Rebuilding of U-Turn for Christ CC Hernani and Event in December

It has been about one month since Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) wreaked havoc on the Philippines.  Currently, the death toll stands at 5,924 and 1,779 people are still missing.  It was reported that 500,000 homes where completely demolished and an additional 536,000 damaged.  More than 12 million people have been affected by this super typhoon when it made landfall on November 8.  Several islands were left without electricity or phone towers to communicate.  Information was slow in getting out and millions of people were left homeless and without access to food, water and medical care.

U-Turn for Christ/CC Herani Re-Building underway

Gerry Brown's son Joshua is continuing the work in Eastern Samar through Christmas and New Year's.  Here is the status of the efforts to rebuild the church.  Foundational pillars are being poured now for the second level along with the foundational slab for the ground floor, since they all have to be poured together for the strength of the building. Crazy since all is still being done by hand. The work at the Bible School is continuing with Glenn Cole from CC Lone Mountain.  He is now helping to watch over that project after Pastor Bong got them going. They had a little trouble getting the sand to quit caving in on them there while digging the foundational footings for the pillars, but Pastor Bong showed them how to shore it up and now they have two foundational pillars in place and are working on the other 8 that are needed.  

Feeding Program at Hernani Elementary School

The feeding program with the children is on-going.  Now with the elementary school back in session, the feeding includes the whole student body and teaching staff in Hernani.  There were originally 482 children in the school.  Since the typhoon, about 200 of them have returned to school.  Some are still unknown about, while others have moved with family in other parts of the island.  CC Dumaguete and the CC Bible College Dumaguete have come alongside the U-Turn for Christ family by sending relief teams.  They are doing a Christmas Evangelistic outreach for the school kids and community.  The event took place December 18 (Update and photos to follow.)

The Superintendent of Education had a meeting with Gerry Brown and requested to expand into two other villages that were also devastated.  They asked for help with some school supplies (pencils, pens, paper, erasers and any out dated books).  That would help them greatly since all was lost in the typhoon.

U-Turn for Christ Hernani Calvary Chapel Will Rise!

1. The rebar for the first columns is up at the church in Hernani and the foundation is poured. This is causing no small stir in the community. People are REALLY excited.

2. U-Turn for Christ Hernani Calvary Chapel is the first building in the Hernani area to be rebuilt. The entire community is coming by to lend a hand.

3. The team put up a sign in front of the church that says, "Soon to Rise... U-Turn For Christ Hernani Calvary Chapel." The neighbors are inspired.

4. All the neighbors want help rebuilding their own homes. The opportunities to minister through service, prayer and fellowship are incredible.

5. The workers are all using hand tools to do the work. The only power tool they have among them are a couple of cordless drills. Pastor Gerry says it looks like an Amish church building to watch them work together so beautifully.

6. Pastor Gerry is scheduled to return to the US on December 12th. His son Joshua will be relieving him. Glenn Cole from Calvary Chapel Lone Mountain is also on his way there, to arrive around December 10th. He will work as a construction supervisor in Samar for some months before taking his position at CCTC Dumaguete. 

7. Several teams are on the ground helping with the work. Currently, there are two teams in eastern Samar. The goal is to keep them going throughout the next months and years.

8. The church building at Borongan has a roof. The next project will be the kitchen which is waiting for Glenn Cole to arrive.

9. Calvary Chapel Dumaguete and Calvary Chapel Training Center are planning a Christmas in Hernani outreach on December 18th. Please keep that in prayer.

New Update from Samar

The past weekend was the national holiday of Thanksgiving in the US, and there are many things to be grateful for in Typhoon Relief.  Praise God for His provision and His faithfulness!

1. The roof is almost finished in Borongan. It was a huge project, but the team started putting metal on the roof during the last week in November.

2. The construction on the church in Hernani is waiting for more funds before work can begin, BUT the team asked a road crew if they could borrow their grader for clearing the property. There was a heavy equipment operator on the CC Creekside, Washington team. The crew said "no" but instead they came out to the property with all of their equipment. They graded the property and dug the footings for the church in about tow hours. This would have been about a month worth of work. They did it for free. Praise God!

3. The Calvary Chapel / U-Turn team are still the only ones doing any type of feeding in Hernani. The governor of Hernani asked if they would start feeding the people twice a day instead of only once. They love us there and many people are getting saved through this ministry.

4. The Superintendent of Schools said that the team could keep the school for as long as they are doing the feeding ministry. He gave Pastor Gerry Brown a letter stating such saying also that he looked forward to a long term relationship with us.

5. The relief supplies from CCTC arrived. It was enough food for 1,150 families 5 days and non-food supplies for 1,707 families. (9 tons worth of goods). The team handed out relief goods to 250 or so families. Once again, many people gave their lives to the Lord.

6. Details are sketchy on how the Lord worked this out, but somehow the relief work and feeding resulted in the team doing a Bible study in a little town north of Borongan named San Julian. Many gave their lives to the Lord there. Pastor Gerry asked if they had a Bible-teaching church in town and they said they did not. He committed to doing weekly Bible studies there with them. It looks like God just birthed Calvary Chapel San Julian.

Prayer requests:

Ongoing support for the work in Samar is needed: this work can easily keep teams busy for the next few years. People are also needed as missionaries to the Samar region: please pray about moving out there and doing some long term ministry. There are going to be tons of opportunities to disciple new believers, raise up church leaders, run orphanages, counsel, and do relief work.