“We don’t have rice on on the shelf of any supermarket or stores. Everybody’s doing stockpiling, and we cannot buy rice,” says Takeshi Takazawa with A3.

(Photo of Typhoon Shanshan’s path August-September 2024 courtesy of Supportstorm via Wikimedia Commons.)

The panic buying isn’t simply a response to one storm. In August alone, Japan endured effects of typhoons Maria, Ampil and Shanshan, as well as a 7.1-magnitude earthquake followed by warnings of a possible megaquake. Although the warning has since been lifted, authorities say the risk of a massive earthquake still exists. 

In the face of these dangers, Takazawa says people in Japan are asking, “Who takes care of me?” He says they have been noticing a decrease of help coming from the government after disasters — most recently the January 2024 quakes in Noto. 

“They (the people of Noto) continue to struggle because [the] government didn’t do [aid] the same way we had in [the disasters that happened in the] northeast and Kumamoto and other places,” says Takazawa.

“People are getting little bit more nervous about, ‘How can we take care of ourselves?’ Sixty-five percent of our food [comes] from outside [the country], and if delivery and import stops, we can be starved to death.”

Local churches have stepped into part of this gap. Takazawa says churches have been able to build networks to respond to crises such as the 2004 Niigata quake, the “triple disaster” in Fukushima in 2011, and the 2016 Kumamoto quake.

“[In] each [of these] cases, local communities saw Christian churches actually [stay] and continue to support and pray, both physically and emotionally and ultimately spiritually. That testimony has been going forth, and that’s great,” Takazawa says.

(Photo courtesy of A3)

You can be part of this story through your prayers.

“Pray for our people so that we don’t have to go through major suffering through these disasters,” says Takazawa. “But at the same time, pray for our souls so that we don’t rely on the stockpile [of resources], but ultimately God who takes care of us and loves us.”

A3 serves in Japan and other nations to encourage and equip leaders to serve their people even better in the name of Christ. Learn more about their ministry here. 

Header photo of Typhoon Shanshan August 31, 2024 courtesy of MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC via Wikimedia Commons. This image was catalogued by Goddard Space Flight Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: 2024-08-31., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152018243.

Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says Bangladesh’s geography makes it particularly vulnerable. “The Bay of Bengal is a breeding ground for cyclones,” he explains.

“Every year, it’s not a matter of if but when the cyclones come up. So, you’ve got this massive, highly concentrated area of humanity in low-lying areas, and when a storm comes through, it’s devastating.”

Cyclone Remal, the first tropical storm of the season, hit Bangladesh and eastern India last week. Extremely heavy rain and high-speed winds battered the area for more than 36 hours, making Remal one of the longest cyclones in Bangladesh’s history.

More than three million people were affected in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

“Electricity is still out in different places; it’s not just your house [that gets] affected, but when the storm surges come in, it destroys all their crops,” Kelley says.

“Their literal source of existence is destroyed, and it’s months and months before they can recover.”

Pray for endurance for the believers meeting storm survivors’ tangible and spiritual needs.

“It’s a great opportunity to come alongside, be the hands and feet of Jesus,” Kelley says. “We’ve heard countless stories of Muslims receiving Jesus in the aftermath of a disaster like the cyclone that just hit Bangladesh.”

Header image shows path of Cyclone Remal through the Bay of Bengal. (Wikimedia Commons)

It’s on track to become the world’s longest-running tropical cyclone this weekend. The last record-holder was Typhoon John which churned through the Pacific Ocean for 30 days in 1994.

When Cyclone Freddy first hit Mozambique two weeks ago, it displaced 37,000 people. Child Evangelism Fellowship hosts a children’s ministry training institute in Mozambique. Lydia Kaiser, CEF spokesperson says, “Area churches and schools are housing displaced families and there’s news of yet another depression forming in the Indian Ocean.”

Cyclone Freddy (Photo courtesy of NASA/Suomi-NPP – EOSDIS Worldview, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128877993)

Cyclone Freddy is on course to strike Mozambique again sometime Friday or Saturday.

Despite the storm, CEF workers are still gathering for children’s ministry training. The sooner they finish, the sooner they can reach more kids in Mozambique with Gospel hope.

Kaiser says, “Child Evangelism Fellowship workers have been able to continue in their 3-month training institute as flood waters threaten to submerge the access road. Eighteen students are being trained, bringing the national staff of CEF to 31 workers who are supported by SPAN, Sponsor-a-National program.

“National workers are fluent in Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, and they are faithful to the ministry even when hardships like flooding and cholera outbreak happen. The current team of 13 workers disciple an average of 2,500 children a week by going from school to school each day and holding open air ministry. ”

You can encourage these Christian leaders in Mozambique as they share Jesus with children and support families through hardship. Learn more about CEF’s Sponsor-a-National program.

“The cost to sponsor a national worker translates into only several USA pennies for each child who is taught.”

Also, Kaiser asks, “Please pray for the institute to be able to complete the third and final month of training, and for the people of Mozambique that they will be spared from another violent weather system.”

Header photo of flooded access road to CEF’s institute in Mozambique following Cyclone Freddy. (Photo courtesy of Child Evangelism Fellowship)

Simultaneously, Mozambique finds itself in the middle of a COVID-19 upswing. Cases and hospitalizations spiked sharply throughout the month of January, reaching over 900 cases a day. These numbers are by far the worst Mozambique has seen during the pandemic.

Eloise between Madagascar and Mozambique. (Photo courtesy of NASA, Public Domain)

Sphiwe, a Christian worker with Trans World Radio (TWR) says Mozambique was already recovering from another severe storm that hit in December: Cyclone Chalane. “The damage is quite intensive because [they came back to back], within a short space of time.  According to statistics that we see online, and also from the partners that we have, over 90,000 people are displaced at this time.”

TWR’s ministry in Mozambique

TWR partners with a local radio station to distribute their programming in Mozambique. The station continues to broadcast, though many other communication avenues have been severely disrupted. Sphiwe says people need food, shelter, and resources to combat COVID-19, but they also need help dealing with the trauma of this disaster.

That’s where TWR’s programming comes in. The ministry has radio programming dedicated to helping survivors of traumatic events and natural disasters. Sphiwe says, “Let us pray that God can be within their hearts as they deal with their whole world changing. Because that’s what we are telling on the radio; when your whole world changes, there is still some peace that you can have, and that peace will help [you] to be able to reconnect and move forward.”

Pray the Holy Spirit will bring hope and healing to many in Mozambique.

The header photo shows flooding in Mozambique after Cyclone Eloise. (Photo courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

The United States, Mexico, and Guatemala have agreed to halt the progress of migrants through their countries, driven by COVID-19 concerns. This latest caravan, nearly 8,000 strong, likely organized in hope that new U.S. President Joe Biden’s immigration policies would allow them to enter the country.

Fleeing poverty and chaos

Five tropical storms at one time in the Atlantic. Picture taken September 14, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, public Domain.)

Brian Dennett of AMG International explains why so many Central Americans are anxious to head North. “Central America is really so close to the United States, just Mexico separating it from countries like Guatemala and Honduras. They have this pretty universal dream that coming to America is going to solve the desperate problems that they’re experiencing in their own countries: the violence, the hunger. And this has just been further compounded by COVID-19.” Dennett says two hurricanes last year made these crises worse as well.

In November, Tropical Storm Eta left a path of destruction across Guatemala. Hundreds died, many buried by mudslides. Hurricane Iota followed, which flooded many of the same areas and caused dozens of more fatalities. 2020 proved to be the most active hurricane season in the Atlantic in recorded history.

These back to back disasters crippled infrastructure and heavily damaged crops as well. This led to a catastrophic food security crisis, as Dennett says about 23% of Guatemalans, 3.7 million people, lack food security.

AMG’s ministry

AMG has worked in Central America for 45 years, working to spread the love and hope of Jesus throughout the region. Dennett says, “Our prayer is that families stay together, that families can live in the communities that they know and love. I know that’s the heart of people in Central America. And we want to continue to be able to love them, to share hope with them, to share the hope of the Gospel with them.”

You can get behind AMG’s mission to spread the Gospel and develop communities in Central America and around the world. Learn more here.

Central American Migrants charging their phones in 2018. (ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Filipino believers respond to disasters quickly, offering physical help and the hope of Christ, but they’re running out of options.

(Photo courtesy of Asian Access)

“The evangelical body, headed by [the] Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, have been responding but if you have a series of calamities and disasters, you are also depleted of your resources,” Herman Moldez of Asian Access says

Back-to-back disasters

Super Typhoon Goni made landfall last week in the Bicol region, just south of Manila, as the strongest typhoon in recorded world history. Typhoon Vamco, known locally as Ulysses, may have been weaker but its timing was terrible.

In Bicol, “they only were able to rebuild one-percent and then came another typhoon, and it passed through the same path,” Moldez says. “It’s one typhoon after the other successively.”

In Manila and the central Luzon region, Vamco stirred troubling memories.

“After midnight [there was] heavy rain, pouring rain. People were caught unaware that the level of water [would] be high, and so many are remembering what happened in 2009 when we have the same problem,” Moldez explains.

“The problem became worse because the dams reached the critical level. There are three to four dams that spilled water and [the water goes] through Metro Manila.”

How to help

Asian Access supports Filipino leaders as they come alongside people who are hurting and point them to Jesus. “Let’s pray they will be able to survive this hard reality. Many of them are small entrepreneurs [and] the sources of livelihood have been washed away,” Moldez says.

(Photo courtesy of Asian Access)

You can give to their efforts here. Most importantly, pray.

“The government [is] promising to help them, but [it does not] have enough money already to support those things. The economy is bad so people need livelihood, but [jobs are] very scarce,” Moldez describes.

“When people pray, that spiritual strength [enables] people to rise and become able to continue. That is very critical, but at the same time, they are also in need of some help.”

Header image depicts severe flooding left by Typhoon Vamco. Photo courtesy of Asian Access.

Eta made landfall on the western coast of Florida yesterday after winding its way ponderously through the Caribbean. The storm comes during the most active hurricane season in recorded history, with at least 29 named tropical storms spawning in the Atlantic Ocean.

Five tropical storms at one time in the Atlantic. Picture taken September 14, 2020. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, public domain.)

At least 200 have died throughout Central America, though the number is most likely higher. One landslide in Guatemala left 100 indigenous Mayans buried; only 8 bodies have been recovered.

AMG’s disaster relief

AMG International works in an area of Guatemala affected by the flooding. Bill Passons says “It’s already been a difficult season, trying to minister to people when you have limitations on being able to meet and just all those other requirements that COVID-19 brings. But now, these people who are already in a pretty vulnerable situation get hit by this and it just makes it an even more difficult situation.”

AMG works in several countries around the world, and whenever a disaster like this happens in a country they serve, they mobilize to help. Passons says, “What we’ve done is gone into the community that we’ve already been working in. We’ve identified about 200 families who are extremely vulnerable now because the mudslides and the water have basically eliminated their harvest of crops. That is going to put them behind for several months. We’ve identified a couple hundred families that need our help. We’re going ahead and starting getting them some support to them to meet their daily needs during this time.”

Want to help? You can donate to AMG and help with the ongoing disaster relief. Visit their website here.

Pray God will be with the people of Guatemala, and pray many Guatemalans would find hope in Jesus Christ.

The header image shows Eta on November 11. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

2020 is the most active hurricane season on record for the Atlantic Ocean, with 29 storms forming over the course of the year.

Eta from low earth orbit on November 7. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Helen Williams of World Missionary Press describes a scene from Honduras, where WMP has a contact. “It is just heart-wrenching. He is our national coordinator in Honduras, and he said they’ve been affected tremendously, in the northern part of Honduras, particularly. His town is almost entirely flooded. And that’s what it looked like. Water up to the rooftops of the houses, thousands of houses flooded, bridges fallen, crops destroyed. More than 100,000 people live in shelters, thousands of crops have been destroyed. We need a lot of help, he says. It stopped raining, he said, but the damage left is absolutely enormous.”

Christians mobilizing to help

WMP has been trying to get a shipment into Honduras for several months, but the pandemic has disrupted their plans. The container holds food, humanitarian aid, and Bibles.

In the fallout of this disaster, Williams says Christians in the affected areas are stepping up to help each other and their neighbors. “The church just mobilizes. They give what they’ve got; they share [their resources]. The pastors go from home to home. It’s just very encouraging.”

Williams says these churches in the areas hit hardest by Eta have a great opportunity to share the Gospel with those around them. “We need to pray for the believers that are taking these opportunities, doing all they can to help share the love of Christ and to share the food and the supplies.”

The header image shows the path and strength of Eta through the Caribbean. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

A tropical storm in mid-July caused flooding to Visayas and Mindanao, affecting 374 children from Compassion.

The Philippines is a region prone to multiple typhoons, monsoons, and severe storms during their rainy season. Compassion’s photojournalist Estioko explains that this season is not as bad as it could have been.

“This number of families and homes affected aren’t really that many. We’ve had bigger typhoons before where thousands of families have been affected. The Philippines gets an average of 20 typhoons per year, not counting the monsoon rains,” Estioko says.

Donating Resources

(Compassion children waiting for relief packs. Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

The continuous flooding last month forced several families to evacuate to higher ground for a brief period of time.

Compassion provides food and supplies to the families affected by the flooding, including canned goods, rice, and milk, along with other relief supplies. This July, they provided resources to families during the evacuation and recovery after the flooding.

The flooding in both Visayas and Mindanao is gone now but the aftermath of the storm is still affecting the livelihood of Compassion families.

“Livelihood is a problem because their fathers are carpenters and fishers, so they can’t go to work. They work to eat that day,” Estioko says. He explains that the salary a family makes in a day usually provides food only for that day, which is why it is so important to provide resources and food after a disaster strikes.

Compassion Children in the Philippines

Though the flooding affects these children, they still have the knowledge of God’s Word to provide them hope. Once a child is registered in the Compassion Sponsorship Program, they are taught about God’s Word in church and in other discipleship classes.

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

Estioko says, “Their lives beginning when they are registered into the Compassion Sponsorship Program practically revolves around God’s Word… This gives them hope and this gives them a faith and strength to stand up whenever there are crises that might hit them.”

He explains that through partnerships with local churches and lessons about the Bible, the children are able to learn more about the Gospel.

If you want to help support these children and the Philippines, donate to Compassion’s disaster relief fund. Estioko explains that this fund helps provide resources when major disasters hit locations Compassion works in.

If you want to get involved, click here to donate. If you want to help any of the children in the Philippines, click here.

Compassion also asks for prayer. Please pray for these children and their families so that they may recover financially from the flooding. Pray that Compassion can continue to help children and their families in the Philippines and spread God’s Word.

Header photo courtesy of Compassion International.

Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean Islands

Hurricane Irma approaching Caribbean Islands 7 September 2017. (Photo Courtesy Anttia Lipponen via Flickr https://flic.kr/p/XUnadq)

“Our guy in the Dominican Republic, who has just been hit there, has just reported that they’re fine, but that there’s a lot of flooding and a lot of devastation,” TransWorld Radio’s Steve Shantz explains.

“There’s been nine deaths in the Caribbean since Irma hit [with death tolls still rising], which is really tragic.”

The Caribbean Island of Barbuda seems to have been hit the worst. About 95 percent of its buildings are damaged and 60 percent of its residents are now homeless. Puerto Rico fears the rising water levels. A large number of deaths from the hurricane is expected to come as a result of the flooding.

Radio Silence

When Irma was nearing, though, most radios went silent on the Caribbean Islands as people prepared for the worst. Knowing that most, if not all, of the Caribbean Islands were radio silent, TWR decided to jump into action.

“Normally people are getting news reports and helpful information from their local radio stations, but many of these stations were off the air. And so we thought, ‘we’re in a safe area, the hurricane wasn’t affecting Bonaire, so we should broadcast to those affected by the hurricane,’” Shantz shares.

Hurricane Irma’s visible path.  (Photo Courtesy Cayobo via Flickr )

TWR rushed to put together a team for a live broadcast transmitting from its station in Bonaire (Thankfully, Bonaire was spared from Hurricane Irma’s fury.). The broadcast included news updates, instructions for safety, and words of encouragement and hope from the Bible.

The radio station is currently working with its contacts in Barbuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and others to set up interviews for more content for future broadcasts. However, TWR still has to make sure it’s broadcasting its regular content because it’s under contract.

More to Come

Still, it’s unclear if the worst is over since two more hurricanes, Hurricane Jose and Hurricane Katia, are following Irma. And even Irma’s wrath still isn’t done.

Hurricane Irma is headed towards Florida, with models showing the Florida Keys and Miami in its path, specifically. If Irma does hit, Florida is expected to feel the effects of the hurricane as soon as Friday evening, though the actual storm may not make land until Sunday.

The United States President Donald Trump has declared Florida, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands to be in a state of emergency.

As numerous people wait for the storms to pass, unsure of what they will bring, will you pray?

“Ask the Lord to protect people and pray also for the victims that their physical needs will be met. And that also in these times that their spiritual needs would be addressed because there’s a lot of fear, a lot of despair that people experience,” Shantz shares.

“And [pray] that God would be a comfort and that they would be able to tune-in on the air to the right kind of programming that will bring that spiritual encouragement to them.”