Typhoon Relief in the Philippines

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, guys and ladies who read this weekly blog or watch it, which is fewer, but some people may have noticed that we didn't have a blog post last week. That's because I lost my voice entirely, but have regained some semblance of function and I'm back, for better or for worse. And it's good to see you, Mark.

Mark Prater:
It's good to see you. Although your voice doesn't sound the best. Ben, are you preaching this Sunday?

Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah, I'm gonna croak something out. I have a sermon.

Mark Prater:
(Laughter) I've got a little virus thing. Something's going around.

Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah, you guys may have heard. Yeah. It's this little virus thing going around.

Mark Prater:
So, my voice is a little bit affected today, too. I don't know how good we're gonna sound. Probably after this episode more people will read than listen or watch.

Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah, exactly. Or maybe it'll be an improvement, you know, we'll take whatever we can get.

Mark Prater:
Exactly.

Benjamin Kreps:
So some guys may have heard about the Philippines, I believe they had a serious natural disaster. Something that is somewhat commonplace, but still a disaster, nonetheless. Can you tell us, as we've got brothers and sisters there; we've got partnership in the Philippines; can you give us an update about what's going on there?

Mark Prater:
Yeah, that's typhoon RAI. It's R-A-I, the way it's spelled, hit the Philippines. I think it was on December 16th, is when it made landfall and they called it a super typhoon, as I understand, because it did reach a category five. And it hit an area where we do have some churches.

First of all, we have a church in Taglibaran City. Pete Valdez leads Sovereign Grace Church in that city, and that's in the Bohol area of the Philippines. There's a lot of damage there. And then also in Cebu City, we have a church in Cebu City that Cornelio Ebo leads and he's planted some churches in that area that relate to him. All of those areas and churches were affected.

So I was just chatting with Dave Taylor and asking just for an update. And he said we were able to get some help into those areas. I did get an email from Pete Valdez and he just sort of described the destruction. There's a number of homes that had roofs torn off and they've been without power for some time. And so they were able to get aid and help: food, water, that kind of thing into that area where he's at. He did ask in that email that we pray for the power to come back on because they're talking like they'll have no electricity until April. So for those that are listening or reading this podcast, you can pray for that. So just an update for our guys to to be aware of, our pastors in particular, members of our churches, to be praying for our churches in Cebu City and in Bohol.

Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. Well, we definitely will be praying for our brothers and sisters there. Tell us about how we were able to partner, to invest in, and to help, through Sovereign Grace, with what's been going on in the Philippines.

Mark Prater:
When Dave Taylor, our Director of Emerging Nations, saw the typhoon had hit that area of the Philippines, he contacted Jeffrey Jo who's in Manila. Jeffrey Jo leads a church in Manila and has planted a number of churches in that area. Jeffrey is a newly ordained Sovereign Grace elder in in the Philippines, along with Nilo who's in Cebu City. We think Jeffrey's really a leader force in the Philippines. And so he just asked Jeffrey to run point and to really lead through whatever aid was needed. And Jeffrey has just led through this really, really well.

We were able, Sovereign Grace was able, to give money so that Jeffrey could purchase the supplies needed for areas that were hard hit. And that money came from the Asia Pacific Development Fund. We've mentioned in a previous podcast, how we have development funds now. And the beauty of those is they include a category for natural disasters, like a typhoon. So when a typhoon hits, there's already money available, should it be needed, that can be drawn from the Asia Pacific Development Fund or other development funds throughout the world. And you don't have to get a relief fund off the ground and get people to give money to it, which delays getting the money that they need at that time when the natural disaster first happens. So that's the beauty of that.

But secondly, the thing that we're seeing through all of this is not only that those development funds are good to access for any financial resources that are needed, we also have strategic leaders throughout the world who are just helping us. So Jeffrey Jo is a Filipino and he understands that typhoons are actually a regular part of life. They are catastrophic, don't get me wrong, but different than here in the states where we wouldn't really have one so we might just think this is a really big deal to them. It is, but it's a normal part of life. And so he has a better grasp for what is needed in the Philippines and can make judgements and decisions that are much better informed than we can from the states or from what Dave could do in Sydney, Australia. So grateful for the development funds and grateful for strategic leaders, men like Jeffrey Jo, who are helping us serve our churches even better throughout the world.

Benjamin Kreps:
That's encouraging to hear about how in a various amount of ways that we're able to support, invest in, and care for the people in the Philippines, through specific men who are pastoring in the Philippines like Jeffrey. So we’re praying for you guys, Jeffrey, and all the rest of the pastors there, and churches in the Philippines. Thanks Mark, for the update. We'll see you here, Lord willing, on the blog next week. Bye for now.