Rick & Becky Martin: Your missionaries to the Philippines

Dear Friends, We are so grateful for so many of you who have prayed and contacted us since the deadly storm that hit the Philippines a week ago. Here is an update regarding the Typhoon Yolanda aftermath: 1) BIMI missionary Carl Sparks and family have been found and evacuated to Manila. They were in Tacloban waiting to get out for nine days. Please pray for him and his ministry—they lost everything. Thanks so much for praying for him. All three that you have prayed for have been found alive and are safe. 2) We have almost 400 workers from our church and Bible College, volunteering Monday and Tuesday to pack relief bags for government agencies to give to typhoon victims. 3) Our son Ricky went to Capiz today along with Missionary Sam Heidenreich, who also had a lot of damage from the Typhoon. They visited BIMI missionary Rick Fannin, whose ministry has also suffered from the storm. They said they couldn’t believe the devastation done to Roxas City where the Fannins have a church and Bible college. Ricky and Sam took relief goods, especially drinking water.

Top picture is Pastor Jonathan Aspera's church, below that is his home

Our September-October prayer letter was about three blind pastors—Gabriel Della, Samson Clorion, and Lobert Garote. In that letter we said we’d write some more about them in our November/December prayer letter. Now, because of Typhoon Yolanda, we do want to mention these blind pastors once again, because of the damage done to their churches and homes. Pastor Samson Clorion’s church and parsonage lies in ruins. Pastor Jonathan Aspera’s home and church have also been destroyed. Lobert Garote, who has two children in our Bible College, had his home destroyed.

Top is Pastor Samson Clorion's church, bottom is his home

We also want to mention some people who may sound familiar to you, as we’ve mentioned them in prayer letters in the past several months. We have mentioned in the past about our IBC graduates that are foreign missionaries in Zambia—Eduard and Eden Calibayan:

The home of Eden Calibayan's mom was badly damaged

Not too long ago we told the story of Pastor Michael Balinas, who was lost at sea for many days. His parsonage and church: Golden Valley Baptist Church in Sara:

Top is Pastor Michael Balinas' church; bottom is his home

Not only that, but some of the men he has been training in his Bible Institute have been affected by the typhoon: Norman Anastacio’s house, Rogelio Arcede’s house, Hername Felizardo’s house, and three others.

Brother Norman's home top, Bro. Hername's home middle; Bro. Rogelio's home bottom

In the last few months we have also written about some of our pastors who have gone home to be with the Lord. Sad to say, their widows have also suffered from Typhoon Yolanda: Elizabeth Tamayo whose husband, Pastor Danilo Tamayo, died two years ago:

Mrs. Tamayo's home badly damaged; thankfully the church building only suffered minor

damage. Glenda Agustino’s home was badly damaged. Her pastor-husband Charlie was murdered a few months ago as we mentioned in a prayer letter. Alma Abelitado’s home was badly damaged. Her pastor-husband Hermando (who everyone called “Cruz”) was killed when he was hit by a truck a few months ago, as we also mentioned in a prayer letter. In closing I’d like to share the testimony of Pastor Freddie Agpalo, Ivisan Baptist Church: The typhoon hit our town at 10:00 am. My family and I evacuated to a school. When we heard and felt the strong wind, we fell to our knees and asked help form our Heavenly Father, to spare our lives. We saw the storm breaking down many houses. Trees and roofs blew away. Many people fled to our school. We stayed for a few hours and then I realized that the winds were becoming stronger. I prayed and the Holy Spirit spoke to me that I should preach to those families in the shelter with us. Praise God, eight trusted Christ as Savior. The storm finally began to lesson and I went outside to look. It was totally desolate. The worst part was when one of our church members died. She was pregnant and so traumatized by the storm. We tried to save her but the lack of blood type, absence of electricity, and delay of travel due to messed up roads perhaps, became the reason that she died. She was brought to the hospital however it was too late. She bled over and over up to the extent that her body can no longer let her live. The baby is alive. Thank you and God bless you. We’ll probably give you another update in a few days. Sincerely in Christ, Rick & Becky Martin