The Iglesia Ni Cristo recently held a new Aid to Humanity event in Africa and inaugurated a new church as a follow-up to its humanitarian activities in the continent three years ago.
INC Auditor General Glicerio Santos Jr. led the inauguration of a house of worship and a garment factory in Qwaqwa, South Africa last Oct. 9, INC said in a press statement.
The new church was the eighth such structure built within three years, after Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo led the opening of the first one in Johannesburg in 2016.
“Our Executive Minister has a special place in his heart for Africa. He always reminded us to go back and do more to provide material and spiritual assistance to people on the continent. We’re continuing to realize his vision and reigniting our aid initiatives in various African countries,” Santos said.
The newly opened garment factory, the auditor general added, was the first such INC project of its kind outside of the Philippines.
It was built to address pressing problems of poverty and joblessness in the area.
Trainings have been ongoing after hundreds of job applicants were chosen to operate the factory.
The INC then held an Aid to Humanity-Lingap sa Mamamayan activity on Oct. 12 in Saliwa, Malawi. An estimated 15,000 attendees were given “loot bags” containing food and basic household necessities.
During the Malawi Lingap leg, Santos announced that Manalo would be developing a farm in the area that will be used for livelihood purposes by local residents.
The Salima farm would be the third INC farm in Africa after earlier ones were established in Ladybrand and Petrusburg in South Africa.
“These latest activities are long-awaited followups to the landmark 2016 Lingap events in Kenya and also in Malawi, which built on earlier campaigns in South Africa and Lesotho. The INC has an established presence in 16 countries in the continent. We’re continuing to formulate ways to reach more African countries because there’s so much more areas we haven’t served before,” Santos emphasized.
Just last month, the INC conducted an Aid to Humanity event to assist victims affected by Typhoon “Dorian” in the Bahamas.
So far in 2019, the homegrown Filipino church has held Aid-Lingap events in various locations in India, Canada and the United States.
“We’re accelerating our aid programs, making them bigger with an ever-increasing number of beneficiaries in mind. We’re on track to realizing the vision of Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo to do our share in addressing global poverty,” Santos noted.