In his early February report, Pastor Roy Rocha of NEW LIFE IN CHRIST ministry in Novaliches, Manila indicated that he was intending to travel with a pastor friend to the city of Tacloban, on the island of Leyte to take relief supplies and Bibles to the victims of the typhoon which devastated the island and the city on November 8 last year.
He recently reported on his trip as follows…
“HELP TACLOBAN HEAR the GOSPEL and make them SMILE. (TACLOBAN the place that was vastly devastated by Typhoon ‘YOLANDA’ or ‘Haiyan’)
“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to His disciples, ‘the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38
These very words of our Lord Jesus Christ sunk in to my heart during my recent trip to TACLOBAN last February 23-25, 2014. I saw the people – children and adults were hungry for food as they kept waiting in line for rations to come. The devastation was huge that people who lost their homes were in tents. (Pictured below right)Their lives are not yet back into their normal routine. Truly, ‘they are sheep harassed and helpless’
A Pastor I visited lost his 3 children, his sister and mother in law, and 4 of his other relatives were buried in one grave. (Pictured below)Their story really broke my heart and put me into tears. There was nothing I can do but to hug and pray for them at that moment. The goods I brought that day were just too little to ease their pain. But, in spite of the trials the pastor experienced, he still manage to show Jesus film each night using electric generators for the regular electric power was not yet connected. Children and adults enjoyed the film and some came to know the saving love of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are more needs to be done for they are ripe for harvest because people are hungry for the Lord.
When I left the place, I left with heavy burden in my heart for I knew what it is like to experience such terrible crisis for I was twice a victim of FLOOD due to typhoon.
I prayed to RETURN in order to do more, this time with my family so that my wife can minister to the wives, and my children with the children. We want to let them know that they are “loved” by our God and his children. We believe that knowing ‘God’ in the midst of their crisis will make them better people, and a little of what we can share can make them SMILE.
In doing this, we need your PARTNERSHIP for the work is HUGE. Let us join hands together to bring Jesus into their LIVES and let us make them SMILE. You can PARTNER us in two ways:
- To pray for us DAILY as we minister to the community. The place is very challenging due to the current situation. Some areas still no light and water. Pray for wisdom and discernment.
- You can pray for financial support for us please. We are praying to raise 40,000 pesos (about NZ$1,000) to cover transportation, materials, and accommodation expenses. We are praying to be there on April 23-28, 2014.”
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