Helping in a Time of Great Need!

We were already planning a trip to the Philippines when an earthquake changed the focus of our trip. Bohol experienced a massive earthquake on the morning of October 15th. Since then thousands of aftershocks have continued to shake things up.

Over 15,000 homes were totally destroyed and another 73,000 structures were damaged in the earthquake. At least 2 of our team members will head to Sagbayan, the epicenter location, on Monday.

As the Philippines worked to recover from the earthquake, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8th devastating another huge swath of the country. 6200 dead have been found and well over 1000 are still missing. A majority of the damage is to Leyte and the surrounding areas. We have some connections to Leyte and are working on getting over some of our team members there sometime next week.

There are 17 of us on this particular trip and I can already tell its been rewarding for us to be here. Seeing the work in real time and meeting the people does something to a person. There is something about shaking hands with people who have lost their home that changes you.

A few of our team members shared how rewarding it was working with one particular family whose home was affected by the earthquake. Our team was able to lay the home, which had been on stilts, onto the ground and for the first time in three months the family slept in their home. In the next few days the family will receive a transitional home and possibly the material to fix their existing home. They are elated to say the least.

None of this would be possible of course without the help of hundreds and hundreds of donors back home. Since, October tens of thousands of dollars were raised making it possible for us to build 100 transitional homes and help thousands of people.

Unfortunately, most giving dries up within 60 days of a disaster and yet the need here is going to last years. We would like to build 1000 homes, a drop in a bucket compared to the 15,000 homes that were destroyed. This doesn’t even count the 70,000 homes destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan.

The only way we can help is with thousands of donors praying and giving what might seem like small gifts.

This is obviously a God sized project. There is no way our small nonprofit can generate the funds and energy to help when the needs are so tremendous. But God can.

Please continue to pray for the Philippines and for the work we are doing. Also consider getting involved by praying, giving funds, and possibly even joining a work team.

God Bless, Pastor Bryan Baker