Hope for Poverty-stricken in Philippines
Poverty in the Philippines is not uncommon. However, the life of the poorest of the poor, the “Cemetery People” is unimaginably bleak. “Cemetery People” are squatters who build living shelters in, among, and on top of the tombs there. Bible League International is reaching these poor children of God and giving them hope for salvation through God’s Word.
The crypts are stacked six feet high and thirty across; each crudely cemented compartment holds a coffin and a corpse. Name plates identify each one, some looking more dignified and professional, while others are merely marked by wet cement with finger writing. (See a slideshow on Flickr)
As you walk the aisles in between banks of crypts, you see bones, shattered coffin wood, broken coffin handles, skulls, and other burial items scattered about on the ground. One pile has the marks of an impromptu but poorly carried out cremation, as though someone had attempted to immolate a body that had been thrown down and was rotting openly in the Philippine sun.
Horrible stench and unspeakable filth
Many families live in these conditions, in and among the rotting remains and rubbish, living every day with the horrible stench and the unspeakable filth. They seem to have become desensitized to their surroundings because they appear relatively cheerful.
The children play as children do, in a landscape that would cause most of us to cringe in sadness and disgust. A little boy, maybe four years old, completely nude, walks and plays in the brackish standing water, feet covered with chicken manure and mud. Pastor Capili asks him why he isn't wearing any clothes, and he says, "I don't have any."
Some of the dwellers sleep the sleep of hopelessness in the middle of the afternoon, finding a place under some corrugated tin roof to pass the time. Other people conduct small businesses in the cemetery village, selling some fruits, vegetables, or other convenience foods.
These people have created a shanty town out of whatever materials they can find, even employing the bones of the deceased as supports to prop up walls or roofs. Dwellings of the most primitive kind often house several people.
Finding dignity
These Cemetery People, ‘the least of these,' will ultimately find their true dignity and value in the heavenly kingdom as we continue this great commission ministry.
Yet there are many more who need to hear about Christ. Will you pray for Pastor John and Tess’s ministry to provide hope and help through Bible League International to the poor and poverty-stricken people of the Philippines?
