Morocco: prayer response
SAT-7 Christian broadcasters are sharing prayers across the Middle East for Morocco, after a major earthquake killed over 2,900 people, with many thousands more injured, homeless, and grieving. They seek to bring the Lord’s comfort through TV programmes and digital media across the High Atlas mountain region. Rescue efforts are complicated. Damaged homes and infrastructure plus aftershocks have left survivors outdoors. Ask God to reassure the fearful who don’t know when or where they can sleep safely. Pray for God’s peace to cover those who are trying to make contact with missing relatives and friends across the country. Since 11 September, SAT-7 has used its different channels and platforms to call for and share prayers for the Moroccan people from Christians in neighbouring Algeria and Turkey. SAT-7’s content advisor said, ‘Asking for prayers in support of the Moroccan people is an important early response. People need comfort, care and connection with others during times of disaster. People need to know that others care and feel for them.’
Morocco: aid response
After the earthquake rattled through Morocco, Help The Persecuted’s field ministry team mobilised immediately into the mountains to meet the overwhelming need. What they found shocked them. Most homes have been flattened to rubble. Roads are completely destroyed, cutting the most remote areas off from any sort of aid. Those fortunate enough to have survived are completely traumatised and in desperate need of food, water, intensive medical care, and shelter. The team distributed funds and basic relief supplies to those who had lost everything, praying with each recipient. They aided in rescuing some from the rubble. They are making lists of key supplies, hoping to provide survivors in the most remote areas with all they need to survive the coming days and weeks. The devastation goes much deeper than tangible need. These people watched their family members die before their eyes and could do absolutely nothing. Missionaries listened to their sufferings and prayed with them, but they will need so much more care.
Libya: at least 11,000 die after massive floods
Tens of thousands of people are dead in Libya after a storm caused two dams to burst and four bridges to collapse, releasing a tsunami of water as people slept. Much of Derna City is under water and up to 20,000 people may have died, based on the number of districts completely destroyed. About 10,000 are missing from streets swept away in the torrents. Bodies are being recovered from the sea, in the valleys, and from under buildings. Rescue teams have arrived from Egypt, Tunisia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK. Pray for good communication between volunteers, all speaking different languages, and that the two rival Libyan governments will successfully coordinate relief efforts. The devastation is becoming more tragic every minute. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) does not currently work in the flooded areas, but a team of emergency medical workers has arrived in Derna, to assess needs and donate emergency medical kits and body bags to Libya’s Red Crescent. See
Sudan: 104 higher education institutions destroyed
A total of 104 government and private higher education institutions in Sudan, as well as research centres and the National Fund for Student Welfare have been damaged or destroyed since April, when the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces became embroiled in a war. All institutions in Khartoum state, where the capital is also located, as well as several in other states, have been affected. The scale of destruction in Sudan’s higher education sector was posted on Facebook on 27 August by the country’s ministry of higher education and scientific research. The ministry’s own offices were damaged in a fire that affected several floors. After several years of disruption because of political volatility and the pandemic, UNICEF has launched the Learning Passport, an online and offline e-learning platform, almost free of charge, to enable schoolchildren to take part in flexible learning in different parts of Sudan.
