“Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. . . . I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest” (Psalm 55:6, 8).
Windy storms, tempests, earthquakes, accidents, floods, famines, and fires—the list goes on and on. Are more of such disasters looming on the horizon?
“The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloud-bursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.”—The Review and Herald, .
“In accidents and calamities by land and by sea, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes—in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. The visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast.”—Ibid., March 14, 1912.
As the great controversy thus escalates on our planet—what would God have us to do in behalf of suffering humanity? “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”—a God who “delighteth in mercy” (Micah 6:8; 7:18).
In times of disaster, the woes of suffering humanity cry out for deeds of mercy—to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, repair the rubble of toppled buildings, apply the healing balm to the wounded. Emergency aid requires much funding, so only by your generous support to this great need can it happen. Those who give generously to this need will be amply repaid, for “blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
In behalf of the GC Stewardship and Welfare Department