CREATIVITY AMIDST CONFUSION (STORIES FROM THE GROUND 2)

Meet Pastor Paul Villamor. Upon arriving in Ormoc City, we were at lost as to how we will go about the team's mission in finding evangelical pastors in the area. We had this person's contact number, and tried to reach him. On our second day there, he visited us at our team base, the City Tennis Court where we pitched our tents. He invited us to attend the Ormoc City Evangelical Ministerial Association (OCEMA), which happened to be set on that same morning.

We introduced the team to the pastors and each one of them recounted their stories of the typhoon experience. Pastor Paul was one of those who had the most emotional story.

The typhoon damaged his whole house and even his church. His family is now living under the rubbles. All their properties were destroyed. By the time we saw him, he said that he had only received 2 kilograms of rice and 2 cans of sardines. That was the only thing he received.

He emotionally shared to us how he saw that many of his church members and even his neighbors have far worse condition than he has. He was so hurt and devastated seeing them that way, and then he himself could not afford to help. He did not even have his own food to offer. He did not have a house to open to anybody. Being in that kind of situation breaks his heart. He said that he has survived the Cold War in Saudi Arabia a couple of years ago, but this disaster has made him feel more miserable than that.

In the succeeding days that we were there, Pastor Paul has shown to us so much creativity and helped the team in a lot of ways. He embraced the vision of justice and fairness in relief distribution during disaster response, and has since passionately lived this out while he deals with many different organizations in the province (aside from being a pastor, he is also the Provincial Coordinator of Values Formation in Leyte).

He has spent time with the team and basically became part of the family. He showed and taught us useful techniques such as opening canned goods with a spoon, and opening soda bottles with another bottle. His presence causes delight and joy to the team as he also shares his humor.

Pastor Paul is also so much dedicated to disaster response, that whenever we ask him to help us look for anything, he would right aways exhaust his resources and connections to be able to come up with results. Nobody forces him to do it, but he has an inner compassion for others that drives us all the more passionate to serve their community.

Pastor Paul is an active carrier of the gospel. He lives it out from day to day, and it has become evident for us during the short time we have interacted with him. I am pretty sure there are more people like him who, in their little ways, create a great impact to the larger community. God bless his heart!

Pastor Paul, wearing red shirt with a white vest - was taking notes of the disaster response plan during a meeting with the pastors of OCEMA

He passionately prays for God's comfort for him and his family, as well as all the other pastors in Ormoc that are also being led to comfort others.

GENEROSITY THAT SURPASSES THE STORMS (STORIES ON THE GROUND 1)

Meet Pastor Erly Garces. He is the pastor of New Harvest Turning Point. He is a member of the Ormoc Evangelical Disaster Response Network (OEDRN). The first time we met him at the meeting of the Ormoc City Evangelical Ministerial Association (OCEMA), his hand was wrapped with a handkerchief because it got injured during the typhoon.

In this photo, Pastor Erly was introducing himself to Bishop Tendero on the phone.

During that first meeting, he humorously recounts to us his own experience. Before the typhoon, he just finished building his dream house. He has saved up for it for many many years before he was able to build a nice house on top of the hill, overlooking the city. Beside his house is the church building, which is just also on its way to final construction - a nice concrete church building. Upon hearing typhoon warnings, he felt a little confident that their place on top of the hill, will be spared from extreme devastation and flooding, which he expected would be the worst effect of the typhoon.

That morning, however, when the strong typhoon landed, they were surprised to realize that the typhoon is actually in their place! The strong winds saying hello to their roof and to the walls of the church building. He and some of his church members gathered inside their church building, as they felt it was a safe spot. He joined them as the strong winds lifted the roof, slowly damaged the walls, leaving the whole church bare. He looked around and realized, "I have no more house!" He couldn't believe they were not spared by the typhoon. It wasn't flood that hit them, but the strong winds that totally devastated the church building and his own dream house. He got injured on his right hand due to debris falling on them.

The Sunday after we met him, he picked up the whole team to attend their worship service. The team felt really welcome and overwhelmed by the joyful spirit of the church as they sang praise and worship songs to the Lord, in their own language. Our team leader, kuya Dann, gave a short inspiring message to the church and everyone felt hope, felt God's presence, and a sense of peace within.

Pastor Erly and his family, standing in front of their dream house that was devastated by the typhoon in a span of a few hours (on the leftmost side of the photo is the location of the church building).

The church building where some members gathered together to seek safety because it was made of concrete. It was not spared by the strong winds, however.

Standing from where the church building is located, the whole City of Ormoc can be seen. On the morning of the typhoon, they witnessed how the whole city turned from an organized city into a devastated place.

Pastor Erly while introducing PBCI team to his church family

He could still barely move his right hand due to an injury he acquired during the onslaught of the typhoon.

That noon right after the church service, we rushed to the port to catch our noon ferry ride to Cebu City. He brought the team there and bid us a safe trip. While we were sitting on the ship waiting for it to leave, we realized we haven't eaten lunch so one of our teammates went out to buy lunch. Just right outside the ship, they saw Pastor Erly walking towards the ship ready to hand us bags of rice, chicken, and oranges. He knew we hadn't eaten lunch and he said he couldn't help but think of us so he bought lunch and went back to hand us our lunch. There we were, stunned at this pastor's thoughtfulness and generosity. None of us ever thought of buying our own lunch, but this pastor, whom we sought to comfort during this time of disaster, showed us a great deal of generosity and compassion. His genuine act of concern and care for the team moved us greatly.

A couple of days later, we were expecting thousands of relief packs from Manila and Cebu. At our new base, the roof was damaged so we had to look for tarps that we can use to cover the goods and protect them from rain. We tried to contact all the pastors from OEDRN to see if they could lead to someone who can lend us some. 

To our amazement, Pastor Erly once again offered a great deal of help. He lent us tarps that we can use to protect the goods. He was planning to give away those plastic tarps to his church members, to be used as temporary shelters. He did not hesitate to lend it to us for a couple of days because he knew it would be very useful.

Those were simple acts of generosity and genuine care, yet this pastor demonstrated to us that those values do not stop flowing even in the midst of disaster. Especially after  a disaster. His faith in God, love for his neighbors, hospitality, and generosity, are effective witness of how one can respond to a disaster. This one life has impacted many others, including mine. I am sure there are many more around us that can give life-changing witnesses. Open our eyes to them. :)

A SERENDIPITOUS JOURNEY

For many months, radical journeyist had no updates! For months I felt like there was really nothing worth writing about on my journey. Or maybe I felt dry. Or maybe I just felt lazy. Recently, however, I was inspired to write again. Here's an update on my serendipitous journey!

On the 8th of November this year, the strongest typhoon ever recorded in world history made a landfall in the Visayas region of the Philippines. We didn't have work that day due to threats of the typhoon, to ensure that everyone in the office will be with their families when the strong typhoon hits the country. Fortunately for us in Manila, the typhoon did not affect us very much. That day, I went out with friends, made new friends, and had a fun windy evening. 

Having fun with new friends in Manila on the evening before the strong typhoon hit Visayas region

The day after the typhoon, I saw news and video footage about the typhoon's effect. At first, I thought it was the same as the effect of typhoon Sendong that hit Northern Mindanao two years ago. I was there with the Disaster Response team in Cagayan de Oro in early 2012. I thought that maybe this time I could be part of a disaster response team again. On one video, I saw a clip where news anchor Ted Failon was helping a young boy pull his father's corpse out of the debris. That scene gripped my heart. I was moved. I cried. I was itched to do something. In my little capacity, I knew I could do more than pray while sitting on my office desk, sending a little amount of money, or volunteer in re-packing goods that will be sent there. 

I saw Peacebuilders Community preparing for a trip there, as they have been tested several times in disaster response in Mindanao. I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to put my Disaster Response training into good use, because I cannot help just sitting and watching videos or reading the news. I have to go there, but I had no means. I asked God to provide for what I would need: budget, physical endurance, emotional strength, and spiritual readiness. I asked the team if I could join them, and they welcomed Peace Church to join, as long as we could have our own budget for the duration of our stay there. Peace Church immediately responded and was willing to send two more people to be part of the disaster response team. The day after, we flew to Cebu and met the PBCI team from Davao... and the journey began.

Fread, Taki, and I had dinner with the Barkmans and Kuya Bryan Paler before we were sent off for this mission that would change our lives forever...

November 12th evening, we arrived in Cebu City and met PBCI team from Davao. We had a short briefing about our roles and the mission of the team on that trip. Everyone knew we only rely on God's guidance getting there and making connections. 

Waiting for our "first ferry ride to Ormoc City" on November 13th

Upon setting foot in Ormoc City, we made a courtesy call with the Local Government Unit Spokesperson and the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer. We also tried to contact the evangelical pastors in the city, as we were mandated by the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches to reach out to the pastors and churches in the area. In the first five days, we have been able to gather the pastors and they established the Ormoc Evangelical Disaster Response Network (OEDRN). We recommended to the CSWD a general data system to make a more efficient monitoring of the affected barangays in the city, and a relief distribution system that would also effectively monitor transparent relief distribution. The pastors were also trained with this kind of system, and we have tried to connect the local government and the evangelical network to work together in disaster response efforts throughout the whole city.

During the whole trip, the team recognized the many many lessons and surprises that God unfolds each day. He showed us many things we wouldn't have imagined, and protected us from harm as we humbly followed His direction every step of the way.

Today, I am back in Manila to fulfill my responsibilities as a working citizen. My heart, however, is back there in Visayas, crying, praying, empathizing with the thousands of people affected by the typhoon, and yet another thousands of disaster response workers who sacrifice (big or small) to be able to respond to fellow human beings who are in great need.

The 12-day journey of serendipitous incidences is up for now, but the impact it has carved in my being is lifelong, and would forever be a significant landmark in my life's journey.

I continue to pray for my teammates who are still there, for the pastors and friends I have left behind, and for the many more people who will collaborate to work justly, peacefully, while restoring the dignity of the survivors of the world's strongest typhoon.

God is in Ormoc City. God is in Tacloban City. God is in the Philippines! 

In the next few days, I will write simple stories and lessons I gathered, that maybe, somehow, might inspire others as much as it did to me. 

"My Lord definitely won't reject forever. Although He has caused grief, He will show compassion in measure with His covenant loyalty. He definitely doesn't enjoy affliction, making humans suffer." 

- Lamentations 3:31-33