DUMC ‘adopts’ the village of Galilee

At the beginning of 2008, Mission Love Seeds’ president Barbi Carroll received a letter from Rev. Tom Sharron at Destin United Methodist Church letting them know the church would begin supporting the local group’s Philippines mission.

And now Galilee is the fifth village in the Philippines the charity is able to help.

Mission Love Seeds first learned of Galilee during the Christmas Adopt-A-Family program last year. Each family received a small decorated Christmas tree and a feast fit for a king, and each child received a small toy.

“Almost 300 families in the villages of Admiral, Sitio Pantay, Binayuyo and Dumpsite were adopted for Christmas and members of Destin United Methodist Church adopted more than 150 of the families with the help of Betty and John Pope from DUMC,” Carroll said.

“After delivering Christmas dinners and trees to a few families in Galilee, Mission Coordinator Fely Zapanta reported she had never seen a village with children with so many birth defects and living in such  extreme poverty,” Carroll said. “Fely asked that our team visit there in March during our trip to the Philippines.”

The team was greeted warmly when they arrived in March and was invited into many of the 10 by 10 foot homes with dirt floors and no electricity.

“We saw Jerome, a disabled 6-year-old boy in a worn walker,” Carroll said. “Another boy, Allan, had club feet, Ryan had a cleft pallet and many children needed medical attention.”

The children’s clothing was nothing but rags.

“The fabric was so thin and seams hanging and there were tiny holes all over the one set of clothes they owned,” Carroll said. “The children’s shoes, flip flops, had holes in the bottom and were worn very thin. The straps were held together with wire. Many children were barefoot. Many of the smaller children wore worn out T-shirts, no undergarments and were barefooted.”

Seeing the severe conditions the children were living in, Mission Love Seeds invited the children and their families to come to Sitio Pantay where they were having a food and clothing distribution.

“It was quite amazing, with the added  families to feed, that there was enough food for everyone,” Carroll said. “Many children went home with clothes, shoes and every one received a small toy, lollipop and balloons. Even though we have been helping the children of Pantay since 2005, the children of Galilee fit right in. We were one large family in Christ.”

And now, thanks to Destin United Methodist Church, one can see a huge difference in the children in Galilee. They are singing praise songs in English, attending regular Bible studies and “looking like Destin children in clothes donated by DUMC members and other Destin residents.”

There are still many villages in the Philippines that Mission Love Seeds feels called to help, but they can’t do it alone.

If you, your church or organization would like to sponsor a village or donate items you don’t need, call Carroll at (850) 865-1055 or John Hawbaker, vice-president of the group, at (850) 865-6161.