The series, the movement, and the challenge that started with one cup of porridge.
By Dennis Alejo | dennisalejo.com | #HandsBehindMyStory
Behind every person who is standing today, there are hands.
Invisible hands. People who showed up at the right moment with the right word, the right meal, the right sacrifice. Most of the time we never say thank you. Not because we don’t feel it — but because we think they already know. Or we keep telling ourselves we’ll do it later.
Hands Behind My Story is my answer to that. And it is an invitation for you to do the same.
“Every journey has invisible hands behind it. These are mine.”
So What Exactly Is Hands Behind My Story?
Hands Behind My Story is three things at once.
First it is a video series. Real episodes where I go back — literally — to find and thank the people who shaped my life. Face to face. On camera. On record. Forever.
Second it is a book. “Hands Behind My Story: Honoring the Invisible Hands That Shaped Who I Am” — the full story of every person behind my journey, from a cup of porridge in the Philippines to building a business and a ministry in America.
Third it is a movement. A challenge to everyone who watches or reads — to think of the one person behind their own story and say thank you while they can still hear it.
Where It Started
I grew up in La Libertad in the Philippines with no parents, no food, and no plan. At eight years old I lost my mother. Four days without food was normal. I lived in a home made of cardboard and bamboo.
But a neighbor named Libby brought me porridge every week. A cup of rice stretched into six cups of water. Thin and soupy but warm. Every time she handed it to me she said “God bless you.”
I never forgot her. And I never forgot what that felt like — to be seen by someone when you feel completely invisible.
Years later I am the founder of Kingdom Legacy Ministries. We have distributed 400,000 meals and sent 800 students back to school in the Philippines. The same children we fed eight years ago are now the ones cooking and serving the next generation.
“Libby gave me one cup of porridge. That cup became 400,000 meals. That is what invisible hands do.”
When I realized that chain — truly saw it — I knew I had to go back and say thank you. Not just to Libby. To all of them. On camera. Before it was too late.
Because one of my mentors already passed before I could say thank you on record. I made it to my grandmother just in time. I almost did not.
That urgency is the heartbeat of this series.
The Hands This Series Honors
Every episode features one person. One story. One thank you — on camera, face to face. Here are the people behind my story:
🤲 Libby — A neighbor who brought porridge every week when I had nothing to eat. The first hand.
🤲 Sister Jenny — Dropped out of junior high school to work and pay for my school fees. Her future for mine.
🤲 Pastor Banjo Dum — My brother-in-law and first mentor. Gave me 30 Bibles and started a calling I didn’t know I had.
🤲 Larry and Santi — Poured into me spiritually for years when I had nothing to offer back.
🤲 Brian — US Marine who pointed at me at a youth conference in 2004 and said: you will be a pastor in the United States. Ten years later it came true.
🤲 Rose Maaser — From Canada. My spiritual mother who poured into my faith and calling from across the world.
🤲 Emily — My wife. The partner who taught me to plan before I execute. Turned a survivor into a builder.
🤲 The German Restaurant Owner — A woman in Sogod who contributed money for my visa and plane ticket when I had no way to get to America. One of the most invisible hands of all. I almost never made it without her.
🤲 The KLM Kids — The children we fed in 2017 who are now the ones volunteering to teach, cook food, and help with the daily operation of the feeding program — raising and teaching the next generation.
Why This Matters — The Philosophy
Hands Behind My Story is built on one simple but life-changing truth:
“You did not get here alone. And neither did anyone else.”
Every person who is thriving today had someone — or several someones — who poured into them before they were ready, before they had anything to give back, before anyone else believed in them.
And most of those people never heard a proper thank you.
The Dead Sea Warning
The Dead Sea receives water from the Jordan River every single day. But it has no outlet. Everything flows in. Nothing flows out. And because of that — nothing lives in it.
People who receive help, mentorship, love, and investment — but never acknowledge it, never give back, never say thank you — are the same. The gratitude stops with them. And nothing grows.
Don’t be a Dead Sea. Let it flow. Say thank you. Pass it on.
The Antidote
Everyone knows the saying “hurt people hurt people.” Pain that is never healed gets passed on. The Dead Sea of bitterness overflows into everyone around you.
But nobody talks about the opposite.
“Grateful people uplift people.”
When gratitude flows freely it does the same thing pain does — but in reverse. It multiplies life. It breaks cycles. It heals what bitterness builds.
The Chain
The kindness shown to you did not begin with the person who showed it. Someone invested in them first. And someone before that. The chain goes back further than you can see.
The chain that started with Libby’s porridge: Libby fed Dennis → Dennis feeds 3,500 kids → Those kids now feed younger kids → The chain continues.
“The chain never started with me. And it will not end with me.”
How to Watch and Follow the Series
Every episode of Hands Behind My Story follows the same format:
- I introduce the person — who they are and how they came into my life
- I share vulnerably where I was when they helped me
- I describe specifically what they did and what it changed
- I show where I am today because of their investment
- I thank them face to face on camera — the full circle moment
- I challenge you — who are the hands behind YOUR story?
Episodes are available on YouTube. Search: Hands Behind My Story Dennis Alejo
The Challenge — Your Turn
This series is not just about my story. It is a mirror.
Every episode is designed to make you stop and ask: who are the invisible hands behind MY story? The teacher who saw something in you. The friend who stayed when everyone else left. The parent who worked double shifts so you could go to college. The stranger who said the right thing at the right moment.
Think of one person. Just one.
You don’t need a camera crew. You don’t need a production team.
Text them. Call them. Record it on your phone.
Just say thank you while they can still hear it.
Then share it with #HandsBehindMyStory and inspire someone else to do the same.
When they hear it — that is the full circle. That is the moment their investment in you comes back to them.
Because when gratitude flows freely everybody wins. The giver is honored. The receiver is healed. And the audience is inspired to go and do the same.
The chain never started with you. Don’t let it end with you.
“The chain never started with me. And it will not end with me.” — Dennis Alejo
#HandsBehindMyStory #DontBeADeadSea #GratefulPeopleUpliftPeople #DennisAlejo
