“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place” (Psalm 51:6).
Due to the severe economic crisis in the Philippines, many Filipinos do not live with their families. They take jobs which require them to leave home. The jobs are in Manila or a foreign country, and when a person accepts one of them, he or she is often separated from loved ones for years.
People who leave their families like this do so because there is not enough money to feed and educate the children.
Although the situation may be financially profitable, the emotional damage that occurs to a child when a parent abandons him is very great.
I know a young mother of two children who came to Manila to work. It was very hard to get enough money to feed and clothe her children in the province. Not wanting the children to cry when she left, she told them she would only be gone two weeks. In actuality, she would
not be back for many months or possibly even years. She left the children with their grandparents. They waved goodbye happily, thinking she would be gone only two weeks.
The two weeks have now turned into months. The children are still waiting. They do not want to eat much anymore. They are no longer doing well in school.
The boy’s anger is so violent that the teacher wants him to drop out of 4th grade. He has stopped obeying his grandparents. When you ask him why, he says, “Because my mother lied to me.”
Respect your children. Tell them the truth.
Kimberly Snider is a missionary to the Philippines.
From “Moments for Moms,” a free email subscription.
Copyright (c) 2003 Women’s Ministries of the Assemblies of God.
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