Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period
… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).
… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)
… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)
… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor.

Full-scale UN response needed in Venezuela

LUIS ALONSO LUGO. Associated Press•April 4, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The humanitarian emergency caused by the collapse of the Venezuelan health system requires a full-scale response by the United Nations, two organizations said Thursday.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Human Rights Watch called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to have the UN emergency relief coordinator address Venezuela’s crisis as a top priority and to request official data from Venezuelan authorities in order to assess the scope of the crisis.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, said in response that the U.N. is “deeply concerned” by the situation in Venezuela and already has been scaling up operations, “focusing on nutrition, on health and protection.”

He said staffing has grown from about 190 in September 2017 to over just 300 in March. “This has allowed us to equip hospitals with emergency medical supplies as well as generators, provide pregnant women and children with nutritional supplements and vaccinate more children”

But he declined to say if the U.N. was considering an emergency declaration, noting that it would need “the consent of the government, in order to distribute humanitarian aid along with our principles of neutrality and impartiality.”

The two organizations said in a 71-page joint report that the administration of President Nicolas Maduro has exacerbated the crisis through its efforts to suppress information about the problems.

“No matter how hard they try, Venezuelan authorities cannot hide the reality on the ground,” said Shannon Doocy, associate professor of international health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We need U.N. leadership to help end this severe crisis and save lives.”

Venezuelan authorities have failed to publish health and nutrition data and retaliated against those who did, according to the report.

Maduro refused humanitarian aid for several years, saying it was unneeded and would amount to a foreign intervention to remove him from power.

Last week, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that it is poised to start distributing assistance to an estimated 650,000 people in the South American country.

That amount is well below the 3.7 million Venezuelans who were undernourished between 2015 and 2017, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

“All the evidence indicates that the health system in Venezuela has almost completely collapsed,” said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, senior Americas researcher for HRW. “We are facing a devastating humanitarian crisis that is unprecedented in Latin America.”

Besides the lack of food and medicines, the report documents increased numbers of maternal and infant deaths, the unchecked spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and sharp increases in the transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.

The authors interviewed more than 150 people, including health care professionals, Venezuelans seeking or in need of medical care or food who had recently arrived in Colombia and Brazil, representatives from international and non-governmental humanitarian organizations, U.N. officials, and Brazilian and Colombian government officials.