RICE 4 LIFE

RICE 4 LIFE

We are trying to keep our brothers and sisters from starving in the Philippines.

It is that serious. Manila has seen many floods over the years but what happened last week was unprecedented. The rains fell at an almost unprecedented rate, 16.7 inches in less than 12 hours! The already flooded reservoirs, rivers and valleys just could not keep up.

In order to save the dams from bursting, the authorities released huge quantities of water creating the perfect storm of devastation. Eye witness accounts said the flood waters were coming in slowly for several hours and then without warning the waters rose 8 feet in less than one hour!
People scrambled to get loved ones up onto roofs and took what possessions they could put their hands on and retreated to the roof tops and second floors.

At least 18 churches are totally devastated and 299 of our member’s homes have been total losses. 53 families in the church of General Superintendent Alfredo Bodegas. Sadly 2 are confirmed dead, one of them a 43 year old man. That is only the tip of the iceberg as communication lines are still down and there are many areas still unreachable. (Another typhoon is headed their way and is expected to make landfall Friday!)

Food, clothing and water are desperate needs right now. We have over 200 churches in the city and tens of thousands of saints who are now competing with 10 – 14 million other residents of Manila for these basic essentials of life.

So here is what we are doing.

The Headquarters Office and Church was not flooded as it is on some of the highest ground in the city. This has become the distribution center. They have volunteers who are working around the clock portioning out rice and sardines into family sized containers and are getting them into the hands of our church members across the city.

1 sack of rice weighs about 110 pounds and costs about $55 (US dollars)

Compassion Services International is going to be able to help, but the need is immediate and it will take them a little while to spring into action.

We will begin helping immediately!

If you are interested in helping immediately please email me at bmmallory@aol.com. We will get the rice purchased THIS WEEK!

Disastrous flood in Manila

Eating Sea Shells in Cebu, Paquiao fight.

Imagine the hype and it's Superbowl Sunday, or you are in Louisiana and LSU is playing for the national championship... that is what it was like for the Filipino this Sunday. Manny Paquiao is the pride of Philippine athletics and might be the best, pound for pound, fighter of all time. When the "Pac Man" fights there is no crime on the streets even though you can't find a policeman anywhere, because everyone is watching the fight.

They said that even up in the mountains, where the communist rebels are fighting a bloody war with government troops, there is a truce while the fight is going on.

I wondered how the crowd would be at church since the fight was to be going on at the exact same time as Sunday Morning Service. It was happening while I was preaching. Yet, the place was packed out. They had Jesus on their minds, the altar service was great with people on their faces and I laid hands on many... as if this was the only thing going on today.

However, when the service was over, and the food was served and eaten, they found a place to watch the fight by tape delay. Though they already knew the outcome, they cheered with pride when the Pac Man knocked out his challenger's lights.

A few interesting things about the feast.

There was a whole roasted pig, slipper lobster, sweet and sour fish, noodle dishes, fried chicken and all kinds of deserts. The coconut macaroons were incredible! It was all so good.

In fact, there was sea food of all kinds. Cebu is located near some of the most plentiful fishing locations in the world and the church has some members who own fishing vessels, and one member is actually one of the main suppliers of the Cebu fish market. So there were things most people never see.

There was one thing that Brenda and I didn't try... we probably should have, but I am not big on fishy tasting stuff and... did these things ever look fishy. Not only that, they just didn't look like food.

Sea shells of all kinds. Beautiful shells of all color, shape and size. It was like a crawfish boil, only the bucket was full of boiled sea shells.

The animals came out easy once you grabbed hold of them.

Cebu

This Saturday, Brenda and I boarded a plane in Manila headed for the beautiful city of Cebu, about 300 miles to the south. We had been invited to preach the 5th anniversary service of the church founded by the Henry Pestano family. What a great experience it was.

Cebu is the oldest city in the Philippines and is rich in history, beauty and resources. In fact, Asia Week Magazine ranked all the cities in Asia and gave Cebu the title as "8th Most Desirable City in Asia to Live in." It is also the place where Ferdinand Magellan was killed. (You know him, he is the guy who was given credit for the first man to go all the way around the earth. Only, he gained that notoriety with an asterisks, his ship made it, but he stayed in the Philippines with a chieftain's spear in his spleen.)

Pastor Henry responded to God's calling and left the church he had pioneered and pastored for the last 12 years near Manila, and came south to Cebu.

Thankfully God has given him a very talented family and the church has grown and matured much faster than should have been possible in 5 years. Thank God, their place was packed out, and they desperately need a larger auditorium.

All three of Henry and Filda Pestano's children are standouts musically. Their eldest daughter has a very special singing voice, the 13 year old son very well could be a prodigy on the keyboards, and the 9 year old daughter plays the drums flawlessly while appearing to be a little girl daydreaming in church. She fixed her pony tail, adjusted her head band, kept up with what her friends were doing at the back of the church, and never missed a beat.

Here are a few clips so you can see for yourself how amazingly talented these young people are.

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Kensie, College Students, Cupcakes, and Missions

Kensie has never been to the Philippines yet she is making an impact over here already. In fact, she has never left the United States, but has ambition, goals and dreams that will carry her wherever she wants to go.

We honor you Kensie for your heart for missions! We were so moved by what you have recently done that we are copying the link from your blog so that others can see what people can do, if they just give it a try.

Kensie wants to improve the girl's dorm at the ACTS bible school campus and is doing so with fund raisers, her own funds and by getting others involved. What an inspiration you are!!

Check out her blog!
http://paintingherreverie.blogspot.com/

Tondo Young Person at Home- Day After Youth Camp

Matt Maddix and Travis Worthington were in the Philippines preaching the North Western Luzon Youth Camp, where they had over 200 receive the Holy Ghost for the first time. It was a legitimate blowout.
They had street marches, and all the stuff normally associated with Matt's ministry. Of course, they have been invited back, only this time they think they will be ready for him.

We all went back to Manila Friday night and so when the camps were over, that Saturday we picked up Travis and Matt from their hotel and was going to offer them a bite to eat, and another plan. A plan we were sure Matt would go for.

"We can go to eat at Chili's or California Pizza Kitchen, or something else." Matt had at first said he was hungry, but the idea of having a mysterious option seemed to intrigue him.

"What is the other plan?"

I told him that Brenda and I would like to return to one of our favorite places in the city, Tondo, near Smokey Mountain, one of the most infamous concentrations of abject poverty in all of Asia. We have found these to be some of the most engaging, industrious, and resourceful people in the country. And we are determined to help as many of them as we can.

Matt jumped at the idea of going into this area and immediately lost his appetite for food. "This is much bigger here!" I have heard people say Tondo is dangerous for people like us, but then we have also heard that the people in Tondo who may wish us harm are kept in check by the decent and moral leaders of that ragamuffin community. The real word is that in Filipino culture, a guest is to be fed, protected and entertained before the other members of the house.

We ran into this articulate, intelligent young person, who let us know that he had attended our youth camp two days ago. Someone had gone into this very depressed area and invited him and then had paid his expenses. I don't know who did it, but I pray that God blesses that generous soul beyond measure.
Listen to the song he sings, then listen to the song next to the previous blog.