On February 17, 2006, heavy rains caused a massive mudslide in the Philippine island of Leyte. The mudslide buried Guinsaugon, a mountain village in the town of St. Bernard, under 15 meters (49 feet) of mud and rocks. An estimated 1,500 people perished. The bodies of most of the dead were not recovered. Among the casualties are 246 children and their teachers who were in class when the tragedy happened. Thousands of mountain villagers living near ground zero were evacuated, too, because of potential danger of another mudslide.

Many children who survived the tragedy lost one or both parents and other loved ones. One of them is Teresa Navos. She lost her mother and all her siblings, whose bodies were never found. Her father survived because he was in another village when the mudslide occurred. Teresa was in class in a school in the next village and witnessed the tragedy.

The memory of that fateful day is still fresh in her mind. “It was raining hard that day and the rain clouds darken the sky,” she said. “We were having class when suddenly we heard a loud and deep rumbling sound.” Then they hear people screaming.

Everyone ran outside. Teresa watched in horror as part of the mountain collapsed and buried her village of Guinsaugon. The slide happened quickly and struck without warning. People had no time to run for safety. Teresa wanted to run to their village to help her mother and siblings, but she could not. She was so traumatized by what she saw that she lost consciousness.

The Hands and Feet of God
Teresa is a Christian. Her father became a born-again Christian two weeks before the tragedy. But after the disaster, Teresa became angry with God, demanding to know why He let it happened to her family. She began hating herself and grew confused. There was a deep emptiness in her life that time.

But faithful Christians never gave up on Teresa and her father. In the evacuation area, they kept visiting, counseling, and praying for them. During the saddest time of their lives, the church was with them to be their comfort. The church became the hands and feet of God to restore their hopes and begin life anew.

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) with other Christian organizations came to provide emergency relief. After the relief, NCM in collaboration with the church district responded to the need for long-term and transformational ministry to affected children. NCM and the district leaders started to pray, plan, and dialogue with different partners and families. After several months, St. Bernard Nazarene Child Development Center was launched.

During the early days of the program, Pastor Elmer Longcop, the CDC Director, met Teresa one Sunday. He told her about the need for a volunteer Bible teacher for younger children in the Child Development Center. Teresa saw this as an opportunity to keep herself busy and escape loneliness. “I ask God for leisure to forget the things that happened to me,” she said. She considered this as an answer to her prayer.

But while engaging herself in teaching children, she began to realize that God has a different purpose for her involvement. God spoke to her that she needed to move forward but with a mission this time.

“God has a wonderful purpose for everything,” she testified. “I regret blaming God during my time of sadness. This time, I am thanking Him for the deep joy I have in my heart,” she added. “I am learning to look upon God and surrender everything to Him.”

Helping Children
Now, Teresa, 15 years old, is passionately helping children in St. Bernard Child Development Center to know and trust the Lord. The Holy Spirit is working in and through her mightily. God is using her to teach children valuable lessons in life and loving their parents.

All the survivors of Guinsaugon were now relocated in a new village. The local government declared Ground Zero as a mass grave for those whose bodies were not recovered. For Teresa, her hope and faith in God will live on. After high school, Teresa will pursue a degree in Education.

Used by permission of NCM Magazine. This article appeared in the Spring, 2009 edition.