THE PHILIPPINES—Some 30 volunteers from the Quezon City and Angeles City congregations teamed up on Dec. 15, 2019, for their third rummage sale since June, taking place soon after the Southeast Asian Games fundraiser.

The location for the event was to be Quezon Memorial Circle, a popular park in the middle of the nation’s capital city of the Philippines, but due to a recent change in local leadership, availability was uncertain. However, after members prayed about the situation, leaders had a change of mind, and the applications that had been filed weeks prior to the activity and were denied gave way to a favorable response.

Starting at dawn, the volunteers sorted the items in time for early promenaders strolling through the park to stop and buy, and said they were encouraged by the influx of early buyers. Local deacons Alvin Cruz and George Ibay led several enthusiastic men and women in beckoning visitors across the several-acre park to buy items. Some people at the park said they were surprised that the group had obtained a sales permit, when a park-wide ban on all vendors had been published.

Regional Director Alex Harrison and his wife, Glenys, were on a regular visit to the country, and visited the sale, noting the enthusiasm of the volunteers and donors of food and snacks.

One volunteer, Angeles City member Rodolfo Caratao, said, “Watching the brethren sell and the people buy was truly a delightful thing to behold.”

The sale raised a total of $1,024.