Analyn

Our friend and helper, Analyn.

Before we came to the Philippines we had heard about helpers.  A helper is basically a maid; someone you hire to clean your house, or take care of your kids when you need it.  The thought of us getting a helper was so far out there though, because being on full support it seemed like bad stewardship of God's money.  It seemed like us getting a helper would just confirm our laziness and be wasteful.  

Then we actually met some of the people who make a living being a helper.  It turns out that many missionaries in our area hire a helper, not as much out of laziness, but out of a desire to help that person put food on their kids plates.  We decided that it was a worthwhile thing to pursue after we met Analyn.

Analyn is 25, isn't married, and has no children, but she still has family to take care of.  They live in the province- meaning, not in Manila, but out in the more rural part of the country.  She has a mother and father, brothers and sisters, and nephews and nieces who rely on her for food.  Analyn went to college for a short while, learning Hotel and Restaurant Management, but had to drop out due to cost.  It costs a little over $100 per trimester.  After dropping out, she learned how to give massages, and worked at a massage parlor to make ends meet and to support her family.  While there, she met Jeff Long, the president and founder of Kids International Ministries.  Jeff offered her a job at Kids International Ministries, and that's how Jess and I met Analyn.

Though she already had a job at KIM, Analyn was looking for more income.  We were told she would like to try being a helper, so we asked her if she'd like to try at our house.  Now she comes every Tuesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm, and we feed her lunch and give her rides to and from.  Jess and I have been blessed to have been given a chance to get to know Analyn personally.  One of the stigmas in the Philippines that helpers have is that they are forced to see the person they work for as a 'boss' so their attitude toward them is, while very respectful, often that they are nothing and that the boss is socially better than them.  We want to break that, so we try our best to treat Analyn like a friend.

Analyn would like to learn how to drive, so I have been teaching her.  Every day she comes to work, I let her drive back and I give some tips and pointers.  Soon she'll go get her student driver's license, and we've told her we'll pay for it.  Last night we had the chance to take her and another Filipina friend, Malou, out to dinner at a restaurant they wouldn't get to eat at otherwise.  Analyn shared that she'd like to go back to college and get her degree.  She has 4 trimesters left, and Jess and I are considering helping her do it (anyone interested in helping put our friend through college?).  

We have found that while we came here to bless children, our hearts have been drawn in many different places.  Analyn is one of them.  We're glad we get the chance to fellowship with her, and to use the resources that God gave us to bless her.  After all, what we've been freely given, we should freely give, right?