One of the famous Christmas carols exclaims:

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King.”

The carol recites the wonderful joy mankind received when the Lord, the child Jesus, was born. There were sounding joys while sorrows and curses were replaced by the Lord’s love.

Such was also the joy of the children of the orphanage GAbay ng LAndas (GALA) Marikina who were blessed by iCare Foundation. iCare is the compassion Ministry of the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Church Worldwide.

On December 10, 2010, iCare gathered 60 volunteers from across all ages to be the dad or mom or “kuya” or “ate” of the children whom GALA looks after. The volunteers gamely took care of their foster child/brother/sister for the day. Consistent with iCare’s mission “to respond to the specific needs of identified individuals in the community in obedience to God’s second commandment – love your neighbor,” iCare volunteers became the hands of the Lord that embraced GALA children and the feet of the Lord that brought them to Enchanted Kingdom for a memorable joyful experience!

It was a day of joy for the abandoned and street kids that GALA looks after. They had fun at the different exciting rides they preferred, filled with yummy meals and snacks, and overwhelmed by the gifts given to them at the end of the day.

Ms. Cathy Alenton, GALA Administrator, had nothing but gratefulness for iCare: “Thank you for sharing blessings and for sharing your love to these children… We are praying that God would bless iCare more so that it could reach many more children.”

Joy has indeed come to these otherwise dejected children.