Drop everything and get started on that bucket list — the world is ending this weekend.
At least that's what Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, believes. The station is part of a Christian radio network with 66 outlets that is headquartered in Oakland. KEAR 610 is the local Bay Area station.
According to his prediction, God will unleash rapture upon the world, and save only three percent of the world's population who are true believers. While this was supposed to happen Sept. 21, 1994, Camping has since updated his prediction and marked May 21, 2011, as the date when the rapture begins.
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In a broadcast on Family Radio, Camping told listeners: "The Holy Bible tells us that Holy God is a God of great mercy, compassion and love. That is why He has given us in advance of the destruction the exact time of the Day of Judgment."
His prediction is the result of a calculation which assumes God creates and destroys the Earth every seven days. One day to God is equal to 1,000 years for humans. Camping calculated that God last destroyed the world on May 21, 4990 B.C. when he flooded the Earth and commanded Noah to build his ark.
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But the rapture only begins this Saturday. The world won't fully come to an end until Oct. 21. The five months in between will be wrought with devastating earthquakes and violent rainstorms. Better grab your poncho.
Camping has no shortage of support behind his Judgment Day campaign.
Project Jonah is Family Radio's international mission, the intention of which is to spread the word that Judgment day is May 21, 2011 to people all over the world.
A requirement to join the mission, according to its volunteer application, is that "each team member must be completely convicted that it is God's will that he/she give these remaining months in His service; must be convicted that The Bible assures us that May 21, 2011 is the Day of Judgment." The application goes on to inquire about the applicant's willingness to suffer for the sake of God and his or her willingness to be obedient and spread the message of the world's end.
Project Caravan is the domestic equivalent of Project Jonah. Its purpose is to spread information about the apocalypse within the United States. So far, Project Caravan has posted over 2,200 billboards warning of the world's impending end.
The billboards all display the date May 21, 2011 with varying messages ranging from bible verses including "Blow the trumpet…warn the people (Ezekiel 33:3)" to messages of eager anticipation like "we are almost there!"
So, break out the bottle of champagne Friday night because the next five months may very well be hell on Earth — literally.
