With our return to the United States from Bantayan Island, we have renewed excitement over the events that have transpired over the past few months.
The people of the island welcomed us with open arms and told us that our coming to the Island was an answer to their long awaited prayers to the Lord for help. After the destruction of their homes by a typhoon in 2006, most of the Nipa Huts that the islanders live in were never repaired.
Unlike American homes that have complicated and expensive structures, the dwellings of the people in the fishing villages on Bantayan Island, have simple structures made from Coconut trees and Bamboo.
We discovered that we can repair partially destroyed homes for about $500.00 and completely rebuild a new home for a little more than $2,000.00
Having completed phase one of our ministry to the people of the Island we return to the United States to raise the support that will be needed to return to Bantayan Island this October.
We already have a ministry team on the ground on the island preparing and gathering the materials that we will need to begin the construction of many new homes. Once we have raised adequate funds to start the construction of new homes, we will return to the Island later this year.
For those of you who have already sent us your financial support while we were on Bantayan Island, you can see how those funds were quickly put to use in the second video we produced while on the island called: “The Children of Bantayan Island”, seen on our web site: www.bantayanisland.org. We were able to help over 40 families and open the door to all of our future ministry to the people because of your generosity in giving even while we were still present on the island.
The people were shocked and amazed that we walked into their villages, spoke to them along the shore, and gave them financial aide. They told us that no one has ever come into their villages and helped them before. When we explained that we were there because the Lord had spoke to us and told us to “Help Them”, they cried as they realized that God had heard their cries for help.
The following is a list of the current ministry needs that we are praying and seeking the Lord for. If you have been praying yourself about helping us in our efforts and wondered what areas of need we have, this partial list will assist you in making a decision to provide support for the people of the island.
1. Our initial goal is to rebuild about 50 of the damaged homes of the fishermen on Bantayan Island. At $500.00 per re-build, our need to complete this project is about $25,000.00
2. We hope to construct at least 50 new dwellings for those families that have homes so severely damaged by the typhoon that they need to be torn down and re-built. Amazingly, we can completely rebuild a brand new home for a family for about $2,000.00. The cost to rebuild 50 new homes would be about $100,000.00.
3. The greatest need of the people of Bantayan Island is for help with their daily food. We can best supply that help by simply bringing bags of white rice into the villages and distributing a month’s supply to each family. This white rice will supplement the fish and fruit that they are able to gather from the natural resources of the island and make complete meals for their families. It takes about 8 kilos of rice for a family of 5, per month. A kilo of rice costs about 40 Pesos. Forty Pesos is just about one dollar. For about $8.00 per month we can feed an entire family of five. We hope to be able to feed 500 families per month. We need about $4,000.00 per month to meet this goal of feeding 500 families on Bantayan Island per month.
4. When we spent time with the people of the island in their villages, one of the items that was most requested was for clothing. Not necessarily new clothes, but just clothing without holes and wear. In the Philippines we can purchase clothing at a lower cost than almost anywhere else. A set of t-shirts, shorts and flip flops would cost less than $5.00 per person. If we wanted to supply clothes for 500 people, we could do so for less than $2,500.00.
5. Finally, there are many medical needs for the people on Bantayan Island. There are many who need to see a doctor but do not have the financial means to pay the doctor for their services. We can take one person to see a doctor on the island for less than 1,000 Pesos, which is a little more than $20.00. If we set a goal of taking 100 people to the doctor, we would require about $2,000.00 to meet that need.
Of course there are many more than 500 families that need our help on the Island, but these initial goals above are realistic and achievable with the help of people around the world who will come alongside us to supply the financial resources to meet these needs.
It is not our intention to place guilt or compel anyone to give to this cause, nor do we seek any financial assistance for ourselves in these efforts.
100 Percent of every dollar given to the needs of the People of Bantayan Island, will go to the People of Bantayan Island. We are supported by other financial resources so that we do not have to be a burden to the Ministry to these precious people.
If you feel led to help us meet the desperate needs of these precious people, you can go to our ministry website for Bantayan Island at www.bantayanisland.org and click on either the “Donate” link or “The Ministry to Bantayan Island.”
For a complete explanation of the purpose of this website at www.bantayanisland.org, click on the link “About”. We set up the website as a travel information website for Bantayan Island so that people who are seeking a vacation destination could find Bantayan Island and at the same time learn how they can help with the needs of the desperate people of the island.
Thank you in advance to all those who will help us make these goals a reality for the People of Bantayan Island.
If you go to the website at www.bantayanisland.org and click on either of the video’s: “The people of Bantayan Island”, or “The Children of Bantayan Island”, you will get an idea of who the people you will be helping are and the living conditions for their families presently on the island.
Many thanks and may the Lord continue to bless your life as you give unto the least of these…
Jesus said that when we love people in His Name and meet their needs, we are doing these things to Him.
Pastor Rob and Marissa Robinson
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