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Editor’s note: The following is an account by SBTC Disaster Relief task force leader Larry Shine, pastor of Pine Forest Baptist Church in Onalaska and a veteran responder to international disasters, including the 2008 effort following the deadly Cyclone Nargis in Burma.
Beyond the devastating mudslides, rancid floodwaters, the thousands displaced in shelters, and the mountains of wet, muddy debris that filled the air with a lingering stench, a higher motive stirred in the hearts of Southern Baptist volunteers. Thirty of them, including a team from the SBTC that led the way, made a 22-hour flight to the Philippines capital city of Manila early last month to share the hope of Jesus Christ after the worst flooding there in 40 years.
Mobilizing on short notice, Southern Baptists from the Kentucky and Oklahoma disaster relief ministries, Texas Baptist Men and the SBTC teamed with Baptist Global Response to assess damage and locate and purchase equipment while training Filipino Baptists to continue the work long term.
The advance team, led by this writer, was comprised of veteran DR volunteers and leaders from various churches in Texas. SBTC volunteers Jim Howard, Doug Scott, Bill Jones, Paul Easter and Jim Fuller landed in Manila only two weeks after Typhoon Ketsana parked her massive vortex on central Luzon Island and dumped torrential showers.
Panic-stricken engineers released water from a major dam so quickly that earthen dams, levees and dikes were swept downstream. Hours after arrival the team learned that Typhoon Peping was unleashing her fury on the northern part of the same island. The International Mission Board compound provided a safe haven for the team who quickly began gathering information and equipment for mud-out teams soon to arrive.
A conference was held with the leadership of the Luzon Baptist Convention to build a network of communication between affected churches. Several pastors attending the meeting expressed a need for the mud-out teams but said it would be several weeks or months before the water was expected to recede from their churches. The decision was made by the convention leadership, local pastors and the lead team to try to develop local DR teams within non-affected churches to minister to those who were going to have long-term needs.
“It is best to train Philippines Baptists to minister to Filipinos in need,” one member of the DR team remarked.
RELIEF CENTRAL
The teams began work in a section of Manila where a 25-foot wall of water washed through a residential district. The work focused on the Love Community Church so that subsequent ministry could be launched from that site. Pastor Richo of the church, and his wife, shared the testimony of the 23 individuals, many of whom came to the church during the storm for shelter, who found themselves climbing a nylon rope to access the second-story ladder while the raging water continued to rise. Those same 23 eventually made their way to the roof of the church where they remained for a day until the floodwaters receded.
When asked what they did while on the roof, the pastor’s wife did not hesitate to declare, “We had church!” Similar stories were heard as the team began to minister in the garbage- and mud-filled streets.
“One thing that stands out in this disaster is the resilience of the people,” said Pastor Jim Howard of First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Texas. “Everyone is busy cleaning and doing what they can to restore their life to some degree of normalcy. They are not waiting for the government to come and take care of their needs.”
Another team member, Doug Scott, added, “They are certainly upbeat for having such devastation brought upon them. It is easy to solicit a smile when a kind word is offered.”
As the team completed its work with the Love Community Church, their activity was redirected to another area of greater damage. Between projects each volunteer was directed to a local church on Sunday. The 30 volunteers separated to 10 different churches to preach, share testimonies and bring special music. Many decisions were made to accept Christ as Savior or to renew commitments to walk with Christ daily.
Amid several instances of illness from the dirty conditions surrounding the mudout work, the DR team endured.
As each day began at 5 a.m. with a devotion, information update and prayer, the members found themselves praying in small groups throughout the day. While walking through crowded streets where the team was working, the local citizens would come out of their homes and shops and shout thanks and expressions of appreciation.
Associate Pastor Matt of the International Baptist Church of Manila, while working with the DR team, said a 70-year-old woman asked if he was a pastor. When he responded that he was a Southern Baptist pastor, she replied, “I knew you were a group of born-again believers by the way you work!”
When the roads cleared in the north, some members of the team traveled to meet with other Filipino pastors, including Pastor Arnold of the Awesome God Baptist Church, as well as a local mayor, school administrator and the medical director of the local hospital. When asked what his greatest concern was, the doctor didn’t hesitate: “Cholera. The floodwaters have polluted our wells and we have a very limited supply of purified water. I am not sure the information is getting to the people in our rural areas not to drink well water but seek the purified water in town.”
That statement led to an immediate recommendation to BGR to get water-testing equipment into the rural communities and train church members to test their local water supplies.
Since the October visit by Southern Baptist DR teams, the Filipinos have taken over the relief work.
