Mom Bernie's health

Please pray for my mother in law - Bernie, as she travels from the Philippines on Feb. 4th. Her husband will accompany her to L.A. where she will be treated. Please pray for their travels and for the Doctors and nurses who will be helping her.

Pray for the Philippines

By: Associated Press

JOLO, Philippines (AP) - Two bombs minutes apart tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 111 others during a Sunday Mass, officials said.
Witnesses said the first blast inside the Jolo cathedral in the provincial capital sent churchgoers, some of them wounded, to stampede out of the main door.
Army troops and police posted outside were rushing in when the second bomb went off about one minute later near the main entrance, causing more deaths and injuries.
The military was checking a report that the second explosive device may have been attached to a parked motorcycle.
The initial explosion scattered the wooden pews inside the main hall and blasted window glass panels, and the second bomb hurled human remains and debris across a town square fronting the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, witnesses said. Cellphone signal was cut off in the first hours after the attack.
The witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press refused to give their names or were busy at the scene of the blasts.
Police said at least 20 people died and 111 were wounded, correcting an earlier toll due to double counting.
The fatalities included 15 civilians and five troops. Among the wounded were 17 troops, two police, two coast guard and 90 civilians.
Troops in armored carriers sealed off the main road leading to the church while vehicles transported the dead and wounded to the town hospital.
Some casualties were evacuated by air to nearby Zamboanga city.
"I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worships and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans," said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in a statement.
"We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy," the office of President Rodrigo Duterte said in Manila.
It said that "the enemies of the state boldly challenged the government's capability to secure the safety of citizens in that region. The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will rise to the challenge and crush these godless criminals."
Jolo island has long been troubled by the presence of Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization because of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
A Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, was gunned down by suspected militants outside the cathedral in 1997.
No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
It came nearly a week after minority Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation endorsed a new autonomous region in the southern Philippines in hopes of ending nearly five decades of a separatist rebellion that has left 150,000 people dead.
Although most of the Muslim areas approved the autonomy deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it.
The province is home to a rival rebel faction that's opposed to the deal as well as smaller militant cells that not part of any peace process.
Western governments have welcomed the autonomy pact.
They worry that small numbers of Islamic State-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia could forge an alliance with Filipino insurgents and turn the south into a breeding ground for extremists.
"This bomb attack was done in a place of peace and worship, and it comes at a time when we are preparing for another stage of the peace process in Mindanao," said Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "Human lives are irreplaceable," he added, calling on Jolo residents to cooperate with authorities to find the perpetrators of this "atrocity."
Security officials were looking "at different threat groups and they still can't say if this has something to do with the just concluded plebiscite," Oscar Albayalde, the national police chief, told ABS-CBN TV network. Hermogenes Esperon, the national security adviser, said that the new autonomous region, called Bangsamoro, "signifies the end of war for secession. It stands for peace in Mindanao."
Aside from the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group, other militant groups in Sulu include a small band of young jihadis aligned with the Islamic State group, which has also carried out assaults, including ransom kidnappings and beheadings.
Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding at least five hostages — a Dutch national, two Malaysians, an Indonesian and a Filipino — in their jungle bases mostly near Sulu's Patikul town, not far from Jolo.
Government forces have pressed on sporadic offensives to crush the militants, including those in Jolo, a poverty-wracked island of more than 700,000 people. A few thousand Catholics live mostly in the capital of Jolo.
There have been speculations that the bombings may be a diversionary move by Muslim militants after troops recently carried out an offensive that killed a number of IS-linked extremists in an encampment in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, also in the south.
The area is near Marawi, a Muslim city that was besieged for five months by hundreds of IS-aligned militants, including foreign fighters, in 2017. Troops quelled the insurrection, which left more 1,100 mostly militants dead and the heartland of the mosque-studded city in ruins.
Duterte declared martial law in the entire southern third of the country to deal with the Marawi siege, his worst security crisis.
His martial law declaration has been extended to allow troops to finish off radical Muslim groups and other insurgents but bombings and other attacks have continued.
___
Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

Pray for Cuba

Three people have been killed and more than 170 were injured as a tornado devastated the Cuban capital of Havana on Sunday evening.

Gusts of winds of more than 62mph tore through parts of Havana around 9pm on Sunday, bringing heavy rain and hail.

The storm caused city-wide power-cuts, destroyed buildings and sent cars flying, local media reports.

More info: [Three people killed and 174 injured as tornado tears through Havana] http://va.topbuzz.com/s/Rpmcwkp

Pray for Brazil

BRUMADINHO, Brazil (Reuters) - Firefighters on Sunday called for the evacuation of some 24,000 people from the Brazilian town hit by a deadly mudslide from a ruptured mining dam as rains added to concerns a second dam could collapse.

A house is seen after a dam, owned by Brazilian miner Vale SA, burst in Brumadinho, Brazil January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Washington Alves

Sirens began blaring before dawn, triggered by dangerous water levels at a tailings dam still standing near an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA near Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state.

“We have a situation of imminent risk, but there hasn’t been a rupture of this dam until now and we are monitoring it,” said Pedro Aihara, a spokesman for the state fire department.

He said they believed the situation was dangerous, but he could not comment on the actual risk of another dam break. The second dam being monitored is about 50 meters (0.03 mile) from the burst dam and part of a large industrial complex.

The evacuation efforts diverted attention from the search for hundreds of people missing after Friday’s burst dam unleashed a torrent of mud, burying the mining facilities and nearby homes.

“Our work is completely focused on the evacuation,” Aihara said.

Roughly 250 people were still missing after the tailings dam accident, according to a list released by Vale, the second such disaster in less than four years. Most of the missing are presumed dead, officials said.

The confirmed death toll rose to 37 by Sunday morning, according to the fire department.

For more info:[Nearly 24,000 ordered to evacuate after Brazil dam burst, 250 missing] http://va.topbuzz.com/s/vZSeSkp

Luci C. - Health

Please continue to pray for Luci as she is still recovering from her ailment. Pray for healing! Pray for her husband Dan as he continues to take care of her and comfort her. Pray for all caretakers as well.

Eric L. - Nephew's Health

"I need your prayer. Jeff, my brother’s son Jeffrey has Acute Myeloid Leukemia, has to stop chemotherapy because it may even spread to his eyes that he can’t see at this moment. Bad news may be just a few sentences, the stress it cause is tremendous. I thank you for praying."

Pernell H. - brother's funeral

"I want to thank everyone who has prayed for my family during the lose of my brother. We will be gathering this Saturday at 11 am at the Seattle White Center Corps. This is the Corps were my brothers and I first learned about the Salvation Army, and we have the honor of celebrating my brother's life there. Again thanks to everyone praying and supporting us."

Mike - health

Please pray for Mike (Kroc Staff). He is in the hospital recovering from his ailment. Pray for his wife, Jan, as she is with him during this time.

Larry F. - brother PTG

"Friends, I ask for your prayers for my family and I as Julie and I travel to Montana today.   Early yesterday morning, my brother Donnie passed away.  Many of you will know this is the 3rd sibling in just over 2 years.  Thank you for your prayers,"

Rachel J. - Mother in Law PTG

"Early this morning my mother-in-law Linda Santos was promoted to Glory.  Please keep Mike J. and his family in prayer as we celebrate her life.  We thank God that she knew Jesus and we will see her again one day in Heaven.  She was a wonderful, loving and supportive mom and I will greatly miss her.  Thank you for your continued prayers."

Pray for Mexico

TLAHUELILPAN, Mexico (AP) — They were warned to stay away from the geyser of gasoline gushing from the illegally tapped pipeline in central Mexico, but Gerardo Perez says he and his son joined others in bypassing the soldiers. As they neared the spurting fuel he was overcome with foreboding.
Perez recalls telling his son: "Let's go ... this thing is going to explode."
And it did, with a fireball that engulfed locals scooping up the spilling gasoline and underscored the dangers of an epidemic of fuel theft from pipelines that Mexico's new president has vowed to fight.
By Saturday evening the death toll from Friday's blaze had risen to 73, with another 74 people injured and dozens more were missing.

Taken from: [Mexican pipeline explosion kills 73, leaves nightmare of ash] http://va.topbuzz.com/s/mhfbmkp

Pray for Zimbabwe

A LETTER FROM ZIMBABWE WHERE THE COUNTRY IS IN TOTAL SHUTDOWN.

Posted by Guest Contributor | Jan 16, 2019 | Extra

16 January 2019.

We are now in our third day of complete shutdown throughout the whole of Zimbabwe. Banks are closed, schools are closed, roads are closed in and out of the main towns and transport systems have shut down.
There are no newspapers to be bought, the Internet has been shut down by the government and everything is at a complete standstill.
People are too afraid to move around as a result of the burning of vehicles by vigilante groups and the complete dearth of any updated information or warnings due to the total social media blackout. This means that no WhatsApp messages or photos can be sent, no one can access Facebook or Messenger, and the situation is very tense.
In some centres it almost feels apocalyptic. We have heard gunfire, and before the Internet was closed down, saw pictures of dead and wounded people. It is unclear how many people have died but before the media blackout, it was reported that there had been five deaths and more than 200 people had been arbitrarily arrested.
Elements of the police and military are also involved in ensuring that there is a complete shutdown. People in civilian dress armed with AK-47 rifles have been seen in some areas. It is clear that these are military personnel.
Amnesty International has condemned the military crackdown and has called on the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure restraint by security forces and respect the public’s right to protest.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights reported prior to the blackout that they had received reports of soldiers and police breaking into homes in townships overnight and assaulting suspected demonstrators.
Contacts in the diplomatic corps and the political opposition are also completely in the dark, along with the rest of us.
This morning I spoke to Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, and it is clear that no one knows what is going on because the entire country has been effectively silenced.
I have also spoken to lawyers regarding the arrest once again of Pastor Evan Mawarire who inadvertently triggered the highly successful #ThisFlag social media protest action in April 2016 because he could no longer afford to pay school fees. This led to his arrest on trumped up charges and his high profile court case. Since then, his activities have been under constant surveillance.
Police officers arrive at his flat this morning in central Harare and took him to the Law and Order section, charging him under a false charge of incitement to commit public violence.
The crisis was precipitated on Sunday (January 13) by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he announced a shock increase of 200 percent in the fuel price – this in a country with more than 90 percent unemployment and where the struggle to survive escalates daily. Mr Mnangagwa promptly left the country for Russia and has not returned. Reports say that he has gone there to “discuss Russian assistance to modernise the military”.
Right now the situation remains eerie and uncertain. If this goes on for much longer, the humanitarian crisis will escalate. We cannot buy food because the shops are all closed and transport systems have closed down. Most of the hospitals are without essential medicines and also staff because doctors and nurses can’t even get to work.
This is an unprecedented situation in Zimbabwe and internationally. Even in wartime Europe, the people could get newspapers, transport systems operated, retail outlets were still open and people could communicate.
I cannot send you an e-mail or a photograph – it is a very weird situation.
The only thing we can do at this point is to ask for your prayers as we face this time of escalating fear and uncertainty.
Ben Freeth
Executive Director
Mike Campbell Foundation
Harare, Zimbabwe

From Namibia Economist 

Rachel J. - Mike’s mom

Mike J. and I are requesting your prayers.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers as his mom has been given 1-2 weeks.  She has been bravely battling cancer for a while now.  Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Carrie H. - Prayers

"I rarely post when I’m struggling but I truly would appreciate healing prayers. Day 22 today. 💔 Thank you in advance for your love & prayers❣️❣️❣️"

Regina S. - son getting wisdom teeth out

"Pray for James he is getting his wisdom teeth taken out. Thanks friends"

Crick P. - Going back to Estonia (Missionaries)

"Heading back over the ocean today to Estonia.  We had a great time in the States!  Flying from Minneapolis to Newark to Stockholm to Tallinn.  Taking a bus to Tartu and from there a taxi home.  Prayers appreciated. 😆😁"

Debbie D. - dad's health

"Update 605pm
I’m still at Los Alamitos Medical Center Recovery Room. Dad has had dinner and is stable. We are still waiting for the go ahead to transfer to Long Beach Memorial where the surgery will take place. Considering this is urgent, they are sure taking their dear sweet time. Still hopeful he will be cleared for surgery and they will be able to help him. I’ve canceled my trip and am here for the long haul. Cheri is on her way, John-Paul will be here tomorrow morning. Dad is surrounded by lots of love and people who care for him. Lilly and I have been here since 530am and I’m a bit weary but so grateful that he is well cared for and able to talk with us.
I thank you all for your prayers. We are not out of the woods yet but I will continue with updates.
Thanks to God that he is always faithful. Please continue to hold my Dad and his medical staff up in prayer."

Sam's leg - Injury

Please pray for Sam's leg.  She injured it while helping people lift their vehicle out of the ditch. Please pray for healing as she balances work and her family.  May God's healing touch be upon her leg, and may His presence continue to uplift her during this time of recovery.   

Kroc Prayer Request - Ruth's Family

1. Ruth S. - Grandson 'Kevin' and friend are lost in Mount Hood area south Timothy Lake area. They took a new year hike. Thanks you for praying that they will find them today 1/4/19. It's getting cold.
2. Ruth S. here thanks for praying to find my grandson - Kevin S. They found him Saturday so please pray for family....spirit of cooperation with services. Thanks.
3. Ruth S. - My grandson memorial is Jan. 23rd. Thank you for your prayers for strength.  Jesus is my joy and strength.  My daughter and her sister Kim.
4. Ruth S. says thank you for your prayers. Praise the Lord.  Everything is ok now.

Josh R. - Friend Passing

"Lost another one of my brothers. Addiction is so hard to go through but even harder to know someone struggling with it. Im just so heartbroken right now. This sucks. Plz pray for his family, especially his son. I cant believe you passed on brother...."

Dave W. - Health

Please continue to pray for Dave.  He is still being at home recovering from his leg pains.  Now, he has gotten sick and needs God's healing hands.  Praise the Lord for his good friend, Mr. Al.  Al continues to help him with grocery shopping and visitation.  Pray for Al as well for he is in his 80s. 

Jonathan's Marriage

Please pray for Jonathan and his wife Stephanie. She wants a divorce and a fresh start. She has left their home and is now living with her mom. Jonathan continues to fight for his marriage and family. Please keep their kids in prayer. One in college and one about to graduate police school to a cop. The youngest is still at home.

Sue Mason - husband Jean PTM

Please pray for Sue M. Her husband died in an vehicle accident. Pray for peace and for all the details of the funeral.

Lucy C. - Hospital

Please lift Lucy up in your prayers.  She got sick (breathing problems) and was hospitalized this past Sunday.  Pray for healing and for her rehabilitation (since her ailment is really serious).  Pray for Dan as he is taking care of her. 

Christol S. - Healing

She got into a one person car accident and is recovering now. She mentions that she is having a hard time breathing. Pray for healing.