OSV News, by Junno Arocho Esteves: Twin earthquakes in Venezuela have left nearly 5,000 people dead, according to government officials, triggering a massive mobilization of humanitarian aid organizations.

In a July 15 update on X, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced the latest figures, confirming that the death toll from the back-to-back disasters had reached 4,829.

The twin earthquakes, which struck the northern Venezuelan state of La Guaira in the evening June 24, measured 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century.

According to the figures released by Rodriguez, the number of injured was currently at 16,740. The earthquakes left 17,907 people homeless, with 20,857 individuals currently seeking shelter across 106 temporary camps. The infrastructural damage included 856 affected buildings and 190 total structural collapses.

6,462 people rescued from disaster zones

Emergency crews have rescued 6,462 individuals from the disaster zones, and seismologists have recorded 1,284 aftershocks. In a report published July 16 by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the hundreds of aftershocks have continued to increase risks and hamper recovery efforts.

The earthquakes’ extensive damage, especially to homes and schools, the organization noted, has created “a major child-focused humanitarian emergency” as well as hardships for vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and people with disabilities.

Catholics around the world have joined in efforts to raise funds to assist Venezuelans struggling to find basic supplies, food and medicine.

The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council, known as CELAM, posted a video on X July 15, urging Catholics to donate to Caritas Venezuela, following the launch of their campaign, “Tras el temblor, el amor” (“After the earthquake, love”).

Progress reports on humanitarian aid

The campaign includes progress reports on the humanitarian aid the Catholic charitable organization has received and where it is distributed. In its July 10 report, Caritas Venezuela said it distributed 13,050 metric tons of aid in the 10 days following the twin earthquakes.

Water made up the largest share of the distributed aid at 5,612 tons, followed closely by 5,220 tons of food items. The organization also distributed 1,305 tons of hygiene products and 914 tons of donated clothing.

One of Caritas Venezuela’s partners helping distribute the aid is Catholic Relief Services — the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ official overseas humanitarian and development agency.

CRS is “working extremely closely” with its in-country partner, the U.S. agency’s spokesperson, Brittany Wichtendahl, told OSV News July 8.

Buildings ‘pancaked onto themselves’

Arriving in the Latin American nation July 9, Robyn Fieser — who is coordinating CRS emergency communications on the ground — found “there were literally blocks of buildings that were just pancaked onto themselves. There was massive destruction for blocks.”

“It looked a little bit like a war zone,” said Fieser, speaking to OSV News from Venezuela in a July 13 call. She asked people to “keep Venezuelans in their hearts.”

In Bolivia, Caritas announced a nationwide collection set to take place in parishes July 26, urging donations that would provide food, medicine and temporary housing to victims in Venezuela.

In a July 16 statement, Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim, president of the German bishops’ conference, called on Catholics in the country to pray for Venezuelans and encouraged them to donate to Caritas Venezuela.

Donations from German parishes, individuals

Initial donations made by German parishes and individuals, he noted, were “received with great gratitude in Venezuela” and distributed by Caritas.

“Through them, our aid reaches those in need directly. We must not abandon the victims of the earthquakes and must help now,” Bishop Wilmer said.

“Church partners on the ground can distribute aid supplies quickly and effectively; they also support the often severely traumatized people with psychosocial services. Reconstruction will take years,” the bishop added. “Please support Caritas International’s vital emergency relief efforts with your donation.”

Prophetic Link:
“or nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:7

Source References

• Death toll in Venezuela nears 5,000 as earthquake recovery intensifies

Protestia: Christ Episcopal Church in Dayton, OH, is led by The Rev. Peter Homeyer. An “open and affirming” congregation, they spend much of their time focused on and promoting their aberrant sexual proclivities and affinity for all things LGBTQ.

At CEC Dayton, one gets the distinct feeling that every month is Pride Month, and every day is Trans Day of Remembrance.

During a recent sermon, on the fifth day after Pentecost, they decided to incorporate their love of all things gay into their communion service, using food dye to turn their communion bread “rainbow-colored” in order to celebrate Pride and be inclusive of their LGBTQ members.

Prophetic Link:
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded… Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28, 30

Source References

• Gay Communion Bread? Church Turns Their Communion Host ‘Rainbow-Colored’ To Celebrate Pride

AP News, by Anton L. Delgado and Jintamas Saksornchai: A huge fire tore through a beer hall in Bangkok overnight into Monday, killing at least 27 people and injuring dozens before firefighters brought the blaze under control.

Footage shared online by first responders shows a huge blaze raging and plumes coming out of the front door of the Na Ladprao beer hall in the northern part of the Thai capital. People are seen trying to flee as thick black smoke billows into the sky.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, but Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said investigators would examine the ceiling materials and whether any emergency exits may have been obstructed, potentially making it more difficult for people to evacuate.

The Bangkok city government said the fire broke out shortly before midnight Sunday.

By Monday morning, the site had been cordoned off as dozens of Thai forensic officers combed through the burned remains for clues about what caused the fire.

The building’s street-facing windows had been blown out and debris littered the sidewalk, including charred television sets, speakers and an electric guitar. From outside, the scale of the devastation was visible through the shattered windows, where burned-out tables, some still holding empty beer bottles, remained inside.

Some Buddhist monks visited the site Monday morning to pray for the victims, while nurses handed out face masks to people nearby to help protect them from smoke and lingering fumes from the burned-out building.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the scene that 27 people died.

Anutin said a musician who was performing at the bar told him that he saw smoke coming out of a circuit breaker near the stage before the power went out, then an explosion was heard and thick smoke quickly filled the place.

Many of victims were found at the restrooms at the back of the bar, Anutin added.

Bangkok Gov. said 63 people were taken to the hospital, 22 of them in critical conditions. He said authorities are working on identifying victims as many did not carry an ID or were unconscious.

Firefighters took about half an hour to bring the fire under control. Photos of the aftermath show charred tables and chairs, and the damaged interior of the bar.

A registration spot was set up to gather information from relatives coming at the scene looking for their loved ones.

Singer Sukanya Wongwongwai said she was performing nearby when she heard news of the fire and rushed to the scene because several of her bandmates were performing at the bar. She said one of them died, three were hospitalized, and one hasn’t been located.

“From what I heard from people who were inside, when the fire started everything went dark. The power was out and there was smoke everywhere, so they couldn’t locate other people,” she said.

In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music bar in the eastern part of the country. And more than a decade before that, 67 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire during a Jan. 1, 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand’s capital. That blaze was apparently sparked by an indoor fireworks display.

Prophetic Link:
“As men depart further and further from God, Satan is permitted to have power over the children of disobedience. He hurls destruction among men. There is calamity by land and sea. Property and life are destroyed by fire and flood. Satan resolves to charge this upon those who refuse to bow to the idol which he has set up. His agents point to Seventh-day Adventists as the cause of the trouble. “These people stand out in defiance of law,” they say. “They desecrate Sunday. Were they compelled to obey the law for Sunday observance, there would be a cessation of these terrible judgments.” Maranatha, 176.2

Source References

• Fire breaks out at a pub in Bangkok, killing at least 27 people

Detroit News, by Loyola Perez de Villegas Muniz and Emma Pinedo: At least 12 people died attempting to flee a wildfire in southern Spain and 23 were missing, officials said on Friday, as firefighters battled to bring one of the country’s deadliest blazes on record under control.

One Spaniard was among the victims and the rest appeared to be foreign nationals who ignored instructions to shelter in place, said Antonio Sanz, head of emergencies in the Andalusia region.

The victims tried fleeing by car but were engulfed by flames that spread rapidly, fanned by wind, through a wooded area around the town of Los Gallardos in Almeria province, he said.

Four people, who appeared to be British because the steering wheel of their car was on the right-hand side, died in one vehicle, he said. Eight others were found dead after apparently abandoning their cars and attempting to escape on foot along a route that was not part of the evacuation plan. Many of the charred corpses still had to be identified through DNA testing, he said.

“The fire spread like gunpowder,” Andalusia’s regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno told reporters, calling the blaze “one of the quickest and most complex we’ve seen”. Stronger winds were expected later on Friday, he added.

Some of those missing were probably hikers caught off guard in the woods, Moreno said. Rescue workers found several walking sticks at the scene.

The circumstances resemble those in neighbouring Portugal in June 2017, when a huge wildfire during a heatwave killed more than 60 people, with half of the victims burned to death in their cars.

Early start to Spain’s wildfire season

A series of early summer heatwaves has left large parts of Spain parched and vulnerable to any spark, fuelling an early start to wildfire season.

So far this year, about 57,000 hectares have burned, about half the annual average for the past two decades and making up 40% of all the area burned in the European Union, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

“We usually don’t see these fires until August. They’re starting earlier now because the vegetation dries out sooner,” Roman Garcia, a forest firefighter from Salamanca, said on state broadcaster TVE.

A record heatwave last August provoked the worst wildfire season in three decades, charring 330,000 hectares, an area twice the size of London.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged at the time that wildfire prevention had been “clearly insufficient” and forestry management inadequate, pledging to do “whatever it takes” to ensure fires on such a scale never happened again.

Sanchez on Friday offered his condolences to the families of the victims and said he felt “enormous sadness and devastation”.

As authorities sought to identify the dead and track down the missing, anxious relatives from around the world posted messages on social media and local forums.

One Irish woman said her daughter, who was driving a red Ford Fiesta and had her dog with her, was missing. Another person from the United States said her brother had been among a group of 10 people who tried to escape through a valley next to a stream.

The fire was believed to have been sparked by a broken power cable that fell into a ditch next to a road. The blaze moved at a speed of 15 kilometres (9.32 miles) in two hours, Moreno said. A spokesperson for utility company Endesa contradicted that account, however, saying the cable carried no voltage.

In the village of Bedar, where almost half of the 1,009 residents were British in 2022, according to official data, police went door-to-door to persuade sometimes-reluctant residents to leave as the flames approached the houses the previous day.

“They are British, Belgian residents. I have even officiated some of their weddings. I feel sadness and profound pain,” Bedar Mayor Angel Collado said on TVE, pausing to compose himself.

The death toll already surpasses that of 2005, when 11 firefighters were killed in a blaze in the central province of Guadalajara that was sparked by a barbecue.

Moreno warned that Spain faced a particularly challenging wildfire season, after abundant winter rainfall spurred heavy plant growth, which had dried out to become ideal fuel for fires.

“There’s still a long summer ahead,” he said.

Prophetic Link:
“There will soon be a sudden change in God’s dealings. The world in its perversity is being visited by casualties,—by floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, famines, wars, and bloodshed. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power; yet He will not at all acquit the wicked. “The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.” O that men might understand the patience and longsuffering of God! He is putting under restraint His own attributes. His omnipotent power is under the control of Omnipotence. O that men would understand that God refuses to be wearied out with the world’s perversity, and still holds out the hope of forgiveness even to the most undeserving! But His forbearance will not always continue. Who is prepared for the sudden change that will take place in God’s dealing with sinful men? Who will be prepared to escape the punishment that will certainly fall upon transgressors?” Final Events, 356.2

Source References

• Twelve killed, 23 missing in one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires

Blaze Media, by John Mac Ghlionn: Politicians and bureaucrats routinely claim that America is experiencing a historic drop in crime and that, in many parts of the country, the streets have never been safer. Yet for everyday citizens who see boarded-up storefronts and brazen daylight robberies, there’s an unsettling sense that the reality on the ground tells an entirely different story.

This is not a matter of misperception. As Anna Giaritelli, a seasoned homeland security reporter for the Washington Examiner, details in her book “Under Assault,” the numbers being fed to the public are systematically manipulated.

Giaritelli experienced this firsthand when moving to Washington, D.C. Carefully examining official data was a priority during the neighborhood search. “I looked at the crime stats before I moved to Capitol Hill,” she told me, “and selected my home there based on blocks on Capitol Hill that were the safest and showed the least amount of crime incidents.”

Off the map

What she didn’t know was that the Metropolitan Police Department’s public crime map didn’t show the whole picture. It only displayed first-degree and select second-degree felonies. Most felonies and misdemeanors were entirely absent. In other words, the map only flagged major, headline-grabbing crimes like homicides or armed robberies. It completely skipped over everyday break-ins, property theft, and assaults.

Prophetic Link:
“We are living in the midst of an “epidemic of crime,” at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?” Ministry of Healing, 142.4

Source References

• Crime stats said her new neighborhood was ‘safe’; then she saw what they left out

WRAL News: A Triad man is facing multiple charges after being arrested in a church parking lot while holding a gun and wearing body armor, said the High Point Police Department. 

An off-duty officer was working at the Wesley Memorial Church on Chestnut Drive when he saw Milliken. He approached the man and called for backup.

William Milliken III, 44, was disarmed and arrested. He has been charged with the following:
– Possession of a weapon of mass destruction
– Impersonating a law enforcement officer
– Possession of a scheduled II controlled substance

Officials searched Milliken III’s vehicle and found several weapons, including:
– 2 flame throwers
– 2 crossbows
– Pepper ball handgun
– 3 knives
– 500 rounds of ammunition

According to arrest warrants, Milliken III presented himself as a law enforcement officer, approached a man and informed him he was there to enforce a smoking violation at the church. Police found four pills of oxycodone in Milliken III’s truck.

He is being held at the Guilford County Courthouse. Milliken’s first appearance was June 29 at 2 p.m. He was denied bond, and his next court date is July 24 at 8:15 a.m. 

Court documents cite the reason for bond denial is that he “has a love for guns”, and had the following in his possession:
– A notebook full of addresses of churches, schools, public buildings
– 2 radios with police scanners
– GPS coordinates
– Body armors
– Handcuffs & keys
– A copy of NC Tactical Interoperability Guide (Public Safety Sensitive)
– Weather proof notebook
– Two gatorades for hydration
– Three yards of duct tape
– An enlarged NC map
– 4 oxycodone pills

The document also stated “Per High Point Police, reason to believe defendant is deemed a danger to public because he has experience with bombs, believed to have mental issues.”

Prophetic Link:
“We are living in the midst of an “epidemic of crime,” at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?” Ministry of Healing, 142.4

Source References

• Man arrested in High Point: flamethrowers, crossbows, more than 500 rounds of ammo found in truck

Reuters, by Alexandre Dimou: A wildfire burning out of control in southern France has forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people ​from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border, and officials said ‌on Monday strong winds would further fan the flames.

The European Union said on Monday it was sending four waterbombing aircraft to France from Cyprus and Sweden, and more than 100 firefighters, to help emergency teams in Trevillach near the city of Perpignan.

“Europe stands ​with France,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X.

The blaze has injured 16 people, ​including four firefighters, and scorched some 4,600 hectares (11,367 acres) in the foothills of the French ⁠Pyrenees, local prefect Pierre Regnault de la Mothe said in a post on X.

Early summer heatwaves ​in France and across western Europe in May and June have parched vast areas of land, making them particularly vulnerable ​to wildfires this year.

The Trevillach blaze was burning near the third stage of the Tour de France, leading to its closure to the public on Monday to allow firefighters easy access to the area, according to Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.

The motorcade of vehicles that follows the race was ​also kept to a minimum, he said. The stage, which is 196 km (122 miles) long, began in the Spanish city ​of Granollers and ends in Les Angles, in the Pyrenees-Orientales region of France.

Europe is warming at more than twice the ‌global ⁠average, the World Meteorological Organization has said, making prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.

Temperatures are forecast to once again hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in southwest France this week, with Portugal and Spain also baking under another heatwave, but are unlikely to reach the record highs seen in June.

On the Spanish side of ​the border, the fire ravaged ​2,200 ha — 97% ⁠of them in the protected natural area of Les Gavarres — although regional authorities said over the weekend that it was stable and would be completely extinguished during ​the week.

Police have arrested an employee of a company contracted by Catalonia’s regional ​government who ⁠is suspected of having sparked the wildfire by using an angle grinder at the side of a road.

South of Catalonia, in the eastern Castellon province, 500 people were evacuated after a wildfire entered the Sierra de Espadan ⁠national park, ​home to a significant cork oak forest.

Portugal has suffered hundreds ​of blazes in the last few days, with the biggest already burning through 10,000 ha of land – the size of around 14,000 football ​pitches.

Prophetic Link:
“In fires, in floods, in earthquakes, in the fury of the great deep, in calamities by sea and by land, the warning is given that God’s Spirit will not always strive with men.” Last Day Events, 26.2

Source References

• Wildfire in southern France forces 10,000 people from their homes

Persecution.org: Armed Muslim Tribesmen killed at least 31 people in two separate assaults on rural Christian communities in Plateau and Kaduna states within one week, according to various sources.

The deadliest attack occurred late on June 21 in Kawel community, Mushere District of Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau state, where residents said gunmen opened fire on homes and a hospital, killing 22 Christians.

Just days earlier, on June 16, armed men attacked Ungwan Magaji village in Kamaru Chawai, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna state, killing nine residents and injuring at least 11 others.

Both communities are predominantly Christian farming settlements in regions that have experienced repeated violence during the past decade.

22 Killed in Night Attack on Kawel Community

Residents of Kawel said the attack began around 11 p.m. on June 21 when gunmen entered the community and began firing weapons identified by witnesses as AK-47 rifles and other firearms.

Local sources reported that 22 people were killed, including 17 men and five women.

Community members identified the attackers as suspected Fulani militants. According to eyewitnesses, some of the assailants were recognized by residents as individuals who had previously lived in or around the area before leaving following tensions linked to earlier security incidents.

Residents said the attackers moved through different sections of the community, calling out names of specific individuals before opening fire.

One of the victims was a medical doctor who was reportedly targeted during the assault. Community members said the gunmen initially searched for him at his residence before locating him at a hospital where he had gone.

According to local accounts, the attackers killed the doctor and five patients receiving treatment at the medical facility.

Among those affected was a pregnant woman who had arrived at the hospital to give birth. Residents said she escaped through a rear exit during the attack while her husband, who had accompanied her to the hospital, was killed. The woman later delivered her baby after reaching safety.

The attack also claimed the life of Rev. Markus Nyam, a minister of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN).

Residents said the pastor was shot outside his residence. His wife survived after hearing gunfire and taking cover before later discovering that her husband had been killed.

Community members further reported that three separate families lost both parents during the assault. Among those killed was a heavily pregnant woman whose unborn child also died.

By Monday morning, residents were gathering bodies for burial while families searched for missing relatives and sought treatment for survivors.

No official casualty figure for the injured had been released at the time of reporting.

Survivors Describe Fear and Loss

Several survivors told community leaders that they believed the attackers had prior knowledge of the community and appeared to know specific individuals they were seeking.

Local church leaders and community representatives said many residents fled their homes during the assault, spending the remainder of the night in nearby bushes and surrounding areas before returning at daylight.

The attack is one of several deadly incidents reported in Bokkos Local Government Area in recent years. The area has witnessed repeated attacks on farming communities, resulting in deaths, displacement, and destruction of property.

Government officials have often described violence in Plateau state as involving disputes over land use, grazing routes, and access to resources. Christian leaders and advocacy organizations have argued that Christian communities have been disproportionately affected by the attacks.

9 Killed in Attack on Kaduna Village

Five days before the Kawel attack, armed men invaded Ungwan Magaji village in Kamaru Chawai, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

Residents said the attackers entered the community during the late hours of June 16 and moved through homes while shooting. Community leaders and medical personnel confirmed that nine people were killed.

Those killed were identified as Jerry Doctor, 51; Danlami Magani, 49; Sunday Chibi, 53; Rita Abdullahi, 45; Sunday Elkan, 5; Esther Kefas, 5; Happy Friday, 6; Moses Daddy, 4; and Daddy Ibrahim, 28.

At least 11 residents sustained injuries.

The injured were identified as Halla Monday, 7; Mary Yohanna, 9; Jummai John, 42; Charity Danjuma, 49; Faith Yakubu, 26; Naomi Yakubu, 48; Ali Sandiye, 70; Asabe Victor, 29; Sarina Simon, 4; Talatu Sunday, 60; and Thank God Danladi, 8.

Sunday Aboh, a health worker at Sunny Clinic in Kamaru, said the 11 injured victims were brought to the facility following the attack.

“Following the attack, 11 casualties were brought to my clinic,” Aboh said. “We treated all of them and referred five of the more critical cases to Kafanchan.”

According to Aboh, Sunny Clinic serves about 20 surrounding communities and regularly receives victims of violence-related injuries.

“We are calling on the government to assist us with medical equipment and supplies,” he said. “This is the only clinic available for emergency treatment in these communities.”

Church Leaders Recount Events

Pastor Ishaya Wuy of ECWA Church said residents had gathered to mourn the death of an elderly family member when the attack began.

“We were gathered mourning the loss of our grandmother when the attackers struck,” he said.

Catechist Ishaya Musa of St. Monica’s Catholic Church said he was abducted during the attack after armed men entered his residence.

“Four armed men entered my room,” Musa said. “They told me if I resisted, they would kill me.”

According to Musa, he was taken into the bush, beaten, and later asked to provide a ransom payment of ₦10 million, or about $7,320.

“They kept asking where the church money was,” he said. “I told them I had no money.”

Musa said he was eventually released and later received treatment for injuries, including machete wounds.

Communities Continue to Face Repeated Violence

The Chawai–Irigwe corridor along the Kaduna–Plateau border has experienced recurring attacks for years.

Community leaders in Chawai said hundreds of residents have been killed in repeated assaults on villages across southern Kaduna. In neighboring Plateau state, local advocacy organizations report that thousands of Irigwe residents have been killed since 2016.

The region consists largely of farming communities situated along forested areas and agricultural corridors used by both farmers and herders.

Residents of Ungwan Magaji said heavy rainfall during the night of the June 16 attack slowed communication and delayed emergency response efforts from neighboring communities.

As families in Kawel and Ungwan Magaji bury their dead, survivors continue to seek medical care and rebuild homes affected by the attacks.

Security agencies had not released detailed public findings regarding either incident at the time of reporting. Community leaders in both states have called for increased security presence and measures to protect vulnerable rural populations from further attacks.

Prophetic Link:
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” Matthew 24:9, 10

Source References

• Muslim Gunmen Kill 31 Christians in Attacks Across Plateau, Kaduna States’

FOX News, by Eric Mack: President Donald Trump delivered a 37-minute speech for America’s 250th birthday after a weather delay in the dark of night that was lit up by a Guinness world-record-setting fireworks display stretching from July 4 into July 5 at Washington, D.C.’s National Mall.

While thousands outlasted the rain and dodged nature’s thunderstorm light show, many Americans might have missed the president’s historic remarks.

Here is a recap of some of the highlights.

‘No dream in history is bigger’ than the American experiment

“In this country, we could achieve the wildest and most impossible dreams, and no dream in history is bigger or more incredible than the one that started on July 4, 1776,” Trump said. “The war for independence was launched by minutemen, farmers, blacksmiths, tradesmen who took up their muskets against the mightiest army on Earth, the most powerful army and unbeatable army – until they met us.”

“No one made them do it. They fought because they knew that a free people must have a free country. Over 250 years, the world has seen the great empires, vast kingdoms, mighty nations and terrible tyrants: They came and they went, but after 2 1/2 centuries, this American republic still stands tall and strong,” the president added.

‘America is a nation of winners’

“Americans won the West and built the modern world, because America is a nation of winners, and today our country is winning again, and we’re winning like never before,” Trump said just before the midway point of the speech. “America is back and we want to keep America great.”

“Together, we are also reasserting the truth that American strength and power is not something to be ashamed of. It is something that we are very, very proud of,” Trump continued. “This country has been the greatest force for peace and justice on earth in the last century. We defeated tyrants, demolished evil, and saved freedom again and again and again.”

‘Nothing Americans cannot do’

“There is no challenge Americans can not overcome,” Trump said before his concluding remarks. “There is no place we cannot go. There is no goal we cannot reach. And there is nothing that Americans cannot do.”

Thanking those staying into the late hours

“If you think that was easy, it wasn’t,” Trump began in an unscripted salute to the patient and devoted crowd. “And I want to thank everybody because they did the right thing. They saw lightning. And I said, ‘There’s no way; if we have to speak in front of one person at 4 in the morning, I’m going to be here.’

“There’s no way we can be deterred. And they estimated they had 375,000 people before everybody had to leave, and they now have 150,000 people. It’s the craziest thing anyone’s ever seen.

“And I want to just thank you. And I feel so badly about some people. They left it; they couldn’t get back. But, you’re very special people, and we have a very special country. Thank you very much.”

’56 patriots put everything at risk’ for ‘victory for the ages’

“They declare that all men are created equal; that they are endowed with sacred unalienable rights by the hand of our creator, and that among these are life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Trump said, “and signing their names to the roster of freedom.”

“Those 56 patriots put everything at risk. Stepped onto the stage of destiny and seized a victory for the ages. And that’s what it was,” he said. “And this is an evening for the ages. I believe this is something very special. This is bigger than if we didn’t have the lightning blaring. We had lightning blaring. But this is bigger, little more inconvenient, but it’s bigger, I think, in its own way it’s more beautiful. From the beginning, we were a nation that live by the motto victory or death and live free or die.”

‘We will always be the best’

“God bless the immortal patriots of 1776, and long live the cause of independence,” Trump said. “May it reign forever and ever and ever. We will always be on top. We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.”

“Our founders not only won our liberty, they secured it with the most righteous political document ever conceived: It’s called the Constitution of the United States,” Trump said. “Very special, and it’s because of their genius that we remain the finest people on the planet.”

Honoring 11 Gold Star families

“We are honored to be joined by 11 Gold Star family members,” Trump said. “The Gold Star family – that is one of the great tributes. It’s one of the great honors, a tough honor. There’s nothing tougher than that. But these are amazing people.”

Next stop, the moon, then a mission to Mars

“We’re going to be going to Mars very soon, and I think that’s something that we do have in my mind,” Trump said, hearkening to the historic John F. Kennedy going to the moon speech excerpt.

“And we’re going to do the moon and we’re going to go from there. We’re going to go to Mars, and we’re going to continue to be way ahead.”

Defeating communism: We ‘cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion’

“All these talks from the communists, they haven’t got a chance – not even a chance,” Trump said; a theme he reiterated multiple times in the speech. “We don’t want communists in our country. Never worked and it never will work.”

Communism will always be “a loser,” Trump added later.

“Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world only to have that menace rears its ugly head right back here in America. We’re not going to let it happen. We like to stop a threat like that immediately and before it begins,” Trump said. “It’s like a cancer. You got to cut it out. You got to cut it out fast.”

Trump added a warning to potential future communist opposition around the globe.

“The Stars and Stripes cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion before,” Trump said, “and we will do it again if necessary.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. I think people have learned. They’ve learned what to do and how to handle it, and we’ll get a handle on it very well.”

‘Our destiny is written by God’

“We have thrived and flourished because our founders were great, our cause was just, our people are brave, our culture is exceptional, and our destiny is written by God,” Trump said near the end of the speech he apparently cut short after vowing earlier this week to deliver an hours-long address to the world.

“And as we can see here tonight, after 250 years, the spirit of 1776 still lives within us all. It still roars in the hearts of our nation’s capital. It still burns in the heart of every patriot, thunders through every city and town, and still lights the entire world with the glow of American liberty. And there is nothing like that.”

250 and ‘just getting started’: ‘Best is yet to come’; ‘dawn of the golden age’

“At 250 years old, we may be the oldest constitutional republic on Earth, but our country is just getting started because the best is yet to come: This is only the dawn of the golden age of America,” Trump said in his conclusion, leading directly into the National Mall fireworks display.

“And on this 250th 4th of July, we declare, just as they did two and a half centuries ago, that for our country and for our children and for the cause of liberty, we are going to take our country to new levels, to levels not reached,” Trump continued. “We’re going to make it bigger, better, stronger, and we’re going to love it even more.”

“And I just want to thank you,” he added, finishing with words off the script. “The inconvenience of lightning can do that, but lightning will never stop you. And I want to thank everybody, and we love you all. And it’s an honor to be your president. Thank you. God bless you all.”

Our Comment:
The President has the support of Religious leaders in his claim that America has entered its Golden Age.

Prophetic Link:
“When the reasoning of philosophy has banished the fear of God’s judgments; when religious teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, and the world are absorbed in their rounds of business and pleasure, planting and building, feasting and merrymaking, rejecting God’s warnings and mocking His messengers—then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 103.3

Source References

• Top highlights from Trump’s late night July 4 address: ‘No dream in history is bigger’

The Christian Post by Ian M. Giatti: A Texas police department says it plans to “look into” a viral video showing one of its officers warning a Christian street preaching group they could be cited for simply saying something offensive to others.

The encounter occurred June 27 at Trinity Pride Fest in Fort Worth, where police were caught on video threatening to arrest members of a street preaching team led by evangelist Rich Penkoski. According to the video, police blocked Penkoski and David Grisham from accessing the sidewalk upon their arrival at the event.

Grisham told officers about a lawsuit he filed in 2014 against the city of Fort Worth for a similar encounter, according to the video. An unidentified female officer responded, “I don’t care, you can file whatever lawsuit you want.”

As the street preaching group continued to question police about the warning while they were moved to an area outside police barricades, the female officer is heard saying, “If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem. … If they are offended by your speech, OK, I will write you a ticket and we’ll go from there.”

EXCLUSIVE ???? Fort Worth, Texas – On June 27, 2026, at Trinity Pride Fest in Fort Worth, Texas, street preachers Richard Penkoski and David Grisham were subjected to multiple violations of their First Amendment rights while attempting to preach on public property.

Upon arrival,… pic.twitter.com/o5ROC5t48r

— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) June 28, 2026

In response, Penkoski asks, “Wait, you’re going to ticket us for offensive speech?”

“Yes, absolutely,” the officer responded, adding that it would qualify as disorderly conduct.

Both Grisham and Penkoski quickly responded “No” as Grisham argued that speech doesn’t qualify as conduct.

After some back and forth between the two men and the officer, Penkoski asks, “If anything is said that is offensive, you’re going to write a ticket?”

“If someone complains that what you’re saying or your language is offensive …” the officer responds before the video abruptly ends.

Grisham was ultimately issued a citation for “unreasonable noise,” but no further explanation was provided. The city of Fort Worth does have an “unreasonable noise” ordinance that is “intended to apply to, but is not limited to” noise linked to animals or construction work.

A Fort Worth PD spokesman on Monday provided The Christian Post with the following statement: “The Fort Worth Police Department is committed to protecting the constitutional rights of all individuals, including the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, while also ensuring public safety and enforcing applicable laws and ordinances.

“We are aware of a video and allegations circulating [on] social media. We will need some time to look into this and will provide additional information once our review is complete.”

While Fort Worth PD did not publicly identify the female officer in the video, she appeared to be the same officer who prevented another Christian evangelist group from entering the Trinity Pride Fest in 2025. Video footage shared on YouTube last June shows a female officer with a similar voice and facial features telling members of the evangelist group Unprofitable Servants Ministries trying to enter the public event that “they don’t want you here.”

Penkoski, who runs the online organization Warriors for Christ and protests drag shows nationwide, told CP he was shocked when police threatened to ticket them for their speech.

“The female officer told us flat out that we would get a citation if we said anything offensive, so I wanted to clarify with another officer if that really was their position,” he said. “I was completely surprised when he said that there’s a possibility that I could be cited for calling [someone] a biological male …”

“As a veteran who was willing to die for his country, I never in a million years thought that this is the America we’d be living in right now,” he added.

The Trinity Pride Fest event — which was attended this year by several local churches, including St. Stephen Presbyterian and Broadway Baptist Church — stoked controversy in 2025 after drag performers reportedly accepted tips from children and displayed vulgar signage at the all-ages event.

Prophetic Link:
“But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.” Genesis 19:4

Source References

• Police officer warns street preachers they face citation ‘if someone is offended’ at LGBT pride rally

AzerNEWS, by Qabil Ashirov: The death toll from the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 3,342, according to Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, AzerNEWS reports.

In a post on social media, Rodríguez said the number of injured has reached 16,740, while 6,462 people have been rescued from beneath collapsed buildings. The disaster has also left 17,345 people homeless, prompting authorities to establish 79 temporary shelters for displaced residents.

Rodríguez added that humanitarian assistance has so far been delivered to 86,794 families. Relief operations have included the distribution of 9,585 tonnes of food and 669,008 liters of drinking water to the affected areas.

Search-and-rescue and relief efforts involve 29,567 military and police personnel, supported by 27,482 volunteers, he said.

According to local media reports, the government has launched a dedicated telephone hotline and digital platform to receive reports of missing persons. However, officials have yet to disclose the official number of people still unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, a citizen-led initiative titled “Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela” (“Missing in the Venezuela Earthquake”) has registered more than 31,000 missing-person reports on its online platform.

The twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude and occurring just 39 seconds apart, were confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on June 24.

In an assessment released on June 26, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that the earthquakes caused approximately $6.7 billion in direct physical damage.

Search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing, and authorities have warned that the number of fatalities and injuries could continue to rise as emergency teams reach additional affected areas.

Prophetic Link:
“As I hear of the terrible calamities that from week to week are taking place, I ask myself: What do these things mean? The most awful disasters are following one another in quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God’s purpose may be read. They are one of the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, page 252.1

Source References

• Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 3,342 as rescue efforts continue

FOX News, by Dan Zaksheske: If MLB fans thought the San Francisco Giants Pride Night controversy was messy, the Baltimore Orioles had a message for them this week.

Hold our beer.

The Orioles announced that Heidi N Closet, a drag queen best known from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” will serve as the Guest Splasher in the Tower Federal Credit Union Bird Bath during the bottom of the second inning for Friday’s Pride Night at Camden Yards.

Yes, a drag queen. As the “Guest Splasher.” At a Major League Baseball game.

The Bird Bath is the Orioles’ popular splash zone in left field, where fans get sprayed with water by Mr. Splash after extra-base hits. The team tells fans in Sections 84 and 86 to “be alert and ready at all times” because “Mr. Splash might be sending water your way.”

To be clear, the Bird Bath isn’t exclusively for children.

Fans of all ages can buy tickets there, and Mr. Splash has become one of the more recognizable attractions at Camden Yards.

But let’s not act like this is some adults-only corner of the ballpark, either.

It’s a water-splash attraction at a baseball game. Kids like being splashed by water. Kids like silly ballpark gimmicks. Pretty easy math.

The section also sits directly next to the Orioles’ Under Armour Kids Home Run Porch, which the team markets as “the ultimate gameday destination for kids and their families.” That area covers Sections 76-82, and kids must be 12 and under and accompanied by an adult.

So, technically, the Orioles aren’t putting a drag queen in the kids section.

They are putting a drag queen in one of the ballpark’s biggest kid-friendly attractions, right next to the actual kids-only home run porch, during Pride Night.

This is not satire.

“I’m frankly indifferent on most of these political topics, but isn’t the splash zone area for kids?” one X user wrote. “Like this is kinda weird even for centrist, independents, or even slightly left leaning folks right?”

Yes, it is.

One user sarcastically asked whether children would even be allowed at Friday’s game, suggesting a drag queen is adults-only entertainment. Another user declared that the Orioles are about to have their “Bud Light moment.” Still another wrote, “This is nothing more than activism, all the while ignoring the fact that preferential treatment is ALWAYS divisive.”

And this is the predictable problem for the Orioles.

This isn’t some impossible-to-see-coming controversy. Some MLB teams hold Pride Nights every year. That’s not new. The Orioles are giving away Pride Night jerseys to 15,000 fans Friday night for the game against the Washington Nationals, and the team’s official Pride Night page lists pregame music, photo ops, face painters, friendship bracelet making, Pride decorations, Pride merchandise, rainbow candied popcorn and a Pride-themed cocktail.

That’s the team’s choice.

But choosing a drag queen to lead the Bird Bath, a fan attraction built around spraying water on people in a left-field area tied directly to kids and families, adds a layer that makes the Orioles unique among MLB teams. And they are quite proud of this, by the way.

The team has been pushing the event from its main social media accounts, including the Heidi N Closet Guest Splasher announcement and a separate Pride-themed wallpaper post that read, “Baseball is for everyone” and told fans, “See you at The Yard this Friday for Pride Night!”

The team also promoted free roundtrip MARC Camden Line train tickets for Pride Night, telling fans that rides would be free beginning at 3:30 p.m. and that an extra train would depart 30 minutes after the game.

The graphic included a Pride-colored Orioles logo and told fans to “hop on and arrive right at The Yard for Pride Night.”

The team is not being subtle. The Orioles are promoting Pride Night across multiple posts, with giveaways, transit help and a drag queen guest splasher as part of the larger push to get as many people to the ballpark for this specific game as possible.

And it comes at a particularly combustible time for Major League Baseball.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Giants became the center of a national Pride Night debate after several pitchers wrote Bible verses on Pride-themed caps. MLB issued an oral warning under its uniform policy, and the Department of Justice later opened an investigation into whether the league discriminated against the players on religious grounds.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred later said the players weren’t fined or disciplined and said the Giants failed to properly communicate that players could opt out of wearing the Pride caps.

So baseball was already dealing with one Pride Night PR nightmare.

Now, the Orioles may have added another one.

This one is more straightforward. Fans aren’t debating uniform rules or religious accommodation. They’re asking why the Orioles think it’s a good idea to put a drag queen in charge of spraying fans in a kid-friendly section of the ballpark, right next to an official kids-only area.

The Orioles wanted a Pride Night splash.

They got one.

Just maybe not the kind they expected.

Prophetic Link:
“The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. Holidays are numerous; the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts thousands from the sober duties of life. The exciting sports—theatergoing, horse racing, gambling, liquor drinking and reveling—stimulate every passion to activity.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, page 89.3

Source References

• Baltimore Orioles tap drag queen as Guest Splasher in kid-friendly Bird Bath zone for Pride Night