News from the Bible Society in the Philippines
It is estimated that four million people there have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan and many now have no access to food, shelter or clean water.
Nora Lucero, General Secretary of the Philippine Bible Society, has sent us the following message and prayer request for the project they have created in response to the tragedy. They have called it ‘God is our Shelter’.
Nora writes:
‘We are a devastated and deeply wounded people. We have not yet recovered from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in October and now Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Typhoon Haiyan), ferociously came and sent tsunami–like waves and howling winds that flattened almost entire cities in the Visayas. The hardest hit was Tacloban, which is totally destroyed.’
Nora’s team is working to respond to the most urgent needs of the people they encounter: food and water are the most important items. So much of the basic necessities of life has been destroyed and the Bible Society will do what it can to fill this void. But she is also already preparing to provide what the survivors will need next. Nora adds:
‘We are calling for an emergency response for Scriptures needed in the affected areas. We will coordinate with churches and relief agencies already working in the area for the appropriate distribution of these Scriptures.
‘We depend on God”, she says. She goes on to quote those same verses from Psalm 46 that we read this morning and comments: We have seen this literally happening in the Philippines. Thank you again for your earnest prayers …’
The Bible Society team is planning to distribute the following Scriptures to survivors that will speak directly into the experience of the people:
Calamity Portions (in Tagalog and Cebuano languages): 250,000 copies
Children’s Comics: 20,000 copies
Bibles (Tagalog and Cebuano): 20,000 copies
Ask God that:
He would bless Nora Lucero and her team as they source the practical necessities to help keep people alive.
They would be guided in choosing and producing Scripture materials at high speed to provide people with the spiritual food they will need and seek, as their hunger and thirst are being satisfied.
They would bring the love of Christ to a shattered people, encouraging them to place their trust in Him.
May God be their shelter, to sustain them all through these dark days.
With thanks to BSNI.