I was glued to the TV when Hurricane Irma was making landfall and the entire state of Florida was in harm’s way. My mom sat and prayed for the people of Florida and the reporters who were out in that crazy system trying to keep up to date reports flowing in to the networks. Our church prayed. Many on Facebook prayed.

We just came through the same thing with hurricane Harvey that hit Texas. Those folks who were affected are nowhere near back to normal. Fires are raging in the west part of our nation. New storms are forming at sea.

News media in the USA are focused on the natural disasters within our own borders, of course. However, there are things going on in the world of which we should not be ignorant.

An 8.1 earthquake hit Mexico between the landfall of hurricane Harvey and hurricane Irma. Our news media barely covered it and did not do any major updates. We have friends from south of the border living in Harlan County who had family that were in the earthquake area and could not reach them to find out if they were okay. They needed and still need our prayers for their families in the aftermath of this earthquake.

These are not the only tragedies that are ongoing. According to Eco Watch, “The Red Cross estimates that 14 million people have been affected by flooding in India, more than seven million in Bangladesh, and 1.5 million in Nepal. The United Nations puts the total number of people affected by floods and landslides at a total of nearly double that, at 41 million… In India, for example, half the huge state of Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 220 million people, is under water. But they are not alone. One rescue and relief officer recently told Reuters that at least 850 people had been killed in six flood-affected states in the past month.”

These are among the poorest, most over populated places in the world. Where will they go? What will they do? Yet, our media has more or less ignored their plight in favor of our own natural disasters.

After Harvey hit Texas, my little granddaughter wanted to pray for those people and children every time we sat down to eat. She was troubled that they had lost their toys, the babies didn’t have diapers, and even their toilets were under water and they had not place to go to the bathroom. I know that’s very simplistic, but her heart was in the right place. I hadn’t even considered the toilet situation.

“While the South drowns amid a succession of unprecedented and record-shattering hurricanes, the West is burning,” reports the Huffington Post. “Some 172 fires are burning across the region, 78 of which the National Interagency Fire Center considers “large” incidents of greater than 100 forested acres or 300 grassland acres.

Millions of people believe these events to be the warning humanity should take that an event known in Christian circles as “the rapture” is getting ready to happen. According to the 24th chapter in the Bible book of Matthew and the gospel of Luke, chapter 21, there are many events taking place that were predicted 2,000 years ago that point to Christ’s eminent return.

Kentucky may not be burning or flooding, but we can be mindful of those who are. The Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Blessing, the Salvation Army, and World Vision are a few of the organizations listed as trustworthy for accepting donations and providing relief to those affected by natural disasters.

If we can’t help with cash or material goods, we certainly can offer up our prayers from sincere hearts for those who are displaced and suffering.

Reach Judith Victoria Hensley at judith99@bellsouth.net or on Facebook. Check out her blog: One Step Beyond the Door.