Below is an email from Eden who leads a Newfrontiers church in the Philippines. Please do pray as the death toll is now over 200. Thank you!
Dear All,
We are really overwhelmed by the concern and support of our Newfrontiers Family. I have received a number of emails inquiring our situation here. Praise God that the water did not reach our receiving room but up to the first step of the stairs leading to our condo unit.
We had our scheduled prayer meeting last Saturday but only a handful came because it was already signal number 2. We even shortened the prayer meeting because the rain started to pour heavily and the street outside was already flooding. We stayed till 12:30 pm because we noticed some water dripping in the church.
Because of the rising flood water, we had to leave our car and waded into the murky water which was knee deep. There were a lot of commuters stranded and walked on the flooded street.
There were 14 families of HGCC including Rodney Tagle's family whose houses were flooded. In the Bamboo village alone, we have a number of families who are homeless because the water is up to the chest and deepest was above the head. They were provided temporary shelter in evacuation centers provided by the local governments.
Saturday’s disaster saw Ondoy (international name Ketsana) pound the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Metro Manila and neighboring areas. The weather bureau said that Saturday’s rain was equivalent to a one month rain and the nine-hour deluge left some areas of Metro Manila, a sprawling city of 12 million people, under 20 feet of water, with poor drainage systems and other failed infrastructure exacerbating the problem. Eighty percent of the metropolis was submerged and some people remained stranded on the second floors of their homes for two days.
Adding to the chaos, telephone and power services in some parts of the metropolis remained cut, while local government officials said survivors in makeshift evacuation camps were desperately short of food, water and clothes. In our area alone, we experienced 28 hours of brown out and we have to get water from the tank pail by pail. Because of this, we decided to cancel our Sunday service.
The church readily responded to our affected members. We gave them rice, assorted canned goods, milk, coffee, bath and laundry soaps, and biscuits. I know that this will only last a few days and we are still finding ways on how to restore their humble abode and move on from this nightmare.
One encouraging email that I received recently was from Phil Hardy when he said that the church was praying for us and that this would be a physical evidence of the storm of the Holy Spirit to come on the Philippines. Amen.
We believe that the recent calamity captivated the attention of the people as to the awesome power of the Most High God. And we pray that this will lead to an understanding of their need of a Savior and Lord and realize that only God is the ever present help in times of troubles.
For this, we ask for your prayers regarding the pathetic condition of our country brought about by the devastating flood.
Thank you for your concern and prayers.
For and in behalf of HGCC,
Eden
