Greetings from Charlotte,
The Roman new year has gotten off to a rocky start. A terrible fire at a Swiss night club killed 40 and injured another 119. Of those who died, 26 were teenagers, some as young as 14. In addition to the lifelong memory of this horrible event, survivors suffered severe burns and lung damage from toxic fumes that will leave many scarred for life. Even though they were celebrating a worldly holiday, they were doing so having been deceived, and our hearts go out to those severely injured and to the families and friends of those who lost their lives. It is one more reason to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. On this side of the world, the United States pulled off a complex military operation in Venezuela and captured the illegitimate president Nicolás Maduro and his wife for trial in New York. Closer to home, the FBI disrupted a New Year’s eve plot by an ISIS-inspired teen who planned to attack people with a knife and hammer in a Mint Hill grocery store and fast-food restaurant. Several of our Headquarters staff live in or near Mint Hill and some children of our staff have worked in what might have been his targeted grocery store. This was the second New Year’s eve plot disrupted in advance by the FBI—another was planned for Los Angeles. This demonstrates that no matter where we live—a known trouble spot, a large metropolitan area, a quiet alpine village, or a peaceful North Carolina suburb—we are living in dangerous times.
—Gerald E. Weston
Church Administration
Members in Venezuela
Early morning on January 3, the U.S. military bombed more than four locations in Venezuela, all of which were military bases or forts in or near the capital city, Caracas. As a result of these attacks, the illegitimate president Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and taken to New York aboard a United States Air Force helicopter. We have 14 members in Venezuela; all of whom have reported that they are safe. However, some were able to hear the explosions and had no electricity or Internet access. They avoid high-risk areas, remain in their homes, make every effort not to go out at night, and refrain from expressing negative opinions or sharing comments about what is happening on social media. One of them, who lives with part of his family in a city that has military bases, decided to move to another town to safeguard his life and that of his family should the attacks continue.
Venezuela is now entering a much more complex situation than before, as other leaders of the dictatorial regime remain in power and are forcing people to take to the streets to confront the U.S. attacks, while most of these leaders remain hidden in bunkers. Beyond food shortages, violence, lack of security in the streets, interruptions of basic services, and the anguish this situation creates, only God knows exactly what lies ahead for Venezuela and its neighboring countries during this transition, which we hope will end well for the Venezuelan people. Please remember to pray for our brothers and sisters and for the Venezuelan people in general.
Online Scams Follow-Up
Several weeks ago, a warning about online scams was run in The World Ahead. Here are additional techniques to watch out for. There are convincing scammers targeting the elderly, using voices sounding like friends or family members, as well as using some of their victims’ personal information gleaned from the Internet. The bait can include offering free money or citing the immediate need to help a family member in a crisis. Often, the callers will identify themselves as lawyers, officials, or authorities. If this happens to you, please contact a family member or minister first before paying any money, purchasing gift cards, or giving out any personal information—especially Social Security numbers or bank accounts.
Men’s Training Camp – Bloomingdale, New Jersey
The 2026 Northeast Men’s Training Camp will be held February 13–16 at the beautiful grounds of Star Lake Camp & Conference Center. Registration is now open and will close on January 25. For more information and registration, you can click on the following link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/MKPCjv7jFA. We’re looking forward to having you there.
Men’s Training Camp – Blowing Rock, North Carolina
MTC Blowing Rock 2026 will be held February 13–15 in the mountains of North Carolina. Registration is now open and will close on January 25. You can register at the following link: https://bit.ly/MTC2026. We’re looking forward to another productive weekend!
Merril, Wisconsin Family Weekend
The Merrill, Wisconsin, congregation will be hosting a family weekend from February 13–15. There will be a Friday night Bible Study, Sabbath services, sleigh rides, and family games. Contact Mr. Mark Sandor for more information at [email protected].
French and Spanish Translation of Church-wide Services
Preparations are underway to provide live French translation on January 31, the Sabbath of our Church-wide fast. We will provide more information in The World Ahead in the coming weeks on how to connect to the French transmission. A Spanish translation of the sermon delivered by Mr. Weston on the day of the fast will be made available afterward.
Feast of Tabernacles
Volunteer Translators Needed for Quebec City Feast Site
We are making an appeal for experienced translators who would like to volunteer at the Feast site in Quebec City this year. This site is bilingual, and any experienced translators who can provide simultaneous translation from English to French and from French to English would be most welcome. Translators need to have experience in simultaneously translating from one language to another and be members of the Living Church of God. If you would like to discover a new Feast site in a beautiful and historic city and serve in this capacity at the Feast, please contact Mr. Marc Arseneault ([email protected]).
Living Youth Program
Adventure Camp
This year, our adventure camp program will take place in the beautiful wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains in northeastern New York from June 21–26. Those taking part will get to experience both canoeing and hiking on a variety of the Adirondacks’ trails. Registration opens this Sunday for campers aged 14–19 and staff 20 and older. For more information or to apply for this exciting adventure, visit https://camp.livingyouth.org/. Space is always limited on these trips, so don’t wait!
Living Youth Camp 2026—Repeat Announcement
Registration for LYC 2026 Teen and Preteen camps in Texas started on Sunday, January 4. Teen Camp is open for campers aged 13–17 and Preteen for campers aged 8–12. Teen Camp begins July 7 and runs through July 20. Preteen camp then begins and runs until July 24. Activities at Teen camp this year are planned to include daily Christian Living classes, Dance, Disc Golf, Gym Sports, Canoeing, Ultimate Frisbee, Aquatics, and more. For more information on either of the camps or to begin registration, please visit https://camp.livingyouth.org. We look forward to seeing you there! Registration for our other two preteen camps, in West Virginia and Missouri, will open shortly.
Comments
Miss Bea Made the Right Call: One of our neighbors, a gentle and gracious 90-year-old lady we called Miss Bea, some time ago got a desperate call from her grandson—at least it sounded like him. He said he was in jail and needed money for bail but hadn’t wanted to tell his parents. Worried and confused, she at first didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, though, before she gave out any confidential information, she wisely made the right decision to get off the phone to check with her daughter. Sure enough, it was all a hoax!
It was a shocking experience for Miss Bea—and for all of us who know her. It’s hard to believe the brazenness of scammers these days. Jesus told His disciples, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). While He specifically meant that His disciples would be persecuted for the truth, we certainly see “wolves” of all types in our day—lurking about, eager to catch and devour their prey. Make sure to note this week’s announcement about avoiding scams, as well as that posted in the December 11 World Ahead. As the swindlers’ mechanisms get more and more sophisticated, we must be more vigilant than ever.
Have a peaceful Sabbath,
Rod McNair
News and Prophecy
The Biggest Threat to the West: A sobering essay was published in the Telegraph on December 18, titled “The single biggest threat to our national security is not Russia, China or Iran.” In the article, former British politician Liam Fox observed how nations of the West are spending more each year on the interest on their national debts than they are spending on defense—in a world full of growing threats and a continually aggressive antagonist on Europe’s border. As Mr. Fox observed, “The toxic combination of short-term political obsession, failure of vision and lack of courage among Western political leaders is currently leaving us dangerously exposed to increasingly emboldened enemies.”
According to the article, the United Kingdom spent 60 percent more on paying its debt than it spent on defense in 2024. The United States has the world’s largest defense budget at almost $900 billion and spends roughly the same amount on its debt interest. And G7 nations—with the exception of Germany—“have government debt to GDP ratios approaching or greater than 100 per cent.” Mr. Fox concluded, “Balancing budgets to keep us safe must become the clear battlefield in our politics if we are to remain secure and free peoples.”
God inspired Moses to prophesy about the many nations descended from ancient Israel at the end of the age, including many Western nations. In this warning, God observed that as these Israelite-descended nations increasingly reject Him, they will become debtor nations that will lose control to others (Deuteronomy 28:43–44). Ultimately, this debt will contribute to their destruction (v. 45). God also warned that covetousness and greed—uncontrolled desire for excess—leads to conflict (James 4:1–3). The modern nations that descended from Israel have been richly blessed in recent centuries, but sadly these blessings are rapidly coming to an end. You can learn more by reading or listening to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.
Will the Lines of War Ever Be Erased? In Europe, as yet another peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is weighed, details suggest that the most recent proposal “paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French, and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine’s skies and seas, and regenerating Ukraine’s armed forces for the future” (BBC.com, January 6, 2026). Some even suggest that such protocols will make it possible for direct American military intervention to defend Kiev in the future, coming close to a NATO-style Article 5 agreement without requiring Ukraine to actually join NATO (Axios.com, November 20, 2025). But would this technicality really matter to Russia’s current leaders, who have relentlessly proclaimed that they will not allow Ukraine to become a perceived threat to their territories?
Meanwhile, current tensions between China and Taiwan have intensified, and a U.S. think tank recently released a report detailing the potential costliness of a Chinese attack on Taiwanese territory (Taipei Times, January 7, 2026). The report speculated that any such conflict would very likely end in a massive loss of Chinese troops and an embarrassing stalemate, forcing China to withdraw unsatisfied. However, it nevertheless emphasized that “deterrence rests on perceptions, rather than reality.” In other words, all the practical realities in the world will not prevent conflict if aggressors perceive their losses as minor compared to what they hope to gain.
Bible prophecy is plain in proclaiming that in the years ahead, the major world powers will set aside any realities about potential losses and will conclude that offensive action is their best option—eventually resulting in a military exchange so destructive that a third of mankind will be destroyed. But that is not the end of the story! You can learn more about this prophesied end-time conflict—and the world that will follow—by reading or listening to Armageddon and Beyond. —Scott Winnail, Francine Prater, Richard Franz, and William Williams