We regret to report the passing of former General Superintendent, Bishop Kenneth F. Haney. Brother Haney was a leader of great vision, inspiration, and faith. We will miss him greatly. Please keep Sister Haney, the family, and the church in your prayers.
David K. Bernard
General Superintendent
Friends,
It is still impossible to tell how hard Alabama has been hit with tornadoes and storms. We know the massive storm that plowed through Tuscaloosa and Northern Birmingham was devastating, but other areas of the state have been hit hard also. Cullman is once again reeling from natural disaster. These are not the only places. In fact, they are so numerous that we cannot mention them all here.
Reports from our pastors in these hard hit areas are not good. There is still much death and devastation being found, and there are still many people missing in these areas. Two deaths and several injuries were sustained by United Pentecostal people across the state. At this point, it appears that there is no significant damage to our church buildings, but several of our members have lost homes. The tornado that hit near Redeemed Apostolic (Pastor Matt Edmonson) in Tuscaloosa skipped over the building and there appears to be no significant damage. Of course, there is still much to be discovered. Please keep praying for our people and for the people in Alabama in general.
Rev. David Hall had surgery last evening to fuse some broken vertebra in his back. He lost his wife in the storm, which, to quote one of our area pastors, was not survivable. I have seen pictures of his home and it is indeed a miracle that anyone could survive. We really need to keep praying for him and the family in Moulton who lost their 12 year old daughter. We also have some people hospitalized from injuries.
Relief efforts are under way. Two relief groups from out of state that are either UPCI or connected with us are bringing truck loads of supplies into the state. Our Disaster Relief Coordinator is Rev. Michael Markham. Office Max has agreed to work in conjunction with us and will be supplying some relief for the area. We are hoping to reach into Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Cullman with these goods. We will need some manpower to help in distribution. You can reach Bro. Markham at (205) 938-0182. He is working diligently to arrange delivery of these goods at this time. A special thanks to Reach Out America from Dallas, TX, a UPCI based Relief Organization, for a quick response. We will give credit to the other sources as the information comes in.
Meanwhile, if you are aware of any area disaster that may have missed our notice, please let me know. The high volume of calls may require a return call from me, but I want to be aware of any way that we can help our brothers and sisters in time of need. There are severe power outages from Birmingham north and shortages of gasoline in some areas. These power outages are expected to last from 7 to 10 days in most areas. Please let us know if we can help in any way.
The Work Week for the Campgrounds scheduled for next week is still planned. We can use as many workers as possible, but we make the disaster relief a priority. We will take care of all essential maintenance issues and tackle the other issues based on available manpower.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Our Disaster Relief Fund in the District is available to help purchase items needed if necessary. Keep praying and supporting, and God will bring blessing out of the rubble of ruins.
J. Stanley Davidson
The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in at least 100 years unleashed walls of water Friday that swept across rice fields, engulfing towns, dragging houses onto highways and tossing cars and boats like toys, apparently killing hundreds and forcing the evacuations of tens of thousands.
The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake — the largest in Japan’s history — unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.
The quake, which struck at 2:46 pm local time, sparked fires in at least 80 locations, Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported, and prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings for at least 50 countries and territories.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the “enormously powerful” earthquake has caused “tremendous damage over a wide area.”
Police in Miyagi Prefecture say between 200-300 have been found in the coastal city of Sendai alone, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported late Friday. The death toll is likely to rise as there are few casualty counts yet from the worst-hit areas.
The quake toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers. About 4 million homes had no power in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
Please pray:
• For those who need to be rescued. Many are stranded and unable to get to safety.
• For those who are injured.
• For the medical centers who will be bombarded with patients needed medical care.
• For the families of those who were killed.
• For those who may spend days or even weeks trying to locate loved ones.
• For the needed aid workers to handle a disaster of this magnitude.
• For the aftershocks to stop.
• For those who are trapped to be rescued.
• For the fires to cease.
• For those countries under a tsunami warning.
• For peace of those in the midst of this disaster.
• For the needed food and water to be available.
• For wisdom for the rescue workers.
• Thank you.
Lisa Marshall
Strategic Prayer Coordinator
World Network of Prayer
News Bulletin from the General Superintendent
Report from Thomas Suey, international coordinator of the World Network of Prayer:
“On May 1, 2010, the New York Metro Prayer Conference convened at 9 a.m. in Queens at United Apostolic Church. Professor Margaret Banks successfully led the 400 to 500 attendees, from 29 churches, into an extended time of deep intercessory prayer. Of the five and a half hours, over four hours were devoted to deep intercession.
“Being sensitive to the Spirit, both District Superintendent Thomas and Sister Banks revamped the schedule and let the Holy Spirit reign sovereignly until about 2:30 p.m. Wave after wave of intercession swept over us as men and women broke into deeper levels of prayer, supplications, and tongues. At about 12:30 p.m., the Lord gave us a word that ‘the enemy could not do to New York City what he would really like to do’ because the hundreds of intercessors had cast a prayer net across the city.”
At that very moment a terrorist was placing a bomb in Times Square, but it was discovered and defused, thereby averting a major disaster. Now we know the rest of the story.
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