The current Central America drought is the worst on record in 38 years, according to Nicaragua’s Institute of Territorial Studies. Millions in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala face severe food shortages as a result. ABC News reports: “In Guatemala, about 170,000 families lost almost all of their crops, while in El Salvador crops have completely been lost in two-thirds of the country. In Nicaragua…the drought has killed more than 2,500 cattle and left 600,000 people in a state of malnutrition.” (Source: a joint statement from the UN World Food Program and the US Food & Agricultural Organization.)
No statistics were available for neighboring Belize, which is also suffering from the Central America drought. The first three months of Belize’s June-Nov rainy season have been extremely dry. Belize is currently in the throes of a month-long heat wave.
The crop losses in the Central America drought are mainly in corn and beans, the staples of the region’s diet. In Nicaragua the cost of corn and beans has quadrupled. Some communities lack water to drink, let alone to grow food with. Famine Early Warning Systems Network says that the region will need possibly the highest level of humanitarian assistance since Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
PRAY WITH US:
Father God, all riches and power and glory belong to You. Your Son Jesus lived with You in that glory from eternity past. But He was willing to give it all up. He was willing to take on the form of a servant and become poor for us. To even die on a cross. Therefore You highly exalted Him. You said every knee would bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to Your glory. We declare that drug lords are false lords. They deal in a false glory with a false power which kills and steals and destroys. Reveal to drug traffickers Your true glory. Expose their deeds of darkness as vanity. Show them they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Bring them to their knees. Show them that if they humble themselves and confess You are Lord now, You will lift them up. Lead them to give up their false riches now so they may gain Your true riches. Deliver them, and those under their power, from the dominion of darkess into Your kingdom of light. Find them new occupations which glorify You.
In the time of Joel, You told Your people to wake up. Their fields were ruined and their ground was dried up. The harvest was destroyed and the trees were withered. You told them to wake up, call a solemn assembly and rend their hearts. When they did, You gave them rain. Do it again. Send messengers to wake up Your people. For You have plans to prosper us and not to harm us. We don’t need the US or the UN. We don’t need government programs. We need You. Release Your good will for Central America. Send forth rain. Pour out Your Spirit. Repay us for the years that the locust has eaten. Do miracles. Bring revival to the land. As You did in Cali, Columbia, so do throughout Central America. Lead cities and communities through transformations that spread to more and more nations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
