HE CARES MISSION
Love Offering for Street Children
Love Offering for Street Children
THE FEAST last Sunday, June 9, 2024, welcomed a special guest:
Bro. Joe Dean Sola, founder of He Cares Mission for street children.
Last year, Bro. Joe Dean came to The Feast, appealing for support of He Cares, particularly its Back-to-School program granting out-of-school children an opportunity to yes, have a formal education, their ticket to a good life.
Aligning his message with Bro. Bo Sanchez’s talk on Happiness, Bro. Joe Dean said, “That’s my happiness– responding to God’s call to serve the poorest of the poor.”
Last Sunday, Bro. Joe Dean came back to The Feast with a wonderful report on his mission and appealed once more for support as He Cares hopes to send more children to school this year.
And by God’s grace, our Feasters responded with generous Love Offering for the children.
A Voice for Children
BRO. JOE DEAN SOLA: I’d like to report to you. Last year I was here. We asked you to support our Back-to-School program.
And we delivered. We delivered the Good News to the poor.
Last school year, we were able to help more than 700 scholars. And many of them are graduating this year!
That’s my happiness. Responding to God’s call to serve the poorest of the poor.
And today, I am a voice for them. Because next school year, we are going to send more than 800 scholars back to school– with your help.
I’m asking you never get tired of doing this for the glory of God. Because this is a part of our mission.
Thank you, we were allowed to have a table outside. This is our last day of the campaign for the Back-to-School program. And we invite you to join us. We have volunteers helping us.
These are children who have no voice to ask for help. They don’t have provisions. I realized that a mission without provision ay talagang kunsumisyon (a heavy burden).
So, we need your help. Let us bring the Good News to the poor and help me bring back to school more than 800 children. We have He Cares in Bulacan now. We have He Cares Montalban,
We have He Cares Bacolod. And we have 10 areas in Metro Manila.
For the children, we ask you for their tuition, school supplies, snacks.
Together, we can help them.
Thank you so much and God bless you all.
A Heartwarming Story
“Cast all worries to Him because He cares for you.”
This Bible verse in 1 Peter 5:7 is the inspiration for He Cares Mission,
a partner beneficiary of The Feast Ministries. He Cares defines its vision on its website, http://www.hecaresmission.com/index.html :
“He Cares is committed to caring for homeless, wounded, and vulnerable children in Metro Manila (and now in other key areas in the country, as Bro. Joe Dean mentioned)– restoring their hope, and helping them to make a meaningful contribution to the world.”
We’ve written about He Cares Mission a couple of times — a beautiful, heartwarming, inspiring story that we love to tell again and again.
Once a carefree youth, Joe Dean needed help with his finances one dire day.
He called his elder brother Dan, an active LOJ member then conducting prayer meetings established by Bro. Bo at the garage of his family home at 56 Chicago, Cubao.
When he received Joe Dean’s call, Dan happened to be at the LOJ prayer meeting. He told Joe Dean to come and meet with him there.
Joe Dean arrived in the middle of the prayer meeting. So, he had to wait for the meeting to end. As he sat in one corner of the garage, he couldn’t help hearing the talk of the preacher– a part of which happened to be about the Bible verse in John 10:10: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
A life in full. The verse must have impressed Joe Dean. For indeed, as promised in Hebrews 4:12 …” the word of God is a living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Long story short, Joe Dean experienced an intense spiritual awakening as he eventually joined LOJ, supporting our mission which includes pastoral care and spiritual nourishment in fulfillment of our core mission to make disciples for Jesus– yes, including the least among our brethren.
Joe Dean eventually devoted his life to ministering to the youth in need like he was before.
On his own initiative, Joe Dean served street children. He often gathered children roaming on the streets, giving them food, reading them Bible verses, and explaining to them
God’s message of hope and salvation.
God Cares for Children
As Bro. Joe Dean affirmed in his message at The Feast last Sunday, yes, He Cares has well delivered the Good News to the children and their families.
He served in various LOJ ministries, especially joining Bro. Bo in ministering to the lolos and lolas in our Anawim home.
In Anawim, Joe Dean served with other LOJ members, among them, Ardis Abrogar who, like Joe Dean, desired to serve the poor.
Joe Dean and Ardis fell in love and got married on August 5, 1995.
When Joe Dean and Ardis settled down, naturally, they opened their home to street children. Eventually, the mission evolved into the He Cares Mission Foundation in 1996. And ably supported by Ardis, Joe Dean has well sustained the Ministry.
To this day, Bro. Bo (third from left) and happy LOJ volunteers have all the way supported He Cares.
Never Giving Up
In his exhortation during the Love Offering last Sunday,
Bro. Audee Villaraza encouraged us to never get tired of “doing the right thing” –words he quoted from Galatians 6:9:
Do not grow weary of doing the right thing for at the proper time, we will reap the harvest if we do not give up.
Bro. Joe Dean echoed the exhortation in his appeal for He Cares children:
“I’m asking you never get tired of doing this for the glory of God.”
Those not tired, raise your loving hands in support of these children here, raising their hands of hope for a great future.
