When the Waters Rise

The waters were rising fast. From where I was standing, I could see people wading through the currents of waist-deep flood. The cars looked like boats trying to make their way through an angry sea. The scene was at the street right in front of our apartment building.

Many will not forget September 26, 2009. It was the day when the whole of Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces were caught unaware of the fury of nature. Typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana), predicted to be a slow-moving storm, made its landfall with torrents of rain. Within 24 hours, we were the catch basin of one month’s worth of rainfall. Flashfloods engulfed slum areas and posh subdivisions, sending rich and poor alike hollering for rescue and relief.

Though my home was spared (we live on the fourth floor), I could not say I was not affected. How could I not be affected when text messages, facebook posts and emails were telling me that many of my friends lost all their belongings and had houses and cars submerged in mud and murky waters. Even the Asian Theological Seminary (ATS) where I teach Academic English and Reading for Theological Purposes was not spared.

I learned from Dr. Jojo Manzano, our Deputy OIC, that some of the classrooms were with water (though only knee-deep) and a total of about Php100,000 worth of equipment, supplies and facilities were damaged.

My mind immediately thought of how we could possibly recover from this, considering the fact that we have just recently launched our 40 in Forty Annual Fund Campaign. Here we are, still figuring out creative means to contribute to the ATS financial needs as a community and to challenge others to take part, and we are beset with yet another need. How can we possibly raise the 14.2 million pesos target, now that practically everyone in Manila has been rendered incapacitated in one way or another? Stable families became homeless. Businesses were shut down. Schools were turned to evacuation centers. Churches became relief centers. Everything was in disarray.

By Wednesday (September 30), during the special prayer time held at ATS, we learned that many of our students, alumni, and co-workers were not spared. Wilfredo Laceda’s (student) home, thankfully had three levels and they managed to keep safe while waters engulfed until the second floor of their house. Some of their neighbors, especially kids, perished in the ravaging waters. Elvira Oliva (student) and her church in Pasig remain in waist-deep waters even as I write. Forty families with babies are homeless and with no basic supplies for the children. Denisse Ogalesco (student) reports of some 37 families from her church in Meycauayan, Bulacan in need of immediate relief, particularly food and clothes. Lou Mandalupe (Counseling alumna), reports to have lost all their possessions including her books, laptop and doctoral notes (she’s currently enrolled at the Asia Graduate School of Theology’s EdD Counseling program) when waters rose too high that they had to escape through their ceiling. Countless others who take courses in our Center for Continuing Studies (CCS) in Cainta and Bulacan are trying to help their church members while attending to their own families’ sorry state. I am sure many, whom I failed to mention or whom I do not know, are still on the list of victims and are trying to make sense of the situation.

In the midst of this, what can we do as a community? Well, we did what we could. First of all, we prayed. An hour was surely not enough but we spent time in worship and prayer, believing that in all this, God is still in control. We claimed His sovereignty and power. We implored His mercy and grace. We sought His provision and deliverance.

We planned. Ideas were given as to how we can help alleviate the pain of those who have been afffected. The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs headed by Dr. Fer Lua and assisted by Gen Baybayan coordinated the ATS relief efforts. We called on people to give what they could. And they did. Not from their surplus, but sacrificially.

We acted. The ATS staff, faculty and students worked together to repack goods on Thursday (October 1) and set forth on Friday (October 2) to the affected areas where our students were. The relief team was able to distribute nearly a hundred packs of relief goods which included rice, biscuits, instant noodles, canned goods, coffee, sugar, milk, cooking oil, clothing, bath soap and cleaning materials by Monday (October 5). Other students took it upon themselves to help clean muddied homes. While some could not physically help out, they contributed through prayers and coordinating with their respective network of friends for donations.

Not long after relief goods were given, Typhoon Pepeng (international name: Parma) made its entrance threatening to wreak more havoc on the northern Philippines. But God intervened, just like how Jesus stilled the storm. The category 5 supertyphoon made a turn, weakened and did not linger. Though it left 17 dead in its path, those who suffered Ondoy’s wrath were spared from the strong winds and rain that Typhoon Pepeng brought.

How do we recover from this? We will get up, slowly and surely, with God’s enabling. Many of our students, especially those still in recovery mode would definitely be unable to focus on their final papers and exams. Thus, Dean for Academic Affairs Dr. Madeline Vega announced that another week would be added to the semester to give students enough time to complete their requirements.

In the midst of this, I am reminded of Psalm 46:1-3, 10: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging…Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Final exams, final papers, 14.2 million for the general fund, Typhoon Ondoy, Typhoon Pepeng…what other challenges can come upon the ATS family? We do not know. But our Sovereign God does. And He is mighty to save; an ever present help in times of trouble.