Tim Lee, Philippines
Improving the lives of families living in poverty in the Philippines by supporting Jigsaw Kids to become a sustainable organisation
I founded Jigsaw Kids’ Ministries in Manila in 2004 to share God’s love in practical and strategic ways with children and families living in extreme hardship and poverty, working towards the vision of life in all fullness for all children. I now have responsibility for Jigsaw both in the Philippines and the UK. In the Philippines I work together with the country director, helping to develop the organisation and its work with children and families. I am also director of Jigsaw UK, working to engage Jigsaw’s supporter base and overseeing the administration of the UK charity.
The next exciting phase is working towards sustainability of Jigsaw Philippines as a Filipino-led and managed organisation and we are well on the way, praise God. I am also working to develop an initiative to offer organisational and child development training to ministries working with children at risk across South East Asia.
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The seeds of working with children in poverty were sown when I moved to Asia with my family as a 16-year-old. The children on the streets of Kolkata impacted me so much, planting a passion in my heart to share Jesus with children at risk. After studying, I moved to Khartoum, Sudan, where I met my wife Kate, who also had a heart for the poor. After working in Borneo for two years, we joined CMS and underwent mission training in Birmingham. In 2003 we moved to the Philippines with a vision to share God’s love with children in poverty. During the first few months we set up play clubs for children on the streets which gradually grew into a child, youth and family ministry. Today, Jigsaw works with over 1,500 children a week in four deprived areas of Manila.
In 2009, after six years of working in Manila, God called us back to the UK, giving us the vision to support and empower Jigsaw to become a locally run and managed organisation, so we returned home where I continued to oversee the ministry and support its development into a locally-run organisation. In 2019 we moved to Malaysia as a family to support the ministry of Jigsaw alongside working with Asia-CMS. After two years we felt God calling us to return to the UK to set up a base for our family and we have now settled in Cumbria with the continued vision to work with Jigsaw to support and empower it to become a sustainable Filipino ministry.
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