Author Archives: nawata
Hope and a Future
Our Real LIFE scholar graduation is always the highlight of our year. This year, we had lots to celebrate, with 19 university graduates (20 including one scholar who will graduate this October) and 14 high school graduates! On April 11, we held our Real LIFE graduation banquet in the Fort. The highlight of the night [...]
Experiencing CrossRoads
Last February 20-24, we were very blessed to have hosted Vicki & Graham Jeffs from Dovetail Consulting who did a “train-the-trainer” training for 11 of our Real LIFE staff and volunteers. The training was for a program called “CrossRoads,” and I just have to say it was “AMAZING…!!!” Vicki developed CrossRoads as a poverty intervention [...]
I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to the Blindside, and Beyond
I remember the first time I watched the Sandra Bullock movie, “The Blindside.” I think I was already crying about 5 minutes into the movie…it was a one-pack-of -pocket-tissue kind of movie… Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her portrayal of feisty Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother of a family who took in a homeless, [...]
Hope in the midst of disaster
December 19 was the date when Typhoon Sendong hit Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and Iligan City and all Filipinos grieved for the massive loss of life. During this time, God prompted me to go to Iligan and help out in the Disaster Relief & Medical Mission organized by our good friends at Operation Blessing. By faith, [...]
Getting REAL, Having Fun & Changing Lives
There are 12 more days til Christmas, and I have already received one of the best Christmas gifts ever… They say this is the season of giving, and this past weekend, I witnessed a group of ordinary people band together to do something extraordinary. I flew to Singapore on Saturday because a group of my [...]
The Hole in Our Gospel
The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns is probably the book that has had the most impact on my life in the past ten years. It is the true story of Rich, who is living out the American Dream. He works his way up the corporate ladder, becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 [...]
Putting the FUN back in run!
Saturday, November 12 was our fourth Race for LIFE… the annual fun run of Real LIFE Foundation. Sometimes (most often when we are not getting any sleep on the eve of the race) I wonder how we got into the race management business…after all, we are an NGO that provides high school and university scholarships for [...]
