Philippines

Servants in Manila

There are four individual Servants workers in Manila who are linked to local organizations, but there is no current team you can join. However, if the workers in Manila have enough capacity, an internship in Manila may be possible. For further inquiry, contact your nearest linking team to start a conversation.

Introduction

One in four of the Philippines’ 106 million residents live below the poverty line. Many of them are drawn into the capital Metro Manila. Poor people are spread throughout the city in crowded informal settlements or slums. Many have left their home province in hope of a better future in the city. However, many of the issues that forced them to move, keep haunting them. In the city they still face hunger, disease, vulnerability to natural disasters and unemployment.

The message of Jesus shows that the poor, whom He called blessed, are valuable in the eyes of God. The Good News means freedom from injustice and oppression and change at all levels of society. Especially to people living in poverty.

Together with our urban poor friends, we aim to be catalysts of transformation in the communities God has placed us in. We long to see communities that nurture and care for their young and old and are being reconciled with the Creator, with one another and with creation. This journey with our friends is also inwardly transforming us.

The history of Servants can be traced back to Viv Grigg’s vision for incarnational teams of workers living in the slums of Asia. Today, in Manila, this vision is continued by a network of few Servants workers and several local partner organizations.

Our Partnerships with Locally-Led Organizations

Over many years of Servants working in Manila several organisations were co-founded by Servants people and are now led by Filipinos. Our paths keep intersecting, as we exchange fruitful discussions and benefit from the pool of our collective experiences. Through this we have become a community of friends who can rely on each other.

  • Living Springs Christian Churches: Servants Manila was instrumental in establishing in Living Springs Christian Churches – a network made up of eight churches in different communities. These small churches in slum areas not only provide a spiritual home but often function as change agents in their neighbourhoods in practical ways. Examples are pre-school education for children living in slums, done in the church buildings with teachers from the church or environmental awareness raising with clean-up drives in the poor communities.
  • Onesimo Foundation: Onesimo Foundation is a community-based rehabilitation program for youth-at-risk. It helps young people whose lives in the slums, or streets, are filled with hopelessness. In collaboration with local churches Onesimo over 200 youth receive opportunities for a new start in over 40 rehabilitation centers throughout the city. Most recover from addictions and lives that where broken by destructive habits. In Onesimo, youth are introduced to a meaningful and restored life through Jesus Christ. Nonoy (14), had to work hard as a little boy, scavenging on the waste dump. His family broke up and he started sniffing glue. He says: “Here at Onesimo, I am experiencing a real family for the first time in my life.” Many are experiencing a real family for the first time in their life. For more information on Onesimo, visit their website.
  • Onesimo Bulilit: Onesimo Bulilit grew out of Onesimo as a ministry reaching out to younger street children and street dweller families. Onesimo Bulilit works on the streets of some of the most congested inner cities of Metro Manila, has established drop-in centers for street children, provides educational assistance and non-formal education, runs a residential center for abused girls, trains young leaders, and advocates for children’s rights. For more information about Onesimo Bulilit, visit their website.
  • Lilok Foundation: Educational opportunities for the poor are very limited as are their resources. Lilok is offering practical and innovative courses to equip youth leaders and community workers to work for improvements in the context of their respective neighbourhoods. Through Lilok, Servants Manila is investing in the lives of urban slum leaders and church workers.  For more information on Lilok, visit their website.
  • Sakahang Lilok: Sakahang Lilok is an organic farm retreat at the periphery of Metro Manila offering people from the city special time-outs for rest, reflection, engaging with nature and the Creator. It is an opportunity for poor people to get a vacation from the slums and experience a model of creation care. For more information on Sakahang Lilok, visit them on facebook.
  • Kamay Krafts: Kamay Krafts is a cooperative that provides livelihood opportunities to women who have to work from their home. As a cooperative, the women export innovative products into several countries. The income generated is shared fairly among its members. Because they are able to work at home, where they can still care for their children, these women receive an income and dignity through their hand-made items. For more information on Kamay Krafts, visit their website.

Stories from the Philippines