WHO chief, experts brief media on Ebola outbreak

 

Ebola Aid Workers Still Avoiding New York And New Jersey

JANUARY 01, 2015 3:49 AM ET
JOEL ROSE
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Last fall's state-ordered quarantine of nurse Kaci Hickox (shown here with her boyfriend, Theodore Michael Wilbur, in late October) started at the airport in Newark, N.J., then followed her home to Fort Kent, Maine. Hickox treated Ebola patients in Africa but never had the illness.Spencer Platt/Getty Images



Sara Back, a nurse practitioner at a public hospital in the Bronx, is not the kind of person to turn down a tough assignment. This month she's heading to Sierra Leone to work a short stint caring for Ebola patients.

"I am beyond ready," she says.

Back is passionate about treating patients suffering from the deadly disease. But she's not so keen on the mandatory 21-day quarantine she faces when she gets home.

"It's definitely a pain in the tush," she says. "I mean, jokingly, my colleagues say, 'Well, we'll see you in, like ... June.' "

"It's been quite clear that there is not going to be an epidemic in the U.S., that we do have it under control — and that these quarantines are not helpful."

- Lawrence Gostin, global health law specialist, Georgetown University Law School

It's been just over two months since New York and New Jersey rushed to put in place the strictest Ebola travel rules in the nation. New York City had just diagnosed its first case of Ebola — Dr. Craig Spencer. Then Kaci Hickox, a nurse, was held against her will — first at the Newark airport, then in a tent outside a hospital. At the time, Hickox derided the policy on NBC's Today.

"If you're going to put a policy like that in place that impedes ... my civil rights," she said on the broadcast, "then you need to have the administrative details worked out before you start detaining me in an airport for no reason."

New Jersey officials said Hickox was running a "high fever," which she denied. A few days later, she was allowed to go home to Maine. After Hickox was released, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tried to clarify the state's rules.

"People are symptomatic, they go in a hospital," Christie said. "If they live in New Jersey, they get quarantined at home. And if they don't, and they're not symptomatic, then we set up quarantine for them out of state."

This is where it starts to get confusing — in-state this, out-of-state that.



GOATS AND SODA
Medical Journal To Governors: You're Wrong About Ebola Quarantine


Here's how state officials in New Jersey and New York explain the rules today: A health care worker who treated Ebola patients can serve her mandatory quarantine at home in New Jersey or in New York. If you don't live in those two states — and you have no symptoms that suggest you might have Ebola — you will be allowed to pass through the airport, and return to wherever you live.

But that is not how some international aid groups are interpreting the New York and New Jersey travel rules.

"We don't want people to be quarantined unnecessarily," says Margaret Aguirre of International Medical Corps, based in Los Angeles. Her group has been telling returning health care workers to avoid JFK and Newark airports, she says, so that they don't wind up like Kaci Hickox.

"We have not gotten any different information that anything has changed," Aguirre says, "so we will continue to route people the way we've been routing them."

The International Medical Corps isn't the only aid group that's been avoiding New York and New Jersey, travelwise.

"We're having to make sure that our people coming back from Liberia don't go through those two states," says Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. "We've got to bring them in some other way — get them into Washington through Dulles, or Atlanta, someplace like that." No question, Graham says. His group, too, is avoiding New York and New Jersey.

Other states and municipalities have adopted a patchwork of regulations; many of these rules go beyond what's recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says most returning health care workers should monitor themselves for 21 days — but they don't need to be isolated unless they start showing symptoms.




GOATS AND SODA
Ebola Survivor: Faith And Oral Rehydration Salts Got Her Through

If you're having trouble keeping all these rules straight, you're not alone, says Lawrence Gostin, a specialist in global health law at Georgetown Law School, and a critic of mandatory quarantines.



GOATS AND SODA
Ebola Survivor: The Best Word For The Virus Is 'Aggression'

"I think there's a ton of confusion about this," Gostin says. What's more, he adds, "It was not just confusing. It was a message that, in a way, was a significant deterrent to health workers flying to and from the region."

The mandatory quarantine rules do seem to be popular with the public, at least in New Jersey. Patrick Murray, a pollster at Monmouth University, says more than half the people he surveyed approve of Gov. Christie's response to Ebola.

"I think people were feeling that they didn't know what was going on," Murray says. "And they just wanted somebody to take a real strong action. So, Gov. Christie's actionwas pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered, in political terms."

Still, for all the drama surrounding New York and New Jersey quarantine rules, they haven't actually been used much. State health officials in New York say only a handful of returning health care workers have been quarantined at home. In New Jersey, since Kaci Hickox, that number is zero. And Georgetown's Gostin thinks the level of public concern has changed.

"The temperature has dropped precipitously," Gostin says. "And it's been quite clear that there is not going to be an epidemic in the U.S., that we do have it under control — and that these quarantines are not helpful."

Unfortunately, Gostin says, now that Ebola no longer feels like a crisis in this country, many Americans have the sense that the epidemic is under control in West Africa, too. Nothing could be farther from the truth.



Source
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Ebola Outbreak: Killer Microbe from Hell

November 01, 2014 [click to listen]


Dear Friends,

Thank you for joining me today as we look at one of the most devastating and deadly problems to arise in our modern world. The lethal Ebola virus is making its way around West African countries killing thousands. And the devastation so far may only be the very beginning as it spreads from village to village, from town to town, from city to city, and from country to country. It may well arrive in developed countries eventually like the United State, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries.

But before beginning our study today, I want to say thank you for your support and prayers. They mean a lot to us at Keep the Faith. We are doing all we can to warn anyone who will listen that Jesus is coming soon, and that we must get ready, for all the things the Bible has predicted are truly coming to pass. Your eternal destiny depends on the choices you make now. Yes, Christ is the one who saves us, but it is your decision to obey Him and follow His counsel. Please, my friends make your calling and election sure.

We are still looking for a few skilled builders, or those with broad “jack-of-all” abilities that are able to spend a few weeks volunteering with us at Highwood Health Retreat in Australia this coming December and January. We will be making renovations that will complete the process of making Highwood a top-notch lifestyle health retreat for our guests. It will be simple, but very functional. As you may know, the guests that come to Highwood are so blessed that they often open their hearts to the Lord. At the very least, seeds are dropped that pray will spring up and bear fruit. Highwood is important to their salvation. And this is your opportunity to help us make the best impression and impact on them for the Lord.

Our volunteers always have a wonderful time at Highwood. You’ll enjoy the fellowship and you’ll be doing something worthwhile for the Lord. If you have practical skills and you would be willing to help us, please contact me. You can contact me by calling our office at 540-672-3553, or write to me at info@ktfministry.org. You need to be from a country that has a good relationship with Australia for visa purposes. I’ll be happy to explain everything to you.

And if you aren’t yet receiving our Keep the Faith Insider report by email, please see that we get your email address and we’ll fill you in on all the latest heartwarming stories of how God is changing lives and doing a wonderful work through our little CD preachers and through Highwood. We’ll gladly send it to you so you can keep up with the inside scoop on what God is doing through Keep the Faith.

As we begin, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we realize that we are in a world that is doomed to chaos and destruction. We realize that we are facing some of the worst developments in history. Yet You have promised to sustain Your people. As we look at the prophecies of the Bible, we are reminded that they were given for our admonition. They were given so that Your people would be able to discern the meaning of the signs of the times. The prophecies of the Bible may be succinct, short, and without a lot of detail, but we know that they are certain to be fulfilled. They are designed to help us navigate the end times. Without them it would be impossible to know what to do, or how to prioritize, or understand the urgency of the times.

We pray that we might have Your Holy Spirit to teach us how to live, so that we are preserved to glorify Your name at a time when the people of this earth turn their backs on you and even curse you. Awaken in us a sense of Your presence in the midst of these terrible times. And as we study today, we pray that You will teach us of the wonderful things of God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Friends, let us start with a promise today. Psalm 91 is a most reassuring chapter of scripture. Perhaps you memorized it at one time or another. If so, please refresh it in your memory. You are going to need it in the near future. Also, I would recommend that if you have never memorized these important verses, please take the time to do so. They are the most encouraging. They are the most sustaining, if you take them by sincere faith, believing that God means what He says.

Here are these wonderful verses for us to think about. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

Friends, do you think you can trust God completely for protection, even when death and destruction are all around you? Of course you can! God takes a personal interest in every one of His people who have surrendered their lives to Him. That means He takes a personal interest in you! Imagine that! The God of the universe takes a personal, one-on-one interest in you, my friend. No matter what your problems are; no matter what your difficulties might be; no matter what your crisis is, He is by your side and He is planning to sort out your issues so that He can make you His witness to the glory of His name. Mostly He is silent, but you can have confidence that He has everything under control. You can have peace in your heart because you trust in His loving and tender care.

Verse 3 says, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”

What will he deliver you from, the snare of the fowler? Isn’t that interesting? Satan is the great fowler? He knows how to catch you and ensnare you, even before you are aware that he is around. And yes, God knows how to deliver the godly out of those kinds of temptations.

2 Peter 2:9. And listen to this one. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” That’s Revelation 3:10.

There is a great time of trouble coming upon the earth such as never was. Men’s hearts will be tried even to the breaking point. They will be devastated by the destruction of all their hopes and dreams, all their investments, all their riches. Men’s hearts will fail them for fear, the Bible says in Luke 21:26. We need to be kept from that “hour of temptation,” don’t we?

Look what is promised in verse four of the 91st Psalm to the faithful. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”

Oh friends, what an encouraging verse. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” John 8:32. You will not be weighed down with worry or concern for the future. You can rest confident in God’s love and care. You will be free from the burden of fear of what is going on around you. You will live above it all. Friends, these are not idle words. These are the actual promises of God to you, personally, and to all of God’s faithful people.

But that protection starts in your mind. It requires a mind that is used to thinking this way. So often, we look to the government to protect us, or the medical profession, or even our families or friends, the police, or some other entity. But friends, in the end, these will all fail you. You have to start getting used to thinking about how God will work, which will be very much out of the ordinary.

Listen to this statement about the last work on earth. It is from Testimonies to Ministers, page 300. “Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning. There will be those among us who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness. Those who are accounted good workers will need to draw nigh to God; they will need the divine touch. They will need to drink more deeply and continuously at the fountain of living water, in order that they may discern God’s work at every point.”

Friends, if you drink deeply of the fountain of living water, God will use you to win souls. Don’t be afraid of that. It will be fantastic. I know from our experience at Highwood Health Retreat. I’ve seen God work. I’ve seen simple means do a lot of good. And I’ve seen people astonished by the light and then they pull back. But God doesn’t let them go. He keeps working.

Now listen to verse 5. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day…” Imagine that! The Holy Spirit led the psalmist to prophesy that in the last days there would be terrorism and war. The terror could be more than terrorism, of course. Ebola is a great terror to the people of this world too. But it will not terrify you if you are in Christ. In Christ, my friends, there is no fear.

Verse 6 says. “Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” There it is… you will not be afraid of pestilence, even the most deadly pestilence. You don’t have to fear the Ebola virus. You don’t have to fear tuberculosis. You don’t have to fear any of the superbugs that are developing right now and that are resistant to every known antibiotic or anti-viral medication on the market today. You won’t fear them if you are in Christ.

Verses 7 & 8 say. “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

Right now as the deadly Ebola virus makes its way around West Africa, we can see it all over the news. But it will not touch you if you are in Christ. In Christ, my friends, you have a sure defense, according to His will. Don’t you think it is time to get into the Most Holy place experience by faith in Christ? I do.

Now listen to this next part in verses 9 – 12. “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

That’s powerful! Mighty angels will be commissioned to tenderly care for you, even down to the smallest of things. Friends, if you make the Lord your God your confidence; if you live in Christ, the same God that was with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Daniel and his three friends, and so many other Bible heroes, no evil shall befall thee. Nothing will come upon you that is afflicting the people of the world. Nothing will come upon you that frightens the living daylights out of ungodly men and women. Oh, my friends. Our only hope is in Christ.

Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den. But was he afraid of the Lions? Did evil befall him? No. Evil befell those conniving Chaldeans, but not Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, but did evil befall them? No. They came out of it with an experience with Christ that you and I can only dream about.

Look what verses 13-16 say. “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”

Do you know God’s name? That’s His character, you know. You cannot know God’s character unless you spend time with Him, unless you learn to trust Him for everything. You cannot really know something unless you experience it personally. You cannot know God’s character unless you are trying to imitate it. So, friends, start now. Start copying Christ’s character in every way. Always ask the question, what would Jesus do if He were in my shoes?

Notice that it says that Christ will be with you in trouble. It does not say that you won’t have trouble, only that He will be with you. He will deliver you from trouble. It does not say you will not go through trouble. But when you do go through it, you will be delivered. Trials and tribulations are not evil. They are good. It is all in how you look at them. They are designed to make you a better person. They are aiming to draw you closer to Christ so that you can learn to trust Him and make Him your habitation.

What a blessed Psalm is Psalm 91! This Psalm has been the comfort of many a soul who has sacrificed for Christ. It has been the consolation of countless thousands, yea perhaps even nameless millions who have experienced the sufferings of Christ.

Are you suffering? Are you disheartened, discouraged, and downtrodden? Christ is longing to minister to your broken and damaged heart. He loves to tenderly care for your needs. He earnestly desires to awaken your innermost longings for righteousness and purity. He is waiting for you today. Give yourself to Him. Let Him have His way in your life. Don’t fight. Don’t resist. Don’t turn from it. He will sustain you when you make Him your habitation.

Perhaps watching someone die from the Ebola virus is one of the most frightful and gut-wrenching things. The virus rapidly causes the shutdown of vital organs with pain and agony until the body can’t take it any longer. You can catch the virus by merely coming in contact with the body fluids of an infected person. It is so dangerous that anyone who makes contact with an Ebola sufferer is placed under strict surveillance and then quarantined if they show any signs or symptoms of the disease. Medical personnel who must help the poor sufferer must cover every inch of their skin to prevent infection of themselves. Moreover, in spite of official statements, Canadian Researchers have demonstrated that the most deadly strain of the Ebola virus can be spread through the air.


Growing concerns over ‘in the air’ transmission of Ebola


EBOLAVIRUS PATHOGEN SAFETY DATA SHEET – INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES


As I am preparing this sermon, more than 2630 people have died from the terrible plague that is rapidly growing. So far the number of infections is over 5300, and many of those will die too. Moreover, these statistics are acknowledged to be under-reporting because of those who have not sought treatment even though they are sick. Global health officials say there are no signs of it slowing down. In the last days, we are told in prophecy, that there will be pestilences, and they will be devastating.

U.N. to deploy Ebola mission as death toll reaches 2,630

This deadly scourge is on the march. Foreign Policy magazine said that there is nothing anyone can do to stop the plague; not airport screenings, not experimental drugs, nothing can stop the relentless march of the lethal bug. No medical SWAT team can swoop in and save the world from the contagion. What is going on right now in West Africa is without a doubt, one of the most significant threats yet to attack the planet.

Hopes for containment were dashed with a “breathtaking act of negligence” that destroyed hope that the deadly epidemic could be quickly brought under control. Here is what happened. An adviser to the Liberian Finance Ministry was infected when he flew into Lagos. The people he contacted were quickly identified and quarantined, but one of them, a diplomat named Olu-Ibukun Koye escaped the quarantine.

“At the beginning of August, he secretly went to Port Harcourt, where he found a doctor willing to provide him with discreet treatment in a hotel. Koye survived and after he started feeling better a few days later, he returned to Lagos. By then, however, the doctor who had been treating him, Iyke Enemuo, had contracted the virus. The doctor continued providing treatment to patients at his private clinic and also celebrated the birth of his new child at home with friends and family. Eventually, he grew so sick he had to be taken to the hospital. He didn’t tell the staff that he had provided treatment to a patient with Ebola. He also allowed members of his church to place their hands on him during a healing ritual.

Enemuo died on August 22, but not before infecting his wife, his younger sister and an elderly patient at the hospital where he had been treated. The patient has also since died.”

This serious breach of medical ethics has exposed many to the disease and killed some who could have otherwise been treated and perhaps survived. But worse, if something like this happens again, it could spread the disease with unlimited consequences.

Ebola has been lurking in Africa for many years, waiting for an opportunity to take hold. And now it has gained a footing, even traction. Not only is it the largest outbreak ever, but it also seems “likely to surpass all two dozen previous known Ebola outbreaks combined.” And it will not be contained in West Africa except by some miraculous intervention. It is only a matter of time until someone brings it outside of the five nations that currently have the plague.


Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old


If the virus gains a footing in Lagos, the whole world will be in big trouble. Lagos has a population of 22 million people. It is one of the largest cities on the planet and much of it is slums, where the people live in filth and are exposed and vulnerable. It is a dangerous city in more ways than one. If Lagos is attacked by this lethal virus, the situation will transform itself into a worldwide crisis. That’s because of the chaos, size, density and mobility of the population.

Nigeria already has a lot going on. There is civil war, there is the Boko Haram terrorists, a countrywide doctor’s strike, all of which are a devil’s brew of conditions perfectly suited for the rapid spread of a disease so dangerous that it kills between 50 and 70 percent of those it infects, and has the potential to kill up to 90 percent in places where treatment is unavailable. Its impact would not stop at Nigeria’s borders.

Even the vaccines that are under development cannot be tested in time to be sure that they will actually work. Even for those that have received the vaccine and recovered from the disease cannot be certain that the vaccine had anything to do with their recovery at all. Not everybody infected dies, and scientists and medical professionals have no idea why. If a vaccine is used in West Africa, it will be without clinical trials and without certainty that it will work. And that could be deadly, particularly if someone who has the disease and gets the vaccine changes their behavior and acts as if they don’t have the disease. They could infect others thinking that they are immune.

The world is in for a long haul with this lethal scourge. There have been many reports of isolated cases in places like Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, etc. These have probably been the result of contact with the virus while traveling. Each isolated case creates new epicenters of concern, raises the specter of new centers of epidemic. It is only a matter of time before one of these isolated cases manages to get out into the population and spreads into new territory.

The epidemic quickly traversed Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, some of the most impoverished nations on earth. And now it has also spread to Nigeria and Senegal. And in a separate outbreak, there have been 40 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, out of 71 cases.

Approximately 150 health care workers have died as a result of working with Ebola cases. Up until now, these countries spent less than $100 per person on health care, whereas in developed countries, that much is spent per person on aspirin and ibuprofen every year.


U.N. to deploy Ebola mission as death toll reaches 2,630


The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) called the raging outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” The outbreak is accelerating from 500 new cases per week to 700 so far with no signs of slowing. It is also believed by many experts that the number of cases is substantially understated because families are reluctant to report the disease.

“In the three hardest hit countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the number of new cases is moving far faster than the capacity to manage them in the Ebola-specific treatment centers,” said Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general. “Today, there is not one single bed available for the treatment of an Ebola patient in the entire country of Liberia.” Many hospitals have closed due to lack of staff, or because of fears that the disease would spread among patients and health workers. In other words, there has been an almost total breakdown of the medical system in these countries.


West African health centers can’t keep up with Ebola outbreak, WHO says


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


Even though the WHO said the disease could persist for six months to a year, the fact is, no one really knows whether it can be stopped at all. The grim forecast means that thousands more will probably die. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said, “This is the largest, most severe, most complex outbreak in the nearly four decades history of this disease… Our collective health security depends on support for containment in these countries.”

WHO: Ebola ‘an international emergency’


UN declares Ebola outbreak global ‘international public health emergency’


Acceleration Seen in Ebola Outbreak, Death Toll Exceeds 2,600


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


“It’s like fighting a forest fire,” Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the U.S. Congress recently. “Leave behind one burning ember, one case undetected, and the epidemic could re-ignite.” Another report from Frank Glover, a medical missionary and president of SHIELD, a U.S. based NGO in Africa, said that before the epidemic outbreak, there were fewer than 200 doctors serving the needs of 4 million people. After the outbreak, that number is fewer than 50. There has been a complete collapse of all non-Ebola health care. When the panic began among health workers, officials had to do all they could to persuade them to come to work. Doctors are concerned that people will die from all manner of unrelated health care needs, like dysentery, malaria, accidents, mostly from neglect as scarce resources are diverted to the treatment of Ebola. And Ken Isaacs, a vice-president of Samaritan’s Purse told Congress that the disease is “uncontained and out of control in West Africa.”

Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old


The threat is so serious that the World Health Organization said that thousands of health care workers are needed to contain and control the disease. Past outbreaks were contained in a matter of a few weeks or months. But this one is different. The WHO has also “launched a $100 million Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak Response Plan.”

UN declares Ebola outbreak global ‘international public health emergency’


And, at the request of Liberia, the nation with the most cases, the United States has sent 3,000 troops to assist coordination of the response in West Africa. France set up a military hospital in Guinea, the heart of the outbreak, to treat cases.


Acceleration Seen in Ebola Outbreak, Death Toll Exceeds 2,600


In the meantime, border blockades have essentially ended trade to the countries affected. This has had a devastating effect on the economy and may well mean that food supplies will diminish and shortages may become acute. Already, food prices in some places have increased by more than 150%. Furthermore, the surprise attack of the disease has shredded the medical front lines and has deeply disturbed the social fabric of the fragile countries it has assailed. And as the virus spreads, assuming it will, the needs and problems will grow exponentially.


You’re not Nearly Scared Enough About Ebola


Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


A three-day lockdown in the entire country of Sierra Leone, kept all 6 million people in doors for three days while health workers went from door to door delivering bars of soap and instructions on how to avoid the disease. But it also had another purpose. They used this process as cover to hunt down anyone who is showing symptoms of the disease and was unable or reluctant to seek treatment.


Acceleration Seen in Ebola Outbreak, Death Toll Exceeds 2,600


Other measures were implemented in various ways to try to contain the deadly virus included the banning of all football matches, because in large crowds the chance of transmission increases significantly. Schools were closed, shops and malls closed, whole communities were put in quarantine, curfews were announced, shore passes for sailors were cancelled, health screening of travelers was implemented, and awareness campaigns were carried out. Airlines cancelled flights into and out of the affected nations. A state of emergency was declared in Sierra Leone and Liberia, which involved the “suspensions of certain rights and privileges.” Friends, that’s marshal law. It’s medical marshal law. Governments are using military force, or marshal law, to impose quarantine. Soldiers and police guard houses in quarantine to prevent anyone from leaving that has had contact with an infected patient. Often families are reluctant to report cases, perhaps for fear of putting them in the hospital or treatment centers, which are very dangerous places to be. So, those infected with Ebola are being hunted down like fugitives.

The U.S. government sent at least 3000 troops to West Africa, mainly to Liberia, to strengthen the marshal law, by assisting with logistics, quarantines and to hunt down those who have avoided hospitals. It is the hospitals that are the death traps. Would it not make sense to avoid them, particularly in Africa?

While hospitals in developed countries have reasonably well-developed isolation procedures, there is no guarantee that someone with Ebola, who walks into an emergency room not knowing what he/she has, will not infect nurses, doctors, and other patients before anyone knows what their diagnosis is.


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


Patient zero, as it turns out, was a two-year old boy in Guinea who died in December of 2013. “A week later, it killed the boy’s mother, then his 3-year-old sister, then his grandmother. All had fever, vomiting and diarrhea, but no one knew what had sickened them…

“Two mourners at the grandmother’s funeral took the virus home to their village. A health worker carried it to still another, where he died, as did his doctor. They both infected relatives from other towns. By the time Ebola was recognized, in March of 2014, dozens of people had died in eight Guinean communities, and suspected cases were popping up in Liberia and Sierra Leone — three of the world’s poorest countries, recovering from years of political dysfunction and civil war.”

The disease spread to Sierra Leone when 12 people who attended a funeral in Guinea carried the disease back to their country.


Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old


By mid-August of 2014, the WHO had declared it an international public health emergency and Doctors without Borders reported that the situation in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city was “catastrophic” and “deteriorating daily.”


WHO: Ebola ‘an international emergency’#"


The deadly virus first established itself along the Ebola River in Congo in 1976 according to official sources. Since then it has been very low on the radar because of its rarity.

Somehow the deadly version traveled from Congo to neighboring nations probably through animals and spread to humans who handled the animal carcasses often used as “bushmeat.” Dogs also eat carcasses of infected animals and could easily spread it to humans, though the dogs themselves tend to remain asymptomatic. Further, the WHO says that the infection gets into humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs and other bodily fluids from a number of species including chimpanzees, gorillas and forest antelope. Also, fruit bats and pigs are reservoirs for the disease.

Now, the Ebola virus is center-stage. By mid-September more than 5300 cases had been reported, with more than 2300 of them dead. And the WHO “warned the number of new cases in Liberia was increasing exponentially, and would increase by ‘many thousands’ by the end of September.”


Growing concerns over ‘in the air’ transmission of Ebola


The outbreaks could destabilize governments in the region. Panic and disruption have worsened the chaos in the afflicted nations, and future outbreaks, which are inevitable, could cause worse chaos and tougher challenges. Previous outbreaks occurred in remote regions and were confined to localized areas. The most people to have died from the worst of those outbreaks was during the very first outbreak ever in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 (known as Zaire back then). The death toll then was a mere 280. But the current outbreak occurred in a border region in Guinea right near where Sierra Leone and Liberia converge with its borders. In this area there are improved roads and people travel a lot. The virus was on the move even before health officials realized it had erupted.


Acceleration Seen in Ebola Outbreak, Death Toll Exceeds 2,600


For Updates on the death toll and measures taken


Further complicating the problem is that Ebola, until now, was unknown in West Africa. Health workers were unprepared for it. They did not have the training to recognize it, nor did they have the equipment to protect themselves. Many hospitals in the area do not have running water and gloves, let alone body suits. They infected other patients in the hospitals. Funeral practices often involve touching the corpses, which are highly contagious, thus spreading the disease even further.


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus disease


Tracing Ebola’s Breakout to an African 2-Year-Old


It is very difficult to contain this virus because of its multiple locations in several different countries. And the disease is not following its usual linear patterns, but is “hopping” from one place to another “all over the West African epidemic region.” The high death rate is alarming beyond words. And it even sometimes infects those who are well protected and trained to the strictest quarantine procedures.


CDC chief: U.S. in ‘perfect storm health emergency’


Two American health workers that contracted the disease and have recovered said that their team of workers were following “to the letter all of the protocols for safety that were developed by the CDC and WHO,” including a full body coverall, several layers of gloves, and face protection including goggles. One of the two, a physician, had worked with patients, but the other was working to help workers get in and out of their protective gear, while wearing protective gear herself. In an interview she said, “At this time we have not been able to confirm 100 percent the method of contagion. We are working closely with CDC and WHO to investigate. It is just an incredibly contagious disease.”


Two Americans Stricken With Deadly Ebola Virus in Liberia


The lack of adequate equipment and sanitary practices has exacerbated the spread of the disease. Making matters worse, denial and rumors in some areas have created suspicion of the government. Demonstrators have sometimes threatened health workers in clinics designed for treating the sick. Sometimes the military has had to get involved to control protests.


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


The transmission of the disease is often described as intense. There is a statistical number called the basic reproduction number that is a measure of the expected number of people who will become infected with a disease. If the number is less than 1, the infection will die out, and if the rate is greater than 1 the infection will continue to spread. The WHO estimates that the Ebola number is between 1.4 and 1.7, which means that each newly infected individual had subsequently infected 1.4 to 1.7 more. The time between initial infection and the infecting of others for the Ebola virus is short. The basic reproduction number coupled with a short transfer time for this epidemic is very serious. Estimates of people to be infected by the end of 2014, based on this number are between 77,000 and 277,000. Other estimates are lower, but they assume that there will be a lot of money and other resources thrown at the disease, and that there will be a significant international response.


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


In early September of 2014, Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that “42 percent of the cases have occurred in the last month [August] and that the outbreak is ‘completely out of control.’ He further noted that the rate of infection is exponential: ‘The number of cases per unit time is dramatically increasing.’ On 8 September, theWHO warned that the number of new cases in Liberia was increasing exponentially, and would increase by ‘many thousands’ in the following 3 weeks.”


NIH: Ebola Outbreak is ‘Completely Out of Control’


Wikipedia Article on Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa


And in mid-September, a German Ebola expert, Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, said that he is losing hope that Sierra Leone and Liberia will get the help they need in time to stop the disease. “The right time to get this epidemic under control in these countries has been missed,” he said. That time was May and June. “Now it will be much more difficult.” He also said the virus will become endemic to that part of the world. Liberia has not taken the same quarantine measures as Sierra Leone.

Consequently, “Ebola-infected people are crisscrossing the capital in shared taxis, looking for a treatment place and returning home after finding none. This way the virus spreads.” If you touch a surface that is infected, you will likely get infected if you then touch your eye, or your mouth, or some other body orifice, or wound.

Schmidt-Chanasit’s statement was controversial, but it nevertheless expresses the dire situation, particularly in Liberia, where the government is completely overwhelmed. When a new Ebola treatment center is opened, it is overflowed with patients. They just can’t keep up with it, let alone get ahead of it.


Ebola threatens to destroy Sierra Leone and Liberia


The separate outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began when a woman butchered a bush animal that her husband had killed. She sickened and died. A week later several health care workers and others who had come in contact with the woman, not knowing that she had the Ebola virus came down with the disease. Five of the health workers sickened and died also. The disease has spread from there.

Animals that are carriers of the virus, like fruit bats and monkeys, could also spread the disease to the nations surrounding the epidemic area like Cameroon, The Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Gabon, as well as other nations to the East because of their rather vulnerable poor populations living in squalid and unsanitary conditions. According to an Oxford University study, these nations may already have an animal reservoir of the virus. Most of these countries already have existing conditions that are conducive to the virus infecting humans. It may only be a matter of time.


Oxford study predicts 15 more countries are at risk of Ebola exposure


Another potential that could dramatically increase the potency of the virus is if it mutates to a more deadly variety. U.S. President Barak Obama said it “represents a serious national security concern.”

Foreign Policy magazine, the published organ of the Council on Foreign Relations, published an article, which called for yet another globalist organization in the name of fighting dangerous diseases. It called for a new international epidemic response corps that can go straight to a hot zone when needed. Calling it a “medical NATO,” the organization would consist of a coalition of countries that would recruit specialty teams of doctors, nurses, and others to deal with international medical threats.


The Ultimate Ebola-Fighting Force


“The epidemic… is unlikely to spread to the United States in the short term, Obama said on… NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’ But if the United States and other countries do not send needed equipment, public health workers and other supplies to the region, that situation could change and the virus could mutate to become more transmissible,” he said. “And then it could be a serious danger to the United States.”

Friends, it is the “perfect storm.” And that’s what Tom Frieden of the CDC said. And I quote: “It is inevitable someone will fly from West Africa to the United States with Ebola symptoms.” “We are experiencing here in the United States a perfect-storm health emergency.” Frieden also said the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. raised its emergency operations alert to level 1, the highest possible level.


Obama: U.S. military to provide equipment, resources to battle Ebola epidemic in Africa


CDC chief: U.S. in ‘perfect storm health emergency’


Even though President Obama said the spread of the disease to the U.S. was unlikely, what happens if the disease went from being an epidemic to a pandemic? What if it did come to the United States, or Europe or other developed nations? What would it look like? Would there be marshal law? Would there be quarantines? Would there be mandatory vaccinations, travel restrictions, and closures of food stores, shopping malls; cancelling of major sporting events and other places where people gather and could infect each other? Would health care workers walk off the job for fear of being infected, like they have done in Africa? Would the hospitals, cities and government infrastructures be equipped to handle the challenges and the social upheaval? Would the panic and fear be any less than in Africa? Would people take matters into their own hands? Would that lead to another level of marshal law? All these things are already happening in Africa.

If the Ebola virus came to America, or Australia or New Zealand, or Europe, the consequences would likely be more complex, stressing the economy perhaps, to the breaking point. Store shelves could easily be empty. City streets would be vacant. Business could come to a grinding halt. Church services and sporting events could be cancelled. Airlines could be grounded or may not have enough passengers to fly their planes. The police and the military would be all over the place with heavy weaponry, military grade equipment and authoritarian mandates. Civil liberties would be suspended. Friends, when these judgments shall fall upon the wicked cities of the West, we can expect this sort of scenario.


Gateway to Hell: The Threat of Ebola Grows Worse


Inside the West African ebola towns where locals are quarantined at gunpoint and desperate volunteers are paid £4 to bury the dead


While we cannot answer all these questions with clear certainty, make no mistake about it, the logistics and procedures for these things are already in place. Is it any wonder that God has warned us to live away from the cities? They are traps in a number of different ways. To live in a large city would be a mistake. It is in the large cities where the chance of infection during such a pestilence is greatest. The cities are the places where restrictions, loss of rights and liberties, lockdown and quarantines would be the strongest. Militarized police would likely be everywhere. We have already seen them used in the Boston lockdown and the Ferguson, MO confrontations. Control of your movements would be powerful. If trucks cannot or if truckers refuse to bring food into cities, how soon do you think the stores would run out of food as desperate people would clean off the shelves in a hurry? If medicines were limited, how quickly would the hospitals be overwhelmed?

Friends, I don’t know about you, but I see that one thing is clear. The Bible tells us that there will be pestilences in the last days. I don’t think that Jesus words in Matthew 24 were just idle words, nor did they indicate that the pestilences at the end of time would be mild. Ebola kills more than 50% of those infected on average. That’s a very high percentage, and it shows us that it is a very lethal bug. Jesus was very serious, my friends. People who say that we don’t need prophecy, we just need Jesus, are preparing for disaster. Prophecy came from Jesus, for all scripture was written by the inspiration of God. And it is for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. So, pay attention to Jesus’ words.

Friends, why does God permit such a lethal virus? Well, the fact is the issues in the Great Controversy demand that God permit Satan to manifest himself in all his malignity. That way the whole human race will be brought to the point where everyone can make an informed decision. That’s one reason.

Another reason is even more interesting. God wants to demonstrate His power to protect His people in the midst of pandemic. Think about that! It’s big. God is going to allow terrible scourges to fall upon the planet, but His people will be protected. “A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come neigh thee.”

Do you think that this prophecy is true? Then you can expect to see thousands, even tens of thousands, die close at hand. You can expect to see them in agony and pain. You can expect to see them perish by famine and pestilence. The Ebola virus is only a foretaste of what is to come, my friends.

“Only with thine eyes, shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

Not only will you see it on the news, but you will see it firsthand. Do you hear these things from most church pulpits? I’m afraid not. Most preachers will only tell you smooth things. They will tell you all about the sacrifice of Christ, and often at least some of what they say about it is false. But they avoid discussion of these prophetic things as if they are a plague in and of themselves. They don’t want their parishioners to think about what is coming upon the world. They really don’t want them to enquire “what must I do to be saved” and to escape that which is coming upon the world.

Friends, the Ebola pestilence is deadly, but it is not the worst thing that is to come upon the planet. There are more terrible scourges to yet take hold of this planet. We are still living before the close of probation. God’s mercy prevents a more universal impact of such lethal epidemics. Right now, God is giving Satan an opportunity to manifest his malice toward the human race that was made in the image of God. God limits Satan’s power and mixes these things with mercy. He uses them also in His own way to awaken souls to their danger and appeal to them to turn to Christ.

But a time is coming, just after the close of probation, when God will pour out His own judgments upon the earth. And these will be unmixed with mercy.

Listen to this statement from the book The Great Controversy, page 627-628. “When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark (Revelation 14:9, 10), will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments, which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God’s people… These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.”

So, you see, there are worse things to come. You can read about the seven last plagues in Revelation 16. Maybe someday, I will prepare a message on this topic. But today I have a question for you. Are you in the secret place of the Most High? Are you living by God’s law and under His protection? Have you turned on Satan with enmity and put all sin out of your life and yielded to the control of Jesus? I hope so. You must be if you want to survive the coming plagues and pestilences.

Now listen to this final devastating paragraph from God’s messenger.

“In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God’s mercy which they have so long despised. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12


Friends, I don’t want to be left without the mercy of God, do you? The good news about Ebola is that if you are under the shadow of the almighty, it will not cause you to fear.

Not only has God given us spiritual instructions about how to avoid the deadly plagues that will attack the planet. But He has also mercifully given us practical physical things we can do when there is a pestilence. These instructions are as important as the spiritual ones. He has provided guidelines for survival. If you follow His counsel and His guidelines, you will much more likely survive, and if you are in His secret place, He will protect you.

So, what can you do in practical ways to minimize your chance of contracting Ebola should it come to your country? There are some extra precautions that you can take. First, personal hygiene is very important. Always wash your hands before touching your eyes, mouth or an open wound on your body or that of someone else. Also, it is a good idea to wash your hands after touching a contaminated surface, or a surface you are not sure is clean.

Secondly, build up your immune system now, so that if there should be the Ebola virus you have the best chance of fighting it off. Build up your immune system with immune boosters and also follow the eight laws of health. Get proper nutrition through a plant based diet. Eat lots of fresh food, like salads, fresh vegetables and fruits in their natural state as much as possible. Avoid all animal, fowl or fish products, as well as refined sugars, and minimize processed fats. Take daily exercise; at least 30-45 minutes of vigorous exercise like power walking outdoors in the fresh air, going up and down hills, if possible. Drink lots of water, perhaps 16 or more glasses a day. Get at least 20-30 minutes of daily sunshine for vitamin D, and if you are deficient in vitamin D, use a supplement. Vitamin D has anti-viral qualities. Avoid all caffeine, alcohol, and find out how you can minimize any drugs or prescription medications, as they all have side effects. Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

These are the basics. Beyond that, read up on natural plants and foods that has anti-viral qualities. Take lots of garlic in your meals, for instance. Drink lemon water daily. Blend up greens like Kale, stinging nettle, dandelion and a host of other greens as a smoothie and drink it each day. There are many other things you can do. Just do a little research online. You’ll find many relevant websites that can help you build up your body and your immune system.

Friends, we are living in an immuno-suppressant environment with GMOs, toxic chemicals everywhere including in the food we eat. But you have the blueprint for perfect health. You just need to use the tools that will save your life. This is not the first epidemic or pandemic to arise on the planet and it will probably not be the last. The medical world is obsessively focused on vaccines. But God has given natural things that can defeat these viruses. Educate yourself on these things. They may come in handy one day.

Also, in an outbreak, hospitals can become the death centers, unless they have very high-end isolation rooms, equipment and procedures. In Africa, it was the health workers, like nurses and doctors that caught the disease and spread it. Some of them got sick even when they were fully protected in body suits. Many who got sick have died. By the way, vaccines often have serious side effects.

Friends, Jesus said that the Ebola plague is only the beginning of sorrows. The seven last plagues are the climax of sorrows, aren’t they? There can be nothing worse than being under a plague without the mercy of God. So, as we close let me share with you a couple of key statements about the times in which we live.

“The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” That’s Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 11.

“Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.” That’s Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, p. 28.

May God help you to be under His protection and the shadow of the Almighty. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, thank You for revealing the prophecies of the future in Your holy scripture. They help us understand our times. May we be faithful to obey Your counsel and live by the Ten Commandments. May Jesus rule in our hearts and may His love shield and protect us from Ebola and every other lethal pestilence that is to come. Please fulfill Your promise to protect Your people from those things that will befall the wicked. May our relationship with Jesus be full, mature and complete. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Source

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A State Of Turmoil And Chaos In The World!

Volume XXXIII      Issue XI      November 2014
Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

“And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”
Luke 21:11

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Matthew 19:4-6

“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
Romans 1:24-27

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Psalm 43:5

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Romans 15:13

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will thoughtfully examine the current events of our day which show beyond any shadow of a doubt that our world is engulfed in a prevalent state of turmoil and chaos. At this present time, the Ebola virus has ravaged the African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and now it has found its way inside the United States. In the Middle East, wars and fighting rage on while politicians and the media warn us over and over again that terrorists of the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, may have already crossed into the United States by way of our nation’s southern border. There is also a sense that the nation of Russia may have undisclosed ambitions, and no one seems to have any idea what they might try next. In the American state of California, a devastating drought, now in its third consecutive year, continues on with no end in sight.

The troubling condition of our world is so obvious that notable politicians are now taking note of it. At a speech given on October 2, 2014, American Vice President Joe Biden offered the following assessment of our world: “The world has changed,” Biden declared to those in attendance. He then went on to say, “This has led to a number of immediate crises that demand our attention from ISIL (Islamic State) to Ebola to Ukraine – just to name a few that are on our front door – as someone said to me earlier this week, ‘the wolves are closest to the door.’ Each one in its own way is symptomatic of the fundamental changes that are taking place in the world. These changes have also led to larger challenges. The international order that we painstakingly built after World War II and defended over the past several decades is literally fraying at the seams right now.” (1) American President Barack Obama also referenced the troubling state of our world in a speech he gave for the Democratic National Convention on October 7, 2014. “There are times where I think in this country we doubt ourselves, and there are times when we’re uncertain of all the changes that are taking place all across the globe. And understandably, when you see the headlines every single day and you read about ISIS and Ebola and the Russian incursions into Ukraine, there’s a sense possibly that the world is spinning so fast and nobody is able to control it.” (2) Predictably, Obama then sought to reassure his audience by portraying the United States as an unstoppable nation which will overcome and solve all of these problems.

With so many issues of concern prominent in the minds of the American people, the Republican Party has sought to use these woes to their advantage in the hopes of gaining an upper-hand in the 2014 congressional elections. “I think Republicans want people to turn on the television and see that nothing is working,” declared former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. He then went on to say, “It will be interesting to see if they can convince people that they aren’t part of that dysfunction.” (3) Republican strategist Stuart Stevens accused the Obama Administration of being in denial regarding the condition of our world. “The recurring pattern here is his unwillingness to admit things are bad. It’s sort of like saying the world isn’t what it is, which is not an uncommon thing in the White House,” Stevens said. (4)

In these chaotic times, many people find themselves feeling fearful, afraid, and without hope when they see so many negative news headlines. This has led some people to avoid the news altogether because they would rather not know what is happening. However, there is hope for those who put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you put your confidence in man and expect mankind to solve all of the problems plaguing our world, you will be disappointed. Thankfully, the future of this planet is not all that we have to look forward to. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If reading the news brings you down and you begin to feel that all is hopeless in the world, I urge you to put your hope in God. In Psalm 43:5 we read, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” If you have not yet fully given your heart to God, I urge you to do so now. In so doing, you will find that you are never again in a situation with no hope.

Ebola Crosses The Ocean!

In recent months, there has been growing concern over the spread of the deadly virus known as Ebola. As of this writing, this pestilence has already caused great devastation in West Africa as health organizations struggle to slow its spread. The situation is particularly bleak in the African nation of Liberia where the medical and economic systems have collapsed. Before the current Ebola outbreak took hold in Liberia, the ill-equipped country only had 50 doctors and one thousand nurses to care for over 4 million people. Since that time, at least 89 health workers have died after being infected with the virus. Speaking of the devastating impact the disease has had on Liberia, Sean Casey of the International Medical Corps, or IMC, was quoted as saying, “We have a lot to worry about. If we have thousands or tens of thousands more deaths, that’s going to have a very destabilizing effect.” He later went on to say, “A lot of hospitals are closed right now because the staff died.” (5) Just how bad is the medical system in Liberia? According to a report published by World Net Daily, a team of investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, went to Liberia in August 2014 and discovered that most counties in the nation had only one hospital. Each of these hospital only have about 100 to 150 beds, and the healthcare workers at these facilities have no disposable gloves to wear, no soap, no bleach, and no hand sanitizers. (6)

As people around the globe watch in horror while the Ebola virus ravages nations such as Liberia, the disease has stealthily entered into the United States. On September 19, 2014, a man boarded a plane in Liberia and arrived in Dallas, Texas, the next day. By September 25, 2014, the man was sickened to the point where he sought medical treatment at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. (7) The man, who was known as Thomas Eric Duncan, told health workers that he had arrived from the nation of Liberia, yet for some unexplained reason, the staff at the hospital sent the man home with antibiotics. (8) On September 28, 2014, the man was admitted to the hospital for care after his condition worsened. (9) Blood tests performed by the CDC later confirmed that Duncan had been stricken with the Ebola virus. (10)

As word spread that Ebola had reached the United States for the first time, government officials sought to reassure the public and alleviate growing concerns that Ebola could potentially become widespread in America. On October 3, 2014, it was reported that between fifty and one hundred individuals were being tracked due to potential exposure to Ebola. Dr. David Lakey, who is the commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, was quick to downplay the situation in his state. “There’s no additional individuals that have any symptoms that would be consistent with Ebola at this time,” Dr. Lakey declared. (11) Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, was also quick to reassure the public. “Every Ebola outbreak over the past forty years has been stopped. We know how to do this, and we will do it again,” Monaco stated. (12)

On October 8, 2014, it was announced that Thomas Eric Duncan succumbed to the Ebola virus and passed on. (13) However, this would not be the last case of Ebola infection in the United States. Despite wearing protective gear and following hospital protocols, it was revealed on October 12, 2014 that a nurse who had provided care for Thomas Duncan had also contracted the Ebola virus. (14) As of this writing, the nurse, who is known as Nina Pham, has been transferred to the National Institute of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and has been upgraded to good condition. (15) Sadly, another nurse by the name of Amber Vinson also contracted Ebola. Tracking her case has been rather difficult for the government since this nurse flew on Frontier Airlines flights from Dallas, Texas, to Cleveland, Ohio, and then back to Dallas while displaying symptoms of Ebola infection. In response, the CDC and Frontier Airlines have sought to track down as many as 800 people who could have potentially been exposed to the virus. (16) Oddly enough, it was reported that Nurse Vinson contacted the CDC several times before flying, but she still was given the all-clear to board her flight despite her fever because her temperature was only 99.5 degrees as opposed to the 100.4 degrees or higher, which guideline the CDC uses as a threshold to determine those who are at a high risk of infection. (17) This misstep, along with several others, seems to indicate that the government and the healthcare facilities of the United States were not adequately prepared to deal with Ebola infections within our nation’s borders.

Ebola has also made its way into Europe. In October 2014, a nurse by the name of Teresa Romero became the first person in Europe to contract the virus while she cared for a Spanish priest in Madrid, Spain. Thankfully, the nurse has responded well to treatment, and as of October 21, 2014, she has been declared to be cured by health officials. (18)

Although we have not seen a widespread outbreak of Ebola in the United States or Europe at this time, these recent cases demonstrate how pervasive and dangerous the Ebola virus is. If it reached the United States once, it is not a huge leap to think that it could do it again. Regarding the global threat of Ebola, a doctor from the American state of Missouri by the name of Gil Mobley recently issued this warning: “For months, doctors in my community – since we had a meeting six weeks ago – have been convinced that the United States will be importing clusters regularly. Right now, on the continent of West Africa, there are a million people in isolation, in quarantine, because of Ebola, and ten thousand passengers leave West Africa every single day. It’s just a matter of time before this disease is carried to every corner of the world.” (19)

These recent developments have prompted Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to call for a travel ban which would prevent people from Ebola-stricken nations from entering the United States. “We should stop accepting flights from countries that are Ebola stricken. President Obama said it was ‘unlikely’ that Ebola would reach the U.S. Well, it has and we need to protect our people,” Governor Jindal declared in a statement. (20) In response, CDC Director Tom Frieden made the claim that such travel restrictions would backfire. “Even if we tried to close the border, it wouldn’t work. People have a right to return. People transiting through could come in. And it would backfire, because by isolating these countries, it’ll make it harder to help them, it will spread more there and we’d be more likely to be exposed here,” Director Frieden stated. (21) However, in what appears to be an apparent compromise, Director Frieden announced on October 22, 2014, that all passengers arriving in the United States from Ebola-stricken nations would be monitored for twenty-one days for signs of Ebola infection. (22)

Truly, we are living in a time which fits the description of the earth’s latter days spoken of by Jesus in Luke 21. In fact, Luke 21:11 tells us, “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” We know earthquakes are common these days, and there always seems to be famines in certain areas of the world. Fearful sights also occur with regularity, and the spread of Ebola is a perfect example of a pestilence. We must continue to watch and pray in these perilous times.

Islamic Attacks On North America!

In recent months, much has been said about Islamic “extremism.” We know that the current President of the United States often speaks fondly of Islam, and he is always quick to try and differentiate between peaceful Muslims and radical Muslims. Yet, we see the horror stories regarding the Islamic State, which is wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria, and people cannot help but notice that so many Muslims seem to become “extremists.” Of course, many Muslims will claim that those who espouse extreme views are not legitimate representatives of Islam, and they will further claim that their religion is a religion of peace. The truth is that the so-called holy book of Islam, which is known as the Quran, instructs followers to perpetrate brutality and violence against those who do not share their beliefs. In Quran 8:12 we find the following instructions for the Muslim people, “[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, ‘I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon their necks and strike from them every fingertip.’” (23) In this verse from the Quran, we clearly see that the Muslim people are instructed to chop off the heads and fingers of those who reject Islam. Thus, the so-called radical Muslims are those who more accurately adhere to the Quran, while the moderate or peaceful Muslims are the ones who to do not fully follow the Quran to the letter. The aforementioned verse found in the Quran stands in stark contrast to the instructions that we receive from Jesus in Matthew 5:44 which tells us, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Sadly, we have seen examples of Islamic extremism occurring in North America in recent weeks. This includes an attack which took place at a factory in Moore, Oklahoma, known as Vaughan Foods. On September 26, 2014, a man by the name of Alton Nolen became so enraged after being fired from his job that he stormed the facility where he had been employed and beheaded 54-year-old female employee Colleen Huford. The man then attempted to kill another employee before he was shot and wounded by a security guard working at the factory. (24) News reports indicate that the man had recently converted to Islam and was going by the name Jah’Keem Yisrael. (25) Here let it be noted that an official from the Obama Administration traveled to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in early October 2014 to speak at an Islamic gathering and publicly praised the mosque where Alton Nolen had attended services. “Your service is a powerful example of the shared roots of the Abrahamic faiths and how our communities can come together in shared peace with dignity and a sense of justice,” quoted David Myers, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships as he read a letter which had been written by Barack Obama. (26)

Another attack perpetrated by a devout follower of Islam occurred in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on October 22, 2014. On this day, a cowardly man by the name of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot a Canadian soldier who was posted at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. The soldier, who was identified as Corporal Nathan Cirillo, was shot at point blank range and later died from his wound. Zehaf-Bibeau, a man who had recently converted to Islam, then entered the Parliament building and fired an estimated thirty rounds before being shot and killed by Sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers. (27)

The Quran promises Muslims who fight against non-Muslims that they will be rewarded in the afterlife. However, those who have died perpetrating such acts of violence soon find out that their eternal destination is a lot hotter than they were expecting.

The Homosexual Movement Grows In The United States!

These are indeed strange days in which we live. There was a time in the not-to-distant past when most Americans understood the Biblical teachings regarding homosexuality, and most people clearly understood that such a lifestyle is unnatural and unacceptable to God. This is no longer the case in the United States of America. In fact, recent court decisions have resulted in same-sex marriage becoming legal in a majority of American states.

In early October 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision which allowed rulings from appeals courts around the country to stand. These rulings declared that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, and as a result, so-called gay marriage became legal in the states of Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. (28) The move set a precedent which seemed to indicate that the Supreme Court would allow such rulings from other states to stand as well.

Shortly after the decision by the Supreme Court, it was announced that the state of West Virginia would drop its fight against same-sex marriage. “While we disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the 4th Circuit’s opinion to stand and believe it improperly displaces state and local decision-making, we will respect it,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. (29) Earl Ray Tomblin, the governor of the state of West Virginia, then directed his government agencies to accommodate same-sex couples seeking marriage as quickly as possible. “As the attorney general stated today, recent rulings by several federal courts, combined with the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this issue, make it clear that laws banning same-sex marriage have been declared unconstitutional,” Governor Tomblin declared. (30) Officials in North Carolina and Colorado chose a similar path and announced that they would no longer uphold same-sex marriage bans in their states. (31) Shortly thereafter, same-sex marriage was also legalized in the states of Alaska and Arizona. Thomas C. Horne, the Attorney General of Arizona, made it clear that he believed any effort to prevent same-sex unions in his state would be a waste of time. “The probability of persuading the Ninth Circuit to reverse today’s decision is zero. The probability of the United States Supreme Court accepting review of the Ninth Circuit decision is also zero. The only purpose to be served by filing another appeal would be to waste the taxpayer’s money. That is not a good conservative principle,” Horne stated. (32)

While the states of Kansas, Montana, and South Carolina are still actively fighting against same-sex marriage, these states are quickly becoming the exception to the rule. (33) As of this writing, gay marriage is now legal in thirty-two states, (34) and it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before it is legalized in every American state.

As same-sex marriage laws change around the country, Christian ministers may soon find that they might be penalized by the government if they refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings. Such is the case for a couple who run a wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Donald and Evelyn Knapp have been told by government officials that if they refuse to provide their services to homosexual couples, they could be fined $1,000 per day and be forced to serve up to 180 days in jail. According to City Attorney Warren Wilson, the Knapps must comply with their anti-discrimination laws since it is a for-profit business and not a church. (35)

Meanwhile, pastors at some churches have declared that they are unwilling to talk about homosexuality from their pulpits. Such is the case with Hillsong Church in New York, which is led by a pastor known as Carl Lentz. “Jesus was in the thick of an era where homosexuality, just like it is today, was widely prevalent. And I’m still waiting for someone to show me the quote where Jesus addressed it on the record in front of people. You won’t find it because he never did,” Lentz said. (36) The pastor’s wife, Laura, further added: “It’s not our place to tell anyone how they should live. That’s their journey.” (37)

To suggest that Jesus does not have an opinion on homosexuality requires a great deal of mental gymnastics. We know for certain that Jesus defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. In Matthew 19:4-6 we read, “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Notice that Jesus does not mention a man cleaving to a man or a woman cleaving to a woman. It is also important to realize that Jesus never nullified the Old Testament scriptures; in fact, he quoted from them often. If you read Luke, chapter 24, you will find that Jesus taught extensively from “Moses and all the prophets,” which demonstrates his obvious approval for the books of the Old Testament. Finally, it is important that we realize God’s opinion does not change to line up with the popular majority. In Malachi 3:6 we find this firm and unchangeable declaration, “For I am the Lord, I change not…”

In closing, I know that we are living in a very distressing time, but we can take comfort in the fact that everything we see happening was foretold of long ago in God’s Word, and none of the events of our day come as a surprise. Jesus warned us that there would be pestilence in the latter days, and we are seeing that now in the form of Ebola and Enterovirus. He warned us that there would be wars and rumors of wars and the news today constantly speaks of conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine, and other places. We know that homosexuality has become common and even celebrated in this age, and Jesus told us this would happen, too, in Luke 17:28-30. Yet, we have great hope in our God. For as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

Thank you to all who support this ministry. We appreciate your kind letters, news clippings, and donations which enable us to serve you all and publish this newsletter. If you have any prayer requests, great or small, we are more than willing to carry your petitions before the throne of the Almighty. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.


Samuel David Meyer

Acknowledgements
01. The Weekly Standard, October 3, 2014, By Jeryl Bier, http://weeklystandard.com.
02. The Weekly Standard, October 7, 2014, By Daniel Halper, http://weeklystandard.com.
03. The New York Times, October 9, 2014, By Jeremy W. Peters, http://nytimes.com.
04. Ibid.
05. AFP News, September 30, 2014, By Marc Bastian, Monrovia, Liberia.
06. World Net Daily, October 7, 2014, By Sharon K. Gilbert, http://wnd.com.
07. WFAA News, October 8, 2014, By Marjorie Owens, Dallas, TX.
08. Associated Press, October 1, 2014, By David Warren and Lauran Neergard, Dallas, TX.
09. WFAA News, October 8, 2014, By Marjorie Owens, Dallas, TX.
10. Dallas Morning News, September 29, 2014, By Staff and Wire Reports, http://dallasnews.com.
11. The Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2014, By Ana Campoy, Colleen McCain Nelson, and Nathan Koppel, http://wsj.com.
12. Ibid.
13. WFAA News, October 8, 2014, By Marjorie Owens, Dallas, TX.
14. CNN, October 12, 2014, By Elizabeth Cohen, Steve Almasy, and Joe Sutton, http://cnn.com.
15. Associated Press, October 21, 2014, By Associated Press, Washington, D.C.
16. The Daily Mail, October 17, 2014, By Michael Zennie and Louise Boyle, http://dailymail.co.uk.
17. CBS News, October 15, 2014, By Jonathan Lapook and Scott Pelley, http://cbsnews.com.
18. Reuters News Service, October 21, 2014, By Rodrigo de Miguel, Sony Dowsett, Sarah White, and Angus MacSwan, Madrid, Spain.
19. CBS Local News, October 3, 2014, By CBS Local News, http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com.
20. Politico, October 3, 2014, By Jonathan Topaz, http://politico.com.
21. Ibid.
22. Associated Press, October 22, 2014, By Connie Cass, Washington D.C.
23. Quran 8:12.
24. Associated Press, September 26, 2014, By Associated, Press, Oklahoma City, OK.
25. The Daily Caller, September 26, 2014, By Patrick Howley, http://dailycaller.com.
26. The Daily Caller, October 5, 2014, By Chuck Ross, http://dailycaller.com.
27. Associated Press, October 22, 2014, By Jeremy Hainsworth and Rob Gillies, Ottawa, Canada.
28. The New York Times, October 6, 2014, By Adam Liptak, http://nytimes.com.
29. The Washington Times, October 9, 2014, By Cheryl Wetzstein, http://washintontimes.com.
30. Ibid.
31. Associated Press, October 23, 2014, By Mark Sherman, Washington, D.C.
32. The New York Times, October 17, 2014, By Adam Liptak, http://nytimes.com.
33. Associated Press, October 23, 2014, By Mark Sherman, Washington, D.C.
34. ProCon.org, http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857
35. Fox News, October 20, 2014, By Todd Starnes, http://radio.foxnews.com.
36. The Huffington Post, October 17, 2014, By Antonia Blumberg, http://huffingtonpost.com.
37. Ibid.

Special Note: A new tribute website for Pastor David J. Meyer can now be accessed at http://pastormeyer.org.

Comments regarding this newsletter or topic suggestions may be submitted to editor@lasttrumpetnewsletter.org.
If you would like to submit a prayer request, you may send email to prayer@ltmmail.org or mail it to our postal address.

Source

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Rockefeller Foundation’s Futurist Paper Details ‘Ebola Plot’

OCTOBER 8, 2014 BY 21st Century Wire says…

It’s the stuff of Sci-Fi horror, and it’s no longer confined to Hollywood…

While elite US and European families like the Rockefellers, along with their dynastic underlings like Bill Gates (image, above) continue their obsession with over-population, while investing heavily in vaccines and dispensaries in the Third World, terms continue to become blurred by evermore deceptive labeling of seemingly artificial threats:

“Other lines of current immunological contraceptive research continue to seek what, during the 1930s, Max Mason of the Rockefeller Foundation called “anti-hormones”: vaccines to block hormones needed for very early pregnancy and a vaccine to block the hormone needed for the surface of the egg to function properly.”

Considering current events, this should be a subject of concern to the public at large…

The article below, by author Shepard Ambellas, looks at this influential US foundation/think tank’s idea, or future scenario where a ‘New World’ is be formed following a major biological pandemic. The prestigious Rockefeller Foundation appears to have already mapped out our future for us:

“The pandemic also had a deadly effect on economies: international mobility of both people and goods screeched to a halt, debilitating industries like tourism and breaking global supply chains.”

The present Ebola scare is fast fitting perfectly into Rockefeller’s ‘Flu pandemic’ mind-scaping exercise. As 21WIRE reported last week, the US is setting the pace for hyping the Ebola scare, but at the same time helping to conceal the true nature and the lab-based pedigree of this latest deadly outbreak in West Africa. When you combine this with this with traditional Rockefeller funding and support for global government and the eugenics agenda, it’s not hard to see how a pandemic like Ebola could help to fast-track long-term goals and objectives of the Establishment’s family-owned cartels.

The naysayers might be shocked at the possibility of a Big Pharma Ebola, or other pandemic conspiracy, but it would be naive to think that there’s not a profit motive at work here.




Margaret Sanger (1883-1966), founder of Planned Parenthood.Eugenics is based the idea that people or races deemed inferior to western Europeans, and even the poor European underclasses, should be gradually culled in what advocates call ‘population control’. Sadly, eugenics, or neoeugenics thinking is still very prevalent among elites in Europe and North America who consider themselves the rightful rulers of a planetary fifedom, and many critics have pointed to foundations and foundation-funded racist roots of organizations like Planned Parenthood, and many others, as being the main instruments of this toxic social engineering agenda. Author Aaron Dykes reports in detail here:

“Following World War II, Eugenics was re-branded to cast of its associations with the Nazis, and emerged, as it were, in the form of such social policy topics as “population control,” “family planning,” abortion/Planned Parenthood, health care, various types of genetics, even laced in between such screeds as global warming/climate change – which leads to arguments about reducing the burden of over-population upon the earth.”

During a TED talk in 2010, software billionaire and vaccine magnate Bill Gates publicly alluded his preferences when it comes to depopulation:

“The world today has 6.8 billion people… that’s headed up to about 9 billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.”

Already, US authorities are rolling out Ebola screening for passengers on all US flights, and a recent case in Spain has sparked greater calls to ban any flights from West Africa to Europe and North America. Many will applaud authorities for their vigilance against a potentially deadly pandemic, but events take on another dimension of concern when viewed in the context of elite institution predictive reports, like “Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development”, by the Rockefeller Foundation.




Rockefeller Foundation fictional scenario depicts pandemic to be used for “top-down government control”

Current Ebola outbreak predicted, fictionalized as “flu”

By Shepard Ambellas

Intellihub.com
A Rockefeller Foundation white paper published in May of 2010 titled, Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development, takes a look at hypothetical future scenarios which may be used to benefit privy globalist corporations, businessmen and organizations at a later time.

Shockingly published in the Scenario Narratives section on page 18, titled Lock Step, the Rockefeller Foundation nearly hit the nail on the head with their futuristic and fictitious scenario. I mean what are the chances? Come on. It literally follows lockstep.

An excerpt from page 18 reads:

“In 2012, the pandemic that the world had been anticipating for years finally hit. Unlike 2009’s H1N1, this new influenza strain originating from wild geese was extremely virulent and deadly. Even the most pandemic-prepared nations were quickly overwhelmed when the virus streaked around the world, infecting nearly 20 percent of the global population and killing 8 million in just seven months, the majority of them healthy young adults. The pandemic also had a deadly effect on economies: international mobility of both people and goods screeched to a halt, debilitating industries like tourism and breaking global supply chains. Even locally, normally bustling shops and office buildings sat empty for months, devoid of both employees and customers.

The pandemic blanketed the planet though disproportionate numbers died in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America, where the virus spread like wildfire in the absence of official containment protocols. But even in developed countries, containment was a challenge. The United States’s initial policy of “strongly discouraging” citizens from flying proved deadly in its leniency, accelerating the spread of the virus not just within the U.S. but across borders. However, a few countries did fare better China in particular. The Chinese government’s quick imposition and enforcement of mandatory quarantine for all citizens, as well as its instant and near-hermetic sealing off of all borders, saved millions of lives, stopping the spread of the virus far earlier than in other countries and enabling a swifter post-pandemic recovery.”

Basically, the publication is insinuating that a new world will be formed after a pandemic strikes, allowing “top-down government control” and “more authoritarian leadership”. And you know what? They may not be that far off.

The white paper goes on to fantasize how the Chinese government best dealt with the pandemic as their quarantine and forced detention methods were stringent.

Read more

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