For Mari Lu and Lino Vizoro, a new house changed everything.

Top: This shanty is where the Vizoro family used to live. Left: The Vizoro family now lives in this house built by the Gawad Kalinga housing program. Right: Mari Lu, Samantha, Angelica, and Lino Vizoro.

“We used to be one of three families who lived together in one house,” Mari Lu said. “The house had no toilet inside—we had just a common outhouse for 10 families! When it rained the house flooded because it was below street level. This new house is above street level, so it won’t flood.”

The Vizoros, along with their daughters Samantha and Angelica, live in Pasay City, part of metro Manila in the Philippines. They used to live in the shanty pictured here, which was patched together with tin, wood, and whatever other materials they could find. Flooding and disease were two major problems in the area, along with crowded and dirty living conditions.

Thousands of families live in horrible conditions in slums throughout the Philippines. An estimated 5 million families in the Philippines are in need of safe housing. These poor men, women, and children live each day on the edge of survival. Families living here are constantly exposed to garbage, polluted water, and disease.

But there is hope for these families. The Gawad Kalinga (Giving Care) housing program replaces these shanty communities with clean, safe houses. For families like the Vizoros, a new house is more than just a building—it’s a chance for Mari Lu and Lino to offer a better future for Samantha and Angelica. Their new house, shown here, keeps them warm and dry, and it also gives them self-esteem and hope.

Mari Lu says God gave her a house and answered her prayer for a safe place to raise her daughters.

“Thank you for the materials to build a dream come true,” she said.

Click here to read about Gawad Kalinga and the many other housing programs that Cross International supports around the world with the help of generous American Christians.

It can be humiliating to be treated as a charity case—the object of someone else’s pity and justification for their pride. Not being able to feed your family can be enough of a blow to your self esteem; but having food (or a house, or other basic need) provided in the wrong spirit can be almost as crushing.

Poor Filipino families participate in the solution to their housing problem by helping construct the homes provided to them.

That is why Cross International takes care to maintain the dignity of the poor. Rather than take a “Santa Claus” approach, we lend behind-the-scenes support to local churches and ministries already serving poor communities. A needy family is helped by a pastor in their own neighborhood, for example. This not only builds up a family’s self worth and sense of community, it builds up the local church as well.

Whenever possible, we also require the poor to be part of their own solution. For instance:

• Side-by-side with local Filipino Christians, poor families in Manila help build and paint the homes they receive through Gawad Kalinga.
• Villagers in Zambia collect rocks and sand to make cement for much-needed wells and latrines through the Chikankata Water Project.
• And disenfranchised Haitian families living in the Dominican Republic are asked to pay a token amount toward their children’s education at Light Community School.

As Christians, we are instructed to treat others—including the very poor—as we would want to be treated (Luke 6:31). More than that, in humility we are to consider them better than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3). It is with such humility that Cross International strives to honor the poor by helping them in Jesus’ name, and with his love.

Three brothers, along with their wives and children—12 people in all—lived together in one tiny makeshift shack in a slum in Manila, Philippines. The place crawled with mice and roaches. When it rained the house flooded in knee-deep dirty water. The only table in the house doubled as a bed because space was so tight.

Lani and her husband, Zoilo, are grateful for their new home. They no longer share a cramped, roach-ridden shanty with two other families.

The brothers worked hard for their meager incomes, but there were so many mouths to feed they could not afford a decent roof over their heads. Then came a group of fellow Filipinos—Christians who wanted to help. They offered a project called Gawad Kalinga.

Housing is only one component of Gawad Kalinga’s holistic, sustainable approach to community development. Programs teach values, train in livelihood skills, and encourage accountability, and foster neighborly cooperation. Eventually, the dog-eat-dog slum mentality of self-preservation is replaced by the Golden Rule.

Today the three families live together as next-door neighbors, but they each enjoy their own homes, sponsored through Cross International. The sister-in-laws recently told us how they felt about their homes:

According to Lani, her youngest son said, “Oh, Mommy! We don’t have to run with cockroaches anymore!” Fredelynn said, “Now I can have both a dining table AND a bed!”  And Mari Lu told us, “Thank you for the materials to build a dream come true!”

Click here to learn more about how Gawad Kalinga turns dirty, dangerous slums into bright and friendly communities, through the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

In Proverbs 17:22 we are reminded that “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…” Over the last several months we have been overwhelmed with images of sadness and despair from Haiti and, more recently, Chile. Sometimes it is nice to be reminded that the poor smile. Below are recent photos from the field of some of the individuals who we’ve helped through the generosity of American Christians. Remember God’s promise from Psalm 30:5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Nicaragua

Guatemala

Dominican Republic

Philippines

On Wednesday, many Christians began observing Lent, a time of prayer and fasting during the weeks leading up to Easter. Although some denominations don’t recognize Lent, the practice has a long history among both Protestants and Catholics.

There’s a tradition that during Lent, Christians will give up a particular luxury they enjoy, such as unhealthy foods or even television. But this year, some pastors are calling on their flocks to take a slightly different approach: don’t just give something up – give it away.

The Rev. Bill Hewitt from the Church of Scotland encouraged his congregation this week to reach out with their time and talents to others in need: “I prefer the idea of Lent being a time of giving of ourselves in service to others. This runs contrary to a culture that suggests that the only thing that motivates people is money.”

Lent is a great opportunity for Christians to bless others while denying themselves. We can turn our thoughts not only to the needs of the neighbor across the street, but also to the poor and downtrodden around the world. Of course, not everyone can personally travel to a faraway land to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, but those of us who stay home have an important role to play in supporting those who go.

Our Cross International mission partners simply could not do what they do without the generous giving of our Christian donors. Whether you choose to feed orphans at the Kondanani Children’s Village in Malawi or build houses for poor families in the Philippines, your gifts make a real difference. Check out our online project catalog to see how you can be a blessing in someone’s life today!

We’re grateful to all our supporters who have responded to our Disaster Relief campaign for the flood-ravaged Philippines. The crisis may no longer be a front-page headline, now that weeks have passed since typhoons Ketsana and Parma swept through the country, but much work remains to be done.

A new danger now threatens the area of Manila, where a lot of land is still underwater. Health officials are reporting a deadly outbreak of a bacterial disease called leptospirosis.

The initial impact of the storms – the deaths of more than 850 people and displacement of hundreds of thousands – can’t be minimized. But a new danger now threatens the area of Manila, where a lot of land is still underwater.

Health officials are reporting a deadly outbreak of a bacterial disease called leptospirosis, which is caused by exposure to animal urine. The outbreak has already killed more than 130 people, and the latest report was that nearly 2,000 sick patients remained in government hospitals. The situation is so bad that one health official is calling this outbreak of leptospirosis one of the worst in the world.

Large areas of floodwater are not expected to recede until December, and it was feared that a third typhoon, Lupit, would cause even more problems. Thankfully, Lupit changed direction late last week and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Thank you for keeping our Filipino friends and ministry partners in your prayers. It’s not too late to send a gift to our Cross International Disaster Relief Fund to help us deliver food, medicine, and other emergency items to displaced families.

Still reeling from the damage and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana just days ago, our partners in the Philippines are bracing for another destructive storm. Super Typhoon Parma (called Pepeng locally) is expected to bring heavy rainfall and major property damage to the Philippines on Saturday, according to meteorologists.

A boy is lifted onto the roof of a building to escape the flooding in the Quezon City suburban of Manila.

At least 284 people in the Philippines were killed by the first storm, which strengthened into a typhoon and barreled into Vietnam Wednesday, claiming the lives of at least 74 people. Both countries are struggling to recover with hundreds of thousands displaced by the floodwaters.

We are responding to this desperate situation by offering emergency funds to our mission partners in the field for disaster relief. Click here to see how you can help by donating to our Philippines/Vietnam disaster relief fund.

Over the last several days we have been in touch with some of our partners in the Philippines and Vietnam. Some of them have sustained heavy damage. (Click here to see some photos from one of our partners in the Philippines.) They say the people’s greatest needs right now are food and clean water. They are holding on, but they need our help — especially with the super typhoon closing in.

One of our partners in Manila emailed us today describing the need:

It is by God’s grace that we are spared and still able to minister to the people. Some of people were badly affected by the previous typhoon and there is still a lot of relief work that needs to be done. Please continue to pray for the Philippines as we are preparing for two more typhoons coming our way. Thanks.

Please continue to pray for the safety of those in the Philippines and Vietnam as Super Typhoon Parma approaches, and join us in providing emergency disaster relief to our partners there.

We reached out to several of our ministry partners in the Philippines and Vietnam over the last few days to see if they were OK after the devastating floods caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana. So far, we’ve only heard back from one of them — please continue to pray.

At least 400,000 people from Manila and the surrounding provinces have been displaced by Tropical Storm Ketsana’s flood waters

On Saturday (Sept. 26), Tropical Storm Ketsana barreled into the northern Philippines, dropping more than a month’s worth of rain — 16.7 inches — in just 12 hours. Massive floods quickly engulfed Manila and the surrounding areas, causing the capital’s worst flooding in more than 42 years. (Click here to see photos.) The government quickly declared a “state of calamity” in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, appealing for international help.

Local officials say the death toll from flooding in the Philippines continues to rise as the strengthened storm, now Typhoon Ketsana, moved on to slam into central Vietnam today (Tuesday), killing at least 23 Vietnamese. They say at least 284 in the Philippines have died in the floods brought on by the storm, but that number is likely to rise.

One of our ministry partners in the Philippines emailed us news of the devastation this morning (Tuesday):

This typhoon is really a tragedy. All schools are closed for the week. People still have water in their house waist deep. Many of our parents have nothing left. What they have salvaged they are trying to dry in the sun, but another typhoon is expected in the next few days. But you know the people here they are very resilient and say, “At least our kids are alive.”

The BBC reported today that nearly 400,000 people are living in temporary relief shelters in Manila and the surrounding provinces. Flood waters in some areas subsided Monday, but thousands of homes are still without power.

Continue to pray for the people of the Philippines and Vietnam, and say special prayers for our ministry partners working so diligently to help the storm-devastated people. Click here to learn more about what we are doing to help the poor in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Though we evaluate our work in terms of the benefit to the poor, the fact is that our projects also have an incredible impact on the men and women who have dedicated their lives to charity and self-sacrifice. One person who comes to mind is Bobby Rodrigo. He is a resource general director with Gawad Kalinga, a Cross project that provides housing for poor families in the Philippines.

Bobby Rodrigo (right) gave up a life of luxury so that he could serve the poor through the Gawad Kalinga housing project.

Bobby experienced the best the world had to offer and realized it wasn’t enough. The retired Filipino businessman was living in a 75,000 square-foot mansion with 12 bedrooms and a 10-car garage when he decided to get involved with the Gawad Kalinga project. His garage alone was a luxury resort compared to the dilapidated slums he soon found himself in. The small shanties, pieced together with salvaged scraps of cardboard, tin, tarpaulin, and discarded wood, were homes to entire families who could only dream of owning one car, let alone 10. The disparity touched him deeply.

In the face of such need, Bobby felt he could no longer justify his lavish lifestyle. He sold his mansion and moved into a much more modest home, and focused his attention on alleviating the suffering of desperate families in the slum communities.

Later, Bobby developed a blocked artery and needed open-heart surgery. His doctor scheduled an angiogram in the morning – so Bobby could see the blockage for himself – and the surgery for the afternoon of the same day.

What happened next is best explained in Bobby’s own words. “The night before the procedures, I prayed, ‘Lord, please help me be well so I can finish all the Gawad Kalinga work we’ve got going for the poor.’ I prayed harder than I had in my whole life.

“The next day, they could find no blockage. The doctor said, ‘You must have strong connections upstairs, because there’s no explanation. It’s a miracle!’”

Bobby didn’t need the doctor, because God had already performed surgery on his heart, in more ways than one. He’s become a new man with a new calling and a new lease on life.

We are so thankful for the compassionate men and women who are helping us bring God’s love to the poorest of the poor. They are out in the field every day, providing the needy with shelter, food, medicine, clothing, education, and hope for a better future. And we want you to be a part of it.

To find out how you can get involved with our work in the slums of the Philippines, click here.

One out of every seven people on the planet does not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. That’s a staggering statistic from the United Nation’s World Food Programme, which recently released a nifty map that charts the depth of hunger around the world.

There are more than 1 billion undernourished people in the world today. In fact, hunger and malnutrition are the number one risk to health worldwide — greater than AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis combined!

The saddest fact: hunger is preventable. The international community has the knowledge and resources to end world hunger, but it is lacking the motivation to face the problem head on. For now, the solution comes one food program at a time.

Below is a story from one of our mission partners in the Philippines who is doing its part to help eradicate this dire problem:

Maria used to save most of the meal she received at a feeding center in her Philippines community for her mother, who often went without a meal.

As Maria ate her portion of boiled rice and cabbage, she pushed most of it to the side of her plate and was eating only a small bit. One of the helpers at the feeding center came over and asked, “Maria, don’t you like the food?”

Maria looked up at the woman, her eyes wide and face solemn, and said, “I’m saving some to take home for my mama.”

Touched by the little girl’s words, the woman replied, “Tell your mama and papa they can come here to eat with you.”

Maria’s parents returned with her the next day, and more people began flooding to the center hoping for a meal. Soon the program grew from 100 to 300. Now 350 desperately poor people from Malabon, near the Catmon Dump Site, receive a nutritious meal at the center each day.

We support several feeding programs like this one around the globe. Want to help? Check out our project catalog.