Ketsana Torments Manilla

Pray for our Brothers and Sisters in Manila. I have been on Skype conversing one of our mission staff in the Philippines, and the situation heart wrenching. We are working in conjunction with the EFC of the Philippines, and Allianz, the German Free Church Mission. I have attached a number of links below from news sources and other contacts who have forwarded home shot video of the flooding.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8277018.stm BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8277023.stm BBC NEWS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWxyI-Hsyp8&feature=geosearch


We have opened a funds for donations at https://my.efca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=359 , insert Acct#3973 Philippines Relief in the memo line.

Here is what our ReachGlobal mission staff reported:

Manila Flooding.
This is a preliminary report on the effect of the terrible flooding in Manila on our Evangelical Free Churches. We have 17 churches in the Metro Manila area, many of which are concentrated in the Cainta, Pasig area, where there was heavy flooding. We have been in touch with our church leaders and co-missionaries working in Manila. The flooding came up fast so people were stranded away from home and couldn’t get their things to second floors, if there was one. It rained 12 inches in 6 hours on Saturday.

Most of our churches are 2 stories with the sanctuary on the 2nd story and parsonage, Sunday school rooms, kindergarten classrooms on first floor. Two churches in Cainta had over 6 feet of water inside their churches. The parsonages have been destroyed. As well as Sunday school materials and things in the youth centers including computers. One of the pastors was out on visitation when the flooding came up. They were not able to save anything in their house. That family has 5 sons ranging in age from 13 to 24. The other church that was submerged has a family with 3 daughters ages 3 to 14.

One part of Pasig had 3 meters of water at one time. Our German co-workers lived in that area. Their houses are completely gone. One of them was swimming in the water to rescue the other workers. She was swimming above cars and even roofs.
Some of you may have seen the picture of people wading in chest deep water down Ortigas Ave. This area is called Rosario. It is between 2 rivers. We have a church in that area, about ½ kilometer off the main road. The church sustained major damage on the first floor. The parsonage and kindergarten school have been badly damaged.

Apart from church buildings many of our church members have sustained major damage to their homes. Many of the homes were submerged in 4 to 6 feet of water for more than 24 hours. In the Pasig area, many of our church members are poor and live in shanties made of wood and cardboard. These just collapsed, taking all their possessions with them. These people have no money to rebuild their homes or even replace clothes and things from their house.

This is Tuesday, the flooding started on Saturday. I just talked to one of our staff at ETCP, our Bible college. She has gone back to visit her home in Marakina, where there was also heavy flooding. She walked through knee deep mud to get to her house. They can’t get the door open, so they looked in the window. There is still more than a foot of water inside the house and everything is scattered. All her possessions are ruined. She was at the college when the flooding happened.

Other church members are in situations like this. In Vista Verde in Cainta, which is more of a middle-class subdivision, they had 6 feet of water inside their homes. And it didn’t go down for 24 hours. So everything inside the home is destroyed.

Many of these people have been without electricity for several days. They also don’t have any food because what food was in their homes washed away. The small stores close to their homes lost all their supplies. And many of the poor people don’t have money to buy more food.
There is a need for money so we can help people rebuild their lives. It costs too much to ship things here, so cash donations are appreciated.

We have opened a funds for donations at https://my.efca.org/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=359 , insert Acct#3973 Philippines Relief in the memo line.