The Philippines. “Pablo” update by Bishop Reniel Nebab, President of the Alliance Church in the Philippines:

On December 4, 2012, typhoon “Pablo” hit the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley. The tropical cyclone with winds of  200 km/hr devastated the villages along its path, ripped off roofs from buildings and homes, uprooted trees, flattened banana plantations and rendered hundreds of families homeless. Hardest hit were Cateel and Baganga in Davao Oriental and New Bataan in Compostela Valley. In Andap, New Bataan, a flash flood tore down houses, killing many people who were still in their homes, not even sparing the people in evacuation centers and in vehicles crossing the river. To date, over a thousand people died and about four hundred more are still missing but are already feared dead.

Above: A banana plantation turned into a wasteland by typhoon “Pablo”.

On December 13, 2012, several leaders of CAMACOP, my wife Ana and I, visited the area including some churches that were destroyed by “Pablo.” We first went to Andap where one of our pastors, Pastor Adang, was swept away by the raging flood waters of the river. Pastor Adang is still missing, and is feared dead.  To the right: This was once a coconut farmland with several houses