News Of The Day – September 23rd
Southern Baptist Convention Mandates Covid-19 Vaccines For Missionaries
Truly wanting to protect others, and do no harm, the global agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical Protestant denomination in the U.S., announced this month it is requiring vaccinations for missionaries going into the field amid the pandemic. “This is a very common-sense decision,” said Ed Stetzer, a Southern Baptist who is dean of Mission, Ministry and Leadership at Wheaton College. “Mission-sending agencies from the United States have the real opportunity to be vaccinated, and they’re going to places around the world that don’t.” Read more about the decision here.
Megachurch Charter Bus crash Injures Over 30
“We ask that you would continue to pray for each student and their families during this very difficult time,” David Ashcraft, senior pastor of Lives Changed By Christ Church in Lancaster County, is asking for prayers for the students and their families after a bus crash injured dozens. A church statement said that the bus was carrying 31 students and leaders and the driver, and that the buses were returning from a high school ministry retreat at Lake Champion, New York. The bus went off the right side of the road and onto the shoulder, then through a grassy area, crashing through a guardrail that divides the lanes, and about 50 yards into a wooded area before it stopped, still on its wheels. Read more about the accident here.
Pope Francis Declares He’s Still Alive Though Some Want Him Dead
Pope Francis has joked that some people in the Church hoped he would not survive his recent colon operation. Asked about his health by one of the Jesuits, Francis was quoted as replying: “Still alive. Although some people wanted me dead. I know that there were even meetings between prelates who thought that the Pope was in a more serious condition than was being said,” he added. “They were preparing the conclave (to elect a new pope). So be it. Thank God, I am well.” Francis, who was elected pontiff in 2013, underwent colon surgery on July 4, and spent 11 days in hospital. He has since resumed a full work schedule. Read more his remarks here.
Firefighters Saving Sequoia By Wrapping Tree In Blankets
The KNP Complex Fire in California, has now burned 23,743 acres and is 0% contained, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks said in an update Monday morning. The fire has grown by thousands of acres in each recent day. And now, to save he world’s largest tree, a sequoia named General Sherman, recently got a blanket to help protect it from a raging wildfire. The sequoia was wrapped with house-wrapping material, kind of an aluminum-foil fabric that goes around the base of the tree. A fire-resistant foil capable of withstanding 1,200°F. The September 9th “Windy Fire,” was started by a lighting strike, burned 25,000 acres in Peyrone Sequoia Grove and the Red Hill Grove before it converged on Sequoia National Park. Read more about the efforts here.
