Sri Lanka’s heaviest rains in 25 years have caused massive mudslides resulting in about 63 confirmed dead and up to 200 missing families buried in 50 feet of mud. Officials estimate that 200,000 people have left Colombo, the nation’s low-lying capital, while 400,000 have fled to state-run relief camps. Deforestation meant to create more farmland…
Long-time missionaries Harold Nichols and Randy Hentzel died in April, apparent victims of a robbery attempt and murder in Jamaica. In June, Jamaican police arrested one man and were seeking a second suspect for questioning. Nichols and Hentzel were part of the US-based TEAMS for Medical Missions and had been in Jamaica since 2002. The…
After an estimated 2,500 refugee drownings in the Mediterranean Sea and scores of immigrants settling in makeshift camps throughout Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced a new plan for her city. “Paris will not stand by and do nothing as the Mediterranean becomes a graveyard of refugees,” Hidalgo said as she announced the establishment…
Earthquake prone Japan had yet another earthquake May 16 when a 5.6 magnitude event shook the eastern region of Honshu, the nation’s main island. The epicenter was 60 miles northeast of Tokyo, and about 24 miles underground. Officials quickly stated that the earthquake would not cause a tsunami, which occurred in northeast Honshu in 2011….
Oil-rich Venezuela crisis continues to grow, with food and medicine shortages. Amidst cries of “we are hungry,” Venezuelans are increasingly robbing stores of food and medicine as panic grows across their country, which has 481 percent inflation. Coupled with a drought that inhibits the nation’s hydroelectric production, the communist government has also declared a two-day…
Let the games begin, whether the host country is ready or not. As Rio de Janeiro awaits an estimated 7.5 million international guests for the 2016 Summer Olympics, questions remain about Brazil’s preparedness. Some venues are still not completed, the Zika virus that apparently originated there now threatens all of the Americas, their president is…
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2014 has claimed 10,000 lives and injured more than 21,000, according to the United Nations. During an emergency Security Council meeting in April, the warring nations blamed each other for the ongoing conflict. The United States, France and Britain hold Russia responsible for the conflict. In February 2015,…
Following months of speculation, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed that the Zika virus can cause microcephaly in newborns, a condition that leaves the brain underdeveloped. Scientists are finding multiple mutations of the virus, which leaves open the possibility of other health outcomes. “The Zika virus has undergone significant genetic changes in the past 70 years,”…
Colombian government officials are holding the Colombian Marxist rebel group (guerillas), the National Liberation Army, responsible for the kidnapping of three journalists near the border with Venezuela. Salud Hernandez, a Spanish journalist, disappeared first while working on a story in the northern Colombian region of Catatumbo, a cocaine-producing region that is known for guerilla and…
Demonstrating his conviction that refugees are people, not numbers, Pope Francis invited three Muslim families to board his chartered Alitalia flight in Lesbos and begin a new life in Italy. Sky News reports that, “The Pope’s decision to bring three families back to the Vatican with him after his visit to the Greek island of…
On August 24, Myanmar was hit by a deadly 6.8 earthquake in the ancient city of Bagan. So far, there has only been three reported deaths. Many Pagodas (Buddhist temples) have been destroyed in the earthquake. According to The Straits Times, “A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar Wednesday (Aug 24), killing at least…
Recent studies of U.S. deaths show that suicide has increased significantly since 1999, affecting mostly middle-aged white males. Thirteen out of every 100,000 people committed suicide in 2014, the last year data is currently available. Only black males saw a decrease. Middle-aged men saw a 43 percent increase in the last 15 years. While males…
Nearly 25 percent of India’s vast population is facing a severe water shortage and extreme heat that is claiming lives and threatening livelihoods as temperatures reach 42C/107.6F in the shade, virtually wiping out agriculture in three states. Agriculture represents an estimated 15 percent of India’s gross domestic product, according to The Guardian, which also reports that…
With the backing of a U.S.-led coalition, Iraq’s military has battled back the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Mosul, that nation’s second largest city, in an initiative called “Operation Conquest.” Mosul had been a major victory for ISIS in June 2014 as they captured the city of more than 2 million people…
A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan in early April near its border with Tajikistan in the sparsely populated Hindu Kush mountains. Aftershocks reached as far as Delhi, India. The quake caused one fatality in Pakistan. In October 2015, the same region had a 7.5-magnitude earthquake that claimed 300 lives. Since the recent incident, officials have…
In a report from Brent Swails and David McKenzie of CNN, titled “Kidnapped to kill: How Boko Haram is turning girls into weapons,” they outline the very reason why young girls are choosing to become used a ‘suicide bombers’. In the report, this startling statement is made, “Young girls fighting to strap on a bomb,…
The “Beast,” Canadian wildfires that are larger in land mass than New York City, has forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray in the oil-rich sand reserves of northeast Alberta and is now reaching toward the province of Saskatchewan as it burns vast acres of forest. The oil-sand reserves are one of Canada’s major energy sources…
The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a crackdown on foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) fearing undue influence on public policies by outside activists. The new criteria also calls for foreign-funded consultants working within the government to resign by December 2016 if they have worked for three or more years. Most affected thus…
An estimated 500 African refugees drowned off the coast of Italy when smugglers recently forced too many people into one boat, according to the United Nations. This incident occurred about one year after the worst refugee drowning incident in April 2015, when 800 people died on their journey from Libya to Europe. Reports of the…
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most mineral rich nations on earth, capable of great economic gain for its people. But decades of corrupt political leadership and war with neighboring countries currently has displaced an estimated 775,000 Congolese in the North Kivu province, according to the United Nations, leaving the country…
Sunni ISIS terrorists recently unleashed terror attacks on Shia neighborhoods and markets in Baghdad, bombing and killing nearly 100 people and injuring more than 160. The attacks began when a car bomber pulled up in a crowded Shiite market, apparently to deliver produce. The driver ran from the vehicle before it exploded. Two other explosions…
Violent spring weather has continued to wreak havoc on the nation’s midsection with a series of recent tornadoes stretching from Oklahoma to Kentucky. Seven tornadoes struck mostly rural Oklahoma communities, killing two people and leaving about five towns with 25-30 damaged homes each. One tornado registered as a powerful EF4, which can have winds up…
A “stove pipe” pipe tornado ripped through Dolores, a city of 20,000, in southwest Uruguay on April 15, leaving four people dead and hundreds injured. Flying cars struck two of the deceased victims. Witnesses report more than 400 buildings were destroyed amid the disruption of normal services, contributing to the state of chaos. “There are…
What started in Brazil and quickly spread to most of the Americas has now appeared in Vietnam where two women have reportedly been infected with the Zika virus. One is a 64-year-old woman and the second is 33 years old and eight weeks pregnant. Government health officials have quarantined the families of each. Zika is…
With 91 of India’s major water reservoirs registering lower-than-normal at about 29 percent capacity, the world’s second most-populated nation is facing its worst water scarcity in a decade. Making the challenge even more critical is that 66,093 rural Indian villages only have access to contaminated water. In West Bengal state, the declining water levels of…
More than 1,500 Muslims in the Central African Republic (CAR) owe their life to a Catholic priest, Father Bernard Kinvi, who helped them and others escape brutal deaths in a nation struggling with violence between Muslims and Christians. Father Bernard is a candidate to win a $1 million humanitarian award, the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity….
The Pacific island nation of Fiji is recovering from two cyclones and major floods,all happening since late February 2016. Tropical Cyclone Winston, the strongest recorded cyclone ever in Fiji and the Southern Hemisphere, was a Category 5 tropical cyclone with estimated winds of 185 miles per hour. As the eye of Cyclone Winston crossed Fiji,…
An estimated 750,000 people felt “violent to severe” shaking as a series of three earthquakes struck near Kumamoto on the earthquake prone southernJapanese island of Kyushu, about 800 miles southwest of Tokyo. The earthquakes claimed at least 34 lives and injured more than 800 people. An estimated 180,000 people have sought shelter. The first earthquake…
A Hindu celebration meant to welcome in a new year in the southern Indian state of Kerala turned deadly in early April when a single firecracker fell into a pyrotechnic storage area and ignited the large inventory there. The resulting explosion and fire killed an estimated 107 persons, burned hundreds more and collapsed part of…
Threats by Islamic terrorists in Yemen to crucify Father Tom Uzhunnalil on Good Friday were apparently averted as Catholic bishops in Southern Arabia and India now report that he is alive. Father Tom, a native of Bangalore, India, survived an attack March 4 at a nursing home founded and run in Aden, Yemen, by Mother…
Bangladesh’s High Court on March 27, 2016, rejected a 28-year-old petition to remove Islam from the constitution as the nation’s official religion. The constitutional challenge followed repeated attacks on non-Muslims by Islamic extremists in Bangladesh, the world’s third largest Muslim-majority nation. ISIS recently claimed responsibility for the murder of a Christian convert in northern Bangladesh,…
Global Aid Network (GAiN) is working with churches to stabilize agriculture in Liberia following the 2013-2015 Ebola crisis. According to GAiN’s Website, “They are strengthening the local churches to raise resources and mobilizing congregations to take the lead in agriculture. They see opportunity for churches in Liberia to help the nation overcome food security issues.”…
After years of civil strife between Muslims and Christians in the Central African Republic (CAR), TeachBeyond is bringing stability for children even as reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers gain more attention. Families of more than 100 minors have registered complaints about the U.N. Peacekeepers. “We must face the fact that a number of troops…
Jesus said the poor would always be with us, and he was right. Scores of impoverished people have inhabited this globe, suffering from multiple hardships. But there is evidence that extreme poverty — the estimated 1.4 billion people in countries outside the US who do not have access to clean water, enough food, sufficient clothing…
The recent violent death of a 16-year-old rape victim again brings focus to India’s crisis of sexual assault against women. The assailant, who also set the teenager aflame before fleeing, was allegedly her 20-year-old boyfriend. Cultural norms in India make the reporting of sexual assault taboo. However, more rape victims are reporting their assaults and…
Gunmen raided a retirement center in Yemen on March 4, killing 16, including four nuns from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. Six unidentified gunmen stormed the facility to commit the atrocity. Pope Francis called the nuns “modern-day martyrs and victims of indifference.” Two nuns were Rwandans, one was Indian, and a fourth was Kenyan. A…
With an estimated 3 million people facing starvation in Malawi following floods and droughts, the world’s poorest nation now faces an additional challenge — cholera. Not since 2006, when an estimated 1,000 people died, has Malawi faced this level of cholera threat. “People living along the lakeshore areas seem to have forgotten the dangers of the…
Targeting boys as young as 11 years old, both the Myanmar army and opposing rebels continue to recruit and even kidnap children for military conscription. Recent pressure from the United Nations and non-government organizations has resulted in the release of some children though recruiting continues. Recruiters target boys in rural and urban areas when the…
China’s President Xi Jinping has ramped up the persecution of Christian pastors and lay leaders while removing crosses and even destroying church buildings that the state had sanctioned. Pastor Joseph Gu Yuese from the Zhejiang province was leading a 10,000 member state-approved church when the government recently jailed him on embezzlement charges. The pastor had…
The Zika outbreak that started in northeast Brazil is now in 30 countries, causing researchers to develop vaccines while trying to confirm the connection to microcephaly. Christian ministries like World Vision and Operation Blessing have mobilized with preventative strategies in high-risk communities while ministering to mothers whose children have birth defects. According to Operation Blessing,…
When Category Five Cyclone Winston struck the Fiji island of Yacata on Saturday, Feb. 20, with 185 mile-per-hour winds, this South Pacific nation of about 100 islands suffered widespread death and destruction, particularly in its remote areas. Christian aid organizations like Church of the Nazarene and regional governments are scrambling to provide food, water and…
The egregious act of slavery, particularly for sexual exploitation, has grown at alarming rates globally. However, governments, non-government organizations and Christian ministries like the Dalit Freedom Network and Passion Conferences are now actively challenging the offenders and offering hope to victims. Everlyn Chumbow, in her contribution to CNN says this: Should you feel compassion? Yes….
As many as 31 people were killed and more than 180 injured as coordinated terrorist bombings rocked the Brussels airport and subway system during rush hour Tuesday morning in the Belgian capital according to Fox News. The attacks, which Belgian authorities said were suicide bombings, came four days after the main suspect in the November…
Residents in India’s capital of Delhi have faced a massive water shortage since protesters in the state of Haryana sabotaged the Munak canal causing a breach the affected 10 million people. The resulting water shortage has sent officials scrambling to supply water to all segments of its society. Marginal communities have suffered the most. Water…
The world’s deadliest terrorist group – Boko Haram – continues to rampage through areas in Nigeria, Cameroon and other West African nations. Despite Boko Haram’s ever-present threat of affliction and suffering, Christians are providing humanitarian aid, planting churches and even converting some former Boko Haram soldiers. Pray for the Body of Christ and Christian Aid,…
“Nepal is facing a humanitarian crisis due to the blockade of its border posts with India over the new secular constitution. Here’s the problem: the blockade, which is now into its second month, has severely restricted the amount of fuel and essential supplies reaching the country from India.”- https://www.mnnonline.org/news/nepal-pulled-between-the-dragon-and-the-elephant/ India has limited the amount of…
“Votes are still coming in, but initial results show a win for the National League for Democracy (NLD). According to Reuters, the party currently ruling Myanmar–also known as Burma–openly admitted defeat as election results were announced yesterday afternoon.” The National League for Democracy defeated the military junta which had been in power for years. This…
