Prayer and a Gemelina tree saved his life. For five long hours, Rowel Martinez, a 34-year-old house painter, and his brother, clung to dear life during the storm surge caused by super Typhoon Yolanda.
To rise above this tragedy that befell his family and thousands of people from the Visayas, Rowel said that he prayed anew for another opportunity for livelihood. “I know it will be harder for me to get work as a house painter because people not only lost their homes, but also their livelihood,” Rowel said desperately.
God answered his prayer through Operation Blessing Philippines (OB). The organization has set up a base in Tacloban, one of several in the Visayas, immediately after the Typhoon Yolanda tragedy. Through OB, Globe and Cloudfone partnered with CBN Asia by donating Cloudfone mobile devices, SIM cards, and prepaid load cards for the benefit of Typhoon Yolanda survivors and other CBN Asia Family of Ministries projects. Rowel was among the recipients of a Cloudfone Android smartphone, Globe SIM card, and P300 Globe prepaid load to start his loading business. Rowel could not be happier.
Grateful to Operation Blessing and Globe, Rowel said in the vernacular, “This loading station business will be a great help for us to start again. Aside from being a good business, we can use this mobile phone to communicate with our relatives in Manila and tell them about our situation, so they wouldn’t have to worry about us.”
