Thousands still displaced after flash flood in Philippines

Health kit bags being distributed by
 FH church partners.

Philippines (MNN) ―Communities on the Island of Mindanao, Philippines continue to pick up the pieces following a devastating flash flood December 16 that killed more than 1,000 people.

Of those hit by the catastrophe three weeks ago, many are still affected, says Director of Emergency Response forFood for the Hungry Peter Howard says, "About three quarters of a million people have been affected by this disaster. And at least 40,000 to 50,000 people are living in evacuation centers."

While Food for the Hungry can't help all of them, they're doing their part through two local churches. "Since the storm hit 2 1/2 weeks ago, those churches--with the help of Food for the Hungry and other partnerships--have been responding and reaching out and meeting needs in their community."

FH is working with a Light of the World Church and another Wesleyan church in the region. Howard says through these churches, they're helping with food, clothing, medical supplies, and hygiene kits.

However, FH is going to start doing more for the children, says Howard. "After a disaster like this, children get separated from their families and parents. Also, their lives get interrupted."

That's why FH through other partnerships are starting Child Friendly Spaces. This is a place created that helps children cope. Howard said,"They can go to school, and even if it's not in a school, maybe a tented area -- an area where they can be safe and away from the effects of disaster. They can learn, play and be children. And, that protects them from the dangers going on around them."

Howard says this outreach helps physically, and also spiritually. "Food for the Hungry comes alongside these churches to reach out not only to their own parishioners, but into their community. And it really is an amazing opportunity for Christians to show the love of Christ to people who are suffering."

It's uncertain low long FH will be in this area. "This is their community, and our job is to build the capacity to reach out in the name of Jesus to their community. So we'll stay as long as we're asked. But when they're on their feet and ready to go, that might be time for us to move somewhere else where there's a need," adds Howard.

Howard says $100 can actually start a child friendly space. If you'd like to help, click here.

Flash flooding in Philippines destroys church, future questioned

Iligan City, Philippines is hit by
 flash flood. 1,080 reportly died.
 (Photo by Mariz Serate)

Philippines (MNN) ― While many churches around the world were celebrating Christmas, Christians in parts of the Philippines were just thankful to be alive. Tropical Storm Washi's flash flood has claimed more than 1,000 lives. Churches in the region are now questioning their future.

Pastor Jay Rosales with Gospel Church in Iligan City, Mindanao, says he and his family were right in the middle of the flash flood that ripped through the city. Pastor Rosales says in his church, "Two people are dead. 10 are missing [and presumed dead]. Two of them are children."

What about his 17-year-old church? Rosales says water reached the top of his two-story church building, and "it's totally wiped out. There's nothing left except the posts. All the things inside the church, and the parsonage -- everything is entirely gone."

Rosales is concerned about the future of his church. "The government will no longer allow us to rebuild it in that place. Our problem today is: where are we going to put our church because we don't really have the money to build a church. Secondly, getting a place from the city would be [too expensive]."

Rosales says 30 church families have been displaced, and he asks for prayer as he reaches out in Jesus' name. "It's hard to ease their pain. I just embrace them and cry with them. I don't know what words to use. It's really hard. I share [with them] that God is in control and that He is amazing because God did not allow us to die in this incident."

Aid has been slow in getting to the region. However, reports indicate that it's now reaching the affected areas.

Compassion International is raising $500,000 to help their program in the region. Seven Compassion children died, and 21 are still missing. You can help Compassion by clicking here. Food for the Hungry is also committing to help an evacuation center which is serving 3,000 people. Click here to help Food for the Hungry's work.

Tim Tebow and CURE building children’s hospital in Philippines

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA (ANS) -- Quarterback Tim Tebow has become the miracle man in fourth-quarter comebacks for the Denver Broncos this season. But off the field, his foundation is partnering with CURE International to bring God’s healing miracles into the lives of young people in the Philippines.

Tim Tebow

The Tim Tebow Foundation and CURE will build a 30-bed surgical facility for children focusing primarily on orthopedics on the island of Mindanao – an area that holds a particular interest for the Heisman trophy winner.

"I was born in the Philippines and my parents have been missionaries to that area since 1985,” Tebow says. “The Philippines have always had a special place in my heart. I'm excited to be a part of this hospital that will bring healing to thousands of children who would not otherwise have access to care."

Groundbreaking for the facility in Davao City is set for January 2012 and it’s expected to open in 2013. This is the first project between the two organizations since they announced their partnership in October. The relationship grew out of an informal conversation between Tebow’s brother and CURE’s new president at the Lausanne Congress last January.

The hospital is CURE's first in the Philippines and 12th worldwide. The construction project is expected to cost $3 million, with donors from CURE and the Tebow Foundation sharing the costs.

“We see what we do as an extension of Jesus’ healing ministry,” says Scott Worrall, vice-president of CURE. Physical and spiritual healing for children has always been a primary focus since the organization’s founding in 1996 by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Harrison and his wife Sally. “Their intention from the start was to value spiritual ministry along with medical care,” Worrall says.

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Mark Ellis is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service and the founder ofwww.Godreports.com.  He is available to speak to groups about the plight of the church in restricted countries, to share stories and testimonies from the mission field, and to preach the gospel. mark@Godreports.com

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Philippine churches take different sides on population vote

Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States, various groups trooped to the Philippine House of Representatives in late November to demand a vote on a population-control bill that is opposed by Roman Catholic Church leadership - writes Maurice Malanes.

Holding signs reading "keep your theology out of my biology," demonstrators from the "Occupy for RH" (Reproductive Health) movement urged legislators on 21 November 2011 to "listen to the people and not to the bishops."

"At Wall Street, they expressed economic dissatisfaction. Here, we're expressing our dissatisfaction over our reproductive health policy. The lawmakers can't keep interpolating till kingdom come. They shouldn't kill the Reproductive Health bill through delays," Dr Junice Melgar, the movement's chief coordinator, told national television on 21 November.

The proposed law promotes both natural and artificial methods of contraception. But the Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning methods and has been opposing the bill.

Supporters such as Representative Walden Bello urged President Benigno Aquino to take a firm stand on the bill and urged legislators of both houses to vote on the bill before this year ends.

Catholic leaders remain undaunted. "Managing population is not as simple as stopping babies from being conceived," Bishop Carlito Cenzon of the Baguio diocese told ENInews on 22 November.

He warned against the adverse effects of a "contraceptive mentality." He cited countries with aging populations such as Japan, Singapore and some parts of Europe, where married couples no longer have interest in raising bigger families even if offered economic incentives.

Monsignor Andres Cosalan, vicar-general of the Baguio diocese, also recalled that Singapore had an aggressive birth control programme in the 1960s and 1970s.

"The slogan then was 'Stop at Two!' There were harsh measures involving the availability of housing and educational services. Singaporeans did stop at two," Cosalan wrote in 20 November in the Baguio Midland Courier weekly newspaper. The irony, he noted, is that for the survival of Singapore, the government is now asking its people: "Please have four, if not more!" But there have been hardly any takers, he said.

Cosalan told ENInews that as more Filipinos are educated and prefer to marry later because of career pursuits, they also prefer fewer children than many couples did ten years ago. "It won't be long before we'll be confronted by the consequences of an aging population ... With increased retirement benefits and fewer wage earners, this would be a strain on the national budget," he said.

Not all Christians are opposed to the bill, which seeks to manage the growth of a population now at more than 94 million.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines, which groups ten mainline Protestant churches, has supported the bill since 2009 because it promises education and reproductive health benefits to mothers.

Bishop Efraim Tendero, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, the largest network of evangelical Christians in the Philippines, has said the bill "protects the life of both mother and the baby in her womb" and thus described the bill as "pro-quality of life."

[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

[Ekk/3]

Heisman Trophy winner homecoming launches outreach in the Philippines

Artist rendering of CURE
 Philippines. (Photo by CURE)

Philippines (CURE/MNN) ―CURE International will be opening a new children's hospital in Davao City, Philippines.

The dream will likely come true sometime in mid-2013. It is CURE's first in the Philippines and 12th worldwide, and will be on the island of Mindanao--a particularly poor area of the Philippines.

It will be a 30-bed surgical facility focusing primarily on orthopedics. The groundbreaking is slated for January 2012 and will be a celebration of the first project between CURE and The Tim Tebow Foundation. 

That partnership was announced in October 2011 and is a sort of homecoming for Tebow. The starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Florida says, "I was born in the Philippines, and my parents have been missionaries to that area since 1985." He adds, "I'm excited to be a part of this hospital that will bring healing to thousands of children who would not otherwise have access to care."

With 80 million children suffering from clubfoot and other surgically correctable deformities, it's not hard to see the need for CURE's outreach. Dr. Scott Harrison, founder and president of CURE International, says, "We feel blessed that the Tim Tebow Foundation has chosen to partner with us to bring first-world quality care and spiritual healing to the children of the Philippines."

The construction project is expected to cost $3 million, with donors from CURE and the Tebow Foundation sharing the costs. Due to the poverty in the area, about 30% of the children treated at the hospital will be unable to pay for treatment.   One of CURE's most basic operating principles is that their teams will not turn away a patient due to an inability to pay, ethnic background or religious affiliation.

CURE International's mission is to transform the lives of disabled children and their families in the developing world through medical and spiritual healing, serving all by establishing specialty teaching hospitals, building partnerships, and advocating for these children.

As part of their service to the community, CURE also incorporates a faith component in a culturally-relevant and sensitive way. Their team works in the name of Christ and often has opportunities to share their faith with patients

One way this component will be included in the Philippines hospital will be through Timmy's Playroom. The play area will provide workers an opportunity to incorporate faith, hope, and love to children before and after their surgeries. It will be the Tim Tebow Foundation's first international playroom.

The Tim Tebow Foundation was created in January 2010. Its mission is to bring faith, hope, and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The foundation is accomplishing this mission through the building of playrooms in children's hospitals, supporting orphans worldwide, and making "dreams come true" for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Slum-church Celebrates Three Years of Ministry

Philippines (MNN) ―Gamblers. Drunkards. Extreme Poverty. A slum may be the last place you expect to find Christ.

Yet Operation Mobilization (OM) is celebrating three fruitful years of ministry in a slum area in the Philippines.

Many of the very gamblers and drinkers that used to beleaguer the community have now become believers and even Bible study leaders. Since OM came to the area in 2008, changes have been stirring.

OM began their ministry as a children's outreach. But quickly after the children's program ended, transformed parents were eager to begin a church. The small church grew under the leadership of OM missionaries.

In 2009, Typhoon Ketsana hit the country, wiping out homes and lives across the island nation. Still, even a typhoon could not shake this church. They continued to care for those around them and looked to the next step.

In just three years since its humble beginning, the church has accomplished amazing feats. The congregation now has over 100 members and more attendees. They have built a three-story building and have added a daycare with professional teachers. Now, all the ministry hopes to do is bless others around them.

In three years, a community of gamblers and alcoholics turned into a loving group of Christ-centered citizens. They recently celebrated their three-year anniversary and now look to the future for what else God has for them.

Pray that over the next three years, this small community would grow exponentially, blessing their entire slum, as well as those outside of it.

You can help OM as they begin local ministries like this around the globe. Click here for more information.