It’s 6 months since Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit Tacloban City and the surrounding Visayan islands on 8 November.
It’s 6 months since Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit Tacloban City and the surrounding Visayan islands on 8 November.
Rebuilding work is in progress! 11 out of the 48 destroyed and damaged houses in Barangay Tugop have been built in 3 weeks. Work is expected to be completed by end of May before the rainy season starts. Thanks to the many fallen coconut trees lying around, the people were able to use these free and readily available coco lumber for their houses. Using a diesel powered chainsaw, we cut 5 to 6 logs every day into various sizes for the house construction. This means we are able to build more houses with the same amount of money raised for this cause. Overall construction costs is S$60/sqm, which is about S$6/sqft! Praise God for His super provision and thank you for your generous outpouring of love and help last year when news first broke of the catastrophe.
One of the beautiful thing we are seeing right now is how the barangay is willing to come together to help one another build each other’s homes. Rather than building individually, we encourage them to overcome any barriers that may exist between their neighbours by building in groups of 5. 5 families coming together to build 5 houses at a time, so that they all get to learn how to walk the talk of Christian love and discipleship. This is far better than each person building their own house. Pray that this project doesn’t end when their houses are completed. May this be the start of a true and deepening relationship with God, that they taste and see His goodness and to give their hearts and lives to following Him.
Pray also for Ps Ricardo and his wife, Marifae. As first-time leaders of this rebuilding project for the barangay (of both Christians and Catholics), they need plenty of wisdom and sensitivity to God’s prompting in leading people into wholistic discipleship. Suffering material loss is one thing. Suffering emotional loss of loved ones and losing everything overnight is quite another matter. Many still tear when they recount their stories. The same is true for Ps Ricardo and Marifae, who themselves have to endure the same pain. They covet your prayers for them as they reach out to the villagers with the comfort God gives them.
While many NGO’s relief efforts are reaching the tail-end of their involvement and are pulling out of Tacloban, our turn has just started in the Rebuild and Rehabilitation phase, which is long term and will take a few years. Thank you for keeping the needs of our neighbours for the whole Gospel constantly in prayer and focus as we journey with them through this season.
