Evangelistic Christmas Party

Jeff and I just attended an evangelistic Christmas party in a slum not far from the ACTION office. The party was sponsored by a group of women from our church Greenhills Christian Fellowship. It may have been a challenge for some of them but I applaud them for coming and reaching out to these children. To get to the party site we had to cross a river on a very precarious foot bridge. The party was held in an open court yard in the middle of a squatter area. There were a lot of people around. There were about 100 children on the list but as always, many more children than that show up. You also pass many kids as you walk to the party. It is hard to do parties and feedings when you know you can't reach everyone. But we can't allow that to stop us from doing what we can. The party went well but there was no microphone. The message was hard to hear but the kids did respond. I prayed that the gospel tracts we passed out would help them remember the message. We passed out gift packages and Jollibee meals (a treat to children here). There were not enough meals to go around and I noticed one girl in particular who was quite sad. Her name was Anna Jane. I gave her a package of almonds I was carrying with me. Right next to the party was a "wake" or viewing of a 1 1/2 year old girl who died of meningitis. Her name was Roxanne. What a contrast. Mourning and rejoicing side by side.

ACTION along with two churches have working in the community for several years by having medical clinics, recruiting campers, regular Bible study and a feeding program hopefully starting soon. The ministry started in this slum called Calvary Hills after we were doing outreach to families living on the streets of Cubao and several were lead to faith in Christ. Eventually they wanted to return home which was Calvary Hills. Today there's a small church that meets Sunday afternoons as a result.

Today we start our annual evangelistic Christmas party ministry for street kids and their families, prisoners, slum dwellers and victims of previous mud slides and flash floods due to typhoons. To date we have 57 parties. Pray that God is glorified by His character being on display to all who participate, many come to faith in Christ and for our partner churches that they'll be ready to receive new people into their congregations.

Typhoon Updates

You can read more updates about Typhoon Durian/Reming and our relief work in that area at this site: http://jeffmaryann.wordpress.com/

Super Typhoon Durian

Super Typhoon Durian veered away from Manila for which we are thankful but it directly hit and caused much death and damage in Bicol, Albay, Mindoro and Marinduque provinces. Villages near the 8,000 foot Mt. Mayon, 220 miles southeast of Manila, were buried by mudslides and car-sized red-hot boulders loosened from the volcano. Mt. Mayon is the Philippine's most active volcano. It has been rumbling for months and began emitting lava in mid-July. The death toll is over 400 but will surely rise.

ACTION has a very active network of 8 churches in Bicol and another in Marinduque of 6 churches with whom we do ministry to street children and children at risk. We are trying to communicate with these partners to put together a relief distribution plan but because cellphone and power towers are down, communication is slow and difficult at this time. Hopefully we can have a plan put together by Monday.

In previous years ACTION has done much relief work for evacuees around the volcano and last September we started a supplemental feeding program for malnourished children evacuated from the perimeter of the volcano. Last August ACTION sponsored and led a consultation meeting for several of our networks around the country so we will be better prepared and can respond quicker in the event of a natural or man-made disaster like this. We do all of our relief and development work in the name of Christ and spread the Gospel as we are able. Also, in October we just had a camp for street children in Bicol.

A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the western Pacific and Indian oceans. This is the 4th devastating typhoon to hit the Philippines in the last 3 months. In September Typhoon Mileyno hit Manila directly with nearly 200 dead and much damage.