November 27, 2014^th Year of Our Lord

Dear brethren,

Super-typhoon Yolanda struck with horrific force on November 8, 2013, the strongest typhoon on record with sustained winds of 195-199 mph and gusts up to 235 mph. The storm was 300 miles wide and created cloud cover over nearly the whole Philippine nation. It was equal to category 5 hurricanes Camille (1969) and Katrina (2005) which hit the U.S., only worse.  The central islands in the Visayan Sea were hardest hit.  Brethren on Leyte, Panay, Bohol, Cebu, Negros, Oriental Mindoro, and even northern Palawan to the west were hit hard.

The official list of confirmed deaths is 6,193 with another 28,689 injured and 1,061 missing (official Philippine government web site: http://www.gov.ph/crisis-response/updates-typhoon-yolanda/casualties/).  The final death toll will never be known because so many bodies were swept out to sea.  The means of livelihood such as farm animals and coconut trees were destroyed.  Since our brethren are among the poorest people in the Philippines, they have suffered greatly.  The Philippine government estimated it will take five years to restore living conditions to their pre-storm status.

I sent my first notice of this typhoon on November 9, 2013, the day after it struck.  The response from both congregations and individuals was phenomenal.  Filipino brethren sacrificed to gather funds and sent messengers into the affected regions.  So many brethren in the U.S., Canada, and Australia sent funds to me asking me to serve as a messenger that by the end of January 2014 I requested that donations cease in order to allow time and logistics to facilitate delivery of the funds.  Separate from my own efforts, several U.S. brethren made personal visits to the Visayas to deliver funds and supplies.  Jonathan Carino, Jack Jaco, and other Filipino brethren also served as messengers often reaching places Americans were not able to go.

Distributing the funds has been a long drawn-out process for several reasons.  I could not have imagined how challenging it would be to get the funds into the hands of brethren who are victims of the storm.  Of course, I have no secretary or staff (other than my wife who is a lifesaver) to help me keep accurate records of the donations and of the distribution.  Locating the churches in need was a challenge.  Getting funds into the hands of brethren who could deliver the funds to the churches in need was a challenge.  In view of the vast devastation, making judgment decisions about where the need was most pressing was at times a challenge.  I did my best to meet each of these challenges.

Managing the right time to deliver funds to the right place was another challenge.  It was important to avoid duplication of efforts being made by other brethren.  If a large lump sum of money had been sent to the devastated churches, it could have generated tremendous problems within those churches.  People in such deep poverty are not accustomed to handling large sums of money.  The primary need is food, especially the staple food which is rice, but a large sum in the treasury might have been diverted to other emergencies which arise from time to time.  In short, by far the wisest arrangement was to send measured amounts of money on hand to various churches, wait a couple of months, and then do it again.

To manage all these details, I have consumed hundreds of hours communicating by phone and email as well as making trips to the affected areas.  At the same time I have been juggling the normal duties of life with my family, fulfilling duties with the Hebron Lane church here in Shepherdsville, KY, holding gospel meetings, and making four preaching trips to the Philippines within this past year.

Only now I have finished distributing the funds on hand in measured cycles and am able to write this report.  It is of necessity a general report and I apologize to all who wish I had made separate personal reports to each one of you, but that is impossible under the circumstances.  I leave on December 1 for another preaching trip to the Philippines and to New Zealand.

I will send churches which donated funds a paper copy of this report to acknowledge their donations, but I cannot do so for the dozens of individuals who gave.  The congregations which received help are listed below.  If anyone is overlooked, it is inadvertent.  Please remember the help was not given in a lump sum, but a measured amount was divided between several churches as needed, and then the process was repeated again and again.  Depending on how much each church or individual donated, a donation may have been divided and donated to several churches, and then it was done again.  I have all the records, and perhaps if I had a degree in accounting and had a computer program to track it all, I could specify how much donated from each church and individual went to each of the churches which received your benevolence.

I have done my best with what limited abilities I have to fulfill the serious responsibility of a messenger for each church and each individual who sent benevolence.

Funds from churches have been used for food, medicines, and repair of damaged or destroyed homes, but most especially for food.  Funds donated by individuals have been used for many of the same needs but also including repair of damaged church buildings.  At times it was necessary to convert funds into food for delivery because food was not available in a certain place or was being sold at exorbitant prices.

Filipino brethren have expressed their heartfelt gratitude numerous times in person and via email.  Here is an excerpt from Willie Pelino’s first report on November 27, 2013 (he lives in Ormoc City, Leyte) :

“Right now I am at Cebu City, hundreds of nautical miles from Ormoc City, just to report this important information to my loving brethren in Hebron Lane Church of Christ….

“After strong Typhoon Yolanda occurred in our area, we thank our brethren from United States of America in the person of Brother Harry Osborne with Brother Jonathan Carino of Cebu, and Brother Rody C. Gumpad with Brother Lordy Salunga, both from Luzon, to see and help our critical situation.  In the name of the churches of Leyte, we would like to thank you, all American and Filipino brethren from the bottom of our hearts because you are the first responders to come and help us.  The churches of Leyte…are most thankful for the cash money which you gave for our food relief and non-food relief assistance for within few days…..”

James Berden wrote from Escalante City, Negros Occidental on August 4, 2014, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Last Friday our Brother Jaco came to us and brought the gift. I received 2 sacks of rice for Church of Christ, Escalante and 3 sacks for Paitan. Our brethren here sincerely extend gratitude for the love of you and our U.S. brethren who continue to demonstrate the love of God by helping us…in this time of need.”

Brethren at several places I visited on the island of Negros put a message on a simple streamer or on the blackboard which said, “Thank you very much American brethren for the help through brother Ron Halbrook.”

The number of members in affected churches range from 12-15 to 100-120.  Some worship in homes, others in ramshackle buildings made of bamboo walls with nipa grass roofs, some in rented spaces, and several in small concrete block buildings with tin roofs.  Many of these buildings suffered significant damage.  I estimate over 1,500 victims have received benevolence from saints in the Philippines, U.S., Canada, and Australia.

To all who donated funds asking me to serve as your messenger, thank you for this privilege and for your trust.

In Christian love, Ron Halbrook

CHURCHES OF CHRIST ON LEYTE ISLAND

1. Camambugan, Balasan, IloIlo

CHURCHES OF CHRIST ON SAMAR ISLAND

1. Calbayog City

2. Cagnipa, Calbayog City

3. San Joaquin, Calbayo

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