Caroline Anderson

TABUELAN, Philippines (BP) -- Social media and news programs around the world have reported on relief teams entering Filipino communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. But hundreds of other villages in extremely isolated areas have yet to see any relief.

CEBU, Philippines (BP) -- Southern Baptists spent all of Monday (Nov. 18) packing relief kits for the inhabitants of Gibitngil Island in the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines (BP) –- The stench of rotting dead bodies was overwhelming.       "I can't breathe. It's burning my eyes," Makenzie Baker told three Filipino co-workers.

TACLOBAN, Philippines (BP) -- Suzie Miller sat on her mattress, floating on the second level of her flooding home, not knowing whether she and her husband would survive Typhoon Haiyan.

BANGON, Philippines (BP) -- A Baptist pastor found Jesusa and Michael Booc with their four children in the ruins of a destroyed chapel, sheltered under a table covered by a tarp. The chapel's walls were blown off during Typhoon Haiyan and lay in a stack on the side of the battered structure. The face of the Booc's one-month-old baby, Ella Mae, was sunburned from prolonged sun exposure since Friday, Nov. 8, when the typhoon's furor swept across Cebu and other islands in the Philippines. The Boocs' home now sits in a crumpled heap. All of northern Cebu looks as if a rampaging giant had visited. Thousands upon thousands of banana trees -- the source of income for many villagers –- were crushed. Electricity poles lay on their sides, the wires twisted and lying in roadways. A brand-new gymnasium's roof looked like the giant had sat on it. A house was left completely upside down. Hundreds of houses were smashed as if they'd gone through a trash compactor. Still others lay on their sides. The Booc family soon realized the strength of Typhoon Haiyan as it bore down on Cebu. Their bamboo thatch house shook violently and they knew they could not stay. They ran in the midst of the typhoon's fury with their children to take cover in a chapel with a concrete foundation. During their flight a banana tree fell, miraculously missing them. They had to dodge flying sheets of tin that were blown off of roofs. The walls of the chapel were not built to withstand the winds. The family then ran to Michael's mother's house, which also was proving to be an unsafe structure. All of the homes in the area are made of lightweight materials such as bamboo while the roofs are corrugated tin. When their third place of refuge lost its roof as the eye of the typhoon hovered over their village, the family decided to make a run for the high school that was nearly two miles away. Jesusa said they thought Typhoon Haiyan would be the end of them. The family held hands. Jesusa reflected, "[If] we just wait, we will die." She, Michael and their four children made it to the school. After the storm, the Boocs returned to take shelter in the chapel but realized it was too hot, especially for their baby. The sunburn on Jesusa's baby's face started to peel when IMB missionaries visited. The village of 61 households had not yet received aid from the government as of Thursday (Nov. 14), six days after the typhoon's onslaught. The government is providing families with several pieces of tin for their roofs and two kilos of rice. Two kilos of rice does not last long in the Philippines. Rice is the staple meal for most families, and for a family of four, it barely lasts a few days. A family normally eats around 10 kilos of rice in a week. The community gathered together and shared what food and supplies remained in their village. Their village name, Bangon, means, "rise up" in the Cebuano language. The villagers say they are people who indeed rise up from catastrophes. "That is what we are," Wilma Booc, Michael's mother, says. "Our name gives us hope." They will rise up, they say. They are asking for help to lighten their burden and load. They know they cannot do it alone. "We pray God will hear our prayers and help will come," Wilma says. For having gone through such trauma and tragedy, the Booc family and their community seem positive and hopeful. Villages throughout northern Cebu share this positive attitude, according to various reports. Baptist Global Response teams have now assessed the village's needs, and relief funds donated by Southern Baptists will help provide food in the coming days. Every dollar given toward Philippines disaster relief through the International Mission Board goes directly to meet needs, since IMB personnel are supported through churches' gifts ...

CEBU, Philippines (BP) -- Tarps for shelter are among immediate needs signaled by Filipino workers with Baptist Global Response during a Nov. 14 meeting on the island of Cebu.

TACLOBAN, Philippines (BP) -- Suzie Miller sat on her mattress, floating on the second level of her flooding home, not knowing whether she and her husband would survive Typhoon Haiyan. But Suzie and her husband Carl -- among 26 IMB missionaries in the Philippines -- knew they were exactly where God wanted them: in their home in Tacloban during the massive storm. The entire experience, Suzie said, was a testament to God's provision and the power of prayer. As the typhoon engulfed the Tacloban peninsula on Friday, Nov. 8, Suzie said it sounded like a semitrailer was passing. The torrential wind and rain shattered glass windows in their home and water began pouring in from the deluge and from storm surge waves pushed inland from the ocean. The first thing Suzie grabbed was a prayer journal she has had since college. Upstairs, the Millers climbed with their two dogs onto a mattress floating in the water in their bedroom. They had just returned from Cebu City, where they had the option to remain until the typhoon passed. But they believed God wanted them to go home to Tacloban. For Suzie's birthday on Nov. 3, her son and daughter-in-law bought Dr Peppers -- a rare treat in the Philippines and a favorite of the Millers. IMB missionaries Stan and Dottie Smith also had given the Millers some Dr Peppers as a birthday present. Stranded on their mattress, Suzie said she and Carl felt like they were dying of thirst as the wind and rain torpedoed their home. Prior to the storm, Suzie placed the three Dr Peppers on a desk. As the water rose in their room, the Dr Peppers floated over to the mattress. "We just opened a Dr Pepper and shared it," Suzie said. "There is nothing that helps you out like drinking Dr Pepper in a storm." The power of prayer Suzie said God brought a Scripture verse to mind during the experience: ...

CEBU, Philippines (BP) -- Southern Baptist relief efforts are underway in various islands of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the island nation on Friday Nov. 8), leaving thousands devastated and cut off from food, water and outside communication. International Mission Board personnel have met to discuss relief plans and will travel into disaster-stricken areas on several islands to assess needs and distribute food and water.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines (BP) -- They chose to return. [QUOTE@left@180=Prayer request: "that God would bring good out of great bad here."
-- IMB worker Stan Smith ] IMB representatives Carl and Suzie Miller were in another Filipino city when they heard the news that their home in Tacloban City on the island of Leyte was in the path of Typhoon Haiyan.

[QUOTE@right@180="How many on the plane had friends who were believers?" Christian worker asks Laotian Bible study after crash claims 49 lives.]VIENTIANE, Laos (BP) -- It is an airline route often taken by tourists, aid workers and believers. It is a route that 49 people died taking on Wednesday.