“Give credit to the locals, and give the glory to God.”
-Jeff Long
When I heard Jeff Long make this statement, I was standing on the Kids International Ministry base crying my eyes out. As soon as we arrived to Manila my team and Xuberant Joy were whisked away to be briefed on the trip we were making to Tacloban, one of the hardest hit areas by Typhoon Yolanda.
We were told that we would see mass destruction.
Entire buildings flattened to the ground, piles of trash and debris lining the streets. Thousands of homes washed away by 30 foot waves.
You always hear about natural disasters on the news and see the destruction in pictures, but when you get to be there with the people and see what they go through every day, it is a whole different experience.
In Tacloban we had the privilege of chopping a million cloves of garlic, making hundreds of gallons of “Lugaw” and serving it to the people who lost everything in Typhoon Yolanda. When a pot if Lugaw porridge was made we would put it in a plastic bin, pile 4 or 5 of those into the back of a van and head out to the streets where people would come running with all different kinds of containers. In the moment of the fast pace scooping, I didn’t realize what it meant to these people that we were simply bringing them food.
It wasn’t simple to them. Each scoop of Lugaw meant that these families could feed themselves and their hungry children for at least one more meal.
The look in their eyes and the smile on their faces are something I will never forget. Even though they said “thank you” over and over again, they didn’t have to. Their gratitude radiated all over their faces!
Being able to bring joy to the people who were affected by Typhoon Yolanda was incredible, but there were hard moments also. I knew going into this disaster relief trip that I would see things that I can never forget and hear stories I will always remember.
I will never forget what it was like to see 10 body bags lined up on the side of the road after being pulled out of the bay.
I will always remember talking to a teenage boy who had lost his whole family in the Typhoon.
Before leaving for Tacloban, I didn’t quite understand the entirety of Jeff Long’s comment that you read at the beginning of this blog. I thought that it had some deep, profound meaning, but it means simply what it says.
Give credit to the locals for what they’ve had to endure, but give the glory to God for getting them through this hard time and being with them as they rebuild their lives.
It was such a blessing to meet so many survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. It was a great honor to be able to serve them and love them.
