Greetings Everyone:
Reports to my office indicate that most of you are blessed and happy. This week has been chock full of catch-up work and unexpected happenings like the computer virus someone from (!!!) Montana gave me. I am not going to name the person because I believe (he or she) was totally innocent of malicious intent and unaware that the virus came via (his or her) machine since the virus grabs the addresses from a host machine and mails itself to the list.
I will share with you the following cheeky message received from a very close member of my own family, written in response to this incident.
"Fortunately, I did not trust you, so I didn't run it. [What is this???] First, I generally don't run any executable files I get over the internet without first running through my virus checker first.
Second, something about that message did not feel right to me — I think the fact that there was nothing written from you in the body of the e-mail — just the executable attachment. The good news is that hopefully this has educated a bunch of people about being careful about e-mail executable attachments!"
I am still smarting from that first sentence "… I did not trust you…." I am going to write xxx xxx xxx out of my will, I tell you!
And, as a PS to the above message, the following:
"FYI, I did check this file against my Norton Antivirus program, with virus definitions as of 2/7/2000, and it didn't recognize it as a virus. I'll check again tonight if there is a newer virus definition that recognizes it. The message there for me is that you can't always count on your antivirus program to recognize a virus, especially if it's a brand new one that the antivirus company hasn't discovered yet."
Again, I sincerely apologize to all of you who were inconvenienced by this incident.
Last week I attended the BAR Seminar held here in San Diego. I was most interested in a lecture on the early alphabet, given by Dr. Kyle McCarter. Recently archaeologists have found alphabetic inscriptions in Egypt, which they have dated to 1900 B. C. This is a significant discovery indeed, as it places the invention of alphabetic writing to the time of Abraham! I also heard some interesting lectures on the early synagogues and synagogue art, which were insightful.
MEDIA:
Dr. Meredith and Mr. Richard Ames taped the final new Programs scheduled to be aired this season. The next taping session will be for subjects to be shown at the beginning of the new season next fall.
CANADA:
Mr. Charles Bryce reported that the Work in Canada is moving forward, and showing good growth. Attendance in Toronto set a new record recently!
PHILIPPINES:
Mr. Rod McNair reported that Mr. Felipe Casing delivered food to the brethren affected by the flooding in Mindanao. The damage will be felt by the residents for months. "Mr. Casing also reports that Kidapawan Cable has agreed to play "Tomorrow's World" program for just a small fee. This small cable station reportedly reaches about 2,000 households. We are now working out a system of getting videotapes of the program to Mr. Casing. The airtime will be Saturday mornings at 20:00 a.m. This will put our small local cable TV stations at five, with the addition of Hinabangan in Samar recently."
Mr. de Guia visited Samar and Leyte (in February) where heavy rains and flooding were also a serious problem. En-route to Samar by ferry boat, Mr. de Guia reported "one big wave caused the ship to lurch heavily to one side. As passengers started scrambling for life vests, panicking, Mr. de Guia stood up and told everyone not to panic. The ship listed back and was stable. Thankfully, the ferry reached the destination, safe and sound."
Ferry boats are the most commonly used form of transportation between the islands, and from time to time an overloaded ferry will sink, so concern is understandable. Please pray for Mr. de Guia and our brethren who must use this mode of transport.
General comments:
We are looking forward to a general ministerial conference beginning March 13th. We will host approximately 160 ministers and wives from around the world for this conference. Everyone here is excited about the coming conference. It will be the first general conference held at headquarters in four years! Please pray for God's guidance and inspiration for the conference. Without His guidance, we are blind, and without His inspiration, we are devoid of understanding. But with His guidance and inspiration we are imbued with His Power, and through His Spirit we are empowered to do His Work.
Local Church News:
The Atlanta area has announced plans to hold a singles activity during the Memorial Day weekend. Further announcements will be made as plans are made firm.
Feast of Tabernacles-News from the Festival Office:
As many of you may already know, we have arranged for 10 Feast sites this year in North America. They are:
Anchorage, AK
Jackson Hole, WY
Kerrville, TX
Pigeon Forge, TN
Lake of the Ozarks, MO
Panama City, FL
San Diego, CA (Maximum of 300 attendees; mostly local. Limited transfers may be available by application only)
Canadian sites will be: Cranbrook, BC; Montreal, QC and Prince Edward Island. There will also be a site in Mexico, at a location not yet determined.
Full details and a Pre-Registration Form will be included in the May-June issue of the Living Church News. For those wishing a more cosmopolitan Feast, Mr. Apartian urges you to consider the European site in Portbail, France. Please feel free to contact him for further information about the combined European site.
Have a great SABBATH and weekend!
Carl McNair