Severe Drought in Suqutra

I want to put a shout out for an urgent prayer request. It would appear that Suqutra, that island I want to go to, is going through an intense drought right now, the 2nd worst in living memory. On an island of 45,000 people, where livestock are the mainstay of life, 100's of sheep and cattle have died. Suqutra regularly has regular dry periods throughout the year, but this is far worse than the norm. Poverty is extreme on Suqutra, so most can't afford the water tankers, and the traditional built cisterns have dried up. Those that haven't are contaminated with parasites. Some people have been forced into internal migration to survive. But there are no easy answers. Keeping livestock alive through severe droughts could upset the ecological balance, something very precarious on an isolated island of 1400 square miles with a high rate of endemic species and a unique ecology. For thousands of years the people have had natural ways of living with the environment to sustain themselves and the island- something necessitated if they are to survive, with the limited island resources. However, increasing ecotourism and modernization in the last 15 years have created greater pressures on land, and this drought only makes things worse.

Please pray for

• The welfare of the people. That their needs would be met, for food and water. That they would survive this with physical needs met and joy in their hearts.


• The welfare of the land. That the livestock would be sustained, and that the wild animals and plants would not be decimated by this drought.


• That the right solutions will be found, to remain in shalom with the land, resisting the pressures of modern technology and drought. I believe this requires miraculous intervention in ingenuity, and I have no answers, but I know one who does.