A new wave of locusts is threatening Africa with devastation and starvation, even as the COVID-19 pandemic undermines efforts to fight the locust plague.
 
Parts of the continent already experienced the biggest locust outbreak in 70 years, just weeks before the coronavirus hit. Now a second wave is on its way, with some locust swarms 20 times the size of the first.

Billions of young desert locusts are coming, threatening plants and crops. This second invasion includes more developed locusts known as “young adults,” which are especially voracious eaters.  

Some Africans view the locust swarms as more destructive than the coronavirus. And there are predictions that the locust plague might cause the coronavirus to spread even further as people band together, trying to fight off the swarms of locusts from eating all their food.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Sven Torfinn/FAO via AP)

“Everyone is talking about” the locusts, said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda. “Once they land in your garden they do total destruction. Some people will even tell you that the locusts are more destructive than the coronavirus. There are even some who don’t believe that the virus will reach here.”

Gardens with essential crops like cassava are in grave danger across Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania and Congo.

“The current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming,” a new UN Food and Agriculture Organization assessment said. “An increasing number of new swarms are forming in Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia.” 

The Nairobi-based Climate Prediction and Application Center said the locusts are “invading the Eastern Africa region in exceptionally large swarms like never seen before.” 

(PHOTO CREDIT: Sven Torfinn/FAO via AP)

Meanwhile, coronavirus-related travel restrictions around the world are preventing the importation and delivery of urgently needed pesticides in some areas.

“I think, unfortunately, because of other things going on around the world, people are forgetting about the problem with the locusts. But it’s a very, very real problem,” farmer George Dodds told the FAO. 
 
In Ethiopia, six million lives are at risk as the locust outbreak threatens to cause “large-scale crop, pasture and forest-cover loss, worsening food and feed insecurity,” according to the FAO. 

And Ethiopia’s agriculture ministry says the problem is worsening as the locust swarms are now appearing in locations where they had not been previously sighted.

This story compiled from Associated Press material.
 
 

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Welcome to the How to Stay the Coronavirus Plague Briefing Podcast #19. My name is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International.

Joshua 22:17 says, “Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,”

Matthew Henry said, “It is good to recollect and improve those instances of the wrath of God, revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, which have fallen out in our own time, and which we ourselves have been eye-witnesses of. He reminds them of the iniquity of Peor, As a very great sin, and very provoking to God. The building of this altar seemed but a small matter, but it might lead to an iniquity as bad as that of Peor, and therefore must be crushed in its first rise. Note, The remembrance of great sins committed formerly should engage us to stand upon our guard against the least occasions and beginnings of sin; for the way of sin is down-hill. “There was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, of which, in one day, there died no fewer than 24,000; was not that enough for ever to warn you against idolatry? What! will you bring upon yourselves another plague? Are you so mad upon an idolatrous altar that you will run yourselves thus upon the sword’s point of God’s judgments? It is a foolish and dangerous thing for people to think their former sins little, too little for them, as those do who add sin to sin, and so treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. Let therefore the time past suffice.”

REPENT!

Leonard Ravenhill said, “There are three persons living in each of us: the one we think we are, the one other people think we are, and the one God knows we are.”

NEWS
According to Johns Hopkins University The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide.

According to Bloomberg New York City reported a record 824 deaths from the coronavirus in 24 hours, a reminder that the health crisis in the largest U.S. city is far from over.

According to the Hill COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus that is spreading across the globe, is now the deadliest disease in the U.S., with more deaths per day than cancer or heart disease.

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HOME CHURCH
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John 4:23 says, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”

Jason Helopoulos said, Family worship Binds the Family Together. In our fast-moving society there are few things that a family does together daily. Even eating a meal together these days seems like a feat. What if your family gathered together daily? And what if that gathering was for worship? It would become the most important and central aspect of its life. Your entire family will come to the realization that no matter what else we do or don’t do, the most important thing that marks us as a family is that we are a worshiping family submitted to Christ. And that bond is an eternal one that strengthens the family in all its other endeavors.”

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Now, if you are with us today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to show you how you can place your faith and trust in Him for Salvation from sin and Hell.

First, please understand that you are a sinner and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Please understand that because of your sins, you deserve punishment in hell. Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death…” This is both physical death and spiritual death in hell.

But here is the good news. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The phrase “For God so loved the world” means that if you are in this world, God loves you no matter what you have done.

The next phrase, “that He gave His only begotten Son” refers to Jesus Christ. He is God’s son who suffered, bled, and died on the cross for your sins and for mine, and He was buried and rose again.

Our next phrase is “that whosoever believeth in Him”. The word “whosoever” means anybody at anytime. The phrase “believeth in Him” means to trust in Him, to depend upon Him, to rely on Him, or to have faith in Him for your salvation.

Our next phrase, “should not perish”, refers to eternal punishment in a place called hell.

And, lastly, the phrase “but have everlasting life” means to live eternally in Heaven with God.

The Bible also says in Romans 10:9 and 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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Inspired by a family in Georgia, a Christian movement to erect crosses decorated with Christmas lights during the pandemic has taken off nationally as a symbol of positivity and prayer.

As part of a grassroots initiative people are calling both Faith Over Fear and Faith Not Fear, lit-up crosses are appearing in front yards from Kentucky to Louisiana to Ohio. Local Facebook groups have sprung up in communities around the country for people to post photos of their crosses, with well over 20,000 members between them.

The movement sparked when Susan Polhill of Louisville, Georgia, decided to set up a cross at her home after hearing about families that set up Christmas lights to spread cheer in the neighborhood.

Polhill, who is giving away crosses made of bamboo and zip ties and encouraging people around the country to make their own crosses with whatever materials they have, said her project offers an alternative to Easter egg hunts, which may not take place this year due to stay-at-home orders.

It is also meant to show that prayer is the only solution to the pandemic, she said.

“We want anyone and everyone to join in,” Polhill told the Augusta Chronicle. “Through prayer, we come together as a community in faith, asking the Lord to heal our lands and give our leaders and medical people the knowledge they need. Dear Lord, hear our cries!” she said.

But the lit crosses have also drawn comparisons to the Klu Klux Klan’s burning crosses.

“The response I am getting from a lot of African Americans is, ‘how did they not see this looks like a burning cross?’” said Anthea Butler, associate professor of religious and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Christian families in the South often put lights on a cross alongside a nativity scene or other Christmas decorations in December. But minus that context, “this is something altogether different,” Butler said, noting that the lighted crosses reveal how differently black and white Christians see the world.

After conservative commentator Erick Erickson posted a photo of a lighted cross in his yard on social media, he dismissed viral pushback comparing the image to ones of KKK members lighting crosses on fire. Some critics had also suggested the image was particularly insensitive because it was posted on the date of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.

“Thinking of adding more lights to the cross just to spite the trolls,” Erickson tweeted, later adding, “Wait till the people upset by my Christmas lights on the Easter cross find out what we Christians think will happen to them if they don’t accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.”

Source: Religion News Service

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The Catholic Church’s pioneer of electronic evangelization, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, was a missionary of the modern age, bringing the Church into millions of homes and giving a sometimes obscure faith an approachable, contemporary face.

After appearing frequently on “The Catholic Hour” radio show from 1930 to 1950, his hit television series “Life Is Worth Living” drew millions of followers through the 1950s, won him an Emmy and landed him on the cover of Time magazine.

“My Uncle Fulton Sheen” by
Joan Sheen Cunningham and
Janel Rodriguez. Image courtesy
of Ignatius Press

The combination of Sheen’s personal holiness and tremendous popularity made him a perfect candidate for sainthood after his death in 1979. But his road to canonization was abruptly and indefinitely halted last December.

“He was a very holy, holy man and he deserved to be beatified,” said his niece, Joan Sheen Cunningham, in an email interview. She is the author of a new recollection, “My Uncle Fulton Sheen.” She added, “I’m disappointed that it was cancelled.”

In 1951, a year before his television program first aired, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of New York after being named national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, charged with promoting evangelization in the United States.

“He became a missionary extraordinaire without having to leave the studio,” Cunningham wrote in her book, which allowed him to raise “record-breaking funds for the missions worldwide.”

Cunningham, 92, who was close to Sheen from the age of 10 until two days before his death, relates her uncle’s “foolproof two-part formula” for living out his priestly vocation, centered around Eucharistic adoration (praying before the sacrament) and a special devotion to the Virgin Mary.

She also portrays Sheen as a man with “a ready sense of humor and the most infectious belly laugh,” who had proudly taught his dog, Chumley, to put his paws together in order to say grace before meals.

The Diocese of Peoria, where Sheen was raised and started his ministry, began the necessary paperwork for beatification in 2002 and sent it to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican department charged with vetting saints. Several years later a miracle was attributed to Sheen, a necessary requirement for sainthood.

In September 2010, a baby in Goodfield, Illinois, was born showing no vital functions for more than an hour. The child’s parents prayed for Sheen’s intercession for their son, who was miraculously revived. The parents named the child James Fulton Engstrom, and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints attributed the miracle to the famed televangelist.

Pope Francis approved the miracle last November, which paved the way for the canonization process. The beatification ceremony was scheduled to take place Dec. 21, but only two weeks before the ceremony, the Diocese of Peoria announced that it was postponed.

“The Holy See decided to postpone the date of Beatification, at the request of a few members of the Bishop’s Conference who have asked for further consideration,” a Dec. 2 statement from the diocese read.

“We were all packed and ready to go and then I got the call that it was canceled,” Cunningham said. “I was very, very upset. As is the whole family.” The Vatican gave no further explanation.

Some Catholic experts tie the decision to issues regarding Sheen’s time as bishop of Rochester, New York, from 1966 to 1969. The diocese has been entangled in numerous clergy sex-abuse cases. In September, the diocese filed for bankruptcy after state legislation extended the time victims of sexual abuse crimes have to file lawsuits.

“I’m hoping in August maybe the Vatican will look at it again and have the beatification,” Cunningham said.

Source: Religion News Service

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Easter is known as the holiday where churches see their highest worship attendance numbers, but concerns over the spread of coronavirus have led most congregations to cancel in-person services.

This doesn’t mean resources are not available. Many resources have been made available online for people who are interested in observing Holy Week and Easter Sunday.

Here, in no particular order, are four resources readily available for Christians under quarantine to use to observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

A virtual Stations of the Cross

For Good Friday, the Ohio-based Christian ministry the Missio Alliance has provided an online resource for those wanting to remember the crucifixion while in quarantine.

Last week, the Missio Alliance posted a guide that included both podcast and written meditations, based on the “14 Stations of the Cross,” which go from Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to His burial after the crucifixion.

“Because most of us are not able to physically go to a church or monastery to walk the stations of the cross this year, I hope that these meditations will serve as a beautiful companion to you as we draw closer to Easter,” wrote Deb Gregory of Missio.

Focus on the Family resources

The conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family posted a group of resources for families staying home on Easter Sunday because of coronavirus concerns.

This includes a compilation of six articles on various topics surrounding Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus, apologetic works on evidence for the Gospel story.

The web page also included links to three broadcasts, one about teaching children about Easter and two about comprehending the importance of the Resurrection.

“During Holy Week and for Resurrection Sunday, we want to provide you and your family with great resources to celebrate our Risen Savior while at home,” said the Colorado-based group.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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The influenza pandemic of 1918, the deadliest outbreak of disease in modern times, exacted a terrible toll, and not just in lives. Much like the coronavirus today, it strained the bonds holding society together.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that at least 50 million people died during the influenza outbreak — more than during World War I — including about 675,000 in the U.S. Some epidemiologists think the death toll could have been as high as 100 million, John M. Barry wrote in The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.

In Philadelphia, one of the hardest-hit cities in America, “fear came and stayed,” Barry wrote. “Death could come from anyone, anytime. People moved away from others on the sidewalk, avoided conversation; if they did speak, they turned their faces away to avoid the other person’s breathing. People became isolated, increasing the fear.”

How some Christians responded to the 1918 pandemic

Although health officials have avoided comparisons between the outbreaks, the impact of influenza 100 years ago on community life, such as church services, seems eerily familiar today.

In Providence, Rhode Island, evangelist Billy Sunday held a crusade, with one newspaper reporting that 10,000 people “grasped Mr. Sunday’s hand.” Although he vowed to “pray down” the epidemic, people in the crowd, sick with the flu, collapsed. The influenza canceled three weeks of his nightly services.

Government officials around the country called a halt to public meetings such as church services for safety’s sake, just like during the coronavirus outbreak. With no place to meet, pastors sent their sermons to local newspapers to print. One pastor in Los Angeles had Boy Scouts deliver Sunday school lessons to his church members. Other pastors encouraged their flocks to meet in homes, like the Apostles did.

In Ennis, Texas, a man said that he wouldn’t be able to attend worship services for the first time in 12 years. But he told the Gospel Advocate, “We had three funerals here Sunday.”

Some churches protested restrictions on indoor services. Others got around them by meeting outside. At the First Baptist Church of San Francisco, the theme of one such Sunday service was “The Spanish Influenza, One of the Last Plagues.”

Stepping over corpses

Wartime conditions contributed to the spread of the virus.

Soldiers, jammed into barracks at home and trenches at the front, moved from base to base and from America to Europe. One of the worst outbreaks came at Camp Devens near Boston. Built to hold 36,000 men, Devens held 45,000 in September 1918.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Steve Yount

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A judge has barred Gordon College from using a “ministerial exception” defense in a lawsuit brought by a former professor who claims she was denied a promotion over her opposition to the evangelical institution’s policies on sexuality.

Judge Jeffrey T. Karp of the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled last week that Gordon College can’t avail itself of a legal doctrine that exempts religious institutions from employment discrimination laws.

The college, which was founded in 1889, was sued by former associate professor Margaret DeWeese-Boyd in 2017. Deweese-Boyd began working as an assistant professor with Gordon’s Social Work Department in the fall of 1999 and was later promoted to associate professor.

She claims that Gordon College Provost Janel Curry and President D. Michael Lindsay denied her promotion to full professorship in February 2017 even though the promotion was recommended by the faculty senate. She claims the denial came because of her advocacy against school policies related to LGBT individuals and extramarital sex.

In her lawsuit, the former professor argues that the school committed “associational and gender discrimination” in violation of the state’s Civil Rights Act in addition to breaching the “implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” DeWeese-Boyd claimed that Lindsay and Curry aided and abetted “interference with her civil rights.”

The college filed a motion seeking a summary judgment from the court to determine whether the ministerial exception clause — as affirmed by the Supreme Court in its Hosanna-Tabor ruling from 2012 — barred Deweese-Boyd from suing on the basis of employment discrimination.

The ministerial exception is an affirmative defense grounded in the First Amendment that prevents the government from interfering with employment relationships between religious institutions and their ministerial employees.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith

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