A Ray of Hope in the Storm: Extending Christ’s Love to Cities Affected by Typhoon Carina
Last week, we woke up to dark gray skies and the deafening sound of heavy rainfall as the southwest monsoon enhanced by typhoon Carina ravaged our nation. Over 1.3 million lives were affected by severe floods and landslides, prompting rescue operations in several areas. The cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, and Marikina were the hardest hit across Metro Manila.
In times of darkness and despair, our church locations across the nation opened their doors, providing refuge from the storm.
Displaced families sought comfort and shelter in many of our church locations that served as emergency evacuation centers.
With eager hearts, many brought donations across Metro Manila, immediately packing relief goods and non-food essentials like medicines, hygiene kits, school supplies, and cleaning materials.
Not long after, these goods were distributed, opening doors to pray and speak a word of encouragement to affected communities.
Through your efforts, prayers, and heart of service, over 5,873 families in around 22 cities, 3 municipalities, 95 barangays, 14 campuses, and 23 villages/subdivisions as well as our Real LIFE scholars and church members experienced God’s love.
Thank you for reflecting Christ’s compassion and comfort through your wholehearted generosity, opening doors for the gospel to be proclaimed and demonstrated.
Let’s continue to pray for God’s peace, comfort, and provision as our nation recovers from this calamity. Amidst the darkness of this world, may God’s love shine through His Church so that more people will come to Him and find everlasting salvation and hope.
PRAY FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY TYPHOON EGAY
Pag-asa sa Gitna ng Bagyo
Narito ang kuwento ng isang front liner na nag-abot ng tulong sa mga nasalanta ng bagyong Ulysses sa bayan ng Marikina. Sa gitna ng kalamidad, tinatawag tayo ng Diyos upang maghatid ng Kanyang pag-asa. (Here is the story of a front liner who extended help to those who were affected by Typhoon Ulysses in Marikina City. In the midst of calamity, God is calling us to be bearers of His hope.)
Richard is a nurse by profession and is a Victory group leader and admin support volunteer in Victory Metro East. He lives in Marikina, and while their home was not flooded, he immediately saw the devastation in their community when he went to the market. The muddied streets were filled with a mixture of household items and trash. People were covered in mud, and he wondered how long they hadn’t been able to change clothes. In the midst of this hopeless situation, he wanted to extend God’s hope and do what he could to help. Here’s his story.
Noong nakita ko ‘yung mga tao, noon ko naramdaman na parang hinipo ng Diyos ang puso ko. Alam ko na tinatawag ako ng Diyos upang tumulong sa kahit na anong paraan. Noong una naisip ko pa na wala naman akong masyadong magagawa o maibibigay sa mga tao. Pero habang tinitingnan ko sila, nagiging malinaw sa ’kin na hindi naman kinakailangan na malaking tulong ang maibigay ko. Kahit mga tuyong damit lang, malaking ginhawa na ’yun sa kanila.
Dahil dito, nag-post ako sa Facebook na tumatanggap ako ng anumang donation para sa mga nabaha sa Marikina, at nagulat ako sa dami ng taong handang tumulong. Sunod-sunod ang pagdating ng mga donation. Karamihan pa nga sa mga ito ay hindi ko alam kung kanino galing kasi hindi naman sila nagpakilala. May mga nagbigay din ng mga face masks at face shields. Naisip ko na kahit 50 packs lang ng relief goods ang magawa namin, marami na itong matutulungan. Pero dahil sa mga nagbigay, nakapag-abot kami ng tulong sa 74 na pamilya.
Ang Victory group ko, na puro college students dito sa Marikina, at ang aking pamilya ang kasama ko sa pag-repack at pag-iikot. Nakakadurog ng puso ‘yung mga nakita naming sitwasyon noong araw na nag-ikot kami sa mga lugar na nasalanta ng baha. Alam ko na hindi lang kami basta namimigay ng mga tuyong damit at konting pagkain. Nakapagbibigay kami ng pag-asa sa kanila.
Nakita ko na sa ganitong mga sitwasyon, walang maliit na tulong. Kahit pa isang damit lang ang maibibigay mo, isang lata ng sardinas, o anuman, malaking tulong ito para sa ating mga kababayan. Hindi man namin naipagdasal o naibahagi ang salita ng Diyos sa lahat ng naabutan namin ng tulong, alam ko na bawat isa sa kanila ay nakaramdam ng pagkalinga at pagmamahal ng Diyos. Ang panalangin ko ay makita nila na sa kabila ng lahat ng mga nangyayari ngayong taon, hindi tayo pinababayaan ng Diyos. Siya ang magliligtas sa atin.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you . . .
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 43:2,3
On Saturday, Richard will once again distribute relief goods that were donated by Victory in Metro Manila. With his Victory group, they will go to communities in Montalban, Rizal. He remains grateful for the support and love extended by the church community.
Richard is one of many volunteers who is reaching out to help those affected by the recent typhoons. We thank God for people like Richard who are serving as God’s hands and feet at this time.
You can join us in praying for our countrymen who were affected by the typhoons and floods in the different parts of our country. If you want to help the communities affected by the recent typhoons, you can visit www.victory.org.ph/TyphoonPHRelief for more details. May God bless you for your generosity!
Finding New Strength
Nessa Gardiola, an upcoming campus missionary from Leyte, recounts her experience as typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) hit the Visayas region last November 8. Here’s her story of God’s protection and provision.
I was at home with my family when typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte. There were six of us in our house in Palo, one of the Leyte towns battered by this record-breaking typhoon.
We watched in horror as the strong winds blew away our neighbors’ roofs. Seeing what was happening around us, we decided to pray together as a family, pleading for God’s protection as the monster winds howled around us.
Soon, the winds shattered the windows of our house. We sought refuge in my brother’s room, setting up a foam bed to protect us from the shards of broken glass flying in from the damaged window sills.
The aftermath of the storm left us shaken. My father, who was diabetic, had a wound on his foot. My brother also almost had an asthma attack because he couldn’t breathe well. Since there was water inside our house, there were rats and mosquitoes all around us.
Real community Despite these challenges, we were quite grateful for what we had about us. God was faithful to provide for everything that we needed—not just the physical needs, but even emotional and spiritual strength. Thankfully, we lived in a neighborhood where everyone could smile and laugh because of the unity of the people. We all shared our food and water with each other; my siblings had more than enough of what we needed. Our neighbors and other relatives extended help to us, too.
Eventually, for our safety and for my father to receive adequate medical attention, we had to relocate.
My family and I left Palo five days after Yolanda hit the area, pooling what little financial resources we had from people who blessed us. We boarded a plane to Cebu, where my family and I are now staying.
We plan to stay here maybe until next year. We’ll wait until everything goes stable in Palo, and wait until we can buy materials to rebuild our old house.
Moving forward Kix, one of the leaders in Victory Tacloban, went accounting for members of our church who were affected by typhoon Yolanda. He was able to visit my family and myself a few days after the storm. When he visited us, we talked about our plans in rebuilding the church, as well as rebuilding Every Nation Campus in Tacloban after classes resume.
It gives me joy to know that there were a lot of people who were concerned and praying for me. It gave me hope and a fresh perspective, knowing that my spiritual family was holding the ropes for me in prayer. I got more energized to work again and rebuild what was lost in Tacloban. I’m excited to go back to the campuses and continue encouraging and inspiring students to live lives of faith, holiness, and hope through discipleship.
It was encouraging to hear that none of the members of my discipleship group were in harm’s way during the storm. Some of them, who were students of University of the Philippines-Tacloban, have cross-enrolled to UP Diliman. I’ve connected them to Lourdes, one of the campus missionaries from EN Campus Quezon City.
God’s faithfulness endures God’s purposes for my life have never been this clear to me. When He spared my family and provided for us during those times, I was quite sure that God willed it so I can be a blessing to others. I was holding on to Him and His plans for my life as the typhoon raged.
When my family and I survived the worst, I was so excited to share my story because I know that there is a lot to be done and that God will use our city even more to impact lives not only in the region but all over the world.
I’m grateful for His faithfulness. I’m also thankful for each one of you who have prayed and given in every way.
Please continue praying for the Visayas—for everyone’s safety and good health, and for the relief efforts that are ongoing in the area.
I have hope that God has great plans for our nation. I’m looking forward to all that He will do, and will continue to do, through and for each of us.
