Today, the National Director of the Philippines Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC ) Bishop Efraim Tendero tells us what he’s seeing. Speaking to MNN via Skype Tendero says the situation is unlike anything he has ever seen before.

While the winds were horrific, the 5 meter (15 feet) storm surge made it worse. “The description of the people who survived they felt like they were inside a washing machine. Being in circles. It was a very horrifying experience. For some of them is was like the end of their lives.”

The destruction has been catastrophic. “We have at least five cities where 95-percent of the whole villages were devastated. In one city there were 290 policemen assigned to that city. When they were asked to report, only 20 showed up.”

You would think there would be safety in a hotel. “There was one hotel where all the guests in the hotel also perished.”

Tendero tells MNN that there are many islands that haven’t been reached yet. One, however, has been devastated. “One island, the fear is that up to 80 percent of the people are gone — washed into the sea. So, that’s the very painful situation.”

The PCEC is helping to coordinate relief. SEND International is funneling relief aid through this group’s humanitarian wing, Philippine Relief and Development Services. The goal is to provide physical relief, which sharing Jesus at the same time.

To do that, PCEC churches outside the disaster zones are facilitating the relief efforts. They need funding and eventually will need volunteer work teams to help.

Tendero says with the help of Habitat for Humanity, they’ll be providing temporary shelter. “We’ll set up at least 500 tents which can serve as an evacuation center in one of the islands.”

He says this seems insignificant when you think the enormity of the situation. “The whole footprint of the devastation is 36 provinces. There is so much that needs to be done.”

To help PCEC go to SEND.org. All of the money will be funneled to this organization, which will ensure the most needy are helped physically, but also ministered to spiritually.

At the end of last week, Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as “Yolanda,” departed the Philippine archipelago and marched toward the Vietnam coastline. The storm left behind widespread devastation, further compounding problems in places like Bohol–the center of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in mid-October.

Jeff Palmer with Baptist Global Response says their ministry partners were meeting priority needs over the weekend, needs such as food, clean water, and temporary shelter. Now they’re tackling the next level of issues.

“Because of the surging waves and the several inches of rainfall that we dumped in a short time, you have a lot of water contamination and flooding into wells, things like that,” Palmer explains.

“In the next couple of weeks, we’ll probably move to…tin roofing dispersal to help folks get back into adequate housing.”

Pray that more people can be helped through BGR partners. Ask the Lord to protect Filipinos from typhoon aftereffects like landslides and flooding.

As Haiyan sped through the Philippines at speeds twice the normal rate of tropical storms, Palmer says the location of BGR partners led to an equally-speedy disaster response.

“We actually had some of our partners who were implementing development projects on-ground close by, so they were right in the middle of the typhoon itself,” says Palmer.

“They were able to hunker down because they were right in the middle of it themselves, and then [they were] able to get out and start to do some assessment in their local area and some initial response.”

Early intervention from the government helped stem the tide of potential destruction. Over 120,000 people were evacuated ahead of Haiyan’s arrival, and “war-like” preparations had military equipment such as helicopters, planes, and navy ships on standby.

“The Philippines get so many [storms] per year that they do good preparation, and this is usually the hardest-hit area,” states Palmer.

Working through local believers, BGR is providing more than physical relief. They’re also telling people about Jesus Christ, the only One who can overcome life’s storms.

Can you help? Click here to lend a hand financially.

“We definitely would appreciate people partnering with us in prayer, and partnering with us in donations and gifts, to help us…come alongside those in need in the Philippines,” Palmer says.