Typhoon Relief Project

It's been a crazy month! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and have given towards the relief work in Bicol. I was going to organize these pictures better, but the days and activities have all been jumbled together for them down there, so I am going to just leave them in the order I received them. Steve left for  Bicol to do relief on November 4, and he is actually still down there (hopes to come home later this week so it will be just over a month away from home). Shortly after he arrived, another typhoon came through, causing even more damage (and you can see pics of them putting tarps up on the walls of the training center during the typhoon to stop the flooding inside). Their days down there have been filled with shopping and repacking relief goods, traveling to villages to give out emergency relief of food and tarps, hauling relief goods into remote villages, and experimenting with concrete and metal housepost designs for the rebuilding project (there simply are not enough trees left standing to replace the houseposts for the number of houses that were leveled or completely blown away). They have worked late into the night as well on making forms for the concrete houseposts and learning how to weld for the metal ones as well as having times of worship and encouragement. As they have given out emergency relief (more than 1000 families given a week's worth of food and more than 100 tarps given out as shelter - thanks to SEND relief and other donors!), they have also been doing survey work to see how many homes need to be rebuilt. They have decided which areas to focus on first, they have figured out designs that will work in the various situations to help the people rebuild, and they have started building in 3 villages (1 on Saturday, 1 today, and the last one on Wednesday before Steve comes homes the end of the week). As they have traveled from village to village, they have also been sharing the Gospel; pray with us that God will draw many to Himself through this disaster. Also, as you look through these pics, take note of our amazing team of tribal partners. We are so blessed to work alongside them, and it is amazing to see everyone from kids to teens to men to women all pitching in to help with all the various aspects of the project.

This last picture (maybe you can click on it to make it a little bigger?) was a sweet time that Steve had with some of our Agta brothers and sisters. They gathered for worship one Sunday afternoon in the rubble of their homes. Steve said it was an incredibly sweet time of worship together. Please pray for this family and so many others as they try to rebuild their homes and their lives.