PMCC (4th Watch) calls to “Give Love, Give Blood, Save Lives”

For Bishop Jonathan Ferriol, the newly appointed deputy executive minister of the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch), the National Bloodletting Activity of their religious community last Saturday, July 8, fits right into the history of how God saved mankind.

“The reason we are saved is because of the blood Jesus Christ has shed at the cross. And that blood was shed lovingly,” he said while explaining the event’s theme “Give Love, Give Blood, Save Lives.”

The national bloodletting activity of the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) was officially launched at the main office of the Philippine Red Cross in Mandaluyong. It was conducted simultaneously across 30 locations in the Philippines, including Cavite, Quezon, Mindoro, Aklan, Bacolod, Davao, and Metro Manila.

In addition, bloodletting outreach programs were also held in North America, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe.

The Philippine Red Cross supported the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) for their nationwide bloodletting activity, and urged other church presbyters to encourage their communities to donate blood, as the non-profit humanitarian organization aims to have ample blood supply to save human lives.

“We agreed to do mass blood donation drives like these once a year, but we hope even without mass blood donation drives, our church presbyters will be able to continue giving blood once every three months,” said Dr. Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross.

“This blood donation drive is a very good start, and we hope to see you in our 30 blood centers all over the country out of the 107 blood service facilities,” she added.

For Bishop Ferriol, he believes the church has a pivotal role in uplifting the lives of everyone in the community, which is one of the reasons behind the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch)’s partnership with the Philippine Red Cross in conducting the national bloodletting activity.

“Our aim is to unite Filipinos in a collective effort to create a healthier and more vibrant community, highlighting the universal values of compassion, service, and solidarity,” he said.

The national bloodletting activity, according to Bishop Ferriol, was a year in the making and described their preparations as multi-layered.

“We covered the physical aspects and the aspect of spirituality because we believe that this kind of event has to be undergirded by our faith and spirituality,” he said. “We have prayed for this and there were a lot of strategic meetings and collaborations just to ensure the success of this campaign.”

Bishop Ferriol, then, described the partnership between the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) and the Philippine Red Cross as “dynamic” and “ongoing.”

“It is a partnership that promises a lot of potential. PMCC (4th Watch) is looking forward to fostering greater collaboration with the Philippine Red Cross,” he said.

Citing the gap of blood supply in the country, which the Philippine Red Cross has been aiming to reduce, Dr. Pang remained hopeful that their partnership with PMCC (4th Watch) will help in providing an adequate supply of blood for the Filipino people.

According to Dr. Pang, the Philippine Red Cross has been unable to reach its target number of blood supply in the past several years. Last year, for instance, they were only able to collect 800,000 bags of blood, 300,000 short of their goal of 1.1 million bags.

“We are working on a strengthened and more fruitful partnership in the coming future. In today’s blood drive, the amount of work we have put in is enormous and we thank the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) for that,” she said. “The importance of organizing mass blood drives is not just the blood we are able to collect but also the awareness that it will be able to generate from different places in the country.”

Dr. Pang hopes that mass blood drives such as the nationwide bloodletting activity spearheaded by the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) will be able to educate people, especially those who are afraid to donate blood.

“We hope to be able to correct all the misconceptions about blood donation and turn that into opportunities and we encourage every Filipino to make blood donation a way of life. We hope that with this partnership with Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch)’s, we’ll be able to do that,” she said.

The national bloodletting activity of the PMCC (4th Watch) coincides with the month-long observance of National Blood Donors’ Month and the religious community’s ongoing 50th-anniversary celebration.

The latter will include another series of medical missions to underserved communities in the Philippines, as well as various prayer and healing crusades around the world. It will culminate in an International Convention and a Golden Anniversary Celebration at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Capas, Tarlac on August 27.

“The Lord has blessed the PMCC (4th Watch) with so many good things and that is what we would like to share to our country and to our world,” Bishop Ferriol said. “We will bring as much as we can the blessing of God to the common people.”

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