Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban, Philippines experienced a life-threatening incident when typhoon Haiyan slammed its strength in their city. This changed his campaign from political to spiritual.
It was in November 2013 when typhoon Haiyan destroyed Tacloban city, causing thousands of people to lose their loved ones. During the storm, Mayor Alfred Romualdez was also struggling to survive just like his fellow residents. The storm surge almost ended his life.
In an exclusive interview with CBN News, Mayor Romualdez recalled how his faith has saved him from possible death. "A song that I was singing throughout the time was "You are my World, You are my God and I lay down my life for you,'" he said.
He recalled his miraculous escape when he began praying to God, asking him to at least give him a few minutes, or an hour, to check his family if they were okay. His prayer was a call of desperate measures knowing that it was impossible to survive from the strong typhoon.
"When you are faced with death as I was several times during that day you completely forget everything," he said. "I never went back to my house to check on my belongings till after five days. What was important to me were the lives of people. I got my family and I was out there saving lives."
The water rose in seconds. Romualdez and his companions had to punch their ceiling so they could escape from being drowned.
Across the town, the mayor's family was also was struggling to survive from the tsunami-like waves. His wife, Cristina Romualdez recalled reciting Psalm 91: "I will dwell in the shelter of the most High God, I will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress."
It was a miracle they survived. After the storm, Mayor Romualdez had to help people clean the streets. More than 6,000 people died from the storm.
"People were questioning their faith and they were asking me: 'Why did God take away my children? What did they do wrong? And then I said 'Do you want to see God?' 'Yes, then you have to die! You have to overcome death and Christianity is not focused on death, it is focused on after life," he said.
A year after the storm, Romualdez still urged the people to build a relationship with God. His wife also helps evangelical organisations, including a worship even to commemorate the city's survival one year after the storm.
"Anything could happen at any minute, you could lose your life any second, any day so people need to realize and I think people have realized that there's no other way you can go but rely on God and walking with God every day," she said.
Last year, Mayor Romualdez gained huge criticisms during his "slow response" from disaster. However, one resident said that it was 'not his fault'. "The national government is wrongly accusing him of inaction when the blame should be on them for not doing enough to help us rebuild," he said.
Romualdez expressed his gratitude to CBN Disaster Relief for the help. "I was very glad when I saw the teams (CBN Disaster Relief) come in," he said. "I know they work fast and they were one of the first ones to build temporary or what we call transitional shelters and they were fast."
Amy is a Press Services International Columnist from Adelaide. She has a BA in Creative Writing and Screen & Media, and now works as a freelance photographer, videographer and writer. She was runner-up in the 2018 Basil Sellars Award. Her previous articles can be viewed here: http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/amy-manners.html