Death, Food & Water Shortages, and Destruction in the Philippines

Aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana

More reports related to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines show more problems, including food and clean water shortages:

Food, Water Are Top Concerns for Philippine Survivors

November 11, 2013

MANILLA — In the Central Philippines authorities are struggling to reach many of the some 600,000 people displaced by Super Typhoon Haiyan. Officials anticipate a death toll in the thousands.

At the Villamor Air Force Base in Manila, C130 planes filled with relief goods are headed to one of the hardest hit cities, Tacloban in Leyte Province.

Some relief organizations say their provisions are taking three times longer to get there because so many land routes have been blocked by massive piles of debris from fallen houses and trees…

Tito Lucinareo, a father of two boys from a small town 25 kilometers outside Tacloban. He says he did manage to get a call through to one of his brothers who said the children survived the storm. But Lucinareo is not sure if they have food.

He says, “You think about whether your child is eating. Is he hungry? He likes to eat, especially biscuits.”

Lucinareo, his brother and cousins packed bags full of food that they plan to take to their hometown on foot.

Some in Tacloban have resorted to looting with reports of grocery stores and shopping malls being ransacked by people in search of food and clean water…

At the Air Force Base, Nelida Palconite says she was not sure whether she could get on the flight to go home to Tacloban. So she made this plea.

“We need food, we need… everything that you could give us. Medicines, water,” she said.

An Armed Forces spokesman says “the whole situation is really a challenge” the military has to overcome. http://www.voanews.com/content/food-water-are-top-concerns-for-philippines-survivors/1787683.html

Tacloban, Philippines (CNN) — Survivors root through the splintered wreckage of their homes searching for loved ones who may be buried beneath. Others are scrambling to find food and water in areas littered with corpses.

Three days after Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms in recorded history, scythed across the central Philippines, people here are struggling to grasp the enormity of what they have lost and the challenges they face.

The storm, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, has left devastation on a monumental scale in its wake.

Thousands of houses have been obliterated. Many areas are still cut off from transport, communications and power…Tacloban is far from the only devastated area. Authorities are trying to establish the level of destruction elsewhere along Haiyan’s path…

Early Monday, it hit the coast of northern Vietnam, where authorities had evacuated 800,000 people, according to the United Nations. It weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland.

Five people were reported dead, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

Aid workers said Vietnam was likely to avoid damage on the scale suffered by the Philippines. But officials have warned the heavy rain brought by Haiyan could cause flooding and landslides in northern Vietnam and southern China.

For the devastated areas of the Philippines, the bad weather may not be over. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/world/asia/typhoon-haiyan/

Those affected are in my prayers. Additionally, I have sent an email to the Philippines to see how those in the Continuing Church of God are doing there. The area that they are in (Silay City) has been affected, but not as much as places like Tacloban have.

Jesus taught that weather-related troubles and food shortages would occur:

7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8).

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. (Mark 13:8)

As the above shows, Jesus foretold on a time of natural disasters and “troubles” as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7-8; see also Weather Blessings and Sorrows)–and the sorrows seem to have begun. Yet the Book of Revelation (16:8-11) tells of a time of even greater disturbances during “the Day of the Lord.”

It needs to be understood that other areas of the world, including North America, are subject to having food shortages and other troubles themselves.

Ultimately of course, there is good news as ultimately, God’s kingdom will come and those issues will be gone (Revelation 7:16).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Why Does Man Suffer? Herbert Armstrong gives biblical reasons on this topic.
Why Does God Allow Suffering? This is a pdf booklet put out by the old Worldwide Church of God that also answers questions about why God allows war as well as babies to die.
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? There is also a video titled What is the meaning of your life?
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
When You Sin: Do You Really Repent? This is an article by Charles F. Hunting.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differ from most Protestants How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis Do you believe what the Bible actually teaches on this? Will all good things be restored? Will God call everyone? Will everyone have an opportunity for salvation? Does God’s plan of salvation take rebellion and spiritual blindness into account?
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? True religion should be based upon the true gospel.
Islands and Bible Prophecy What’s ahead for islands? What does the Bible prophesy about them?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Japanese, and others of Asia? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2013, 2014, or 2015? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?
Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos This is the Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God in Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines. Here is a link to the first Tagalog edition of the Bible News Prophecy magazine: MGA BALITA NG PROPESIYA NG BIBLIYA January-March 2013 edition.