Mt. Moriah Saturday fellowship Christmas party, will you help?

Adding Thailand to the list.......

More than four weeks have passed since the destructive typhoons hit Manila and K.I.M. became involved in relief efforts here. During this time, people from New Zealand, Taiwan, United States and the Philippines have made huge efforts in sharing the love of Jesus with suffering people.

This week we added Thailand to the list. A group of ambitious students and staff from Grace International School in Chang Mai, Thailand, who were visiting nearby Faith Academy for a volleyball tournament, wanted to get in on the relief effort.

Here’s a report from Jessica Williams, one of our K.I.M. staff members, who joined in with the Thailand contingent:

“Earlier this week students from Grace International School joined us on our morning feeding program. Half of the group went to an evacuation center where flood victims have been living for over a month now as their homes are still waist-deep in water. Upon our arrival at the crowded gymnasium that has been converted to a living area for about 300 families, children and mothers came running up with their bowls, lining the steps waiting for their food. As soon as you walk past these steps you see rows and rows of sheets hanging up to provide some sort of living space for these families. It is a lot for anyone to take in, and these high school kids who had just arrived that morning responded with such amazing love and enthusiasm! They were so eager to serve and to connect with this Filipino community. It was also an encouragement to look out over the evacuation center from the bleachers and see the bright colors of our K.I.M. shirts all over the gymnasium. There were groups of people passing out food, taking pictures, praying, talking, and even playing chess. I was so blessed to see the willing and compassionate hearts of these students. It's easy to get caught up in the routine of what we are doing here, but the response of the Grace students to those they saw hurting was a refreshing reminder of God's heart for the Filipino people.” (Jessica Williams)

Wow! What an outstanding group of young people. As the students toured the community, schools, the Children’s Home and ministry centers, questions abounded as they realized the potential within themselves to come back some day to impact the people or to do the same right there in Chang Mai. In fact, this visit might result in a double-edged sword as we consider partnering with Carl and Laurie Ralston of Remembernhu who are actively involved in building several Children's Homes in their home region, including Chang Mail, Thailand.

It is very rewarding to see so many people from around the world joining the effort to keep kids out of harm’s way.

Wowed again after another great day,
Jeff

The Ref Blessing

A number of months ago, Sarah and I moved into a wonderful house in Malaybalay and I came furnished. Included in that was a older small refrigerator, functional, but it needed to be defrosted a couple times a week. A friend was over one day as the defrosting process began, and they said we really needed a new ref, and they would be willing to help purchase it. So we were given 20,000 pesos toward new one. At that point, they also said why don't I pitch in 10K myself and make sure to get a good one. Although I had the 10,000, that's all of our "extra" money for the month of November. Spending it all at the beginning of the month and having nothing for just in case was a little hard. But, we figured it was worth it, how else could we get a 30K ref for 10k? A few days later another friend, Rory, and I went to CDO to go shopping. At the first mall we found a couple that were what we were shopping for, and almost went ahead and bought one for 32K. We then decided we should go ahead and go to the other mall just to be diligent in looking for all our options. Upon walking to the ref section there, a sales guys said come here, 50% off on this ref. We had a look, and it was a Panasonic 14 CF priced at 35,000. Half of made it 17,500. It was sitting next to the new model that had just come in and was at the same price point, but slightly larger, so they were selling off their last few at half off, and having just marked them down in the last few hours, now there was only one left. It more than met our needs, and with the "extra" few pesos, I also purchased a microwave and pressure cooker for Sarah, both things she had said she wanted whenever we had extra money. For me, it was just a blessing from God saying, don't worry about tomorrow, follow in faith and I will provide beyond what you could have imagined. So thanks guys for blessing us and helping me step into the windows of blessing from Him.

Be encouraged,

Jeremy

Rebuilding

Typhoons come and go…, international news headlines come and go…, the suffering continues. Kids International Ministries has never before been involved with extended relief work. In the past, in the aftermath of such storms, we were accustomed to the problems of flooding in a big city of congested canals, rivers, and streets: people need help, roads need cleaned off, the river banks that were hours before overflowing recede, and the ebb and flow of living in this country goes on. Normally we just help pick up the pieces and allow folks to move on with their lives. Not this time… The typhoons left a path of destruction that will not soon be forgotten. Why? The water remains and will for several more weeks; people, friends, strangers, kids, and old folks are left in stagnant, disease-ridden water that won't leave their homes, streets, and back yards. People are hurting, suffering, dying. This is not something you can turn your back on and hope they will come out ok. We are sharing devotions, food, supplies, vitamins, and medicines, and imploring people to continue to help. Help is coming…another food container is on its way as the one we received in August, which usually lasts our efforts for 9-10 months, will be depleted in a few weeks. Servers are coming. Some we know, some only God knows. One such case was a Filipina Christian nurse who, after seeing our province under water and the people in pain, Googled and found our website, emailed, and WOW—God gave us a volunteer nurse for the next 4 months! Other God-sent people have arrived from Canada, Taiwan, New Zealand, and of course Filipinos helping Filipinos. Old friends from the U.S., Hong Kong, and Korea are returning to lend additional help. God is good and is drawing people to His Son who suffered the most by dying for us on the cross. Our message of hope remains, and so we continue to bring God's restoring relief plan. Jeff for the countless people who are helping

Pastor Ray

A favorite word of mine for years in raising our kids was the idea of “balance.” Today my kids often hear me talk about “doing their part.” Short-term teams or missionaries who arrive in the Philippines typically hear the same theme as I joke with them about exploiting their God-given talents during their time of service. The truth is that all of us have passions and gifts God has given us to use for His kingdom.

While we have many friends around these islands, one of my favorite groups of people are the Provincial Pastors. These guys live on nothing. It’s flat out amazing to see their homes, churches, empty pockets, and empty cupboards. The people they serve usually have little "materially" as well, and yet they are very content, very happy people. I guess that’s why I love hanging with them.

As an example, Pastor Ray travels over 12 hours from the north to visit us each month. He comes to serve and share God's word with our construction guys, encourage me, go to my son Kirk's games, and teach our children's home kids how to garden. A few months ago our “Magnificent Seven” construction crew was able to bless Pastor Ray and his family by building them a new home in about seven days. It was our way of thanking him for what he does faithfully each month as he shares God’s word and disciples our men and our kids.

Pastor Ray is definitely doing his part and playing a key role.

World Compassion Network

Partnering with great people and organizations yields great results. Please help Joe, Josh, and Clark help more people around the world.

World Compassion Network

Typhoon Ondoy Stats........

Many people have been asking about the people in our area that have been impacted by the recent typhoons to hit the Philippines....

Our organization, family and friends have established six feeding/medical stations for the purpose of on going relief work. Many experts are saying the water in the flooded areas will not recede until January. We are committed to helping these areas all the while working with local Pastors, churches and govt offices to insure they get the credit and God gets the glory... Even through suffering God can bring Jesus to the hearts of people...

Thanks for praying,

Jeff

Here are a few things I found from this article: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/173548/ndcc-puts-ondoy-damage-at-p48-b-death-toll-at-277

Tropical storm "Ondoy" (international name Ketsana) caused an estimated P4.8 billion in damage across the Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Thursday.

In its latest report, the NDCC also pegged the number of fatalities to 277. The death toll is expected to rise pending reports from local government officials.

According to the NDCC, more than half a million people - or 686,699 persons to be exact - were affected and are now staying at 726 evacuation centers.

The extent of damage was broken down as follows: P1.59 billion for infrastructure and P3.216 billion for agriculture.

A total of 4,644 houses were damaged, more than half of them totally destroyed.

Last Saturday, Ondoy brought unprecedented rainfall in the metropolis of 341 millimeters in the first six hours alone, breaking the record for the highest 24-hour rainfall of 334 mm in Metro Manila in June 1967.




Missionaries Marilyn and Jessica are meeting the needs of lots of kids and adults.... Keep praying for their strength as they lead the charge.