GOD loves a cheerful giver.
So does the Good Book says. A lot of ministers of the Gospel make use of this passage in telling parishioners to give “until it hurts.” They go to the point of saying that in giving to missions, what is really measured is not the amount that was given but what is left in the pockets.
That is one sort of a huge challenge.
One mission that I know that does not cease to give out is World Medical Relief, Inc. (WMRI), a Michigan-based charitable institution that donates hospital equipment, medical supplies and medicines to many parts of the globe. In fact, probably this 63-year old organization is next to the United Nations in the number of states it has been reaching out to – about 150 countries and territories.
In my visit to WMRI last year, it has moved to a bigger location just so it could move shipments better and faster with its expanded loading bays for container trucks.
It was a move initiated by Cabalen George Samson, WMRI president and CEO from Magalang town. It was a dream come true in serving “God’s sick angels.”
The acquisition of a new building did not come without a headache. Samson and the members of the WMRI board of directors had to move mountains.
Primarily, there was the issue of funding as it involved huge cash to purchase, renovate and move people and office equipment.
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As in the faith of Abraham, Samson -- a man who has grown attending church services – never doubted that the dream would just remain a pigment of his imagination. The funds, most of them in donations, came at the right time and at the right place.
Some of them came from people with a member of their families who has long been touched by WMRI. Some of them just came out of nowhere and left
checks just to be able to help out.
WMRI is not about sending out medical goods and equipment. It is about giving.
It has always been that way since its late founder Irene Auberlin started it.
Collecting diapers, used clothes, infant milk for babies affected by the Korean War, Auberlin gave her time, talent and treasure to a simple mission that now reaches the underserved nations on the planet. In fact, even in her death she even donated her own cadaver to a university for research purposes. That’s unselfish giving personified even in the after life.
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In the Philippines, WMRI has given to numerous hospitals in the three major islands with Mindanao getting a lion’s share in its recent shipments. This is not because Samson is a Filipino. It is because of the enormity of medical care needed in the country. A data given me shows that the total worth of shipments to the archipelagic country in 2011 alone reached $9.7 million.
There are many individuals and groups lining up to get donations from WMRI. One of the known individuals who recently went to see Samson is Pagcor Chairman Andrea Domingo. Yes, the head of a multi-billion peso government corporation is also seeking donations for its CSR programs.
While Pagcor can afford paying shipping and handling costs, the value of possible donations it would receive would be tenfold in return. Thus, the justification for spending some amount for shipments from the US to the Philippines. It’s a noble cause especially when it would reach thousands of people needing medical attention. It would be a life-changing, life-extending outreach that Pagcor would be doing.