PHILIPPINES 2012 - Loving the Poor in the Garbage Dump

Manila, Philippines

Thursday, December 13, 2012

.

Loving the Poor in the Garbage Dump

I arrived late Tuesday night here in Manila. I am staying with our hosts from Iris Philippines. Making preparations to leave for Mindanao have taken much of my time. But I was still able to accompany the Iris Harvest School extended outreach team to "Smokey Mountain," a garbage dump in Manila that people live in, build their houses in and scavange in to make some sort of livelihood. We embraced the chldren with their dirty faces and their lack of clothing. We greeted those living in the rubbish. We prayed for the sick. One twenty year old girl, Joanne was deaf from birth in her left ear. As we laid hands on her and prayed for her, Jesus did a creative miracle and her hearing was completely restored! After our time at "Smokey Mountain," we ministered to the women who live in the permanent housing near the dump. Iris Philippines has a wonderful ministry among the poor here in Manila. It has been wonderful to be able to experience firsthand what they are doing here.

.

Wednesday night our team went to an amazing church called, "Church So Blessed," in Manila where the Holy Spirit fell. Our team ministered to and prophesied over many of the people there. Please continue to pray for us as our Iris Relief 1st response team leaves for Mindanao on Saturday morning. Also- please pray for Eric Miller from FIRE International, our host in Mindanao, who has been in the hospital and been diagnosed with Dengue Fever. We are believing for his complete healing so that he and his team can run with us to the areas of devastation. The situation on the ground in Mindanao seems pretty crazy. Here is a recent update from some relief workers there:

.

"Pray over those with infections, many will die soon with out God's intervention. They also need prayer / break through on is transportation, the normally 4 hour drive is taking 7 the last trip they took with 5 rigs they had 7 flat tires 1 wheel snapped off, 2 blown radiators .... they were only going 5 - 10 miles per hour the normal 4 hour drive took 7+.... also prayer for safety, reports of the bigger convoys being hijacked, and an incident of a stabbing over a 2 liter bottle of gas.... fear is trying to keep these supplies from getting to the most impacted areas. Pray also against any corruption in the government. As well as there lack of value for human life. Any $'s raised will go to keeping these areas flowing! I will end with God is FAITHFUL... they had a incident of a baby dying in the mothers womb and 3 hours later, the team was praying over many of the needs for the day. Dan said we need to pray for the momma that just lost her baby, and I believe that God can resurrect the baby (they prayed) 5 min later the nurse comes out and said we have a heart beat!!! The baby was delivered natural (another miracle that it wasn't c-section) ... so we know that our prayers are the most powerful gift we can give!"

.

Christian Young