GUINSAUGON, Philippines — International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries in the Philippines are calling for prayer as they prepare to respond to the Feb. 17 landslide that buried the small village of Guinsaugon on Leyte island.
More than 100 bodies have been pulled from the mountain of mud that swallowed 375 homes there; Filipino officials say they fear the death toll could climb as high as 1,500.
“We are saddened to know that more than 1,000 Filipinos have been buried alive,” Carl Miller, an IMB missionary to the Philippines, said. “Sadder still is the fact that most of these Filipinos have died without knowing Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and will spend eternity separated from God.”
Though no IMB personnel were in Guinsaugon when the landslide hit, a team has been sent to the village to assess the damage and learn how they can best help. The missionaries ask people to pray for an end to the heavy rains that initially caused the landslide and continue to slow rescue efforts. IMB personnel also have requested prayer for wisdom and safety of the rescue crews as well as the IMB team headed to Guinsaugon.
Rescue workers used ground-penetrating radar, capable of mapping structures up to 50 feet deep, to search for possible survivors, an Associated Press story reported Feb. 21. U.S. Marines worked alongside Philippine troops and technical experts from Malaysia and Taiwan to aid in the relief, the report said, but were hampered by cave-ins in areas they attempted to excavate. For more information or to give to the relief effort in Guinsaugon visit www.imb.org/worldhunger.
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