to be restored to mainstream life through its partner in the Philippines, the Center For Community Transformation (CCT).
CCT’s Kaibigan project, translated as ‘Friend’, is transforming the lives of many street dwellers, restoring them to mainstream life again, by giving them food, helping them to restore their dignity, training them for work, re-uniting them with their families, and most importantly, bringing many to know Christ.

Many of the street dwellers the organisation helps, have run away from home because of such things as family violence or abuse. They live rough on the streets, sleeping in the open and often they don’t having enough to feed and clothe themselves adequately.

To escape the realities of their harsh situation many turn to solvent abuse developing into dependence on other drugs. Kaibigan is getting alongside these people, first of all by giving them daily food rations.  This is often the starting point for amazing transformations.

Many babies are born on the streets, as the result of liaisons between streets dwellers, and Kaibigan has plans to look aftersome these babies until the parents are able to care for them. Please consider making a donation to TEAR Fund NZ so that your contribution will help TEAR Fund’s partner reach out to the broken
street dwellers and restore them to productive, responsible lives.


What is Pentecost?

Pentecost is celebrated by a small number of churches these days but it does have huge significance for the whole church. Pentecost is the festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means “fiftieth day” and is celebrated fifty days after Easter.

Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, the twelve apostles, Jesus’ mother and family, and many other of His disciples gathered together in Jerusalem for the Jewish harvest festival that was celebrated on the fiftieth day of Passover. While they were indoors praying, a sound like that of a rushing wind filled the house and
tongues of fire descended and rested over each of their heads. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on human flesh promised by God through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29). The disciples were suddenly empowered to proclaim the gospel of the risen Christ. Among the themes of Pentecost is that of a time of renewal, empowerment and unification.

Angel's of Hope

Pentecost is about transformation, empowerment, new life and unification. The work being done by Kaibigan, embraces these themes by transforming and empowering the lost street dwellers, restoring them to new lives, and reuniting them with their families. Here are just some of the stories that have emerged from the street, thanks to the work of CCT and Kaibigan.

Angel knows street-life’ well. He grew up in the slums, got into serious crime, then fled to Manila to hide from the notorious drug gang he’d been involved with for many years. A Pastor befriended Angel and he accepted Christ. Now Angel leads CCT’s ‘Kaibigan’ project, and is helped by Carlo who was also rescued from street life.

Carlo began charity work among the street people, supporting it with funds from his own businesses. Through adverse circumstances he ended up on the street like the homeless urchins he had once helped. 

“The very first time I dug into a garbage bag and actually found leftovers, the stark reality of how low I had fallen hit me.”

Three years later, he was discovered by the Kaibigan project and as a result, he accepted Christ. Today, Carlo helps Kaibigan staff by sharing the Word of God through the food programme. No longer a street dweller, he has a place to call home, and by God’s grace, he is ready to step back into the mainstream of society. He knows the depths street dwellers have sunk to and has a real heart to help those who were like him.
Frankie is another of Kaibigan’s success stories.

As a teenager he stowed away on a boat to Manila expecting prosperity, but had ended up out of work, destitute, in a dusty forgotten park for 12 years. He was addicted to glue sniffing and hard drugs. Angel regularly came to the park, preaching and bringing food to the vagrants.

One day Frankie said he wanted to change and through the ‘Kaibigan’ project, Frankie’s life has been transformed. Frankie received training to become a janitor and now, he can support his wife and a baby they have adopted from a squatter family. Over his time on the streets, Frankie had lost all contact with his family but through Kaibigan, Frankie’s father was retraced and they were wonderfully and emotionally reunited.

Thank for your prayerful consideration of this appeal.

To donate to this appeal Click Here

For resources relating to this appeal click here

If you would like to help fundraise for this appeal through your church or youth group, please contact us on 0800 800 777.