Her name is Elisabeth. They call her Ma’am Elisabeth. She is
the principal at the only school on the island of Gibitgnil. She has the
respect of the whole community and her students in that she had brought the
small school in Gibitngil from a grade one through six school to one that goes
all the way through the 12th grade. This is very important to the
2,500 residents of the islands. This means that their children can stay at home
until fourth year high school and not have to go off the island everyday to go
to school once they reach the seventh grade.
Ma’am Elisabeth and her school had a huge setback when
typhoon Yolanda swept through their island. Not only did they lose many of
their homes and small government offices, several of the structures at the
local school were destroyed or damaged. She was worried how she would convince
anyone to come help her school since they were so small and isolated.
A member of the BGR Rapid Assistance Team, Dwain Carter,
came to her island and was moved by what he saw. He agreed to try and help
rally resources to their aid. Dwain is not only a Pastor in Missouri but also
the State Disaster Relief Coordinator as well.
This past week, I saw Dwain helping to fulfill his promise
to Ma’am Elisabeth. He had some back with a disaster relief team from Missouri
and supplies provided by Southern Baptists. They were working under hard
conditions to help restore the school and still smiled as they worked.
Ma’am Elisabeth had taken a week off to work on her own house
but when she saw Pastor Dwain coming back, she decided to help with the school
reconstruction. She is very appreciative of Dwain, his group and the help
provided by Southern Baptists to assist in the rebuilding of their school and
keeping their children on their island until they are ready for college.
Everyone is sacrificing a lot to help the Philippines
recovery effort. But it is worth it for the glory of God.
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