Loving the Least of These

OM Philippines helps slum church plant

by Greg Kernaghan

If you want to rediscover your emotions both as a human and a follower of Jesus, if you want to wrestle with your mind and soul and yes, body, then take a walk through an Asian slum and realise just how foreign you are…and how at home God and His people can be there.

Virgie and her pastor husband, John, are church-planters who can see past everything that’s wrong with humanity, choosing to be salt and light in the kind of place you wouldn’t expect to find either. Former OMers themselves, they invited OM Philippines to help transform lives and this community with the love of God. It’s no small task.

They began by simply going into the community and befriending the people they met. As I walked up and down several ‘streets’ in this slum, we were welcomed from shack to shack with smiles and conversations and a sparkle in eyes of people who know they are loved and cared for.

OM helps in leading and training in evangelism, along with outreach to children and young people. A lot of foundational work had been done before the flood came which lasted for three months, forcing thousands of people to live on a single higher, narrow street; virtually all other homes were submerged. OM was there from the beginning with emergency relief supplies, and later began to supply the church’s neighbours with building blocks, plywood and other materials to restore their simple dwellings. The process continues today.

Often, in such situations, when recipients of aid show interest in joining the church Scommunity, there is suspicion of their motives. However, these people had seen the church at work in the community before the flood, and many testified of God’s help through this disaster. Today, nearly 100 attend on Sundays, 30 are committed to prayer meetings, and 35 women study the Bible together. Now the church has a new problem: inadequate space to meet!

The church—down the street, 24/7—is welcome here. God is working in the community. Gambling, once rampant, has largely disappeared; many have broken free from alcohol. Virgie dreams of many more neighbours being transformed by Christ. It’s a costly, patient work that takes time. Together with OM, they hope to provide basic vocational training to elevate peoples’ lives: that youth can profit from basic literacy and schooling, that their parents could be more than just junk collectors, that the many women largely confined to their houses with little to do would become productive members of the community, living in dignity in the midst of so much depravity. “That would be heaven right here,” Virgie beamed. Can she be serious: heaven—here? Yes: here and in many similar communities throughout Manila and beyond.

OM is looking for people to come and help in this work of compassion and justice, and for those who will help financially to provide the absolute basics for a new life for many. For further info, contact Jun Diaz: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

OM’s role in the Church is to mobilise people to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with every generation in every nation. OM pioneers and leads initiatives to redeem lives, rebuild communities and restore hope in over 110 countries.