• 
  (Photo: AP/Bullit Marquez)
  Children salvage an image of Jesus Christ from the ruins in Camarines Sur province Friday Dec. 1, 2006, after typhoon Durian lashed the Philippines's main island of Luzon in central and northeastern Philippines. Durian, the fourth major typhoon to hit the Philippines in four months killed 198 people and left 260 others missing, officials said Friday.
• 
  (Photo: AP/Bullit Marquez)
  Residents attempt to salvage some of their belongings from their destroyed home on Saturday Dec. 2, 2006, following mudslides near the slopes of the Mayon volcano in Albay province south of Manila, Philippines. Typhoon Durian lashed Albay province and other areas in central and northeastern Philippines Thursday, Nov. 30, triggering mudslides that smothered mountainside villages as officials feared the death toll from the powerful typhoon could double to 600.
• 
  (Photo: AP/Philippine Coast Guard, SN1 George de
  In this handout photo released by the Philippine Coast Guard, villagers evacuate their houses which are buried in mudslides in Albay province, eastern Philippines on Friday Dec. 1, 2006. The death toll from mudslides that swept eastern hamlets on the slopes of the Mayon volcano has risen to 208 with 261 others missing, two days after Typhoon Durian ravaged the region, Philippine officials said Saturday Dec. 2.

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Christian relief teams were some of the first aid agencies on the ground to distribute emergency relief items to victims of the torrential Philippine typhoon.

World Vision and Operation Blessing International, two leading Christian humanitarian aid organizations, reported Friday their expectations to dispatch relief teams with supplies for victims of Typhoon Durian.

World Vision Philippines hopes to send three relief assessment team members into Catanduanes Province via a military Hercules C-130 on Saturday following a special appeal to World Vision from the province’s governor. In addition, 10 WV assessment team members plan to travel to Legaspi City, Albay province by road.

OBI reported that it would also use the Filipino Air Force’s C-130 cargo plane on Friday evening to fly food and relief supplies into the disaster zones.

“We are preparing to distribute five days worth of food to 2,000 families, send medical teams, and see how we can help in the rebuilding of homes and livelihood,” said Dr. Kim Pascual, director of Operation Blessing Philippines in a report on the OBI website.

A typhoon with winds as high as 139 mph devastated villages in the Philippines, leaving more than 300 dead and hundreds missing as rescuers continue to search.

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Typhoon Durian’s rain loosened boulders and triggered mudslides leaving houses, roads, and people buried under mud and debris. The mudslides engulfed several villages near Mayon, which is the most active volcano in the Philippines.

“Every corner of this province has been hit. It is a total devastation,” said Gov. Fernando Gonzalez of the worst-hit Albay province in eastern Philippines to The Associated Press on Saturday. “Never before in the history have we seen water like this. Almost every residential area was flooded.”

Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers for typhoon victims in the Philippines – a country where 80.9 percent of the population is Roman Catholic.

The typhoon hit the Philippines late Thursday and officials report more than 22,000 people were affected. Damage to phone lines, blocked roads and other physical barriers are hampering relief operations.

Typhoon Durian is expected to weaken into a tropical storm before hitting Vietnam on Monday.