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
