Displaying items by tag: North America

Professor Francis Collins, the Christian geneticist who famously led the ‘human genome project’, has said he is hopeful about developing a successful vaccine to protect people against Covid-19. He has recently been asked to join the White House coronavirus task force to help the government combat the disease. As the head of the NIH - a government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research - Collins said that he was prepared to ‘say the truth’ to President Trump even if he disagreed with it. This followed the repudiation experience of leading immunologist and government adviser, Dr Tony Fauci. A prominent public figure in the fight against coronavirus, Dr Fauci is a ‘truth-teller who is incapable of doing anything except saying exactly what we do and don't know’. Collins added, ‘If there is one thing more infectious than virus, it is hope.’

The world's worst health crisis in a hundred years is not the best time for the WHO to lose its largest financial supporter. The Trump administration says the WHO ignored early warnings about coronavirus spread, took at face value Chinese efforts to downplay it, and failed to send researchers into Wuhan for vital investigation at an early enough stage. Unless WHO shapes up to better serve ‘American interests,’ it will stop funding them in 30 days. Some are asking ‘Is WHO in need of urgent reform, or is it imperfect but better than any current alternatives?’ Also, WHO refused to provide information directly to Taiwan - which is excluded from WHO membership - out of respect for China's wishes, putting millions of Taiwanese at unnecessary risk. President Xi has pledged up to $2 billion to help the WHO's global pandemic response efforts.

Poverty on the Blackfeet Indian reservation is 37% compared to 15% in Montana state. Dr Mary DesRosier is on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. Her patients struggle with addiction, depression and substance abuse. Liver-related deaths and drug-use-poisoning deaths are among the top five causes of death. But her patients are living examples of their faith; facing unimaginable challenges with faith and humour. ‘It’s been the hardest job I’ve ever done, but the most rewarding,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’m ministered to by them.’ DesRosier believes that God put a love for rituals and sacredness in the hearts of the Blackfeet. ‘Christ is the fulfilment of our traditions. We have a heart for the one true God, Jesus. I can’t do anything without him. He is my springboard, walking with me every day. In difficult situations, his grace just comes in and takes over.’

Canadian intercessors have invited the nations to join them in an online seven-hour prayer meeting to pray for the mobilising of the Church into the Great Commission as we emerge from the coronavirus restrictions. Numerous Canadian ministries and churches are linking arms to sponsor this full-day initiative. Prayer will be led by a wide variety of teams of senior leaders from across Canada, but every voice joining in and participating adds powerfully to the whole. This day of prayer will be on 21 May, Ascension Day, remembering when Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, the mandate that has burned in the heart of the Church ever since.

America’s food supply chain is breaking down due to coronavirus shutdown. Meat processing plants and retailers are closed; consequently farmers and ranchers have nowhere to take their pigs, poultry and cattle and face heart-wrenching decisions about what to do with surplus animals. One Nebraska pig farmer is euthanising 500 to 600 pigs a week. Poultry farmers and cattle ranchers face similar dilemmas. Vegetable and dairy farmers face similar predicaments. Ripe crops and filled milk containers which would have gone to schools, restaurants, hotels, etc. go nowhere. With increasing unemployment, food banks are reporting double the number of families needing food and food shops cannot keep their shelves stocked for lack of supplies. The demand is there and the food is there, but the connection from farm to retail has been interrupted as the debate about reopening continues in each state.

American food stores are offering early-morning ‘senior hours’ to vulnerable shoppers during the pandemic. Recently, nearly 3,000 shoppers taking advantage of these hours at 44 Atlanta Kroger stores were surprised when actor-filmmaker and local resident Tyler Perry paid for their food. He also paid the bills for vulnerable people at 29 Winn-Dixies in New Orleans, where he was raised. Then, over the weekend, he gave £16,825 to bless 42 out-of-work servers at his favourite restaurant, giving each of them £400. The media advertised his actions and Tyler used Facebook to challenge his followers: ‘I dare you to still yourself and listen to this song. This has been my prayer and meditation.’ The song was the live version of Bethel Music’s ‘It Is Well.’

‘It will disappear one day like a miracle’ is how Donald Trump originally described coronavirus. For weeks he assured Americans it was ‘totally under control’. However, the US now has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases (644,188). Healthcare workers have medical shortages. Hospitals are overwhelmed. The president is accused of ignoring crisis warnings and misleading Americans. Trump insists he is ‘doing the job right’, using daily briefings to promote his achievements. He has now made the controversial decision to halt funds to the World Health Organisation, accusing it of mismanaging the virus spread. America is WHO’s largest donor. The UN said, ‘It is not the time to reduce resources for any humanitarian organisation in the fight against the virus’. Trump is suspected of attempting (in the lead-up to the presidential election for his second term) to make a case that his previous optimistic statements had been based on inaccurate information from WHO: see

A nursing home in Washington had an outbreak of Covid-19. 34 residents died and a further 101 had the virus. 90-year-old Geneva Wood was recovering from a stroke. A few days before she was to return home, the disease struck and the centre went on lockdown. Then Geneva caught Covid-19. While she was alone in isolation one night she thought she was dying. ‘I could feel God’s presence. His hands were on my body and I could feel His presence and I would wake up and I could feel these hands and I would go back to sleep. Through the night, I would wake up, I couldn’t see His face, but I could feel His hands and I knew He was with me and I made it through the night. My faith in God, my family, and the church’s prayers pulled me through.’

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported that Nadia, a four-year-old female Malayan tiger, has tested positive for COVID-19. She, her sister, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had a dry cough. All are expected to recover. This positive COVID-19 test for the tiger was confirmed by the veterinary services laboratory and the animal health inspection service. A WCS spokesman said, ‘Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from animals to humans. Now, it’s jumping back. WCS said that any knowledge gained about COVID-19 will be shared to aid the world’s understanding of this novel coronavirus. It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats, since different species react differently to novel infections. The zoo will issue additional information as warranted. A provisional warning was issued that domestic cats should be kept indoors.

Liberty University has 100,000 pupils studying online, with a further 15,000 attending campus in Virginia. It will now allow 5,000 students to return to campus and halls of residence despite the state governor ordering all schools to close until the end of the academic year. An email to students said, ‘All planned international trips have been cancelled, but students should return to campus this week. Liberty University is open and operating normally.’ The majority of lessons will be conducted online, but staff have been instructed to ‘report to work as normal’. According to the university president, on-site pupils have said, ‘Don't send us home to study online; we love it here, we want to stay'. This decision came after President Trump questioned whether public health measures to prevent coronavirus contagion were too strict. Health officials stressed that relaxing them could put more people at risk.