Do you ever have those moments in thought that in actuality, you are living in? That’s where my mind has been the last several hours. I’m currently flying on Philippine Airlines headed to Manila where I will eventually land in Ormoc. I think I’m on hour 8 of the 15 on this flight. It’s surreal. I still can’t believe I’ve made it to this point. You see, I feel called to be in my home country…
My name is Mj Saltz and I serve as a Women’s Ministry Leader in the Los Angeles Church of Christ. This coming April, I will be blessed to have served in the full time ministry for 20 years and all those years here in LA.
I was baptized in 1991 during an exciting time in our church. Just a couple of weeks after I was baptized, I gave my first Special Missions Contribution, “To Russia with Love.” I was a freshman in college and I sold everything I had…and I mean everything! My television, my ten speed bicycle, you name it. Since the beginning of my Christian walk, it was instilled in me to love people deeply because God loves people deeply. He wants all men to be saved (Luke 19:10). I had such a passion for “seeking and saving the lost.” I prayed for the whole Mother Country to be saved! I was honored that what little I could contribute would actually save a human soul from the wrath of sin and bring them into the Kingdom of God. I remember thinking to myself that I couldn’t wait until the day that I would have the privilege to go on a mission team, especially one to the Philippines.
The Philippines holds a special place in my heart because I was born in Manila. At the age of 10, our family moved to California and it wasn’t long after that I could no longer speak Tagalog fluently and English became not just my second language, but my only one. This is only my third visit back since permanently moving stateside.
The Philippines is a third world country. I was living in third world conditions, but rural ones. We had food, a clean home, and amazing landscapes. The country is beautiful. I never considered myself to be living in poverty; we weren’t starving and unsanitary. We just lived simply.
When I moved to the USA, life changed dramatically. Everything was just…more. We had more of everything. More food than we ever needed and sadly, some went to waste. More options, more opportunities, more decisions, and for me, eventually more regrets.
I am grateful to be a citizen of this great country. To live free is a right we tend to take for granted, until you find yourself in a different country that doesn’t offer the same freedoms. I became a US citizen my senior year of high school and I was so proud. I’ve lived here now for 31 years. I am married to an amazing man, have two wonderful kids, own a house and two cars and have a college degree. More than all of that, I’ve been a Christian for 22 years. I feel so rich. God has brought me from living in a province in the Philippines, to His Kingdom, where I get to live in a land of wealth…and that brings me to where I am today.
On November 8, 2013 the largest storm recorded in history hit the Visayas region of the Philippines. The sheer mass of this super storm is said by experts to span the distance from Canada to Florida and was 3x stronger than Hurricane Katrina.
At the time storm Haiyan hit, my husband Danny and I had just spent time with Rob and Pam Skinner (leaders of the Tucson Church of Christ) hanging out at the Southwest Churches conference in Long Beach, CA. As we were leaving the restaurant, I looked over to the TV monitor on the wall and CNN was covering a huge storm. Then my heart stopped. My eyes read the writing on the bottom of the screen where it listed the cities the storm hit. Cities where my family live.
All of the sudden, all I could focus on was getting a hold of someone to find out if they were okay. This was Thursday night. By Monday, still no word. The rest of the conference was a bit of a blur because of my intense focus on reaching communications with the Philippines. This region suffered huge structural damage and so cell phone towers were down. Reports were slowly trickling in on not only land, property and business damage, but loss of life. I was feeling desperate. I had to hear from a family member soon or I was going to loose my mind.
Monday was Veteran’s Day. Danny took the kids out for the day and gave me the house to myself to deal with my current family crisis. That is when I decided all I could do is pray. I had an 8 hour quiet time that day. On my knees, I begged God to let today be the day I hear from someone there. By 5pm, after watching Anderson Cooper relay the same story I’d already heard three times on CNN, I decided to try one more time to call into the country. God answered my prayer. My cousin Melcha finally was able to answer her phone.
Without electricity, charging is impossible unless you travel to a big venue where they were operating on generators. She’s a nurse at a hospital in Ormoc and had just come back from charging it. To say hearing her voice was music to my ears is an understatement. In that conversation, she gave me the low down on some of our family’s situation after storm Haiyan. Both her and my aunt’s homes suffered major structural damage. However, the condition was unknown for our remaining family in neighboring towns and villages where communication is harder to come by.
As much as making contact with Melcha was an answered prayer and a balm to know how some family faired the storm, I was still feeling unsettled. I decided to go back on my knees and pray again. I asked God for the safety and relief for both my family and the country at large, as many areas were hit. Suddenly a thought came to me like a spark and would not die down, but instead grew into a fire.
I knew I wanted to financially give aid to my family and would petition many prayers for them, yet it wasn’t enough. The spark was me feeling called to personally go to the Philippines to give aid. That calling felt so strong. As I was working out the possibility in my mind of going, all I saw was obstacle after obstacle. I was one person…what kind of difference could I make especially when there were big organizations already hitting the ground to bring relief in the form of food, water, and medical supplies.
Then there was approaching my husband with the prospect of going, leaving my 9 year old son and 7 year old daughter for him to care for while overseeing the church. I still would need to get approval from the ministry staff for the time off and not to mention how was I going to pay all the traveling expenses?? Basically, I knew it was a dream but one I couldn’t stop myself from going after even if I wanted to because it was such a strong pull…I have full conviction that I was Spirit led to go after it.
I prayed that God would reveal His will whether I should go or not. I knew that it was my job to not quench the Spirit but to put the decision in God’s hands and He would either open or close doors. All I could do was ask…but I knew that if I got the green light from first my husband, then my supervisors on the ministry staff, and encouragement from our church, well, that was just the start.
The storm was only 4 days old at the time. Getting into the country would be difficult. I had to hang on to these scriptures, “With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). And, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).
Logically, to visit a few months down the road seems like it would be more productive in terms of having a clearer view of what the country’s needs were and how best to go about rebuilding lives, through reconstruction of homes, offering medical services and creating job opportunities. Yet, I couldn’t ignore the parallels of my current situation to Esther’s in the book of Esther. How could I stay in the comfort of my home while I had family members suffering? (1 Timothy 5:8)
Esther was picked from a province in her land, married into the kingdom to the king, and lived a privileged life until one day, tragedy would strike, unless she, being just one person, would have the courage to make a difference for her people, her country. (Esther 2:5-18 & Ch. 4)
Although I never received the call to go on a mission team oversees in my 22 years, I can’t help to think that maybe, at “such a time as this” I need to go back and help my family – in person. Nothing can compare to personally being there to see them, hear them, touch them, offer them comfort and support. I don’t want them to just get it from me through monetary means. It is my desire to show them my compassion in real time. I hope to also offer spiritual counseling during this crisis. Ormoc doesn’t currently have a church in our fellowship of churches but there is a projected date of 2018 for the mission planting. My prayer is that my family will be some of the first converts.
Through much prayer, support of the LA staff (especially the Inland Empire Region), the Desert Cities Church of Christ, where I serve along side my husband, my physical family stateside, many friends, and sheer determination and hard work, God has opened every door I approached. Randy Jordon, CEO of HOPE worldwide, has been tremendous in helping me get my Humanitarian visit approved and put me in contact with the Metro Manila Christian Church. Danny Cabadsan, evangelist for the church in Cebu, has been a key factor in helping me to organize my Humanitarian efforts in Ormoc.
I found a donation site online that I was comfortable with and wrote a brief memo stating my situation and desired plans. Ultimately, I had a goal of raising $6,000 to cover my travel expenses, food, supplies, construction materials and respite for my family. Through the generosity of so many family and friends, I was able to raise almost $7,000 in just over two weeks. WOW! I am in awe and speechless over the amazing hearts of people who give simply from being moved by a need. This reminds me of my church’s benevolent arm, HOPE worldwide.
For years, because of the generosity of our church members all over the world, HOPE worldwide has been recognized as one of the premier non-profit organizations to not only help meet the needs when they arise but to also be among the first responders. As is the case in storm Haiyan (or Yolanda known by the locals), HOPE worldwide was one of the first to land and offer tremendous support. Truly, they are leaders in offering benevolence with God speed.
So as I make my way over to the Visayas region, it is my hope that in the two weeks of my stay, I will have made a significant difference for the good in the lives of many, for I know that already this storm has made it’s impact on me.
And my journey continues…
Shared from http://mjsaltzblog.wordpress.com/
