Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weston—as well as other ministers, wives, and staff—are at the Living Youth teen camp in Athens, Texas. All reports are that Camp has started off on a good and positive note. Many of you have heard about the horrific flooding on July 4 in the Hill Country of central Texas (about 300 miles from our teen camp). At least 120 people in that area have died and more than 170 are still missing. While we are grateful that no LCG brethren have been so tragically affected by the flooding, we can certainly ask God for His comfort and mercy toward the devastated families.
Mr. Brian McKenzie, Finance Director for the Australasian regional office, is in Charlotte visiting with various Headquarters departments this week, and after serving in the HQ office for more than ten years, Mr. and Mrs. Cristian Orrego will be moving to Mexico next week. This will enable Mr. Orrego to more directly serve the Mexico congregations he pastors, as well as continue administrative duties. The Orregos together serve the Spanish Department in a big way, and their presence in the office will be missed. Your prayers for the Orregos, for the Texas teen camp, and for God’s people and His Work around the world would be much appreciated.
—Rod McNair
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held the second presentation of a series in Roanoke, Virginia. This event drew seven repeat guests and one new guest. This weekend, we will hold two presentations in Quebec City in Canada and Plymouth, England, United Kingdom. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Living Youth Program
Living Youth Texas Camp Photos
With the teen camp in Texas underway, we are beginning to post photos to the Living Youth website! Mr. Ryan Dawson’s crew is planning to post updates daily, so head out to the website each day to check out what took place. You can find the pictures at LivingYouth.org by choosing “Camp” in the menu. You’ll find photos from the recent Adventure Camp there, as well. —Wallace Smith
Legal Affairs
Military Draft (Correction)
This is a correction to a previous announcement (The World Ahead, June 26, 2025) about Conscientious Objector issues and the Military Draft: Those who are retired, discharged, or on active duty in the military and wish to have the Church’s assistance in establishing their CO status should contact Mr. Dexter Wakefield in the Department of Legal Affairs and Risk Management at [email protected] or 704-844-1970, ext. 2230. Those who are not currently on active duty or previously in the military and are interested in establishing CO status can call or contact the Department of Legal Affairs and Risk Management at [email protected] or 704-844-1970, ext. 2229. —Dexter B. Wakefield, Department of Legal Affairs and Risk Management.
Comments
Sobering Signs of the Times: World events and trends increasingly resemble biblical situations where God dramatically intervened in human affairs. God sent a flood to destroy a world that had become filled with violence, wickedness, and evil (Genesis 6). Some 400 years later, God obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah because of their perverted and depraved behaviors (Genesis 19; Ezekiel 16:49–50). Lot and his family, although warned, were reluctant to leave because they had grown accustomed to and tolerant of the evil around them. Today, the same sinful behavior that the Bible describes as an “abomination” to God is accepted and promoted, such as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism (Leviticus 18:22–23; Deuteronomy 22:5). We are also told that biblical examples are recorded for our admonition today (1 Corinthians 10:11). We need to wake up and come out of the ways of this world so we can be in the coming Kingdom of God.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy – July 10, 2025
Eastern Europe Prepares for War: The war in Ukraine has changed Europe, especially Eastern Europe. Nations that recently felt safe from conflict are now preparing for the inevitable. In the words of an Estonian official who oversees crisis preparedness, “It’s not a question of if [Russia] will attack. It is a question about when” (Politico, June 16, 2025). It seems that the nations on NATO’s eastern flank, bordering nations with close connections to Russia, are “revisiting crisis response protocols for health-care facilities, organizing training exercises, investing in ballistic helmets and vests, and shifting operating theaters underground.” Belief in a “safe” Europe has vanished from many, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has proven that there is still very dangerous potential for full-scale warfare on the continent.
This realization has pushed Eastern European nations like Lithuania to run emergency-preparedness drills with an eye toward what they see as inevitable conflict. Many of these nations were, themselves, formerly under Soviet occupation and do not want to return to such a condition. Five of the six NATO nations that border Russia or Belarus recently initiated withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use of landmines (Deutsche Welle, June 29, 2025). Only Norway has remained committed to the treaty—for now.
Additional activity is stirring in Eastern Europe as militaries and civil infrastructures prepare for war. Many in the Western world are oblivious to how precarious the current state of the world truly is—even though the Bible has long prophesied this very turn of events. For decades, Tomorrow’s World magazine has proclaimed the coming of these developments in Europe and the world. To learn how the direction of Europe relates to the coming Beast of Revelation, you can read or listen to our latest feature article, “Europe’s Time Has Come.”
What’s Behind the Massive U.S. Bee Die-off? According to an extensive survey, 62 percent of all commercial honeybee colonies died between June 2024 and January 2025 (Science, June 30, 2025). This record-setting die-off followed the death of 55 percent of commercial colonies the previous winter. New research found that almost all the hives tested positive for viruses spread by the varroa mite, which has affected colonies worldwide since the 1980s. More worryingly, all the mites the researchers looked at were resistant to amitraz, the only pesticide that still works on mites without being too toxic for the bees themselves. Efforts by scientists to identify the culprit were slowed by federal funding cuts and layoffs, meaning that the findings may come too late for beekeepers to change their approach ahead of this coming winter. In the United States, bees pollinate more than 90 commercial crops and contribute greatly to the stability of the American food supply.
This new research fits with certain biblical themes and prophetic patterns. In the Bible, bees are associated with sweetness and blessing as the sources of honey and honeycomb (e.g., Deuteronomy 8:8; Psalm 19:10). Romans 8:22 describes creation as groaning under the weight of sin, and the collapse of pollinators—essential to global food systems—could be a warning sign of human mismanagement of the environment. Revelation 6:6 describes a coming time of famine and soaring food prices, and a bee collapse could wreak havoc on vital food crops. To learn more about what lies ahead for Israelite nations, you can read or listen to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. —Scott Winnail, Richard Franz, and Francine Prater