Trip to Lyete We left Cagayan de Oro at 7am on Wen. Nov. 20. Pastor Ben, Pastor Virjohn, Ty (my son) and Pastor Vigilio Torre and me. (Ben, me, Virgilio Torre, Virjohn) We stopped in Gingoog after 3 hours where Sir Needheart Perino (Provincial Chief of the Highway Patrol) had prepared lunch for us. He is a good Christian man & the uncle of Pastor Virjohn. We drove 7 hours to Surigao and spent the nigh there. We went to the port a 4am and was finally able to board the ferry at 8:30am. We disembarked at around 10 am in Binit. The road is extremely dangerous - maybe 40 degree inclines with spiral, blind curves (you must use 1st gear and sound your horn at every curve). We traveled 3 hours to Sogod where we had lunch. The town was still without power but we did find Country Chicken - fried chicken & rice. As we moved further north the destruction was more and more evident. We arrived in Lapaz where the destruction was total. This pile was once the home of Erics family. It was a Nipa (bamboo hut). The concrete outer wall of his neighbors house still stood but the roof as gone. Erics place is a total loss. Christ Baptist Church - the only thing left is the short concrete walls. The parsonage was spared as it was all concrete walls. The bamboo roof was last & they have covered it with tarps. Church members are sharing the small space as it is the only structure left standing. The church members were very thankful for the supplies we left (esp. the dried fish- a staple here). There were other members but they were too shy to be in the photo. We smiled and waved good bye but as soon as the tires hit the pavement we began to weep for the plight of our Christian brothers and also in joy that Go had spared them. As we moved further north to Pastrana the damage was even worse. The Nipa and coconut wood houses looked like a pile of matchsticks. The primary source of income in the area is a coconut plantation. It is ruined and I was told would take 6 years for the trees to produce coconuts after they are replanted. As we got into Pastrana people lined the roads waiting for aid hat had not come yet. We learned that the US Marines has dropped energy bar rations earlier that morning and home families got them. The tragedy is that they received a white box in a white bag with black writing in English. So they did not know what it was or what to do with it. Many of them just sat the bag in their house & did not even open it (In Lapaz the church members gave the bag to Pastor Vigilio- unopened). Maybe this sounds foolish but if your diet I composed of rice, pork, fish & root crops a white box from the sky is alien and useless. The road to Pastranna was passable but barely. Down trees, flooding. Children swung on downed power lines beside wet clothes. When we arrived in Pastranna the damage was worse than Lapaz. Pastor Vigilio saw his daughter & grandson for the first time since the typhoon. His son-in-law ( the pastor of the church) was not in the house (probably gone ot look for food but no one said where he was). Just as in Lapaz, the back of the church where the family lived was spared from damage to the walls but the roof was gone. The family hide in the tiny bathroom during the typhoon. The roof and all the chairs are gone. Everything inside was ruined. The outside walls are very unstable. We gave cash to the members of both churches so that they could meet their daily needs and buy items that we were not able to bring due to weight/space limitations. It will be months before anyone can work. Government supplies are beginning to trickle into the region & they should be receiving some next week. Hopefully within the next few weeks the sari-sari (local house stores) will open also. We also gave some cash to Pastor Torre. He will be living with his son (our student) in CDO and of course will have no income. Already he has medical bills from his injuries. Please see the video for more info. & photos. Financial Statement (in Philippine Pesos) We received a total (after fees, etc.) of $2392.35 Conversion rate is about 42.5 (I say about as the money is still in our US bank and has not been transferred yet). Total in Pesos: 101,674.88 Spent: 90591.02 Left: 11,083.86 ($260.80) The remainder will be used for the long-term recovery. I am currently in contact with two Christian brothers from the US who have expressed a desire to help with the rebuilding. Pastor Torre is working on plans and an estimate for the rebuilding of the church & members homes. Thank you so much for your help! God bless. -Barry
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:19:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015