PHILIPPINES FOOD RELIEF DISTRIBUTION
Relief distributors pray with Muslims and Muslim based believer beneficiaries.
Recently, INfire provided food relief for over 400 people in the Philippines. This is critical work because the shutdown from COVID-19 has drastically affected sources of income for these families. Many of the communities we work in are home to some of the most violent Muslim militant groups in the Phillippines. The believers in these communities put their lives in danger every day by choosing to follow Jesus and are often denied assistance in times of need because of their faith. Most of these families live off meager weekly incomes that depend on fishing or farming, and these sources of income have been drastically reduced because of COVID-19. Our support of these believers is more vital than ever. But we do not stop there. We also minister to the radical Muslims in these regions, building relationships and showing them the love of Christ in action. These relationships are a vital part of our mission. Providing relief created opportunities for our teams to reach out to new people in the community. One team reported this story: “During distribution, we encountered a Muslim family who was in dire need of food relief. The household head had difficulty in accessing government assistance due to old age and isolated residence. The team bartered with them, trading their bountiful harvest of fruits for two sacks of rice. The family was elated and expressed their heartfelt thanks to them. In the end, the team brought home truckloads of avocados, bananas, jackfruits and pineapples and were able to minister and share the goodness of “Isa Al Masih” (Jesus) with the family. We promised to come back to
PHILIPPINES FOOD RELIEF DISTRIBUTION buy their next harvest and have begun a new and meaningful relationship with this Muslim family.” During the lockdown from COVID-19, some of the students we support and their families found themselves without any source of income. Our team mobilized quickly to organize food relief for 90 of our scholars as well as 20 believers who live in Muslim communities. One of the students we assisted shared some of the rice with her extended family. Her grandparents and relatives told her that she is lucky to be included as one of INfire’s scholars. She told our volunteers that she’s been inspired to work harder on her studies. She wants to finish college and help others in the same way she has been helped by INfire. You helped your INfire teams deliver sacks of rice, sugar, canned goods, noodles, oil, coffee, and beans to hundreds of families, impacting thousands of people in areas desperately in need of God’s light. Thank you for making a difference!