Aloha, friends! My name is Matt. Most you of you reading this know me but I am aware that some of you do not. I have been doing mission work in the Philippines for 10 years. I have built and sustained multiple ministries over the years. Usually when I go the the PI I am there for 6 months or more and have multiple months to prepare to go. Unfortunately this trip will be different and unexpected. The first year I went to the PI they had endured a massive hurricane. In the aftermath I and the team I had just begun building at the time built houses for the displaced people amongst the many ways we would serve. In that process I hired a number of "skilled laborers" as they are commonly referred to in the PI. One of the laborers that stood out because of his work ethic, knowledge and integrity was Samuel. As the scope of the ministries grew throughout the years, I would re-hire Samuel as projects came up to help us build. A few weeks ago I hired Samuel once again to build an add on to the tutoring building.... A little over a week ago Samuel was working on the add on and had his 7 year old son, Jojo, with him on the site. Samuel had asked Jojo to grab some tools for him that were located a 10 minute walk away. While Jojo was gone, Samuel had an accident and I am sorry to say that Samuel did not make it. In the frantic minutes that followed, Jojo and his uncle got an a motorcycle ( the most common form of transportation in the PI) and in a panic to get to the hospital, wrecked. Jojo was not wearing a helmet and sustained life threatening head injuries. Jojo is currently in a coma in the hospital. If any of you reading this have even spent time in a third world country , you will know how dire of a situation this. In response to this situation I will be leaving for the Philippines in 5 days. My team is and has been very capable of handling day to day operations and we have worked together during the pandemic to continue to serve the people that we are called to. However they have expressed and explained their need for me to be in country for this situation and I am in agreement. Thankfully, Jojo is stable but his is hospital bills are not cheap. He needs to be transported to a different hospital on a different island. Once he gets there he will need surgery and then, hopefully, recovery. This LFEBridge is to try try to raise the rest of the monies need to accomplish this. I have personally already come up with 5K but there is much more needed. Also, this fundraiser is to be kept private. The family has been adamant that most of the details and names be kept private. This is partially cultural.. It is also a personal family preference and they are in grieving and have had no time to process. To that end, I will be sharing it with friends and family. I am ok with family and friends sharing this via text, email or any messaging platform however it is not to be shared on social media. I want to honor the family's wishes particularly in their grief. Thank you for reading and coming along side us in the time of need. God bless, Matt
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