An extraordinary disaster is devastating Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and surrounding areas. Oakseed has a wonderful, but time sensitive, opportunity to help immediately.
The extent of flood damage and ongoing health and safety threats are apparent in the photos shown below. These were sent by Oakseed’s Ministry Partner in the Philippines, Rev. Glen Melo, who has boots on the ground right now. Glen is President of Open Eyes Mission and Pastor of Kagay-an Reformed Church and he and his magnificent Team do an extraordinary job in touching and changing the lives of destitute people for Jesus Christ.
Right now you and Oakseed have a unique opportunity to double any gift given to Oakseed for “Philippine Flood Relief”. A generous supporter of Oakseed will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for any gift given by the Oakseed Family. That means your $25 donation will become $50; $50 will become $100; $100 will become $200.
- The matching donor will match up to a total of $2,000.
- All donated funds (including the matching funds) will go to Open Eyes Mission, which is led by Rev. Melo, and will be carefully distributed to his network of churches helping in the relief efforts.
- This opportunity to take advantage of this dollar-for-dollar match ends on September 5th.
- To give, send a check and note “Philippine Flood Relief” on the memo line, or call April Wise at 703-876-9020 to donate with a credit card.
Matching fund opportunities like this are somewhat rare, so please consider how you can help reach and care for suffering people immediately.
Blessings to you!
Charlie Jarvis
President
P.S. If you attend Oakseed’s 20th Anniversary Banquet on September 14th, you will be able to meet Glen Melo, who will be our Speaker! Go to oakseed.org and click on the link for the Banquet.
Message from Rev. Glimar B. Melo
Dear Family,
The Lord’s grace and peace be with you.
As you already know, 3 days of “unprecedented” heavy rain hit our nation’s capital and neighboring cities and provinces.From the local news:
“More than one million people in and around the Philippine capital battled deadly floods Wednesday amid relentless monsoon rains, with neck-deep waters trapping slum dwellers and the wealthy on roofs. Sixty percent of Manila remained under water and vast tracts of surrounding farmland were also submerged as the deluge stretched into its third day…” – GMA News
“At least 19 have been confirmed killed… affected 1,220,021 persons or 265,630 families in Metro Manila, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa regions. Of this figure, 394,844 persons or 80,189 families were displaced.” – The Philippine Star
We spent the whole day contacting pastors in affected areas:
- Rev. Lance Filo of Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo in Paranaque City
- Rev. Charlie Ferrer of River of Joy Church in Santa Cruz
- Rev. Cesar Lubrico of Blessed Hope Bible Baptist Church in Tondo
- Others
Lord willing and providing, we plan to visit them next week. We want to comfort and help them and the affected members in their congregations. Following is our proposed budget:
- Airfare $90
- Terminal Fees (subtotal $6)
- CDO Domestic Airport $1
- Manila Domestic Airport $5
- Land Transportation $60
- Food Allowance $48
- Relief Goods
- Food $40
- Medicine $30
- School Supplies $30
- Clothes $50
Sub-total $150 per family x 20 families = $3,000
TOTAL = $3,204
Please do all that you can to help fill the needs of our suffering brothers and sisters in Manila and Luzon. As you help, we encourage you to remember the words of our covenant Lord:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36)
On behalf of the Filipino people.
REV. GLIMAR B. MELO
President, Open Eyes Mission
Pastor, Kagay-an Reformed Church