Throughout the Philippines, COVID-19 has hurt livelihoods and shut down food supply chains, making daily food less accessible and more expensive. The most vulnerable are those who live day by day, in both rural and urban settings. With their sources of income gone, many hardworking Filipinos must now rely on the charity of others. Fely is one of them.
Sitting alone inside her dark, tin-roofed hut, surrounded by dusty plastic-tarp walls, Fely had to watch her food supply dwindle away. Where would she get more?
Her mountain village on Luzon Island in the Philippines has been hard-hit by food shortages caused by COVID-19.
Fely wrestled with the fear of starvation and also the terrifying uncertainty of breast cancer. She had no one to ask for help.
Millions of people around the world are struggling like Fely. Already living on the margins, the turmoil of the global pandemic has put them at serious risk of starvation. They are without hope. That’s why your prayers and provision of emergency food are critical during these life-threatening days.
Samaritan’s Purse partnered with a local church on Luzon to identify people in Fely’s village in need of food. They brought Fely a two-week supply of rice, canned goods, fruit, and other food staples. Her tears flowed as she received the gift.
Our team returned to Fely’s home a few weeks later to celebrate her 71st birthday. They brought more food, and she was deeply touched.
Fely told the team that she did not know God, but having experienced such love, again she asked, “Why are you so kind to bring me food?”
“Because Jesus loves you,” they replied.
The Samaritan’s Purse team shared with Fely that God had not forgotten her and that He loves her so much that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Fely had seen God’s love and she was ready to make a decision. Sitting with the team in her makeshift hut, she prayed to receive Jesus Christ into her life in repentance and faith. Praise be to God!
Our teams in the Philippines have committed to do their best to address COVID-19. We are working with local churches to support their ministries and serve alongside them. Our teams are installing handwashing stations and filtration systems, distributing hygiene supplies, and conducting hygiene education campaigns as part of COVID-19 prevention efforts. We are seeing a massive demand for emergency food and to address nutrition insecurity. We are also seeing a hunger for God.
Until a vaccine and effective treatments are made readily available in the Philippines, we know there will be increasing needs. Even now, people are crying to God for help.
God can work through you, as well as local churches and our teams on the ground. He is sustaining the vulnerable and opening doors for people to hear the Good News of Jesus, “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19).
More than a billion people worldwide are suffering from chronic malnutrition. Through your gifts, Samaritan’s Purse is providing lasting solutions through hands-on farming training, home garden projects, and practical education about nutrition, as well as desperately-needed food staples for hungry families in emergency situations.