The Canadian province of Alberta was under a full state of emergency on Wednesday as a catastrophic wildfire continued to devour neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray, where 80,000 residents were safely evacuated. By Wednesday afternoon, the fire had scorched 18,500 acres; by mid-evening, it was expected to be more than 24,700 acres - authorities earlier had cited higher numbers in both cases. To date 88,000 people have been evacuated from a ‘nasty, dirty fire’, which the fire chief warned would be looking for even more areas of the city to destroy. The situation is unstable with dangerously high temperatures, relatively low humidity, and strong winds. A record high of 90 degrees Celsius was recorded on Tuesday. Pray for the allocation of emergency funding for the Red Cross to support evacuees directly. Pray also for the thousands of evacuees escaping - given only half an hour’s notice to collect valuables and leave.

The United States is a nation with rich farmland, abundant resources, and a literate and educated population. It is a democratic republic with a constitution that guarantees freedom of speech. Yet the culture foundations have been eroding for decades. The systematic dismissal of God in society has led to increasing violence, rampant corruption, normalised immorality, and widespread spiritual apathy. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Ps. 11:3) We can pray. Across America, and the world, believers humbly interceded on behalf of the United States on Thursday. The USA stands at a critical moment in history. Although the vigil will have ended by the time this article is read, we can still join them and pray for Godly leaders to arise in churches, government, and society. Pray for national repentance of sin, immorality, and selfishness. Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, bringing another Great Awakening.

Hindu fundamentalists vandalised a church in Chhattisgarh during the Sunday service, forcing believers to chant ‘Praise the name of God Ram’. They then captured the pastor, Deenanath, and his seven-month pregnant wife and threw gasoline on them, trying to set them ablaze before vandalising the church and burning the Bible. In another story, Meena and Sunita came to faith through a Christian radio programme and worshipped in secret, listening to broadcasts. When they were baptised and started to visit church services, persecution began. The entire village rejected them, refusing food, clothing and even right of way in the streets. They ran away after a particularly nasty incident and were chased by Hindus shouting ‘Where are they? Burn them! Burn them!’ Both sisters still live in hiding, Open Doors is assisting with necessary supplies. Pray for God to strengthen and protect Christians in many of India’s states who are experiencing intimidation and violence. Pray for indigenous Christians and foreign missionaries to minister safely and reap miraculous results.

Zimbabwe’s ten national parks are famed for their huge populations of elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and buffaloes; but on Tuesday they put their wild animals up for sale to save them from a devastating drought. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said, ‘Members of the public with the capacity to acquire and manage wildlife - and enough land to hold the animals - should get in touch to register an interest.’ The drought is expected to worsen an already critical water shortage. Further north, Ethiopia is in the midst of the worst drought in fifty years, affecting over half of the country’s 750 districts. Earlier this month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs called Ethiopia’s condition ‘a deteriorated humanitarian situation’. Ethiopia is a victim of land degradation, due to increased use of unsustainable agricultural practices. Grazing animals and firewood collection haven’t helped, causing decreased protection against erosion with soil easily washed away. See also

International Olympic Committee officials say preparations for the Olympic Games are the ‘worst ever’. The situation is critical on the ground, there is no plan B and they are not ready in many, many ways.The latest warning is all the more significant for coming from inside the IOC.  The work has been troubled by construction delays and mass protests. The unwieldy relationships between the city, state and national governments and the ambitious nature of the plans have caused delays and discord. There are also ‘social issues that need addressing’. Hosting the Olympics was designed to showcase Brazil's confidence as one of the fastest growing world economies and turbocharge long-overdue improvement to the city's infrastructure. But negative headlines about the readiness of facilities has dented confidence in its ability to deliver.

District Court Judge Lou Olivera presides over a treatment court for veterans with mental health issues in North Carolina. Sergeant Joseph Serna had been through a lot and earned three Purple Hearts, but suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He recently came to Judge Olivera’s court charged with driving ‘under the influence’, even though he has fought to stay sober. He confessed to Olivera that he had lied about a recent urine test. In response Olivera sentenced Serna to one day in jail, drove him to the jail, and spent the 24-hour sentence with him. ‘When Joe first came to turn himself in, he was trembling,’ Olivera said. ‘I decided that I’d spend the night serving with him.’ As Serna sat down on the cot in his cell, the door rattled open again and Olivera came in and sat down beside him. Serna said, ‘Are you here for the entire time with me?’ He replied, ‘Yeah, that’s what I am doing.'

‘I was with my family, whom I hadn't seen in 13 weeks, and was soon to graduate from the Marine Corps boot camp in San Diego, California, when a man walked up and thanked me for helping his son return to the Lord. While in the service, I found myself witnessing in many non-traditional forms. I led a prayer group at boot camp and marched recruits to chapel services, all as a previously burned-out youth pastor with plans to become a chaplain. Later, while I was training for deployment to Iraq as a field radio operator, a close friend of mine gave me the call sign “Preach”, which stuck. The call sign was a term of endearment as well as a fresh reminder of God's call on my life. I was amazed to experience first-hand the fulfilment of the prophecies in Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17-19. Wherever I went, I witnessed God speaking to men and women in uniform. He even spoke in dreams to fellow infantrymen while they were on training operations in the field leading up to deployment.’

The Church of England has released a prayer intended to be used by churches and individuals ahead of the EU referendum vote on 23 June. The text of the prayer is: ‘God of truth, give us grace to debate the issues in this referendum with honesty and openness. Give generosity to those who seek to form opinion and discernment to those who vote, that our nation may prosper and that with all the peoples of Europe we may work for peace and the common good; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

The media are quoting our politicians as they blitz the public with claims and counterclaims of why we should vote this way or that way in the EU referendum. The British public are fairly evenly split, according to the latest opinion polls. Many of the debates have been borderline self-justification by individuals rather than practical, honest arguments. We can pray for those on both sides of the debate to improve dramatically the quality of their discussions, resist the temptation to exaggerate statistics, and give strong factual arguments, not suppositions, to back up their advice. We can also ask God to help the nation to be led by the Holy Spirit to discern the difference between career-driven political views and opinions based on solid research and facts. The BBC has provided an easy to understand guide to the referendum debate and honest answers to some questions. This can be found by clicking the ‘More’ link.