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Dear friends and supporters of IT Tender,
We would like to invite you to attend the first Stakeholder's Forum of IT Tender. It would be an honor for us if you would join us for this for this 45-minute, virtual event where we will share what God has been doing through IT Tender and some of our upcoming plans. There will also be a Q&A time at the end.
Please take a moment to fill out this registration form to RSVP for the virtual event: https://forms.gle/XnEGLV1Tbv5PzoXUA
Kindly also take note of these details on how to join the IT Tender Stakeholder's Forum virtually...
Time and Date:
9pm, June 4, 2023, EST/Ontario Time
/ 9am, June 5, 2023, Manila Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87219934161?pwd=Sm5SdndrSDFsZUYreENZT3hjUmRjdz09
Meeting ID: 872 1993 4161
Passcode: 502383
Looking forward to seeing you then!
In other news, on May 1st (Labor Day in the Philippines), we wanted to provide a special treat for the hard-working families of IT Tender doing their best to get by while living in the slums. May is the hottest time of the year in Manila, and we brought 425 children and parents (73 families!) to an incredible swimming resort for a truly memorable Family Day.With the theme "Strong Together", the philosophy behind this Family Day event was to give urban poor families the opportunity to strengthen their relationships, protect their mental health (socializing and bonding with loved ones helps us cope with stress), create lasting memories (we give each family a framed photo of their family picture from the event, and we see these photos hanging in their homes), and to strengthen our community (learning from and sharing with one another).
For many of these families, an outing with IT Tender is their only opportunity to enjoy a respite from some very stressful jobs, to be refreshed during a grueling hot season, and to experience an outing together as a family.The Family Day outing was just the first of a series of epic events at IT Tender during Filipino summertime. Our students are excited to enjoy their school break until August, and we want to make the most of their time off.On July 5th, the students of our daycare will enjoy a graduation party at an amazing indoor playground called Kidzoona.
On July 20th, we hope to bring the youth of our Dream Center (an after-school, youth empowerment program in partnership with Extreme Response) to a theme park called Enchanted Kingdom. We want to congratulate the youth on both a successful school year AND for all their help volunteering and assisting with our programs for the younger children (as the Dream Center youth volunteer at our daycare, after-school tutorials, and events for the kids).
From July 23-25, we will hold an overnight summer camp for the children of IT Tender (also to be led in-part by the youth). The "Wumba" camp is inspired by a children's summer program of the same name at John & Jam Coffey's home church in Ontario (WMB Church).
From July 27-28, the 2nd generation of youth leaders at IT Tender will enjoy their own time of refreshment, leadership development, and fellowship at an overnight retreat center.
Last but not least, over the next couple months, we are sending a team of youth from IT Tender on mission trips to teach dance, guitar and percussion to the children at a partner church in a rural province of the Philippines.
We have the vision, the workers, and almost all of the preparations needed to pull off these exciting events and camps. The only thing we need yet is the funds! And so we will be direct with our current need: we still need to raise $500 for the daycare graduation outing, $1,600 for the youth theme park outing, $2,500 for the overnight kids camp, $1,400 for the youth retreat, and $1,000 for the rural mission trip. This is a total of $7,000 that we are targeting to raise for these upcoming activities.This is why all one-time donations for IT Tender until the end of May will go towards these events. Donors in Canada can click here to give through our secure online giving page (simply select "IT Tender Ministries" as the designation). Donors in the US can click here to give (select to give to "Other Designations: Ministry Partners" and then select "IT Tender"). Donors in the UK may click here (and type "IT Tender" as the Donation Intention).Donors will receive a tax deductible receipt. Contact John at johndlcoffey@gmail.com if you have questions about these exciting events.Last month, we just enjoyed our very first "music theater workshop" led by a world-class instructor who has performed on some of the biggest stages (including a recent production of "Sweeney Todd" in Singapore). Ms. Christine (aka "Teacher Tin") shared her wisdom and talents on a our humble little stage at the drop-in center. The children and youth had an unforgettable experience, and we thank Teacher Tin for bringing them out of their shells to develop confidence and have fun acting, singing, dialoguing and dancing.
Lastly, the Coffey family has some good news! After 3 1/2 years, the Coffeys in Manila are FINALLY able to visit Canada again. Click here to see the schedule of dates in June and July when John & Jam will be speaking at various churches in Ontario. To all of our friends in Ontario, we hope you can make it to one of those speaking gigs! (And to everyone else, please remember to register to join our virtual Stakeholder's Meeting using the link at the top of this newsletter)Thank you for all of your amazing support. Below are the current prayers and praises of our team in Manila.
- The Tender Team
