Arise Immanuel
Donation protected
Arise Immanuel is a disaster relief and recovery fund to rebuild and restore Immanuel Mission Methodist Church on the island of Saipan.
Super Typhoon Yutu, a category 5 equivalent, made landfall Wednesday, October 24, 2018, on the islands of Saipan and Tinian. The eye of the storm hovered over the islands for hours with gushing windspeeds of up to 185 mph, destroying everything in its path. In fact, Yutu has been declared one of the strongest storms on record to hit US soil and the most powerful storm on Earth this year.
In the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu, Immanuel Mission Methodist Church sustained severe damages beyond repair. The devastating losses to the community are both immense and heartbreaking.
Immanuel Mission Methodist Church is our family’s church. In 1990, our parents were called to lead the church in Saipan. This year marked nearly 28 years of their dedicated ministry, serving together with and alongside church members. Right now, the only path forward is to provide immediate relief needs to recover from the devastation of Yutu. The community is so close-knit that immediately after the storm calmed, members gathered at the church, despite their homes being completely destroyed. The church is such an integral part of their daily lives that upon seeing my parents’ damaged home, members quickly proceeded to patch and seal the gaping walls and windows to provide a temporary shelter.
Thanks to all the prayers, the church was able to secure a temporary location at a local school to hold Sunday services. While response efforts are still on the way, Arise Immanuel is on a mission dedicated towards the immediate and long-term recovery and restoration of the church and the community. Yutu may have destroyed the walls and collapsed the roofs, but by faith and in truth, Immanuel Mission Methodist Church will rise. You too can be a part of this story – Arise Immanuel!
About the organizers:
We (Hanna, Jennifer, and Elizabeth - the Lee’s sisters) are the organizers of this campaign fundraising on behalf of Immanuel Mission Methodist Church. Immanuel Mission Methodist Church is our family’s church. Our dad, in his early 30’s, brought his wife (our mom) and his three young daughters to the island of Saipan to start this ministry. There were no water or electricity when we first came. There was a one story structure at the time. We lived in a small room built adjacent to the church. As years went by, the church was enlarged and our home was rebuilt adjacent to the church building. The church was where we grew up. It is where we experienced the power of electricity and running water. We all left our home and now live in different parts of the world, but our parents are still there today. This year marked their 28th year of ministry. Our hearts are broken seeing this devastation and our hearts ache not being able to help physically on site. Along with our prayers, we set up this campaign to provide financial support for the church to help in any immediate disaster relief and recovery needs. Unfortunately, there are some technicalities when it comes to U.S. territories so the funds cannot be directly sent to our church in Saipan. It breaks our heart to know that such unreasonable restrictions and limitations are still present in U.S. territories in this day and age. As of now, our intermediary plan is to withdraw the funds to Elizabeth Lee (one of the organizers of this fundraiser) who will then send the fund as a gift to the church. All donations will go towards meeting immediate disaster relief and long-term recovery needs. For any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Super Typhoon Yutu, a category 5 equivalent, made landfall Wednesday, October 24, 2018, on the islands of Saipan and Tinian. The eye of the storm hovered over the islands for hours with gushing windspeeds of up to 185 mph, destroying everything in its path. In fact, Yutu has been declared one of the strongest storms on record to hit US soil and the most powerful storm on Earth this year.
In the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu, Immanuel Mission Methodist Church sustained severe damages beyond repair. The devastating losses to the community are both immense and heartbreaking.
Immanuel Mission Methodist Church is our family’s church. In 1990, our parents were called to lead the church in Saipan. This year marked nearly 28 years of their dedicated ministry, serving together with and alongside church members. Right now, the only path forward is to provide immediate relief needs to recover from the devastation of Yutu. The community is so close-knit that immediately after the storm calmed, members gathered at the church, despite their homes being completely destroyed. The church is such an integral part of their daily lives that upon seeing my parents’ damaged home, members quickly proceeded to patch and seal the gaping walls and windows to provide a temporary shelter.
Thanks to all the prayers, the church was able to secure a temporary location at a local school to hold Sunday services. While response efforts are still on the way, Arise Immanuel is on a mission dedicated towards the immediate and long-term recovery and restoration of the church and the community. Yutu may have destroyed the walls and collapsed the roofs, but by faith and in truth, Immanuel Mission Methodist Church will rise. You too can be a part of this story – Arise Immanuel!
About the organizers:
We (Hanna, Jennifer, and Elizabeth - the Lee’s sisters) are the organizers of this campaign fundraising on behalf of Immanuel Mission Methodist Church. Immanuel Mission Methodist Church is our family’s church. Our dad, in his early 30’s, brought his wife (our mom) and his three young daughters to the island of Saipan to start this ministry. There were no water or electricity when we first came. There was a one story structure at the time. We lived in a small room built adjacent to the church. As years went by, the church was enlarged and our home was rebuilt adjacent to the church building. The church was where we grew up. It is where we experienced the power of electricity and running water. We all left our home and now live in different parts of the world, but our parents are still there today. This year marked their 28th year of ministry. Our hearts are broken seeing this devastation and our hearts ache not being able to help physically on site. Along with our prayers, we set up this campaign to provide financial support for the church to help in any immediate disaster relief and recovery needs. Unfortunately, there are some technicalities when it comes to U.S. territories so the funds cannot be directly sent to our church in Saipan. It breaks our heart to know that such unreasonable restrictions and limitations are still present in U.S. territories in this day and age. As of now, our intermediary plan is to withdraw the funds to Elizabeth Lee (one of the organizers of this fundraiser) who will then send the fund as a gift to the church. All donations will go towards meeting immediate disaster relief and long-term recovery needs. For any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Organizer
Elizabeth H Lee
Organizer
Saipan, MP
