FULFILLED PROPHECY : THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS - 11
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Worldwide Plague Of Killer Famines, Worldwide Droughts
Thus far in this series, we have discussed three of the four
signs which constitute the 'Beginning of Sorrows' mentioned
by the Lord in part of His Endtime sermon found in the
twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. As you may
recall, these four signs are wars, famines, pestilences and
earthquakes. Here again are those verses in order to refresh
your memory:
"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning
of sorrows." Matthew 24:7-8, KJV
In confirmation of Jesus' words, let us now take a look at
the fourth sign mentioned by the Lord; that is, famines;
also referred to as 'dearths' in the Bible. During the years
1845-1848, it is claimed that more than one million people
died in Ireland due to starvation and disease which resulted
from the Potato Famine. During Mao Zedong's 'Great Leap
Forward', it is also said that some twenty million Chinese
citizens perished due to famine, as a result of Mao's
misguided priorities. Following is a newsclip from CNN's
special report on the Cold War:
----- Begin Quote -----
In 1958, Mao had thought up a new policy -- the Great Leap
Forward -- a grandiose plan to transform China into a rich
world power. Mao's method was a more extreme version of
Stalin's brutal collectivization of the 1930s. People were
told to produce steel in backyard furnaces. Crops were left
to rot. Scientific knowledge and common sense were ignored.
No one dared to tell the truth for fear of arrest -- or
worse. Peasants' food was taken from them to make up bogus
quotas. The result was one of the worst man-made disasters
in history. More than 30 million people starved to death.
----- End Of Quote -----
In our modern day, despite man's scientific achievements and
advanced technology, such as his ability to 'play God' by
seeding the clouds of heaven in order to produce rain; and
his extensive use of modern irrigation systems and farming
techniques, which includes the use of a wide variety of
fertilizers and dangerous pesticides, and now even genetic
engineering, there are still many countries found throughout
the world, where literally millions of people suffer from
malnutrition, and die of starvation each year. Consider the
following data which I obtained from the 'Bread For the
World' web site:
----- Begin Quote -----
More than 800 million people-about one-fifth of the
population of the world's developing nations-are
malnourished, and 200 million of them are children.
(United Nations Development Program)
In developing countries, one child in 10 dies before his
fifth birthday. The majority of these deaths are
hunger-related, totaling 6 million deaths every year.
(UNICEF)
The cost of providing basic health care and nutrition for
all people in developing countries could be achieved by
spending an additional $13 billion annually, which is $4
billion less than what Americans and Europeans spend on pet
food.
(United Nations Development Program)
Eighty-seven developing countries do not produce enough food
for their people and cannot afford to import the rest.
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
Poor households in developing countries typically spend half
their income on food.
(United Nations Development Program)
The richest fifth of the world's people consumes 86 percent
of all goods and services while the poorest fifth consumes
just 1.3 percent.
(United Nations Human Development Report)
Some 1.3 billion people don't have access to safe drinking
water. (United Nations Development Program)
The three richest people in the world have assets that
exceed the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least
developed countries.
(United Nations Human Development Report)
The world's 225 richest individuals, of whom 60 are
Americans with total assets of $311 billion, have a combined
wealth of over $1 trillion-equal to the annual income of the
poorest 47 percent of the entire world's population.
(United Nations Human Development Report)
Some 1.3 billion people-one third of the population of the
developing world-live on less than a dollar a day.
(United Nations Development Program)
----- End Of Quote -----
As the previous data reveals, the famines and the poverty
continue at unprecedented levels. Consider the following
news reports which I have collected from various news
sources on the World Wide Web:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Agence France-Press -- About 790 million people in the world
suffer from chronic malnutrition, said a report issued
Thursday in London by the U.N. World Food Program. Those
numbers were attributed to war and natural disasters. The
report said that the number of malnourished people had
declined by roughly 8 million a year during the period
between 1990-1992 and 1995-1997. It based its findings on a
minimum requirement for caloric intake, which varied
according to the country under study. But it also said that
the decline in the number of malnourished of roughly 40
million people over the past five years was 'by far not
enough to ensure that the (1996) World Food Summit target is
met.' At that summit, 186 countries committed themselves to
halving the number of malnourished people in the world by
2015, noted Hartwig de Haen, who directed the study by
United Nations statisticians. In order to reach that target,
food was needed for 20 million more people each year, or 2.5
times the actual increase, the report said. The WFP noted
that while malnutrition had declined by about 100 million
people in 37 countries, it increased by 60 million in
others, which it called a 'worrying divergence.'
. . .
Report: 3.5 Million North Koreans Believed Dead From Famine
"Four years of famine in North Korea have eased after
killing up to 3.5 million people, but the situation could
worsen if outside aid is cut off, a South Korean relief
group said Monday. Good Friends, a private Buddhist aid
group, made the death estimate on the basis of interviews
with 2,700 North Korean refugees living in China. 'Mass
deaths in North Korea have stopped, but malnutrition remains
at the danger level,' Rev. Pumnyum, head of the group, said
at a news conference..."
. . .
Facing Mass Starvation, North Korea Pleads For Help
CNN -- North Korea abandoned its political isolation in 1997
and asked the nations of the world to help combat its severe
food shortage.
The communist nation said it would be willing to press ahead
with peace talks in exchange for help fighting widespread
starvation and malnourishment.
North Korea blamed the food shortages on a severe drought
and massive floods.
But some observers -- pointing to a broad economic slowdown
and a shortage of electricity from the country's primary
power source, hydroelectric dams -- said government
mismanagement was at fault.
Video from one United Nations fact-finding mission showed
11-year-old children who looked like they were 6, and
6-year-olds who looked 3. One woman said her family had not
had meat since August 1995.
In August, aid officials estimated the nation's 24 million
people were living off an average of 150 grams of food per
day -- about 12 spoonfuls. Some people turned to roots,
weeds and tree bark to try to survive.
. . .
Sudan Faces Another Season Of Crisis, Starvation
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Having faced famine, floods and
fighting this year, millions in southern Sudan could
experience more misfortune in 1999, unless government and
rebel forces continue a temporary cease-fire, U.N. officials
said Tuesday.
A six-month partial cease-fire and humanitarian aid in 1998
helped alleviate the suffering of 4 million Sudanese in the
rebel-controlled south, recovering first from blistering
drought then record floods.
Since 1983 the civil conflict for control of southern Sudan
has claimed an estimated 1.5 million to 1.9 million lives,
many from war-related famine. Millions more have fled their
homes and farms. Untended crops have been looted or
destroyed, leaving people without food.
. . .
1 Million People Face Famine In Sudan, Ethiopia
BAHR EL GHAZAL PROVINCE, Sudan (CNN) -- Drought
and war have combined to create a famine disaster in eastern
Africa that is affecting more than a million people in parts of
Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia.
In southern Sudan, relief workers estimate that more than
250,000 people may be starving. Though a drought has
aggravated the problems, the primary reason for the famine
is an ongoing civil war between the Muslim Arab government
in the north and a rebel group seeking autonomy for the
Christian and black African south.
"This is purely a man-made disaster," said Dan Effie of
Norwegian People's Aid, a relief group working in Sudan.
In Ethiopia, the weather is responsible for a famine that
U.N. World Food Program officials say is affecting perhaps
800,000 people in the eastern and central parts of the
country.
. . .
Famine Pushes Somalis To Brink Of Disaster
MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Flood and drought and ruined
crops have sent thousands of Somalis on a desperate trek,
searching for food, relief workers report.
Somali faction leader Ali Mahdi Mohamed said on Saturday the
situation in southern Somalia was "disastrous."
"Thousands of Somalis are on the brink of starvation after a
series of floods and drought ruined crops in the southern
(crop growing) Juba region," Ali Mahdi said in a statement.
"People will die if there is no relief aid," said World Food
Program monitor Muhiedin Moallim.
Somalia has been without a government since 1991 when forces
loyal to Mohamed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi combined to oust
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre -- and then turned on each other
in clan-based bloodletting.
Famine killed as many as 300,000 people after the 1991
crisis. Somalia has suffered a series of failed harvests
since and many of its people have lived on U.N. handouts.
In this western Somalia town, events confirmed fighting and
natural disasters had robbed people of food. Militia loyal
to Hussein Aideed have just been ousted by the local
Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA) in factional fighting. The
cost: dozens of lives lost and hundreds of people on the
run.
In the village of Tiyeglow, 90 km (56 miles) from Hoddur,
chaos greeted the first WFP food consignment in three
months. Menacing local militia, automatic rifles at the
ready, kept hundreds of the hungry jostling for a "better"
place on the queue in line.
More than 40,000 people in Tiyeglow are at risk of
starvation, said Moallim.
He said: "This is an emergency. The area of Bay and Bakool
experienced crop failure for the last three years so the
situation looks bad."
WFP says the Somalis were moving en masse to coastal areas
and to the southern border with Kenya. It estimates that
700,000 Somalis are facing imminent food shortages, with
some 300,000 in central Somalia most at risk.
. . .
Famine Warning: Tanzania And Somalia
CNN -- Lack of seasonal rain in East Africa severely
threatens staple food crops in several countries, triggering
an alarm of impending famine in the region.
The U.S. Agency for International Development described the
region's weather as the worst in 20 years, with the La Ni–a
ocean cooling in the Pacific causing rainfall to be as low
as 50 percent below normal in some countries. The failure of
the short rains (October-December) in many parts of
Tanzania, and a likely delay of the long rains (April-June),
have put up to 300,000 people in the country at great risk
of starvation. During the past month in Somalia, at least
six people died on average each day of malnutrition.
. . .
Kenya Warns Of Famine After Long Drought
NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans
are severely short of food because of a long drought and at
least five have starved to death, government officials said
Friday.
The government has declared a state of "alarm" in 18
districts after two consecutive rainy seasons failed.
Local officials say 40 percent of the population face
starvation if rains due in the next month also fail.
In its recent history Kenya has never suffered famine on the
scale experienced by its conflict-torn neighbors Sudan,
Ethiopia and Somalia.
But hundreds died and thousands of head of livestock were
lost in a severe drought in 1992/93, the worst for 50 years.
. . .
Famine Sweeps Parched Northeastern Brazil
AFOGADOS DA INGAZEIRA, Brazil (AP) -- The corn withered
long ago when Sebastiao da Silva's parched fields at last
produced some food: a rodent.
Da Silva held up the fur-covered prea, an animal the size of
a small rabbit, and a grin cracked his face, baked to
leather by years of sun.
"At least tonight, my family will have something to eat," he
said.
Here in the country's vast northeastern outback -- which has
been without rain for six months -- there isn't much else to
consume. An estimated 10 million people are at risk of going
hungry -- and some have turned to looting government
warehouses.
Droughts occur here every few years, but this year's has
been exacerbated by El Ni–o, a phenomenon that affects
weather patterns, creating dryness in some areas and
heavier-than-normal rain in others.
Cattle carcasses dot the dusty scrubland near Afogados Da
Ingazeira, a town 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) northeast
of Rio de Janeiro. Officials say 60 percent of Pernambuco
state, where the town is located, is without water.
Desperate families try to stave off starvation by eating
cacti -- and by looting. Last month, 700 men, women and
children raided a government warehouse, carrying off almost
13 tons (12 metric tons) of rice, beans, flour, manioc meal,
corn and pasta.
Severino Leite hangs on, relying on credit from a local
store to feed his wife and six children. He already owes
$440 and dreads the day when his credit is cut.
"We each have one plate of beans a day and a glass of water
at night," he said. "Then me and my family will be in God's
hands. I don't like the idea, but who knows if I'll be
forced to loot?"
----- End Of Quotes -----
Without a doubt, we have all seen haunting pictures on the
evening news, or perhaps in newspapers and magazines, where
young children from some of the aforementioned countries are
shown with sad, sunken eyes, and their skin tightly clinging
to their protruding bones. It is indeed a heart-wrenching
sight to behold. How can such things still occur in our
modern times one may ask? As we have seen by the previous
reports, on the surface, famine appears to be the result of
prolonged droughts which result in crop failures, as well as
the evil fruit of man's inhumanity to his fellow man through
his greedy wars, which have a dire effect on the economy,
agriculture and society of the nations involved.
As you read the following news reports, particularly those
regarding droughts in the United States of America, please
take note of the fact that the general unspoken attitude
from the American President on down, seems to be 'These are
all just natural disasters. It has nothing to do with God.
We just don't understand why all of these things, [droughts,
heat waves, floods], are happening to us at one time. It's
very unusual.' How much it reminds me of similar remarks
made by the American President when he was dismayed by the
teenage shootings in the American Public School System. Some
people are so spiritually blind, that they just don't have a
clue as to what is going on; or else they are simply too
proud, or too politically-correct to want to speak the
truth. What is rather ironic about this attitude, is that
droughts, floods and hurricanes are referred to as 'Acts of
God' when one is dealing with insurance policies, etc. In
other words, they say in their documents that these things
are Acts of God, but some of them don't really believe it in
their hearts. If they did, they would repent of their sins
and get right with God:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Arabic News -- The representative of the international Food
and Agriculture Organization in Iraq, Amir Khalil, has said
that the country, which suffers from its worst drought in
this century, will face a catastrophe unless the situation
is improved next year. In press statements he made in
Baghdad, Khalil added, 'If there will be a new wave of
drought next year, there will be a real catastrophe and then
emergency action should be taken.' Khalil added that the
absence of resources and necessary equipment in Iraq
obstructs alleviation of the drought crisis, saying that
sums allotted to help in this regard in the context of the
UN food-for-oil program are hardly enough just to halt the
deterioration of the situation but give no fundamental
treatment. Khalil added that Iraq had allotted a sum of US
$500 - 600 million annually to be spent on irrigation
projects and other projects in the areas of agriculture
before the imposition of the current sanctions, noting that
this sum has been greatly decreased.
. . .
Pacific Drought Blamed on El Ni–o
Disaster Alert -- Drought conditions attributed to El Ni–o
are blamed for 47 deaths in Papua New Guinea and increasing
crop damage and livestock losses in New Zealand, Indonesia
and Australia. The prime minister of Papua New Guinea says
700,000 residents of the island nation have been affected by
weather conditions.
"We have to sit down and really have a critical look at it,"
he said on Wednesday in an interview with the Post-Courier.
It's the worst drought the country has faced in 50 years.
The drought and frosts have dried up vegetable gardens and
farming operations and depleted rivers that are the
lifeblood for gold and copper mines, the largest source of
the country's revenue.
. . .
El Nino Drought Plagues Papua New Guinea
Disaster Alert -- The following information is from the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (IFRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
El Nino is robbing Papua New Guinea of rain vital for the
growing season, causing extreme heat and drought, and
generating crop-killing frosts in the local mountains. As a
result, many people heavily dependent on their island's
agriculture for food and cash crops have watched vegetable
gardens dry and wither.
Foods such as the traditional sweet potato, or kaukau, have
been fewer and smaller because of unusual waves of highland
frost. Root vegetables have shrivelled and the normally
resilient shoots have died off.
Rivers and streams in many parts of the island are drying up
or have evaporated completely, causing water shortages and
serious health problems. Thousands of people in the region
are being forced to use limited water sources for all their
needs, including washing, cooking, drinking and sanitation.
. . .
Belgium In Severe Drought; No Relief In Sight
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- Belgium is suffering one of the
longest droughts on record, and there is no quick relief in
sight, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute.
"Since July 1995 we have an accumulated rainfall deficit of
255 liters per square meter (10 inches)," statistician Marc
Vandiepenbeek said.
"Over the period we have had 1,123 liters per square meter
(44.2 inches) against the 1,378 liters (54.2 inches) we
would normally have expected," he added.
Last August Belgium suffered major flooding as cloudburst
followed cloudburst to make the month the wettest since
1833.
"But much of that simply evaporated, more was absorbed by
plants and the rest went into the rivers," Vandiepenbeek
said. "The ground itself got little benefit."
. . .
Drought Halts Some Traffic On The River Thames
LONDON (CNN) -- Low water is hindering some boat traffic on
the historic River Thames, as Britain suffers its worst
drought in more than two centuries.
At low tide, the river is so shallow in places that people
can wade across it, and flows are only about one-third of
what is needed for boat traffic. Tourism cruises from
Westminster to Henry VIII's palace at Hampton Court are
being canceled because the boats can't navigate.
January in London was the driest since 1779. While rainfall
was above normal in February, March's total was only about a
third as much as usual. Since last June, London -- famous
for gray skies and rain -- has been drier than Istanbul or
Madrid.
. . .
CNN -- AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND: Drought And Bush Fires.
Australia already has seen an erratic cycle of rain and
drought in 1997. Farmers, forewarned that El Ni–o could
cause a drought, sold off cattle and altered planting plans
to minimize their losses. Some three fourths of New South
Wales already is facing a drought. Officials predict a $700
million to $1.4 billion shortfall in grain. In New Zealand,
crop and livestock losses have exceeded $130 million.
. . .
Wheat Belt Drought Taking Heavy Toll
WELLINGTON, Kansas (CNN) -- Wheat prices are setting records
at the Chicago Board of Trade as a drought in the Wheat Belt
shrivels the crop. Some are calling the conditions -- in
some of the most fertile wheat-producing land in the world
-- the worst since the dust bowl days of the 1930s.
Farmers say they've never seen it so bad, bankers call the
drought a disaster, and the people in Wellington, Kansas,
the "Wheat Capital of the World," have watched the wheat
crop shrink into nothing.
The federal government says half the crop across the United
States is being lost to drought. Dry topsoil is being blown
into ditches, and bugs ravage what crop is left. Many
farmers have already plowed their plantings under. And the
worst may be ahead.
The crop in much of the county already is a total loss. The
plants needed moisture down at the roots weeks ago, but now
the dirt at that level is dry. And now it's too late.
At a town meeting, Isaacs joined others to discuss what
could be the worst U.S. wheat crop in history.
"There's going to be a larger impact than just our local
economy," said Wellington's mayor, Stan Gilliland. "It's
going to effect the whole world."
The drought has already affected the world. In the span of a
decade, U.S. wheat stockpiles have gone from an all-time
high to what is likely to be their lowest level since the
1940s, making it only a matter of time before prices start
to rise on Main Street.
. . .
El Ni–o Brings Drought To Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- El Ni–o has wreaked havoc around
the globe, bringing rains, floods and other types of severe
weather. But in Colombia, it has brought the worst drought
in years, causing crop losses worth millions of dollars.
There are no official estimates of damage, but there have
been more than 11,000 fires, and some 10,000 cattle have
died just in the southern region of El Guila since the
drought began.
Eduardo Cortez, a farmer all his life, doesn't remember a
summer worse than this.
"Everybody from all parts of the country are complaining
that summer is too strong, and in the hot areas, the coffee
plants are drying up, the rice fields are drying up, they
don't have water to water, all the crops are drying up," he
said.
In Silvania, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Bogota, corn
fields are drying up. While the lack of water is affecting
the crops, the unusually hot temperatures are also bringing
plagues of bugs.
. . .
U.S. Drought Worsens
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The drought in the Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic states is at a crisis point in some areas.
Water restrictions have been imposed, fish are dying and
crops are baking in the fields. Even Halloween is
threatened.
From Virginia to New England and westward to the Ohio
Valley, drought conditions that, in some areas, began years
ago have led to restrictions on water use, increased the
danger of fire and turned farmland into agriculture disaster
areas.
Maryland received a foot less rain than normal from July
1998 through June 1999, the driest one-year period for the
state since 1965-66.
Some 400 miles to the west, farmers in Ohio are feeling the
same pain. "The beans aren't even knee-high yet, and they
should be waist-high," lamented Ron Rockhold.
Fish are dying as water levels in lakes and streams dip
dangerously low
In Pennsylvania and Virginia, millions of fish are dying in
arid riverbeds and from excessive heat, which depletes
oxygen levels in water. In a tributary of Virginia's
Pocomoke River alone, about 1 million fish were found dead
last week.
The drought also has taken its toll on large cities such as
New York, where rainfall totals are 18 percent below normal.
In Central Park, like much of the region, the bushes have
wilted and the grass has turned to straw.
Drought alerts and warnings have been in place in New York
state for the past two weeks, along with Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.
Michael Wyllie, meteorologist at the National Weather
Service in Brookhaven, New York, said the drought on Long
Island is one step below "extreme."
In addition to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, there are
also drought conditions in other portions of the United
States:
* The water levels of all five Great Lakes are below
normal and Lakes Michigan and Huron are 17 inches below last
year's high.
* Rainfall for the past 30 days has been 50 percent below
normal from northern Nevada eastward into Idaho and northern
Utah westward into northern California.
* Alaska, which has had several months of below normal
rainfall, is on increased alert for fires.
* Hawaii has been suffering subnormal rainfalls since the
beginning of the year.
----- End Of Quotes -----
As we continue this discussion in the next part of our
series, I will be sharing additional news reports concerning
droughts in various parts in the world. In addition, we will
also discuss famines and droughts in the Bible, the true
cause of war and other calamities, doubting God's Righteous
Judgments, deliverance of the righteous, our dependence upon
the Word, exposed by the Word, God turns away, and spiritual
famines then and now. I trust that you will join me.
[ Click Me ] Go To Part Twelve . . .