Victoria's bushfires; just the thought of it nearly brings me to tears. Some of the footage they've shown on the news looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic landscape. It's surreal, and sickening to think about how many people have died, not to mention that half of it was caused by arsonists. My aunt and uncle live in Melbourne, which hasn't been hit yet but the news this morning said they were fighting off fires somewhere around the city...I pray that they are ok. My friend (she lives here in Brisbane) lost relatives in the fires already, so I hope she is doing alright.

Imagine losing everything, including your family, in two minutes? That's how ferocious these fires have been - one man was reported on the news as packing up his car, and while his family waited in the vehicle, he went back to the house to get something quickly...not a few minutes later, his car was burnt out and his family had persihed when he had returned. Another couple who had survived were separated in the midst of the fires and were both sent to the hospital, both of them thinking the other was dead; they were both alive, and the husband overheard someone in the hospital hall outside his room who sounded like his wife and they were reunited - they were the lucky ones.

I'm sure many of you have seen the footage of Sam the koala drinking from the fireman's water bottle. If you haven't, youtube it - it's very touching. Another thing that's touching is Australia's generosity towards the Red Cross Victoria Bushfire Appeal - last I heard they had received more than $60 million in donations.

Unfortunately, Northern Queensland isn't getting much coverage due to the large scale of the fires in Victoria, but they are experiencing major floods and 3 strains of Dengue Fever has broken out in the region, too. My prayers are with them, as well.

God bless those in Victoria and I hope they pull through.