Lemuel's Story

Lemuel lives on the Island of St Thomas in the Philippines and like the apostle Paul, he is a “tent maker”. Lemuel ministers to two churches. Sunday morning, he is the youth pastor for St. Thomas Church. He then walks two hours to preach at Balagan tribal church which currently meets in a home. Lemuel and the men are building a church building because they have outgrown the home. Mid-week, he is teaching and discipling. The people pay him what they can, but it is not enough. Lemuel would do side jobs here and there to help make ends meet. Like everywhere around the world when COVID hit,  he lost that much-needed secondary income. 

Lemuel reached out to Janet Johnson, co-founder of A.W.A.K.E. International Ministries, for help. He said, “My family is hungry.”  When most Americans say, “we are hungry,” it means maybe we skipped breakfast or lunch. Or maybe before we go to bed, we desire a bowl of cereal. When Lemuel says his family is hungry, it means they have missed multiple meals, and when they do eat, it is minimal and it is rationed. 

Janet was moved and asked Lemuel how could she help? He asked her if she could buy him a pig. After prayer and counsel, she sent Lemuel the money for a pig. In the night, however, God spoke to her in her dreams. A pig will last only so long – then Lemuel’s family is hungry again. He needs to introduce the pig (lovingly named Janet) to a hog. The result - piglets are due in August. 

Lemuel will butcher as they grow and mate others. His pig enterprise will feed his family and church, barring natural disasters, for many years to come. One can say easily that this is a success story. 

Phase Two:  Lemuel would like to create a fishery. He is interested in AWAKE’s micro-loan program. AWAKE will loan the money to Lemuel for his fish enterprise and he will pay AWAKE back from his profits. Once repaid, AWAKE can more funds to those in the program.

Lemuel has proven himself to be resourceful and trustworthy, therefore a qualified candidate. One could ask "why not just give the money as we did with the pig?" The Bible is very clear that abled-bodied men are designed to work. By providing the needed capital, Lemuel can build a business that when scaled will allow him to employ people in his community and provide him enough food and money so he can preach the Gospel full time without worry of income.

Would you like to be a part of this success story? We are raising funds for Lemuel’s fishery. He needs $2,000 for fish structures, feed (4 months’ worth until harvest), hoses, and a solar water pump.