A most blessed Resurrection celebration Day to you all! Christ is risen indeed!!
As all of Christendom worldwide celebrate the risen Lord in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic we now once more boldly declare the supremacy of our risen Lord !
Part of that bold declaration among us believers is our commitment to obey Jesus Christ’s mandate to Peter and His disciples, and to us all now, to “… feed His lambs, take care of His sheep…” regardless of circumstances and obstacles.
We are glad to provide you with an update of our Harvest for Christ Foundation COVID 19 assistance endeavors in the Philippines. Together with a generous grant from IDES (International Disaster and Emergency Services) and your loving donations, we started Phase 1 by sending out last mid-March emergency funds to HFCF – supported pastors/coordinators and their families, plus a limited number of pastors in nearby towns.
When the full-blown disastrous consequences and economic dislocation caused by ECQ/travel restrictions and lockdowns overtook the country, more desperate requests for assistance came flooding from our pastors, evangelists, church workers, teachers and individual families. Our Mindanao coordinator (Phil. Light Ministry Mindanao, Inc.) forwarded heart- breaking messages from pastors literally begging for rice and food for their hungry families.
We initiated Phase 2 a week later and sent out emergency assistance of P 1,000 ($ 20) per pastor/family to 19 provinces including Mindanao. We were able to reach 345 pastors nationwide within three weeks and sent out a total of P 385,000 ($ 7,700). Additional 176 families were reached, for which we sent out P 162,707 ($ 3,254). A separate group of local COC organizations (including STNE, ‘Kingdom Frontliners’ and COC-HELPS) followed suit and joined us in helping other unreached pastors.
In response to an ever-increasing number of pleas from individual families in our congregations, the HFCF Board of Trustees approved a Phase 3 assistance program which we now project to help 473 families (mostly believers) in 30 congregations in 25 provinces nationwide. We project Phase 3 disbursements to total P 425,700 ($ 8,514). The funds are being sent out to our coordinators within the week starting April 13.
The summary of our COVID 19 emergency assistance is as follows:
| PHASE | BENEFICIARIES | TOTAL ASSISTANCE (Pesos / Dollars) |
| 1 | 12 HFCF PASTORS/OTHER NEARBY PASTORS | P 60,000 / $1,200 |
| 2 | 521 PASTORS AND FAMILIES | P 547,707 / $10,954 |
| 3 | 473 FAMILIES (CHURCH MEMBERS) | P 425,700 / $8,514 |
| GRAND TOTAL: | 1,006 PASTORS and FAMILIES | P 1,033,407 / $20,668 |
Health experts/virologists worldwide now project that COVID 19 may well extend into June or even later (Bill Gates and his foundation predicts ‘a new normalcy’ by fall 2021). We all pray that Gods’ right hand of mercy and healing will intervene and put an end to the suffering, sickness and deaths caused by COVID 19 worldwide. In the meantime, we again come to you and seek your prayers and gracious donations for a Phase 4 assistance. IDES has advised us that due to the overwhelming requests for COVID 19 emergency funds worldwide, they cannot extend any assistance to us at this time.
We project Phase 4 to reach an additional 300 pastors, broken down as follows:
| PHASE: 4 | REGION / PROVINCES | BENEFICIARIES | ASSISTANCE AMOUNTS [P 1,000/pastor] (Pesos / Dollars) |
| MINDANAO | 100 Pastors | P100,000 / $2,000 | |
| VISAYAS | 75 Pastors | P75,000 / $3,000 | |
| NORTH/CENTRAL LUZON | 125 Pastors | P125,000 / $2,500 | |
| TOTAL: | 300 PASTORS | P300,000 / $6,000 |
Please do pray about this need and do consider helping us meet this goal as early as possible so we can reach these pastors, most of whom are under ‘pay-for-service’ arrangement (they get paid only when they serve on Sunday services). You may send in a check to our office address above payable to ‘Harvest for Christ Foundation, Inc.’ (please indicate in the memo line “COVID 19 assistance”). Also, you can donate online through our website at : ‘HarvestforChristinc.org.’ We use Paypal to secure your donation and your information.
We are indeed very grateful for your loving support in the past and do sincerely look forward to partnering with you once more so we can extend badly needed assistance to our pastors and their families throughout the Philippines.
Please join us in prayers so we can be led by the Holy Spirit in reaching them as they likewise reach those who need a loving Savior and Redeemer.
“If you love me, take care of my sheep...” (John 21:16)
Your fellow servants in the Lord,
Harvest for Christ Foundation, Inc.
David G. Romulo, Executive Officer
PS. We have advised all our coordinators, pastors and beneficiaries NOT to post this in Facebook or other social media accounts since we will not be able to reach/help everyone. This is being done in grace since those pastors and families whom we (or other local organizations) are not able to help will not feel left out or ignored. We are exhausting all available avenues through which we can identify, verify and help the other unreached pastors in difficult-to-reach areas.