To Save a Princess

The two words spoken by Nonoy Perito’s daughter were enough to make him travel 100 miles during one of the fiercest storms ever recorded.

“I’m scared,” Princess Perito whispered into the phone as she sat trembling in her boarding house near her college.

Nonoy, a leader at an ABWE-affiliated church, prayed God would shelter his daughter as 170 mile-per-hour winds and a 17-foot storm surge from Typhoon Haiyan pounded the Philippines. Then, shortly after hanging up the phone, he climbed into his car.

Nonoy had experienced several typhoons, but the destruction Haiyan brought to his island nation was beyond anything he had seen before. Nonoy drove south for five hours as day turned to night, but when he was just 10 miles from his daughter’s school, his progress jolted to a halt. The road was completely blocked by debris. Unwilling to turn back, Nonoy decided to travel the final stretch on foot. 

With nothing but the LED light on his cell phone to guide him, he pressed on, singing “The Lord’s our Rock/In Him We Hide/A Shelter in the Time of Storm."

He waded through deep floodwaters and passed bodies of victims that lined both sides of the road. When his path became unpassable, Nonoy climbed on fallen rooftops, praying the exposed nails would not pierce his feet.

Around midnight, Nonoy finally reached a mall where many evacuated residents had sought refuge from the storm and the flooding. He frantically called out for his daughter and searched through parking lots filled with sleeping people. But Princess was nowhere to be found.

“God, help me find my child!” he cried.

With increasing panic, Nonoy walked to Princess’ boarding house, but he was crestfallen when he saw it was destroyed. Then, he saw a nearby house that was damaged, but still standing. In desperation, he knocked on the door. 

Miraculously, Princess opened the door. She threw her arms around her father. Together, they shed tears of joy that God sheltered them from the storm.

While they eventually made it home, their journey, like millions of other Filipinos, is far from over. Typhoon Haiyan left nearly 1 million people homeless and claimed the lives of more than 6,200.

Recently, Nonoy and Princess met with ABWE missionaries Ben Horton and Jim Latzko, as well as other national pastors, to plan relief efforts during the country’s long road to recovery. With the help of more than $322,000 in donated relief funds from ABWE supporters, the team has started delivering food, water, supplies, building materials, and the hope of Jesus Christ to victims in the areas affected by the typhoon.