Category Archives: Outreach Ministries

06/19/16

Darren Wilson/ Wanderlust Productions

These are a few clips of these awe-inspiring, heart-wrenching films proclaiming the sovereignty of GOD in seeking the lost. Please seek them out in their entirety. You can find them on the web, Netflix, and @ Amazon.

Finger of GOD/ Darren Wilson

Father of Lights Official Teaser Trailer

Furious Love Deluxe Edition Trailer

GOD and Rental Cars with Todd White from Father of Lights Deluxe Edition

Credit: WP Films

Charlene’s Source: Youtube

Share This

09/1/14

Too Tired? Rosa Parks and Queen Esther

Too Tired?

Esther 7:1-10

 Esther 7:1-10

New International Version (NIV)

 Haman Impaled

 1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]”

 5King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

 6Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

   Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

 8Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

   The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

   As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits[b]stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

   The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

Footnotes:

  1. Esther 7:4 Or quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer
  2. Esther 7:9 That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters

Rosa Louise Parks was tired. The petite African American woman sat quietly, grateful to find a seat on the bus after spending most of the day on her feet. When a white passenger demanded she give up her seat, Rosa looked up. Segregation was the law in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Blacks were expected to yield their seats on public transportation to whites. To refuse meant arrest. Rosa stayed seated, and her actions helped change the landscape of the United States. Years later, Rosa wrote that it wasn’t physical weariness that gave her such inner strength. She said, “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.”

Centuries earlier, another woman was faced with a decision. Like Rosa, Esther had two strikes against her in the Persian Empire: She was female and a member of an oppressed people, the Jews. Although King Xerxes had chosen Esther to be queen, she was forbidden to approach the powerful king without an invitation, and an evil prime minister named Haman was plotting to annihilate the Jews. Esther’s cousin Mordecai’s plea to intervene meant risking her own life. It took courage for Queen Esther to take a stand, just as it took courage for Rosa Parks to remain seated. Both women’s actions opened the door to freedom for their people.

Many of us may think we’re safe from the type of persecution Rosa Parks and Esther faced. But Christians are being persecuted throughout the world in places like China, theSudan and North Korea. Everyday people die for the privilege of worshiping Jesus. It is estimated that more Christians died for their faith in the twentieth century than all the previous 19 centuries combined, and the numbers appear to be rising in the twenty-first century. Even in places where there is no outright persecution, many people think Christians are naive and out of touch with so-called reality. Some people do not really know or understand the person and mission of Jesus and will take every opportunity to slander his followers.

Wherever God has placed you, he can use you to speak his truth-words of love, justice and faith to a lost world-even if it means being misunderstood or ridiculed. Yes, it may be difficult and you may be weary; but, sister, “never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

Reflection

  1. How did reading about Rosa Parks and Queen Esther inspire you?
  2. Have you ever felt God nudging you to speak up about a situation? What happened?
  3. What do you need to take a stand on in your home, neighborhood or in the political arena?

Esther 7:3-4
Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life-this is my petition. And spare my people-this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

Related Readings

Psalm 118:6-9; Luke 21:5-19 ; 2 Timothy 3:10-17

credit: The Girlfriends

This article retrieved from www.biblegateway.com via the world-wide web

All scripture quotes are from the Holy Bible, NIV version www.biblegateway.com

05/20/14

Israel’s Right to the Land Written by John Paul Jackson

 

Article adapted from his teaching at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
For Release: January 2014

 

I am intensely interested in what God is doing in Israel. I have visited the Holy Land more than 20 times. Recently, the Lord led me to study the life of Abraham. The Jews say Abraham was born 1,948 years after Adam was created. 1948 is an interesting number. Israel became a nation in 1948 – 1,948 years after the birth of Jesus, the second Adam.

 

 Another interesting parallel is that the Tower of Babel was built in 1996 – 1,996 years from the beginning of creation. In 1996 A.D., The European Union made the Tower of Babel its insignia. I don’t think that’s an accident.

 

The Tower of Babel was in Ur which is where Abraham is from.  God called him to the land of Canaan. Lot went with him and God blessed them. Their flocks multiplied. Soon, there wasn’t enough grassland to feed both of their families. So, they separated. Lot went to the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham stayed in the northern part of Canaan.

 

During that time, God brought in four kings from the east to Israel. One was the king of Babel, which is modern day Iraq. Another was the king over Persia, which is modern day Iran. There were two other kings with them as well.

 

There were five other kings. These were vassal kings. They were the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were three other kings with them as well. But, these five vassal kings stopped paying their taxes to the other four kings.

 

The four kings didn’t want to lose all that tax money. So, they came to Israel to fight the five kings who didn’t want to pay their taxes.

 

The four kings conquered the five vassal kings and seized everything in Sodom and Gomorrah including Lot and his family who were taken back to Ur the land they originally came from.

 

Abraham heard about it and took 318 men with him and conquered the four kings who overpowered the five kings that didn’t pay their taxes.  That was a staggering victory, not only by the numbers but by the right of conquest. Abraham now had the rights to all of the land of Israel.

 

After that, a strange individual visited Abraham. It was Melchizedek. If you really believe Melchizedek had no beginning and no end; then, you would have to admit, He wasn’t human. He’s without father, without mother, without beginning, without end.

 

And He was the King of Salem, the King of Righteousness. He’s described in many ways as Yeshua Himself. Whoever He was, He was very powerful. And, He blessed Abraham.

 

Right after that, Abraham had an encounter with God. God gave Abraham a vision of a burning oven. A torch passed between pieces of animals that were cut in half. And God made a covenant with Abraham. He told Abraham, “I will give you every place your foot has trod.” That, literally, goes back to where Abraham came from — the land of Ur.

 

Abraham has a right to the land because God gave it to him and because Abraham conquered it. Parallels also show how God has watched over Israel from the beginning. He is watching over them now.

 

credit: John Paul Jackson

Charlene’s Source: streamsministries.com

Share This

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I thought that it would help to include the scriptural reference. Charlene

 

Genesis 14 NIV

Abram Rescues Lot

 

 

14 At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,[a] Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

 

5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

 

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

 

13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother[b] of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

 

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,

 

 

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
    who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

 

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

 

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

 

 

Footnotes:

  1. Genesis 14:1 That is, Babylonia; also in verse 9

  2. Genesis 14:13 Or a relative; or an ally

 

 

New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 

03/20/14

God’s Not Dead | Official Full Movie Trailer

Hurrah! A wonderful movie to watch for the Easter season. Done in classic debate style, a student teaches his professor the meaning of GOD’s love.

credit: GodsNotDeadTheMovie+PureFlix

Charlene’s Source: youtube

Share This

02/11/14

Todd White: Power & Love Ministries

I had opportunity to see Todd White preach at Rhema Bible Church via Kenneth Hagin Ministries on Roku. I checked several sources and was able to find these videos, including one from Sid Roth Ministries. Please watch them with an open heart and mind in God’s Spirit. Also check out www.powerandlove.org

Charlene

credit: whizzpopping

credit: Heaven Visit via Sid Roth ‘It’s Supernatural’

credit: Todd White

Charlene’s Source: Todd White via youtube+Todd White Ministries

Share This

12/21/13

Rev. Billy Graham Messages of Awakening

Billy Graham influenced my life as a child.  He still has impact on a hurting world that is seeking answers in the midst of great turmoil. 

Have a Blessed Christmas Rev. Graham.   <3

credit: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Charlene’s Source: youtube

Share This

07/28/13

1 Corinthians 2: The Language of The Spirit

The Language of The Spirit Revised and Updated

 

 Rev. Charlene

 

In the United States we assume that we all speak the same native language. However, there are other languages spoken, some even more original. English predominates, so it is the responsibility of those who wish to communicate with the masses to learn to speak English. Yet it is fast becoming a necessity for those of us who speak English to take on Spanish as our second language. This language must be learned through diligent application, whereas the language of our birth was naturally acquired over time without hardship.

 

 

Those who travel and minister across the world must also learn the languages native to other regions and countries.  This can prove to be an even harder task. The desire to communicate and to spread God’s love is a motivational force that empowers people to learn new ways and new languages.

 

The languages of the world are different from the language of The Spirit. Those who possess God’s Spirit speak another-worldly language that has its origin in heaven, not earth. This language is not our native tongue, but became accessible when we came to Christ. It is through surrender to Christ and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit that we discern this gifted language. Without our interpreter, God’s Holy Spirit, we cannot discern the ways of God, nor can we understand the mysteries of our salvation.

 

 

As Paul writes to the Corinthians:

 

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit”.

 

Unless you are in indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit you simply cannot hear nor speak the heavenly language. It is a part of your inheritance gifts, just as speaking the spiritual language of the world makes you heir to the degradation of the world. Death becomes your wages, not life. Only Jesus Christ could pay the price for our sins because of His sinless nature, and it is only through The Cross that our sins are forgiven. Jesus knows the fullness of who we can be or are in Him.

 

 “Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct Him?’[d]

 

 

But we have the mind of Christ”. 

 

 

1 Corinthians 2

New International Version (NIV)

 

 

 1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

 

 

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

 

 

 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:

 

   “What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
   the things God has prepared for those who love him—

 10these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

   The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16for,

 

 

   “Who has known the mind of the Lord
   so as to instruct Him?”[d]

   But we have the mind of Christ.

Footnotes:
  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual
  4. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13

 

Scripture Credits:  Holy Bible. New International Version. BibleGateway.com

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Charlene Kirst
06/27/13

Are Plants Smarter Than People?

 

Are Plants Smarter Than People?

by James Robison

 

 

Plants seem to be smarter than most people, including many who profess Christianity. Trees, crops, flowers, and grass recognize the source upon which they must depend. They naturally turn toward the light, seeking it consistently and persistently to receive its benefits. They respond to water as their roots reach into the depths of the soil, however resistant it may be, in order to absorb every drop of life-giving water.

 

The Scriptures encourage those created in the image of God to be fruitful – like a tree planted by the river, extending its roots downward while spreading its leaves to the sun. The Psalmist said to the person who delights and meditates in the Word of God, “You will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers.”1

 

Jeremiah wrote, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by water that extends its root down to a stream and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaves will be green and he will not be anxious in a drought and will not cease to yield fruit.”2

 

If we are to be God’s vineyard, we must remain under the oversight and care of the true husbandman – the Lord Himself. If you want to see the most briar- and weed-infested field, just look at a cultivated garden that has been abandoned and watch what grows! The same is true of human beings who are not submitted to the ongoing care of the Vinedresser.

 

If a blade of grass diligently and consistently seeks light and water, why can’t people created in the image of God do the same? All of creation depends on the Creator, with the exception of those created in His image – both sad and tragic!

 

Scientists indicate that even house plants have some level of intelligence. A plant adjusts to varying conditions by processing information and reacting to it. According to science writer Robert Wright, “It has sensors that absorb information reflecting the state of the environment – where light is coming from, for example – and this information guides the plant’s growth accordingly. And so, too, with every other form of life that pursues goals under varying conditions (which is to say every other form of life).”3

 

The plant is a sophisticated machine. It persists toward a goal in varying conditions by processing information. Why don’t people?

 

We are challenged by God through the apostle Paul to be “deeply rooted and grounded in love,” which will enable us to sustain the abundant blessings fruitfulness so often produces. “We are to be firmly rooted and built up in Christ.”

 

Christians must also develop a desire to walk in the light of God’s truth and love, continually drinking the “water of the Word.” In this, we will experience cleansing and nourishment necessary to be consistent in all seasons, however blessed or challenging they may be. The droughts and dry times should drive our spiritual roots even deeper to absorb every drop of the water of life possible. Proverbs says, “The root of righteous yields fruit.” The fruit will look like Jesus!

 

Just as plants reach toward the light, we must do the same. May God give us a thirst for His righteousness and the abundance of fruit produced by the Holy Spirit. We can live continually overflowing with the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.4 If plants can be fruitful by consistently seeking light and water, surely we who are created in His image can do as much – and do it for the honor and glory of our great God and Father. “You are the light of the Lord. Now walk as children of the light.”5

 

 

 

1 Psalm 1:2-3 NAS
2 Jeremiah 17:6-8 NAS
3 Robert Wright, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, New York: Vintage Books, 2000, page 312
4 See Galatians 5:22-23
5 Ephesians 5:8 NAS

06/10/13

United and Set Afire

United and Set Afire
by James Robison

 

If I was the pastor of a church, I would encourage my people to build a charcoal fire until they were successful. Not with self-lighting charcoal, but the kind you have to soak and light.

 

One winter a friend of mine went out to build a charcoal fire and couldn’t get it lit. I went out and saw that the charcoal was scattered all over the grill, one little layer of charcoal. He was dousing it with the lighter fluid and putting a match to it. It would flare up and burn off, leaving him with dead, black charcoal.

 

Well, I had done this before and knew his approach wouldn’t work. I raked the chunks of charcoal into a little pile with my hands. Some of the briquettes trickled off and rolled down the side, but I meticulously picked up each one until I had a nice pyramid. As I was doing this, dirtying my hands as I worked so diligently to stack them, it was as though God Himself began chuckling at me.

 

“What are you doing?” I heard Him ask.

 

“I’m stacking this charcoal,” I said. “It won’t light unless you get it all together where each briquette is touching others. That’s what I’m doing, Lord.”
“Isn’t that something?” He said. “Why don’t you preachers learn to do that with my people?”

 

God said, “My people are scattered all over the earth, accusing and avoiding one other, seldom touching each other, and preachers are running around trying to soak them in the oil of the Holy Spirit. You just soak them and soak them and soak them, then wonder why they don’t get on fire.”

 

He said, “My son already prayed for unity: that you may be one as We are one. A new commandment He gave you ‘that you love one another even as We love one another’ and become ‘perfected in unity.’ And by this the world will know you’re My disciples – not Baptist, not Pentecostal, not Catholic, or anything else. My disciples, connected to one another and submitted to the Head – the Lord Jesus.”

 

Then God said, “You can soak them in teaching and soak them in the Holy Spirit, but until my people agree to come together, truly seeking to preserve the unity of the spirit into which they were born in Christ in a bond of peace, you need not expect Me to light the fire. Let My people come together with this purpose: seeking Me as they did at Pentecost, and I’ll light their fire. That’s what I want to see.”

 

I’m committed to that. May we all learn to love each other as Christ loves the church, so we can be a bright light in our dark world.

 

Adapted from James Robison’s 1984 message on unity

 

Charlene’s Source:  LifeToday : Words of Life

05/23/13

Demolishing Doubt by Randy Robison

We all doubt God at some point. In his brilliant apologetic book How Can I Know? Dr. Robert Jeffress tackles the five basic forms of doubt: natural, philosophical, experiential, spiritual, and empirical. He exposes the most common reasons for doubt, including suffering, betrayal, human intellect, and fear, then offers evidence that God exists and that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be.

 

It’s easy to condemn the doubt of others or feel guilt about our own questions. But the Bible offers some encouragement on these two points. First, in the brief epistle of Jude, it says “have mercy on some, who are doubting” (verse 22). There is a difference between those who are hostile towards God and those who are struggling to believe. Certainly there are those who will never believe, but part of discipleship is encouraging those who are weak in their faith. We do not determine who will and will not come to Christ, so we should all maintain the attitude of 2 Peter 3:9, “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” This is not a position of passivity or weakness. It is a reminder that people are to be saved while ungodly ideas are to be demolished. Paul said, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5a). We rescue the lost by shining the light of God’s truth through our words and actions.

 

 

When it comes to our own doubt, we must realize that it does take some faith on our part to really know God. It may be as tiny as a “mustard seed,” but at some point we must make the choice to believe the fundamental truths in Scripture. One such truth is this: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6).

 

 

This is not a contradiction. We don’t overcome our doubt by pretending it does not exist. Instead, this is a promise. When we take the initiative to believe God’s word and ask Him for wisdom, He promises to show up in our lives. It’s a bit like stepping onto a frozen pond, believing that it will hold you. Until you actually do it, you will never believe that you can skate.

 

So if you are struggling with doubt, ask God to show up in your life. Pester Him to show you His will. Read the Bible and implore the Holy Spirit to make it come alive. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Then your doubts will fade away as your faith becomes strong.

 

 

Dr. Robert Jeffress appears on LIFE TODAY May, 23, 2013, with Randy and James Robison.

 

Charlene’s Source:

LIFE Outreach International | P.O. Box 982000 | Fort Worth, TX 76182-8000

1-800-947-LIFE (5433) | WWW.LIFETODAY.ORG

05/21/13

May 21, 2013 Prayer For Oklahoma Victims and Victims World-wide

The tornadoes that have been devastating Oklahoma and surrounding states have caused immense devastation and loss of life. There are other places in the world that are also suffering. Many of the dead are innocent children. I ask for your prayers for all those  suffering and facing losses behind these natural disasters.  If possible, please find a charitable institution that will be a help in  giving aid to victims locally and worldwide.   Charlene

05/21/13

Massive Tornado in Oklahoma+Latest Developments

A massive tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area on Monday, leaving behind a horrific path of destruction.

“It is a barren wasteland,” said Shannon Galarneau, of her hometown of Moore, Okla. Her 10-year-old neice is missing, she told Yahoo! News. “Everything is leveled.” This aerial photo shows the remains of homes hit by a massive tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch)
Charlene’s Source: yahoo news+AP
Share This
___________________________________________________

(CNN) — Dozens of people — including several children — were killed when a massive tornado struck an area outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, officials said.

At least seven of those children were killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, according to a police official.

Early Tuesday, emergency personnel continued to scour the school’s rubble — a scene of twisted I-beams and crumbled cinder blocks.The tornado was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, KFOR reported.

The preliminary rating of the tornado was at least EF4 (166 to 200 mph), the National Weather Service said.

Latest updates:

— President Barack Obama said, “Oklahoma needs to get everything it needs right away” to recover from powerful tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City region Monday.

— Flags are expected to be lowered at the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday morning in honor of the victims of a massive tornado that struck central Oklahoma the day before, House Speaker John Boehner said.

— Out of the 51 deaths initially reported in Monday’s powerful tornado in central Oklahoma, 24 bodies have been transferred to the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner’s Office, the agency said Tuesday. An update from the medical examiner was expected at 11 a.m. ET.

Previously reported:

— New York’s governor expressed his sympathy for Oklahomans in the aftermath of the “horrific tornado” that swept through the Oklahoma City region on Monday. “Here in New York we know firsthand the devastation and pain caused by natural disasters, and in difficult times like these we, more than ever, stand with our fellow Americans,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Tuesday.

— The storm system behind Monday’s twister and several on Sunday is threatening a large swath of the United States on Tuesday, putting 53 million people at risk of severe weather. In the bull’s-eye Tuesday are parts of north-central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and northern Arkansas and Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service.

— Oklahoma first and foremost needs donations to rebuild after tornadoes slammed the state, Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN on Tuesday.

— More than 40,000 customers remain without power Tuesday after a powerful tornado slammed the Oklahoma City region, a utility spokesman said. More than half of those customers were in the heavily damaged suburb of Moore, according to Brian Alford, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gas & Electric.

— Glenn Lewis, the mayor of tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, told CNN on Tuesday the rescue effort is continuing and “we’re very optimistic we might find one or two people.”

— Personnel have rescued 101 people from rubble in metropolitan Oklahoma City after a tornado hit the area Monday, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management representative Terri Watkins said Tuesday morning. Watkins cited an Oklahoma Highway Patrol tally of rescues from all agencies.

— Some of the children killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, during Monday’s storm drowned in a basement area there, Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN Tuesday morning. “My understanding, this school … Plaza Towers, they had a basement. Quite frankly, don’t mean to be graphic, but that’s why some of the children drowned, because they were in the basement area,” he said. Officials have said the storm killed at least seven children at the school.

— The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office has been told to expect about 40 additional bodies, including about 20 children, according spokeswoman Amy Elliott. The official death toll of 51 will not rise until the bodies are processed, she said earlier. The current toll already includes at least 20 children who were killed by the storm.

— At least 145 people have been hospitalized in the Oklahoma City, hospital officials said. The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center received 45 children for treatment on Monday, according Dr. Roxie Albrecht.

— President Barack Obama will make a statement at approximately 10 a.m. ET after he is briefed on the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado devastation, a White House official told CNN. The statement will be delivered in the State Dining Room.

— Obama signed a disaster declaration for Oklahoma on Monday night, a White House statement said. The declaration means federal emergency aid will supplement local recovery efforts.

— The president told the Oklahoma governor that the federal government “stands ready to provide all available assistance” as part of the response to a series of deadly storms that have struck the Oklahoma City area, including Monday’s devastating tornado.

— Queen Elizabeth II sent her condolences to those affected by Monday’s massive deadly Oklahoma tornado, saying on Twitter: “Our deepest sympathies go out to all those whose lives have been affected, as well as the American people #Oklahoma #tornado.”

— Pope Francis urged people to join him in praying for the families of those who died in the massive tornado in central Oklahoma on Monday, “especially those who lost young children,” he said in a tweet Tuesday.

— French President Francois Hollande expressed his grief over the casualties caused by the ferocious Oklahoma tornado and saluted the “mobilization” of citizens who tackled “this exceptional situation with courage and determination.”

— German Chancellor Angela Merkel passed along her condolences to President Obama over the casualties and destruction caused by the mammoth tornado that tore through Oklahoma on Monday. “The pictures of this catastrophe render us speechless and can only hint at the scope of the hurt,” Merkel told the president Tuesday.

– Pakistan and Spain issued condolences to the people affected by the deadly Oklahoma tornado. “We are particularly grieved over the loss of innocent children and their teachers who were buried under the rubble,” the Pakistan government said. The Spanish government said “the Spanish people, at these tragic times, feel even closer to the American people, and share their pain.”

Charlene’s Source: CNN+yahoo news

Share This