people of Tacloban relate that
after the storm surge was the prayer surge
the disaster has sanctified the survivors
Anecdote 1. Millionaires Row
We recall the story of the walls of Jericho, which divided people who believed in God and those who did not. God destroyed the wall, and the unbelievers went over to the believers, and they united in the Lord. In Tacloban was a similar story.
In the ‘millionaire’s row’ adjacent to Tacloban’s airport, typhoon Haiyan tore down the concrete wall that separated the millionaires from the squatters.
Haiyan made no distinction between rich and poor. All their homes were destroyed. In spite of their own misery, the rich helped the poor, conducting a medical mission for them, giving food and shelter. Social barriers were tore down. God made the poor to sanctify the rich. The best in Filipinos comes out in times of crisis.
Pete Ilagan’s long narra table was washed away by the storm surge 100 meters away. Pete saw a poor man retrieve it. Pete said the table was his. The poor man angrily said he found it and it was his. Pete was trying very hard to suppress his anger. Suddenly, his wife came over and saw the injured son of the poor man. She embraced the child and nursed him. That melted the poor man’s heart. The next day, the table was at Pete’s home. In seeking justice, gentleness is more powerful than anger. God bless you, Pete, your wife, the poor man, and his son.
Anecdote 2. Opening the gates of ‘heaven’
In the inner area of Tacloban, Dr. Ike Merin, a businessman-doctor who is one of five owners of the Tacloban Doctors Medical Centerl TDMC), opened the gates of his home to 150 people crammed into every nook and corner of his lot. They were the families of his former employees when he still had a fishing boat. The number shrank a bit to one hundred later. He was feeding them, but did not know how long he could last. Feeding 100 people every day is a monumental task. God bless the rich for helping the poor. Ike’s hospital was totally ravaged (see photo). (For donations to rebuild the hospital, just email eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com, until we make a plan for him to somehow receive donations directly, or indirectly through a reputable institution.) I will send instructions later. Just email me for now that you are interested so I can get back to you.
Anecdote 3. Prisoners Donate
Gerry (not his real name), an inmate at the Muntinlupa Bilibid Prison, relates that when he saw the victims of the super-typhoon on television, he wept unashamedly. Gerry is a member of the inmates’ group of artists-painters Kulay (Color). They had a meeting and donated 30 paintings worth about P100,000 to the victims via GMA7, which hopefully can sell them for cash. (If you want to buy a precious prisoner’s painting, which, to the GSIS Museum curator, can rival those in art galleries, you can contact the GMA7 hotline.) A poor man’s one peso has more spiritual value than a rich man’s one hundred pesos. A painting is an integral part of the artist. They were giving not just something material but themselves to the Tacloban survivors. Bless you Lord for sanctifying us. Your mercy abounds even as You send us tribulations.
