China Declares Mourning Period

Many of you have been contacting me, asking various questions about the earthquake. I'm sure you are all still checking the daily news reports, but I just wanted to let you know about this most recent announcement. For your information, 2:28 pm would be: 2:28 am Eastern Time, 1:28 am Central Time, and 11:28 pm Pacific Time. Please join in, lifting your hearts and words to the Father. They believe in the power of silence...but I think we can all offer something stronger than that, don't you?

"China declared three days of national mourning for earthquake victims and ordered a suspension of the Olympic torch relay, as the search for survivors of the disaster grew bleak Sunday. The State Council said the mourning period would start Monday and include three minutes of silence observed nationwide at 2:28 p.m., the time the quake struck. Beijing Olympic organizers said in a statement that the torch relay would be suspended "to express our deep mourning to the victims of the earthquake."

In the disaster zone, efforts appeared to shift Sunday from searching for buried survivors to clearing corpses from shattered buildings as the government said the confirmed death toll rose to 32,476. Another 220,109 people suffered injuries, according to a statement from the State Council, China's Cabinet. The government has said it expects the final death toll will surpass 50,000."