The Flood’s Fury: A father’s resilience

OnChristmas Eve, Rossel and his 7-year-old grandson, Luke, were not celebrating, but fighting for their lives—clinging to a solar light pole as chestdeep flood waters rushed toward them.

“I was so scared, not just for myself but especially for my grandson’s life. Suddenly, God’s promise that he never abandons us came to mind, and I prayed, Lord, please save us!” Rossel narrates, teary-eyed.

After he had prayed, his neighbor noticed them and assisted in getting them to safety.

Rossel is a resident of Clarin, one of the towns in Misamis Occidental that was devastated by a flash flood on Christmas Day as a result of persistent rain brought on by shear line and wind convergence.

His house is ruined, and most of his belongings have been washed away, but he is thankful that God not only saved them from the flash flood, but He also remains faithful by using people to provide for his recovery.

“Luke has already returned safely to his parents, while my neighbors and I were evacuated in our barangay hall for four days,” Rossel says.

Rossel has put up a makeshift structure in an attempt to rebuild what they have lost. But he admitted that the trauma remains, and that every time it rains, he flees to his aunt’s house.

Our Disaster Response team, along with our church partner, Grace Reformed Church in the East, ministered to the families to help him and his community process the trauma and to encourage them. And to aid their recovery, our team, in partnership with Make Me a Blessing Foundation, also distributed kitchenware sets.

“Thank you very much, this is a huge help to start over,” Rossel says.