The Rabulans were enjoying a quiet family breakfast in their small tin house along the shoreline of Laguna Lake on a Saturday morning. It was still dark outside at 6:30, and all they could hear was the ominous pounding of rain on the roof.

Maria and her husband felt there was no cause for alarm. After all, tropical storms are commonplace in the Philippines. Typhoon Ketsana would most likely cause some disruption in their lives, but they would just hunker down and ride out the storm with their six children like they always did.

But within a few minutes, they knew that this one would be different.

“While we were eating, water came in under the door,” Maria said. “It started rising very fast in the house.”

Maria picked up the two-year-old, and she and her husband ran with their frightened children to his parents’ house on higher group up the road. The couple hurried back home, wading through the now waist-deep water to frantically grab a few belongings.

They made it safely to Maria’s in-law’s home, where they would stay for the next two weeks with eight other families. Soon, though, they had to move.

“There were just too many people living in my father-in-law’s house—all of us and my husband’s brothers and sisters and their children—so we decided after two weeks to move out,” Maria said. “Our house was still standing in several feet of water. We couldn’t go back there.”

An aunt had several abandoned pigpens that she was offering to people who had nowhere to stay. The pen was clean, and it would provide some shelter and privacy, so the Rabulans said yes.

The 4’ x 8’ concrete holding pen became their temporary home—for how long they didn’t know.

Hope Reborn
Two months after the typhoon wreaked havoc on their lives, the tiny quarters in the pen were far from comfortable, but they made the most of an incomprehensible situation.

Spread out on the concrete floor was a mat where the youngest children could stretch out and sleep. A rack in the corner held a handful of dishes, their clothes were stored in plastic bags, and water jugs and miscellaneous items filled the rest of the dwelling. A blue tarp supported by bamboo poles served as a makeshift roof.

The family received assistance from a variety of sources. A local church brought sleeping mats and mosquito nets supplied by Samaritan’s Purse. They walked to their in-laws’ nearby house to take baths.

When the water finally receded, it left behind a mess of muck and foul smells that rendered their house uninhabitable.

“There was nothing much left,” Maria said. “Everything inside was totally washed out. We were able to save some clothes and pots and pans, and that was all.”

Hope seemed bleak for the hundreds of displaced families in their community of Los Banos. Would a sense of normalcy and security ever return?

As Christmas approached, Samaritan’s Purse wanted to bring encouragement and reassurance of God’s love to needy families like the Rabulans. A small gift can go a long way in restoring hope. What better way than through Operation Christmas Child!

About 150 Filipino children experienced this special blessing when shoe box gifts were distributed at Immanuel Baptist Church in Los Banos. A sign on the wall behind the altar proclaimed: “The Greatest Gift This Christmas.”

Maria stood with other parents in a ring around the sanctuary, quietly taking in the scene as one child at a time came forward to receive a colorfully-wrapped gift.

At last, all of the gifts had been handed out and the room erupted into happy pandemonium. Maria joined two of her children to see what treasures were in their boxes.

John, four, showed his mother the plastic cow figure and sunglasses. Kristal, six, was elated to receive school supplies and a letter from the family in Brooklyn, New York who packed her box.

Maria dabbed her eyes with a piece of cloth.

“I can’t afford to buy these things for my children,” she said. “They needed these school supplies. Thank you to the family who gave this gift.”

The Greatest Gift
More Christmas blessings followed. A tent city opened near the church, and the Rabulans were among dozens of families who were able to relocate while recovery work continued. It was definitely an improvement over the pigpen that had been their home for weeks.

One of the Operation Christmas Child volunteers walked with Maria and her children back to the pen. Toys and candy were soon spilling out of the boxes onto the mat as the children played contentedly.

The volunteer had lost her own home to Typhoon Ketsana. Everything inside, including her prized books, were destroyed.

“I know losing your home was difficult,” she told Maria. “Where you live now is only temporary. But God has a place planned for you that is nicer than any house here on earth. He loves you and wants you to be with Him one day in heaven—in His house that won’t ever be washed away or destroyed.”

Maria nodded and prayed to receive Jesus Christ into her heart. She held her baby close to her side and smiled.

The volunteer smiled too. Homeless herself, she couldn’t build Maria’s family a new house, but she could show them the way to God’s dwelling place in heaven. And that was the greatest gift she could give on Christmas.

Samaritan's Purse , Philippines , Operation Christmas Child , A Christmas Gift