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At least 1,400 people were killed and over 3,000 injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan Sunday night.

The quake’s epicenter was about 17 miles from Jalalabad, near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, and just 5 miles below the surface, reducing vulnerable mud-brick and wooden homes to rubble. (Shallow quakes lead to more intense shaking on the surface.) Aftershocks followed, including a 5.2 magnitude on Monday and a 5.5 magnitude yesterday. 

Rescue efforts have been hampered by steep terrain, landslides, and severe shortages of supplies; the Taliban has requested international aid.

Meanwhile, Sudan is also asking for help. A landslide in its war-ravaged Darfur region leveled an entire village on Sunday, killing an estimated 1,000 people and leaving just one survivor in a “nightmare” scenario.

(We’re also covering this story tomorrow in Decaf, The Pour Over for Families. Sign up—for free—here.)

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
Natural disasters remind us that all of the world has been broken by sin. But Christians can look forward to an eternity where there’s redemption not just for people, but for creation itself. Join us in praying for comfort, rescue, and ultimately, hope only found through Christ, for the Afghan and Sudanese people.

“For the creation was subjected to futility ​— ​not willingly, but because of him who subjected it ​— ​in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.” 
Romans 8:20-21 (CSB) (read full passage)

The Far East didn’t take the weekend off.

President Xi Jinping of China hosted the largest-ever summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)—a political, economic, and security alliance seen as a counterbalance to Western groups like NATO. More than 20 world leaders attended, including Indian PM Modi, Russian President Putin, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. 

China presented its vision for a West-challenging “multilateral” global order, with leaders projecting regional solidarity. Xi chatted with his “old friend” Putin and with Modi, who celebrated an “atmosphere of peace and stability” after years of border tension between the neighboring countries.

The summit preceded today’s massive Chinese military parade in Tiananmen Square. Xi’s parade marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII and is expected to flex China’s military power for the West to see.

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CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
The gospel is scandalous because God’s heart is for everyone—East, West, and the ends of the earth—to know Him. His mission is for the life of the world… How are you joining Him?

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”
John 3:16-18 (CSB) (read full passage)

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Congress returned to a mountain Capitol Hill of work after its six-week summer vacay.

Topping the pile: avoiding a government shutdown before October 1. President Trump wants to cut $4.9B in previously approved foreign aid as part of another “rescissions” spending package; Democrats want to restore funds previously nixed from Medicaid. Both parties will need to get off their high elephants and donkeys to get the 60 Senate ayes needed to pass a bill. 

Meanwhile, representatives are making a rare bipartisan push to release the Epstein files, aiming to end Congress’s pre-break standoff.

There’s plenty else on the agenda, including:

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Verse to consider whether you have a mountain of paperwork, a mountain of laundry, or a literal mountain ahead of you today… “Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.”
Colossians 3:22–24 (CSB) (read full passage)

President Trump attempted to lay to rest a viral rumor that he had died, telling the press yesterday that he was “very active” over Labor Day weekend. #whereistrump was trending Friday after #47 had a two-day hiatus from public appearances; the fire was fanned when POTUS’s account posted an apparently week-old photo of the president playing golf.

The U.S. carried out a “lethal strike” against a drug vessel departing from Venezuela yesterday, marking a significant escalation against Latin American drug cartels. President Trump said 11 “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” were killed when a “kinetic strike” hit their boat in international Caribbean waters, sinking the “illegal” narcotics on their way to the U.S.

Alabama just won the space race. President Trump announced yesterday that Space Force will relocate its HQ to Huntsville, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep mission control in Colorado Springs. The White House said the strategic move will create 30,000+ Alabama jobs, generate billions, and ensure the U.S. stays “leaps and bounds” ahead in the high frontier.

Nestlé is in hot cocoa. The Swiss food giant abruptly ousted its CEO after discovering he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with a subordinate, violating company policy just one year after taking the reins. Nestlé is the world’s largest food & beverage company (with brands from KitKat to Gerber) but is battling slowing sales, steep U.S. tariffs, and C-suite scandals.

Indonesia is cutting back lawmaker benefits in response to deadly anti-government protests. Demonstrations began last week over frustration with Indonesian parliamentarians' “excessive” pay (~30x the national average income) and housing allowances. Things turned violent when a delivery driver was killed by police, with rioters burning parliament buildings and looting lawmakers' homes. At least six other demonstrators have reportedly been killed.

… Beware!

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