Greetings everyone,
HEADQUARTERS RELOCATION UPDATE
by Richard F. Ames, Secretary & Treasurer
Thank you for your prayers concerning the promising properties reported in last week's issue. It appears God is opening doors very quickly for us, and we continue to look to Him for ongoing guidance. Yesterday (Wednesday, August 14), the Council of Elders met via phone conference to consider the benefits of moving our Headquarters operation out of California, and the specific opportunity to make an offer on a 38,000-square-foot office building in Charlotte, NC.
Mr. Meredith opened the Council meeting by describing the history of our relocation research. Over the past two years, Mr. and Mrs. Meredith and others have visited and researched facilities in Austin, TX; Nashville, TN; St. Louis, MO; Charlotte, NC; Tulsa, OK, and other locations. In Wednesday's meeting, Mr. Meredith asked the Council to consider the cost savings of doing the Work from Charlotte and, specifically, the benefits of purchasing an office facility at Crown Point in Charlotte, appraised at $2.8 million and now offered at $2.275 million. The Crown Point facility was built in 1995 and is in very good condition. Mr. Meredith noted that a recent search in San Diego found two 38,000-square-foot buildings each selling for $5.5 million.
Mr. Rodger Bardo, our research consultant, compared the costs and benefits of doing the Work from San Diego vs. Charlotte. In Charlotte, the Work would save thousands of dollars in sales tax, property tax, business costs and office lease costs (now rising in San Diego). His conservative estimate of savings to the Work was more than $1.4 million over a period of five years! Concerning the Crown Point facility, Mr. Bardo noted that the seller would also include an adjoining one-half-acre lot not in the original sale package. For a down payment of approximately $350,000, we would be able to purchase the property at a low interest rate, and pay about $12,000 per month toward the mortgage—less than half of our current monthly rent payment here in San Diego.
I then pointed out that our space requirements are growing with our need to fulfill the increased television response (up 48 percent in the last year) and our Tomorrow's World magazine circulation increase of 45 percent in one year. With Charlotte's commercial real estate at bottom prices and with economic projections for a turnaround in those markets very soon, now is the time to buy. Mr. Bardo and I, having visited the Crown Point property last week, both recommended purchasing the property.
Mr. Meredith, Mr. Bardo, and Mr. Jerry Ruddlesden, our controller, then answered many pointed questions by Council members. At the close of the meeting, Council members enthusiastically encouraged our Headquarters team to proceed with an offer on the property.
Today (Thursday, August 15, 2002), the owners accepted the offer in principle. Final details remain, but we expect papers to be signed next week. If all goes well, the Church would take possession of the property in early November. Headquarters would then plan to move either in early spring or during the summer of 2003. Please continue to pray for God's guidance and blessing for this relocation project.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
Please remember to pray for the Council of Elders' conference scheduled from August 26th through the 28th. Pray for God's guidance on all the decisions that will be made, as well as for the safety of those who will be traveling to get here.
Mr. Carl McNair is on his way to visit some of the English-speaking islands in the West Indies. The brethren are very excited about his visit—and so is he. Could it be that, upon his return, he will realize that Montana is not, after all, the only terrestrial heaven on earth? Mr. McNair will of course be back to San Diego in time for the Council of Elders' conference.
Update from David Burson
"At this point," he wrote us, " I am back to a full schedule and am doing very well. I have lost almost all of the fluid I was holding and am gaining strength everyday. The doctor told me to do as much as I could, so I have. The more I do the stronger I get."
INTERNATIONAL
News from United Kingdom
In recent weeks, we have seen some very interesting responses to our efforts to preach the Gospel. Individuals who have come across our broadcasts, websites, booklets, magazine and Bible Study Course have been sobered and excited by what they have found. As a result we have had a number of visit requests from various parts of the UK. We are also being contacted by individuals who have been looking since the breakup of the WCG for where God has continued to carry on His work. It looks like the rest of this year will get pretty busy.
Doug Winnail
News from Latin America
Not too long ago, we asked the brethren to pray that God would heal a four-month old baby of a member in Medellín, Colombia, who was suffering from a serious premature closing of his fontanel. Today, the baby is six months old and enjoying good health. A radio-listener in Santiago, Chile, requested to attend services is attending regularly. In Argentina, of the 127 people that have requested our material since the program started back in the year 2000, six have attended Sabbath services and three are prospective members.
Jorge Schaubeck
COMMENTS
Some passages in the Bible are hard to understand, even for a converted mind. But most of the Bible can easily be understood by anyone who is willing to read and study it without prejudice. Faith, of course, plays a key role when we try to understand or to explain things that are not yet revealed to us. That's what we read in Hebrews 11:3.
But have you ever asked yourselves why, oftentimes, we let doubts perturb our minds when we turn to God—in faith—for guidance and help? For instance, after being anointed for a sickness, some people keep doubting whether God will grant them healing, especially if the sickness was very serious, even incurable. In other words, they don't really believe what God says in James 5:14. But why?
Doubting God's word—and succumbing to our fears—are often prevalent in our relationship with God. Consider for instance our prayers, particularly in the last several months, for God's wisdom and guidance regarding an eventual relocation of the Headquarters of His Church. If we really have faith in God, if we honestly believe that He will show us what to do, why then do some of the brethren doubt or worry about the final decision? Why should we let our minds be swayed by negative thoughts?
The answer to such questions is summed up in one little verse in the Bible. We haven't learned to trust God totally and to live by the simplest commandment Christ has given us—a commandment that solves all of our problems, dismisses all of our doubts, and allows us to enjoy a peace of mind. Christ commands us, in love, to unload our burden on His shoulders (Matthew 11:28). Unfortunately, instead of leaving our burden permanently on His shoulders, most of the time we continue carrying it ourselves!
Y'all have a nice Sabbath,
Dibar Apartian