My name is Matt Young. I'm from the US

I have been doing ministry and serving the people of the Philippines for the past 12 years.

My ministry focuses on feeding the poor, educational empowerment in the way of sponsoring children for school and college, caring for sick children that do not have parents or are too poor to receive medical attention, and on occasion building houses for the poor that are displaced.

On November 4th 2025 Typhoon Tino a signal 4 typhoon (category 4 hurricane) touched down on the island of Cebu, Philippines.

As I am writing this on November 5th 2025 just 24 hours later, the death toll is already at 86. With hundreds more still missing. Power has been restored to parts of the city but is still out in many areas. Water has not been restored in many areas.

Food and clean drinking water are in great demand as you can't imagine.

In many parts of the city the water is up to the rooftops. The standing water in the streets has been measured anywhere from 3 ft to 18 ft deep. This creates more problems than just the obvious. The death toll currently is from the people that have drowned. In the coming days and weeks many will get sick because of the standing water and the sewage and the type of disease it creates. As thousands of people are now displaced in Cebu, it creates a devastating situation. Imagine trying to survive with no roof over your head and feet of stagnant water around you while not having adequate food, water or medicine.

By the time hurricane Tino touched down in Cebu I had already had my ticket to Cebu. Because on October 1st the island of Cebu was rocked by a earthquake. 6.9 on the Richter scale. Killing a few dozen people and destroying structures. While many were not affected, there were specific areas that were hit very hard. In the days that followed, there were several aftershocks. But then on October 13th another earthquake, 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit Cebu again. It was after the second earthquake that I bought my ticket to Cebu. Given the situation with many displaced and essentials being hard to find I felt like God spoke to me and it was time to go to Cebu and assist the situation in person and start the relief effort.

On my first trip to the Philippines in 2013/14, typhoon Yolanda had wrecked the country. And although Cebu was greatly affected the typhoon first hit the east coast of the Philippines meaning that Cebu was greatly damaged but it wasn't where the most devastation happened. I spent 6 months doing hurricane relief and building relationships. There have been several natural disasters in the 12 years since and I have been part of relief for every one of them.

But this latest typhoon is different in the sense that Cebu was where it touched down and where the most devastation has happened.

Having said all of this, I am in need of financial support. For many years now I have supported these ministry / relief efforts myself or with support from a handful of very close friends that have believed in and supported the ministry from the beginning. And originally this trip was going to be the same. With the two earthquakes and the relief that I felt like I could help with, it was going to be funded by myself and close friends. But with the typhoon and the sheer devastation, I feel like I need more resources.

After 6 years of serving in the Philippines I put a team in place in 2018. They are amazing and do great work. 7 years later and through covid, they have proven to be able to handle just about anything that comes their way. They are local Cebuanos (Filipinos from the Cebu area) I get regular updates from them about what the situation is on the ground. At this point we are just in the need of more funding. I've already gotten the ball rolling with the finances that are available.

Even if I remove any type of rebuilding effort, the sheer magnitude of the need of food and water and basic essentials is overwhelming. The sheer numbers of people that are in need are hard to comprehend at this point.

So if you're reading this and you feel led to support this mission effort, I / we could greatly use your support. I leave for the Philippines in 3 weeks.

Thank you and God bless!!