Arenda Relief from WMC, Asia Pacific on Vimeo.
Since 2001, Taytay Church of the Nazarene has been ministering to a community of people living on a garbage dump called Arenda, in Metropolitan Manila, the Philippines. Church members conduct Bible studies, Sunday school, teach children and visit homes for personal evangelism.
In 2003, the Nazarene Church acquired property from the local government at the dump site. Volunteers from the churches put up a tent and gathered people for mission and feeding programs for the children.
"The ladies will cook food and once a week every Saturday gather children and give them some simple meal and then start teaching them about Jesus," said Lucinda Tamayo, pastor of Taytay Church of the Nazarene. "We did not only reach the children. We started reaching the families and the adults."
In 2004 a Work & Witness team came to build a church for the people of Arenda. The mission church there is a growing. Some in Arenda have heard God's call to ministry and Taytay church is sponsoring some to attend an extension Bible school. Nearly 30 enrollees came from among the Taytay and Arenda congregations earlier this year.
"We are continuing our feeding program there. It has increased, because we only used to feed 50 children, but now we feed 250. One hundred to 150 families are represented," Tamayo said. "Life here in the Philippines is very hard, especially now. Aside from being a third world country the global economic situation has worsened the situation here. To minister to the poor the church needs to do something other than teach and preach the Word. We need to meet their physical needs. When people feel that they are loved, they respond."
About 15,000 families live in Arenda, Tamayo said. In the Philippines the average family is about five.
When Typhoon Ketsana slammed into Manila the last week of September, Arenda was hit especially hard as wind, rain and flood waters destroyed the makeshift homes. As seen in this video, Nazarenes from around the area rallied to assist those in need.