Thursday, October 1, 2009

Orphanage Effected By Typhoon In Philippines

I wonder how many people care of what's going on the world these days...Whether it be natural disasters, the war, etc...

How do we always pass these up, or even ignore them altogether? Why is our look or atittude towards things like these seem like we do care...but don't? How many of us has ever taken action to do something and help out for a solution?

We take so many things for granted and forget the stuff that really matters the most. Just stop for a moment and take a look what's going around you. Really observe, listen, and understand what has to and needs to be done.

Case and point...



The following is an e-mail sent today through Bishop Chito and Pastora Rachel Sanchez of Jesus Loves The Little Children Foundation, Inc. in Pasig City Philippines. An orphanage and church helping and serving children in the Philippines. I opened up the message through my inbox and I read and saw these photos that were attached...(the following message is from Bishop Chito and Pastora Rachel Sanchez. This orphanage, along with Bishop Chito and Pastora Rachael, are supported and affiliated with Pastor Edwin Gagui and Living Word Christian Church which I belong to)...I'm doing this blog post to help support this orphanage, not just our church...but I thought if I share this blog post with you maybe all of us that's behind this screen can take action and make a difference...


Hi everyone,


Here is a picture of the orphanage under Bishop Chito and Ptr. Rachel Sanchez. They need our help.



Pastor Edwin
____________________

Dear Friends and Partners,

We at JLLCF are all safe although sadness is all around us. The nation is mourning due to the many losses of loved ones, properties, businesses and finances. Our hearts are broken and could not stop crying seeing the devastations typhoon Ondoy did to the Philippines.

On Sept. 26, Saturday morning, we noticed the water level in our neighborhood had risen dramatically after a whole night downpour. I was immediately alarmed and called the orphanage in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, which was a 10-15minutes drive away from us. The house parents were also frightened. I spoke to Michelle, our social worker, to move all the children to the 2nd floor of the new school building. Immediately, they relocated the kids and brought all their belongings, office stuff, sacks of rice, water, stove, and all kitchen stuff to the 2nd floor. In a matter of 3 hours, the water was knee high and at the end of the day it rose up to chest level on the street. The water entered the Children's Home and as of today's writing, the water is still waistline deep. Our office and all the classrooms are still with water thus no classes for the whole week. I doubt if we will have classes in the next 2 weeks since the water is still waistline deep and will definitely drown the little children. Truly, the new building is a Noah's Ark to all of us!

Michelle panicked when she received the text message late Saturday afternoon that her mother, brother and 2-year old daughter were already on the rooftop. The water filled the 2nd floor of their house. They waited for rescuers while they were totally drenched with rain water and were very hungry. They were rescued 2 days after. What a nightmare! We cry for the poor people in the slum. They are homeless, helpless and hopeless!

Suddenly, our River of God office in Robinson's Galleria Mall in Ortigas was converted as a Relief Center for donations to areas of Pasig, Marikina, Cainta and Taytay. To date, we have distributed 300 bags of groceries and clothes to families in Marikina and Pinagbuhatan, which was the worst hit in Pasig. Our Church in Pinagbuhatan and Kalawaan were totally wrecked by the flood which rose up to neck level. Members' houses are gone and some loved ones are missing. Our church in Valenzuela in the slum is gone. It's only today, after 4 days, that our Pastor showed up. The church is gone, members are gone, houses are gone....nothing left. Our Pastor and family is safe but they are now homeless. Our family has relocated. We were rescued from our village after 3 days. The water is still up to the waistline. God is good to us, no one has been harmed and we are now staying with our in-laws.

We are still bagging groceries as of this writing and volunteers are coming in. We have received an overflow of donations of bread, biscuits, noodles, canned goods, water, candles, cleaning materials, old clothes and shoes from companies and individuals. Everyone is helping one another. Communities are bringing donations to various relief centers, churches and feeding is ongoing in evacuation centers. Volunteers have checked our children and staff making sure that no water-borne diseases have affected or infected them.

As far as helping us, honestly, we would appreciate monetary support at this time since we have many goods to distribute. We need finances to pay rafts, boats, trucks and fuel. We are also paying local men in the slum as our guards/escorts to safely transport the relief goods to Pinagbuhatan. People are grabbing the plastic bags from volunteers, many were hurt in the process but we understand....they are hungry and helpless.

Bishop Chito and volunteers are exhausted. We were able to mobilize many organizations and companies to bring their goods to us like HSBC, Kidsmile Foundation, Sowers, Billy Graham Ministry, Grace Christian Church, Diamond Jubilee Church, Victory Christian Fellowship, Greenhills Christian Fellowship, and many more. Individuals and groups walked in to drop their used clothes, shoes, medicines, etc.

Pinagbuhatan is not passable by any vehicle, only military and dump trucks would do. The Squatter's area is very dangerous at this time, volunteers are in danger of getting hurt but the work must be done. Hopefully, we can get a military or dump truck tomorrow to bring more relief goods to Pasig and Cainta. We finished Marikina area yesterday and there are many more people to reach.

The water is receding very slowly and many are in fear since water from La Mesa and Angat Dams are being released daily to avoid an overflow. Pag-asa, our weather bureau, is warning us of another super typhoon coming in by tomorrow, Friday. Pls. pray that it would change direction.

I pray that if you get touched by the pictures taken by us in the orphanage and around our neighborhood that you would be moved to help our country at this time of grief. Do not miss to check the website link below. Your support is needed at this time. Our school, office, children's home and furnishings have been damaged greatly. Approximate damage is 1Million Pesos or 20,000 USD.


We are actively seeking financial support to give to the needy especially to the homeless so that they can rebuild their homes....especially their lives.

God bless us all.




Send your donations to:

Jesus Loves the Little Children Foundation, Inc.
Peso Account No: 6791001283
BPI Family Bank, Emerald Ortigas Branch, Pasig City, Philippines


US Dollar Account No: 398929500013
Phil. National Bank, Ortigas Branch, JMT Building, ADB Rod, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines


Bishop Chito and Rachel Sanchez
River of God, Inc. (632) 470-1439
JLLCF (Jesus Loves The Little Children Foundation)

















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1 comment:

  1. WOW. Thank you for posting about this. You are right that we take things for granted. Let us not forget Indonesia, the Samoan Islands, and the many other Asian Pacific nations that were struck by natural disasters.

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