7 Unsung Ondoy Heroes

In no particular other, I would like to honor the following for their work since September 26, 2009, the day Typhoon Ondoy begun its destructive work in our nation:

1. Every person who laid down his or her life in the attempt to save lives. Some may have been fortunate to have their stories told in media; others have anonymously washed away to watery graves, but God knows who they are. (Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – Jn 15:13)

2. Every person who helped organize relief efforts. Whether a member of a larger organization, or one sole person working to do whatever they could in their own villages, I honor you for your selfless dedication. (We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Thess 1:3)

3. Every person who volunteered at these relief efforts. Whether you helped pack relief goods, load them into trucks, drive the trucks, deliver them to the evacuees/victims, manned the phones, directed traffic… you helped save lives. (Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16)

4. Every person who donated to these relief efforts. Whether you gave out of your own meager savings or spared no expense in ensuring the needs of the victims or those helping them would be met, you were the conduit of blessing for this immense outpouring of love upon a nation in desperate need of it. (Share with God’s people who are in need. – Romans 12:13)

5. Every person who went helped spread information. There was a different army, and it was working the communication lines overtime. Bloggers, photographers, reporters, IT personnel, and many others came together to spread information, create spreadsheets, reunite people with lost loved ones, and helped make a disaster easily to cope with and handle. Many did so for hours with little sleep in front of their laptops and telephones; for your persistence in ensuring people would be saved, I honor you. (In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ – Acts 20:35)

6. Every person who prayed. I thank the prayer warriors who spiritually protected everyone in need and everyone working to get to those people in need. (The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. – Ja :16)

7. Every person who opened their homes to those affected. Whether your houses became a refuge for those caught in the onslaught of the flood, or whether you offered a room – or more – to families still reeling from the loss of everything material in their lives, you reminded them that home is where the heart is. Thank you for opening your hearts and homes to us. (Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. – Hebrews 13:2)

There are countless more who may not be in this list, but do know that I speak for many when I say, Thank you. (Please feel free to add on to this list in the Comments section.)

I thank you because you – whether you intended to or not – became God’s instruments of love. The sheer magnitude of this flood was not enough to overpower the strength of your concern and love for your fellow man. (Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. – Song of Solomon 8:7)

You showed many people the value of hope and became beacons of light and inspiration on people who may have lost all desire to carry on in the light of such disaster and catastrophe. You may have given them more than their lives back; I believe you’ve rekindled their faith in human nature, and hopefully, in God.

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
- Matthew 25:40

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3 Responses to “7 Unsung Ondoy Heroes”

1. Paolo Punzalan says:

   October 5, 2009 at 9:41 am

   excellent post, ganns. you beat me to the punch. i was going to blog about unsung heroes but wasn’t sure how to do it. i was thinking of putting names like yours and others who were in the ‘background’ yet the ‘backbone’ of the ops but i was afraid of missing out on some names. writing it this way would avoid missing out names. i like how you did it.

   btw, thanks for all the awesome work you did these past few days.

   You are such an encourager, Pastor Pao! Thank you for all you do; you are such an example and inspiration. :)
2. reymos says:

   October 13, 2009 at 10:31 am

   This is an inspiring post, reminding us that every one has special way of showing his/her generosity and kindness. I left MM few hours before Ondoy struck the metropolitan. Personally, it was not Ondoy to be blamed of this flood… but it is the decision of the concerned authority to release the water from the dam without proper “warning”…

   Hey reymos! I’m glad you’re safe.
3. Gladys Arañez says:

   November 20, 2009 at 11:00 am

   Hi,

   This is Gladys Arañez and I’m one of the volunteers for Design Against The Elements. We are asking for your support to please help us spread our message in raising awareness re: Philippine Climate Adaptability Challenge. Please take time to visit the links below and please post comments and ratings. Below also is a message from our Executive Director, Illac Diaz.

   Feel free to ask questions. You can reach me on my email: gladys_79@yahoo.com

   Many, many thanks! :)

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCxhqROh8q4

   http://www.spot.ph/2009/11/09/marc-abaya-karl-roy-lead-musicians-in-a-song-about-climate-change/

   Climate change is real. Addressing climate change requires a mix of mitigation and adaptation. This requires more mitigation for industrialized countries and more adaptation for developing countries.
   This can be translated into one simple scenario : While the industrialized world continues to send up tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, whether or not we blur the amounts through carbon credits,
   hopes are fading for those who will be receiving the sharp end of the Damocles sword; the developing world. The urgency is to realize that this is not going to stop at 350 ppm, or even double at 600 ppm, the Philippines has to realize that despite all the petitions and feel good campaigns of dreams for a climate stabilized world, real solutions need to be done. We have to get to the part where we learn
   to start dealing with this. The country is located right beside the warmest parts of the ocean that is in the perfect storm of vulnerable coastlines, intense winds, and an observation of growing dumping of
   large amounts of rain. We need to live in a world where climate will hit the poorest of the poor first, regardless of where they live, it will test our resiliency as a city, as a village, as a community, and
   specially as a people. This song is dedicated to the awareness that dealing with one ONDOY is not the victory, but a climate of change will be the battle of this generation.

   Illac Diaz
   Executive Director
   Design Against The Elements