Beautiful Things Out Of Broken Pieces
Earlier this year, our Safe Haven team visited several private schools to find a school that was willing to partner with us in providing educational support for our older children at Safe Haven. After spending time in prayer, we were very surprised to hear that the school we least expected, were generously offering a fifty percent discount in their regular fees. We had visited Lux Domine Academy several times and hadn’t expected to hear from them; so far many of the schools were unwilling to lower their fees or offer partial scholarships.
But little did we know that the school management had already decided to help Safe Haven, after being touched by the stories and experiences that we had shared with them.
Our older kids have now been attending Lux Domine Academy since June 2017; half sponsored by Australians and half sponsored by their new school. The school is very small with an average of 6 to 7 students in each grade, which means our kids are getting plenty of individual attention and learning time with their teachers.
Our God is so amazing.
Iaya’s Story
Iaya, one of our beautiful girls at Safe Haven, is now studying grade 8 at Lux Domine Academy. Iaya tends to be a quiet, reserved and slightly more serious young lady. She has had a childhood filled with stressful and intense family problems, which have made her feel trapped, fearful and vulnerable for so many years. Her father is addicted to Shabu, which is a drug similar to “Ice”. He has been using Shabu for most of Iaya’s life, and he would often come home at night in an unpredictable state; sometimes quiet, other times violent, angry and verbally abusive.
Iaya and her siblings never knew what to expect when their father came home, and they would stress and agonise…waiting to see what state their father would be in this time.
At times, Iaya and her mother would find random people in their home at night, using and distributing drugs. Iaya had even experienced a police raid under gun point during the start of the Filipino drug war, recently implemented by the President.
Whilst Iaya’s father has been arrested multiple times, he always ends up being bailed out and back at home on drugs. Iaya would often try and sleep at other people’s houses at night, just to avoid her father and his unpredictable moods. Her childhood had become filled with fear, anxiety and stress.
But 12 months ago, Iaya’s life took a drastic turn when her family moved into Safe Haven, after yet another violent outburst from their father. They could no longer withstand his incessant drug use, and the continual threat of danger that came with it.
Finding Love & Value
Last month, we had the privilege of attending the first parent morning at Lux Domine Academy. The parent morning celebrated the diversity of Filipino culture…which saw each of our children dressed in bright colours. We watched keenly, as each of our children performed modern interpretations of traditional Filipino dances wearing extravagant Filipino costumes.
It was grade 8’s turn to perform which included Iaya and her classmates. What struck me during Iaya’s dance performance was the sense of joy, happiness and openness that seemed to radiate from her face and her interaction with her classmates. Iaya seemed to glow with a sense of peace and lightness that hadn’t been visible in her for a long time. It was as if she had been finally freed from the suppression of the last few difficult years, and she had discovered a delight and inner harmony within herself and her life. Not a perfect life, but a hope and reassurance that she is loved and valued.
God can restore, revive and heal the lives of those which man has fragmented, damaged and destroyed. It is moments like this, that point us back to our amazing God who continually creates beautiful things out of broken pieces.