Hear testimonies from four BIMI missionaries who were directly affected by Typhoon Yolanda.

Pastor Jordan Roa & child above: many pastors & their families are without homes

Update from Rick & Becky Martin

We'd like to ask prayer for one of our second year students, Rachel. Three days ago the body of her brother, who had been missing since the storm, was found. He had been fishing between the island of Negros and Panay. When the storm hit, he was able to get to the fishing town of Estancia on our island and got his boat to higher ground and took cover. However, the storm surge was so great that he was swept out to sea. His body was found in the next town 17 days later. We gave her some money and sent her home to bury him yesterday.

Ricky took this picture when he took relief goods to four islands. Countless schools in our area have been damaged or destroyed.

Please pray for the people of Capiz and Northern Iloilo Province as many of them, including pastors, their families and church members, are sick in the aftermath of the storm—many of them are without shelter and medicine. Pastor Loduvico, seen in the picture below, is over 70-years-old and was trained by one of the IBC graduates, Jonalou Labana. He started a church, but as you can see, he lost the building and parsonage. Please pray for him, as he is ill.

70-year-old Pastor Loduvico stands where his home and church once stood.

As of today, we know of 141 pastors (graduates of Iloilo Baptist College and the men they have trained) who have lost their homes and 101 of their church buildings have been destroyed. A lot of the men pastor two churches and some had both church buildings destroyed, which probably means an additional 30 buildings. We've asked those who lost both to just turn in one for now. If possible, we'll try to help with their second building later, if we are able.

Ricky took this picture of four men sharing this tent on one of the hard hit islands of the coast of Concepcion.

I have talked to so many pastors. None of them are discouraged; none have asked why something like this has happened to them. Many times when I give them money for their parsonages, they asked if they could use some of it to help their church members.

Pastor Pepito Didigan wrote the story below:

At noon when it started to rain, I thought it was an ordinary typhoon, but when the wind started blowing hard I was shocked. I started to panic when my wife and four daughters started crying. I saw the bamboo trees falling and there was a loud boom when the big acacia trees fell and shook the earth. I told my wife and kids to flee to the house of our cousin. There were 18 families there and all the women and children were crying. My cousin shared a piece of bread with each one there. The next morning I walked 5 kilometers to visit one of my churches. I cried when I saw it was totally destroyed. Everything inside, like our plastic chairs, was blown away. I thought I was dreaming until my oldest daughter embraced me. I saw she was also crying. One of my church members started running towards me, shouting and asking for help. We ran to the damaged house of her relative and found the dead bodies of two of her sons. One by one the church members came to me, asking what happened. They said, "Pastor, is it the end of time? Or is this the curse of God because man has forgotten Him?" I answered, "No, God is good. He is a loving God. This is just a trial and we must ask God to give us strength to overcome."

Another story by Pastor Jerome Jeruta:

A day before the storm, the Bureau of Fire Protection announced that our area would have a signal number 4 typhoon (the highest), so we made some preparations. On Friday morning the weather was fair. The sad thing was, some people assumed the typhoon had already passed and went about their chores and jobs, not knowing it was yet to come. Around noon it got dark and the wind blew hard. I moved my family to a safer place. The wind kept getting worse and we watched trees and roofs blow away. It was violent. For five straight hours the storm beat on our place and most houses were destroyed and many people killed. When it was over, we saw that our church and house were destroyed. Some of our people started crying when they saw the church. We were all traumatized. My concern is how long will it take for these poor families to recover? They have no homes and they have no livelihood to survive. Many lost family members. My prayer is that God will restore our church and our hearts. I am so thankful for God's protection.

Above: Pastor Jeruta stands in the midst of his demolished church; below, his wife Donalyn looks for anything to salvage.

Becky and I appreciate so much those of you who are praying, and those who are helping these pastors financially. We know it is a bad time—it is almost Christmas, and the economy hasn't been good for a long time. We are so grateful for each and every gift and giver.

A storm so powerful it can crumple metal roofing like paper

For those wanting to help financially, please send your donations to the Far East Project Fund, Account #954.

As you prepare for your Thanksgiving festivities, remember to pray for our missionaries and ministries as they rebuild and as they continue to take relief supplies to needy areas. Details are now underway for our CLAIM ministry to head that way to help churches rebuild. Churches are giving to provide much needed funds for rebuilding and for food. This has encouraged our people greatly. Thank you to all of you who have given and who plan to give in the days ahead.

Here is a list of needs:

From Rick & Gaylene Fannin
1. At least ½ of church/fellowship roof replaced
2. Two staff houses destroyed
3. Men's dorm/nursery roof replaced
4. 2nd story space over bodega used for staff housing and girls' dorm gone
5. 2nd story guest space/library/multipurpose area—part of roof gone, one wall gone and whole space leaning (over the college/church office)
6. Our house— 2/3 of roof and ceiling gone
7. Our first church—large one room 2 story high space roof gone
The members of that church have been coming to our current church for some time but it has become expensive to commute them, so we were planning to start them back at their own area. This is a real setback now that the roof is gone.

We have a desire to be a help to so many here. Rice is their staple food. We are not really seeing much of that being given. Actually, there is not much relief in the rural areas. For only $2,000 we can give 100 families 50 lbs of rice per family. That will last from one week to one month depending on the size of the family. We already have people in mind who are in need and that would be deserving. From what we understand, the funds we have received are designated to rebuilding. If there are funds that can be designated for relief goods, then perhaps rice distribution could be a project in which we can help.

From Rick & Becky Martin The number of pastors whose parsonages have been destroyed now number 127 and also 95 church buildings.

Missionary Rick Martin states, "I have talked to so many of the pastors from that hard hit area as we are trying to see how we can help. I have yet to talk to one that is discouraged or even ask why this has happened to them. I have often said that when we came here years ago it was my intention to win people to Christ and then teach them about how to live like He did. Looking back, I would have to admit that they have taught me a whole lot more about the Christian life than I have ever been able to teach them."

Please see Nov. 19, 2013, update concerning the needs of the Sparks family.

For those wanting to help financially, please send your donations to the Far East Project Fund, Account #954.

After the Super Typhoon, what did some Filipino believers do?





Please continue to pray for the great needs in the Philippines. Pray for our missionaries as they minister to many hurting people today.

Today's update is taken from an email sent to Dr. JB Godfrey at BIMI from Missionary Jonathan (Carl) Sparks.

Praise the Lord! God is so good. We are alive and healthy. God is still on His throne. Jesus is still seated at His right side and we can testify that the Holy Spirit is still working miracles. We will forever be praising the Lord for His goodness and mercy to us and ours through this ordeal.

It has been extremely rough the last 11 or 12 days. We have lost nearly everything we own, nearly lost our lives, and thousands around us (including several friends) have been killed. Our emotions are raw from stress and trauma; our minds' eyes keep repeating the memory of the horrors of the aftermath, and none of us will ever forget the gunfights, looting and stacks of bodies!

Our friend's warehouse, where we stored about 70% of what we owned, is now somewhere in Leyte Gulf. Our house in Cagaut was completely destroyed along with most of our remaining furniture, family pictures, clothes and the thousand other things we had. Our rental bungalow in Tacloban was heavily damaged along with much of the contents. The church building in Cagaut withstood the test but the roof did not. Well over half the contents of the church was destroyed. All the other structures (sheds, workshops, etc.) are gone along with their contents. The farm is completely destroyed along with all 86 of our mango trees.

We lost two good friends when the storm killed Pastor Ed and Janet Ragracias along with several children in Hernani. Most of the church buildings are destroyed or heavily damaged throughout the entire area.

The term "Complete Devastation" would not be an exaggeration. War zones are the only thing I can come up with to compare it to. I am personally overwhelmed at the moment but I know that the Lord is not.

Why did I start this note by saying "Praise the Lord?" It is because we are alive. Thousands are not alive today and most of them went to a Christless grave. As long as we have life, we have hope and with Christ we have a sure hope of salvation. All of our kids in the Mission Corps/Cagaut Children's Home are alive and well. All of our members are alive and all of Ellen's relatives made it through. The Lord has preserved us for a reason and we believe that is to serve Him for many more years to come right here in Samar.

Our immediate plan is to get Ellen and Matthew into a place to live up here in Manila, hopefully with friends or relatives until just after Christmas. They must be out of the danger zone or out of the country. I will probably move all or most of the girls in Tacloban back to Cagaut temporarily. I plan to return to Samar in just a few days if possible. We left 17 kids, 2 widows and several other people with a two-week supply of food and a promise to return on my part.

Are we in trouble? Yes! Are we hopeless and/or despondent? No! We are praising the Lord for His goodness and mercy to us and ours. Stuff is just stuff. Yes, we are hurting and hurting badly. That said, we are so incredibly blessed that I cannot begin to put into words an explanation of that. I am way too tired to make a lot of sense so please forgive me. I could summarize this whole letter in three short statements:

1. Praise the Lord we are alive!!!!!!!
2. Please pray!
3. HELP!

Jonathan Sparks, Missionary in the Philippines

For those wanting to help financially, please send your donations to the Far East Project Fund, Account #954. Continue to pray for our missionaries and their churches in the Philippines.

Missionary Carl Sparks was able to call BIMI this morning to report that he, his wife and son are all well. Their home and church have been totally destroyed. At present they are in Manila but in need of funds. They personally have lost everything due to the high winds.

Our most recent correspondence with our missionaries on the field is that they are in need of food, clothing and building materials. Our missionaries are already helping others, but they need funds to do so. As soon as funds come in, BIMI will be sending those to our missionaries.

The missionaries are saying that it is best to send all funds through BIMI. We can deposit them into their accounts and they can draw them out from their banks where they are. Without this, there are delays and fees that may be assessed.

Brother Rick Martin has now reported over 90 national pastors' homes destroyed and an additional 90+ churches destroyed.

Brother Rick Fannin's home and church were completely destroyed. He reports a need for food, fuel and daily needs like soap to wash all the clothes that were ruined by the storm. Their church building is needing repairs and there are many homes that need to be rebuilt.

Brother Layne Jones' home and church have been totally destroyed. They are well but needing supplies to help their people.

Brother Frank Denisi is busy taking relief supplies to needy places. There are more needs than supplies at this time and funds are needed to purchase more.

Please pray for our missionaries as they try to help others.

For those wanting to help financially, please send your donations to the Far East Project Fund, Account #954. Continue to pray for our missionaries and their churches in the Philippines.

Good News!

Some Christians who live in California called their former pastor in Tacloban. They stated that "He (Pastor Joel) was gracious enough to brave the city and ride a bicycle over to Carl Sparks' house to check on them. When he arrived, he spoke with the neighbors who told him Carl's family was OK and safe and they had left to take food and water to Samar (Cagaut) and those still unreached by aid groups."

The Carl Sparks Family

It has been reported that the Carl Sparks family in Tacloban may be safe. We learned from his brother that they have been seen. It gives us hope—though Carl's brother said this is 4th hand information. Please continue to be in prayer for the recovery.

Advice about Travel to the Philippines

In reference to all those wanting to go help, we are hearing that it is best to wait. Food and water shortages are real and any attempt to take in supplies could result in riots. Reports say that the situation is too fragile to send in people from the outside. We are awaiting further word from our missionaries before we make plans to go to the Philippines.

BIMI missionaries David Diamante, Christopher Hurst, Phil Frasier and Rose Pyles work on the island of Luzon and are all fine. The storm hit mainly to the south of their works. Doug Sisson, Eddie Trimble, Bruce Rice, Robert Tevault and Stan Prussia are on the island of Mindanao, which is to the south and they also escaped damage. Peter Denisi and his son Frank work in Cebu City. They are doing well and are already helping with relief work. Rick Martin and his family in Iloilo are well. They also are involved in helping those who suffered loss. Many of their pastors lost homes and churches. The same can be said of Layne Jones and his family who live on the northern end of the island of Samar. Rick Fannin and his wife are safe; however, their home and church buildings were seriously damaged. Carl Sparks and his family were in the city of Tacloban when the typhoon hit. The city was devastated. We have not yet heard from them. Just before the storm hit, they sent out an email saying that they were "hunkered down" in their church building which was concrete. Continue to pray for this family. The director of our CLAIM ministry, Carl Vonnoh, has offered to do anything he can to help. We want to thank all of you who have called and sent funds to help.

BIMI still does not have any word from missionaries Carl and Ellen Sparks. If you have been following the news, you have seen the devastation in Tacloban City where the Sparks were when the typhoon struck. Continue to pray for them. Our other missionaries are safe. The Rick Fannin family who work on the island of Panay have had a lot of damage to their property. Missionary Rick Martin and his family are fine; however, at least 33 of their pastors have had homes totally destroyed and 36 churches have been demolished. There are and will continue to be great needs in the central part of the Philippines for months to come. Our missionaries and churches will be involved in relief efforts as well as getting out the Gospel.

Typhoon Haiyan (called Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines) caused tremendous damage to life and property in parts of the Philippines. We have not heard from our missionaries Carl and Ellen Sparks who were in Tacloban. All of the other BIMI missionaries are safe but several of them have had major damage to churches, homes and property. We will post more information as it becomes available.

For those wanting to help financially, please send your donations to the Far East Project Fund, Account #954. Pray for our many friends in the Philippines.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Susanna Ciaramitaro -  INDONESIA
Christopher R & Erika A Cisler -  URUGUAY
Jim & Emi Civale -  SAMOAN ISLANDS