Horrific flooding in Pakistan causing death and soaring food prices; Violence in Iraq
#Pakistan government has set up a nodal disaster agency to provide an institutional response to the devastating #floods caused by record #monsoon rains that has displaced more than 33 million or one-seventh of the country’s population.https://t.co/96gw4W4dZ0
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) August 30, 2022
Pakistan has been hit with massive flooding:
August 30, 2022
Islamabad — The United Nations appealed Tuesday for $160 million to support Pakistan’s response to more than two months of destructive nationwide flash flooding triggered by climate-driven erratic monsoon rains.
Pakistani officials say the calamity has “badly” impacted more than 33 million people and killed more than 1,100 people since the seasonal rainfall began in June.
The U.N., together with the Pakistani government, launched the flash funding appeal simultaneously in Islamabad and Geneva.
“Pakistan is awash in suffering,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the event in his pre-recorded video message.
“The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids — the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding,” he warned. “Millions are homeless, schools and health facilities have been destroyed, livelihoods are shattered, critical infrastructure wiped out, and people’s hopes and dreams have been washed away.”
Guterres said the U.N.’s flash appeal will help provide 5.2 million people with food, water sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support in the South Asian nation.
He noted that Pakistani authorities were responding to “the climate catastrophe” by releasing funds, including immediate cash relief, to flood victims. But the scale of needs was rising like the flood waters, requiring collective and prioritized attention, the U.N. chief said. https://www.voanews.com/a/un-chief-says-flood-hit-pakistan-facing-monsoon-on-steroids-seeks-160-million-in-aid-/6722286.html
August 30, 2022
“We don’t even have space to cook food. We need help,” Rimsha Bibi, a schoolgirl in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, told AFP.
Pakistan receives heavy — often destructive — rains during its annual monsoon season, which are crucial for agriculture and water supplies.
But such intense downpours have not been seen for three decades. …
“To see the devastation on the ground is really mind-boggling,” Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.
“When we send in water pumps, they say, ‘Where do we pump the water?’ It’s all one big ocean, there’s no dry land to pump the water out.”
She said “literally a third” of the country was under water, comparing scenes from the disaster to a dystopian movie.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan needed more than $10 billion to repair and rebuild damaged infrastructure.
“Massive damage has been caused… especially in the areas of telecommunications, roads, agriculture and livelihoods,” he told AFP Tuesday.
The Indus River, which runs the length of the South Asian nation, is threatening to burst its banks as torrents of water rush downstream from its tributaries in the north.
Pakistan as a whole has been deluged with twice the usual monsoon rainfall, the meteorological office said, but Balochistan and Sindh provinces have seen more than four times the average of the last three decades. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/pakistan-flood-aid/2022/08/30/id/1085167/
In the Book of Amos, God warns about lack of rain in one area and too much elsewhere:
7 “I also withheld rain from you,
When there were still three months to the harvest.
I made it rain on one city,
I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon,
And where it did not rain the part withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,
But they were not satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord. (Amos 4:7-9)
We are seeing areas of drought in the Western USA, Europe, and China and excessive rain in several areas.
The flooding in Pakistan is impacting the food supply:
Pakistan: Food prices soar amid floods
30 August 2022
Food prices in Pakistan are skyrocketing as a result of catastrophic floods that have killed thousands and devastated the country’s agricultural sector.
The death toll from the floods, which began in mid-June, is over 1,000. In total, some 33 million people have been affected by the floods in the country of around 220 million. …
Soaring food prices
The rains have damaged vast swathes of rich agricultural land and crops. Parts of Pakistan have been cut off from the rest of the country as flooding has rendered roads and bridges inaccessible — crucially, this includes areas in Pakistan’s southern breadbasket.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the price of onions, a common ingredient in Pakistani meals, had increased by more than five times. The price of onions had already risen by 40% by Friday, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said.
The price of tomatoes, another essential ingredient in Pakistani cuisine, has also soared following the destruction of most of the crop. Lahore Market Committee secretary Shahzad Cheema told the AFP news agency that about 80% of tomato crop had been damaged.
Pakistani news portal Dawn cited the Ministry of Food Security as saying that the sowing of the second crop of tomatoes and onions was about to start in the southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Planting will now have to be delayed, with the first crop having been damaged. https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-food-prices-soar-amid-floods/a-62967557
Food shortages and food price inflation are associated with the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse:
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)
The prophecy of the third horseman of the Apocalypse is starting to come to pass.
God controls the weather. Consider the following:
22 Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide —
23 Pummeled by the weather,
blown to kingdom come by the storm.’
(Job 27:22-23, THE MESSAGE)
The Bible shows:
30 God … commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30)
And weather-food problems are a way that God uses to urge people to repent (cf. Haggai 2:17).
Furthermore, weather changes show us that our own personal situations can change–quickly and unexpectedly.
As far as assistance to Pakistan goes, we received a request for aid yesterday from an orphanage the CCOG has been involved in supporting. Although we do not have any CCOG members in Pakistan, we have helped support an orphanage there which has greatly assisted us in producing translations of some CCOG booklets. Anyway, we sent some assistance electronically to that orphanage in Pakistan today.
That said, Iraq has also been in the news:
30 August 2022
Violence in Iraq continued for the second day as militants fired rockets at Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone on Tuesday, Iraq’s military said.
Earlier, sounds of sustained gunfire and rockets rang through the night.
The violence between rival Shiite Muslim groups has killed more than 20 people since it broke out on Monday. At least 380 people were also injured, a medical source told AFP.
Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew as gunmen cruised empty streets in pickup trucks carrying machine guns and brandishing grenade launchers
The caretaker premier of Iraq suspended Cabinet sessions. https://www.dw.com/en/iraq-gunfire-engulfs-green-zone-as-more-killed-second-day-of-violence/a-62967189
Violence is associated with the ride of the second horseman of the Apocalypse:
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)
As most of you are well aware, the Bible warns of food shortages and pestilences. Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus taught:
7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. 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 13:7-8)
We seem to be in the time Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows.”
Something worse is coming (cf. Matthew 24:21-22).
Are you taking the proper spiritual steps?
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
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.
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 Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Some related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans?, Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming?, and Biological Warfare and Prophecy. Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
India, Its Biblical Past and Future: Any Witness? The Bible discusses the origins of those of Indian heritage. This article quotes the Bible and also discusses some of the witness to India throughout history and what is happening in the 21st century (including those in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). India, Prophecy, and the Beast in 2025?
Iraq, the King of the South, Armageddon, and Prophecy What will happen to Iraq? Is it the prophesied Mystery Babylon? What is Armageddon and how does that have to do with Iraq? Here is a related video Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
The Great Tribulation: What Happens First? What events have happened? What are some events that are now happening? And what events need to happen for the Great Tribulation to start? Here is a link to a related sermon video: Counting Down to the Great Tribulation. Here is a video in the Spanish language: Contando los eventos y el inicio de la Gran Tribulación.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
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