Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters from around the world, Greetings with joy from the Lord! We are happy to share with you how the Lord has been wonderfully answering your prayers for the Philippines. · You prayed that the Lord will give our government leaders extraordinary wisdom to direct the relief efforts which was chaotic in the first week after the typhoon · Update: Since last week, the government ‘got itself together’ and our President himself took the leadership in directing the efforts. Instead of taking offense at the foreign and local criticisms hurled at the slowness of response, the President humbly admitted feeling overwhelmed and proceeded to engage all offices of government including the private sector, to help out. In the history of the Philippines, we have not seen such a level of sacrificial effort from the private sector to assist the government with needed facilities and equipment to do the job. · You prayed for the safety of our Compassion Philippines Rapid Response Team and that they will be able to give timely aid and comfort to the children, families and churches affected. · Update: On the first phase of the relief operations, the Compassion Philippines was already able to tap more than 35 tons of relief aid. They have a well-manned Disaster Management Team ably led by Noel Pabiona, our Country Director. They have been able to set up hubs for relief distribution. Our assisted children, families and churches are being cared for. The Compassion staff are sacrificially giving from their own pockets to also help our very own staff and families who are victims as well, living in the provinces where the typhoon struck. · You prayed that the Lord will stop Satan and his cohorts from instigating anarchy in the affected areas. · Update: The looting and thefts have significantly decreased, because the government has been able to deploy the police and military officials to provide security especially in the most badly hit areas and cities. · You prayed that the affected Filipinos will receive timely aid and that all towns and areas will be helped, and not just those that receive media attention. · Update: God has really come through for us! The relief goods are now pouring in through each of the towns and municipalities, not just through the C-130s of US, but largely through the help of commercial planes, dump trucks, container vans, huge trucks freely provided by generous businessmen. In the attached article kindly shared by Tri, our Asia Associate Advocacy Director, we learn that close to 90 million dollars have been committed for the Philippines from other governments. Churches are Christian NGOs are working together. Many offices are canceling their Christmas parties to donate their money to the relief and rehabilitation efforts (How can we celebrate Christmas with fun and food if our fellowmen are weeping in hunger?). Even school children are volunteering to pack relief bags and writing letters to children so that when they open the bag of goods, inside is a letter written by a child from Manila encouraging them to hope and trust in God who loves and cares for them. Every day we cannot keep crying and praising God for answering prayers that you and thousands others are praying from many countries in the world. We used to cry because we felt overwhelmed and helpless. Now we cry because we have seen that the needs are gradually being met. There is a big challenge that remains through the relief and rehab process. Please continue to pray with us. 1. Pray that there will be sustained efforts to protect the children and women who are most vulnerable in times of disasters. Pray that will God will stop any outbreak of cholera, dengue and other epidemics. Pray that the makeshift tents and relocation areas will be protected from those child trafficking syndicates who pretend to offer help but who will induce the parents to give up their children in the guise of adoption. 2. Pray that the clearing and cleaning up of debris from roads and cities will be expedited so that there will be easy access for help and relief to the people living in the most remote towns. 3. Pray that there will be a concerted effort among evangelical churches, denominations and Christian NGOs and ministries to come up with a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation collaborative effort. Pray that all political barriers will be overcome so that the country will see the Body of Christ at work, preaching Christ in word and deed, caring for the widows and orphans. Please accept our sincerest thanks and gratitude for your prayers and love for the Filipino people. This is the verse we claim for you all: A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25, NIV) In His grace, Menchit
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 16:06:53 +0000
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