After conducting successful outreach and livelihood campaigns in North America and Africa in the past months, the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s Lingap sa Mamamayan program went local again last Sunday with anti-poverty initiatives in Tondo and Binondo in the heart of Manila and Culiat in Quezon City.
“Home is where the heart is, as they say, so Lingap returned to Metro Manila. For Tondo and Binondo, we distributed a total of 100,000 goodie bags for both locations and simultaneously conducted medical and dental missions,” INC general auditor Glicerio Santos Jr. said on Sunday.
The Oct. 31 Culiat leg, which Santos explained is focused on the Muslim community in the area, will have similar medical and dental assistance programs and an allocation of 5,000 goodie bags.
“As we did in previous instances, these Lingap projects are made possible by the INC’s Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, which works to realize an ever-growing effort to uplift the lives of people, both in the Philippines and abroad.”
Santos added the Lingap sa Mamamayan activities this month are also being held in honor of the birthday of INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo, who turns 63 on Oct. 31.
In the last two months, the Foundation conducted various Aid to Humanity programs in New York and Connecticut in the United States, and Toronto and Winnipeg in Canada.
Around 2,000 and 4,000 “goodwill bags” containing essential food and household items were distributed in the US and Canada, respectively.
The INC likewise hosted outreach activities in Kiberia and Kawangware in Nairobi, Kenya last June after holding similar activities in Blantyre and Samama Vil. Mangochi in Malawi. Over 33,000 Lingap attendees were provided assistance in the African locations.
Santos explained that Lingap would continue to expand and reach as many areas as possible in the near future, upon the direction and instruction of Manalo.
“Why do we do this at such a sustained and continuous pace? The proper question should be, why not? We have a religious and secular duty to help those in need, whether they are INC members or not. The Church has enough resources and volunteers to make our own small contribution, so we hold the Lingap regularly,” Santos said. “It’s our own way of giving back and backing rhetoric with real, positive action.”