DVD helps Christian families, churches prepare for Bird Flu threat.

The avian flu, commonly known as the Bird Flu, is brewing in the bodies of millions of birds around the world right now, and breaking through biological barriers to kill people in places like Vietnam, Indonesia and Egypt.

“As Christians, we are rather casual and careless about the problem,” said Christian journalist Donald L. Hughes, producer of a new documentary called, “The Bird Flu Plague,” released by Theatron Films (www.TheatronFilms.com).

This abdication of responsibility is a sad thing, according to Hughes, because the Bird Flu has the potential to explode overnight and kill millions of people in a very short time. “If individual Christians and local churches were prepared, we could do much to help alleviate suffering,” he said.

Many Christians are cynical about the Bird Flu threat, Hughes said. “They equate it to the Y2K thing, think it’s some kind of liberal plot, or believe God will spare them just because they’re Christians. Pundits may minimize the threat, but health officials around the world are scared silly, and we in the Christian community must take our cue from the health officials.”

Hughes said, “When the Bird Flu reaches pandemic levels, life as we know it will change. Even the World Bank, pretty conservative forecasters, have said they believe the Bird Flu has the potential to kill 70 million people and put a $2 trillion dent into the world economy. Local officials are likely to use quarantine laws to inhibit spread of the disease, and that means churches, along with stores, offices and factories, will be told to close.

Hughes fears that local churches will wake up to the threat too late. “People think that the Bird Flu must infect poultry here in the U.S. before it spreads to people, and nothing could be further from the truth.  The greatest threat is when travelers, who may not even know they are ill with the disease, bring it in on airplanes.  Upon arrival they fan out to different locations and spread the disease as they go.”

As winter comes, the number of Bird Flu cases is increasing around the world, both among domestic poultry and humans. Today, Viet Nam is struggling to stamp out an epidemic among domestic poultry. However, efforts by officials are being thwarted by village people who are killing diseased birds then throwing them in rivers, which has the potential to spread the disease even further.

The same thing is happening in Egypt where 3 people have died of the Bird Flu this past week. Villagers there have been hiding their poultry under beds to keep them from the hands of officials trying to eradicate the disease. Twenty cases of human infection have been identified in northern Egypt so far, and more cases and deaths are expected.

Hughes says that many in the Christian community may be failing to prepare because they may be open to criticism if the threat does not materialize. “We have been reminding people to be prepared for the coming of Christ for over 2,000 years, but somehow preparing for the likelihood of an immediate threat like a Bird Flu plague is not allowed,” Hughes said. “If we’re prepared on the family level and the local church level, we will be in a position to encourage the living, minister to the dying and help the grieving. Without preparation, we’re going to be in the same bad situation as everyone else.”

Hughes believes that the Christian community should be at the forefront of preparedness for the Bird Flu and other threats. “We have produced the “Bird Fu Plague” documentary DVD precisely to let people know the magnitude of the threat, how the influenza spreads, and what they can do as families and as local churches to prepare. The documentary is not designed to scare anyone, but hopefully it will jolt people into reality about this issue.”

In addition to the 48-minute documentary, the DVD also contains text resources including a family preparedness guide, a church preparedness guide, a Bible-based group discussion guide, steps for caring for the grieving, and a guide to sharing your faith in crisis times.

Hughes said, “In 1918 there was influenza pandemic, and 25% of the U.S. population got sick and 3 million died. According to records, people got up in the morning feeling fine, began feeling sick at mid-day, and died that night. People have no concept about how lethal Type A pandemic flu can be. People think science will come up with some “magic bullet” to save us, but that’s not likely. We need to prepare now in practical ways, and we also need to prepare our minds and hearts for a possible Bird Flu plague. Once it hits American shores the disease, or the panic, will spread so fast that opportunities to prepare will be lost.”