Greetings everyone,
Dorothy and I returned last Friday from a wonderful visit with brethren in Ireland, England and the Republic of South Africa. All of the brethren sent their love and appreciation for Mr. Meredith, the headquarters team and all of the brethren in the United States. They share your obedience to God and commitment to the Work of God around the world. In every congregation I have visited since 1998 I have found this same commitment and spirit among God's people.
It is remarkable what God can do through such a small number of hard-working brethren.
I wish you all could meet those in other countries who sacrifice their spare time and finances to translate and print literature into Dutch, German, French, Afrikaans and other languages and dialects. Believe me when I tell you that it drives us harder to fulfill our responsibilities to you and your brethren around the world. It makes the long overnight flights on the airplane a small price to pay to make our visits.
When Gideon rises in the resurrection he will marvel at how God has duplicated His Work done in His day in our day! There is so much work to do and there are so few who will do it.
International
Mr. Alan Cornefert reminded me this week that June 1st (this Sabbath) through the 4th will see many street parties and concerts in celebration of this event. While passing through England I heard much about the ongoing preparations for the Queen's Golden Anniversary.
We understand that this remarkable daughter of King David has set an example of personal restraint and integrity in a very sick world. Her faithful adherence to the vow she took in 1952 to serve her country is commendable. Mr. Cornefert suggests the following websites if you would like to view some background to the celebrations:
www.goldenjubilee.gov.uk/
www.royal.gof.uk/output/Page150.asp
New Zealand—Mr. Kinnear Penman sent the following report about his recent visit to Vanuatu.
In May I spent a week in Vanuatu (about 1200 miles north of New Zealand). I was able to visit members in the capital, Port Vila, and then spent Pentecost on Tanna where we have a group meeting every Sabbath.
Our video host in Port Vila, John Tahireve, is a bus driver. One day we set out in his bus to try to locate a co-worker who had requested a visit. This is made difficult because there are no street addresses in Vanuatu. All mail is delivered to a PO Box. So locating a person who lives in the countryside is a matter of going to the general area and asking questions of people. We found our co-worker, Wesley Moses, living beside a beautiful estuary and spent an hour getting to know him better. He will attend services in Vila whenever he is able to.
Mr. Moses provides for his family by gardening and fishing. He sells the surplus from both endeavours to earn cash to make needed purchases. He also earns cash by making concrete building blocks. Because he lives by the sea he has a ready source of sand. He leases a block mould (by paying a royalty on every block cast) and is able to sell blocks to local villagers.
On Tanna I had the privilege of baptising Mrs. Sarah Willie into God's Church. She has been attending for several years. Mrs. Willie reads a little English but does not speak the language. With translation help provided by a local member, Mrs. Willie and I were able to counsel for baptism. She has been looking forward to this for quite a while and on Pentecost morning was baptised in the sea. We then walked to the home of members, Tom and Talape Kapapa, for services. Their home is built high up on a hill where it receives cooling breezes and commands a wide view out over the Pacific Ocean.
We will be again holding the Feast of Tabernacles in Port Vila. While overseas visitors are very welcome anyone interested in attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Port Vila should contact Kinnear Penman directly. His address is: [email protected]
Church Administration
Festival survey June 1st:
The survey is designed to help us determine an approximate number of people attending each Feast site. An individual should only be counted once and put in the category best fitting his or her situation. For example, a single senior (65 or older) should be listed in one of the following categories: single or senior, but not both. This also applies to a married senior couple. Please do not count people twice. Your help is very much appreciated.
General and "must play" videotaped sermons from headquarters:
Viewing video sermons from Headquarters is a way of drawing the Church together and maintaining doctrinal focus. The entire church needs to understand the focus and fundamental teachings emanating from headquarters. I wish to answer some questions I have received concerning video taped sermons sent from headquarters.
What is a "must play" sermon?
We wish to distinguish between tapes that are general and those that are specifically intended for the entire Church.
Labeling a tape "must play" is to call your attention to a sermon that contains a policy statement from Headquarters of which the entire Church should be aware, or it may be a sermon on a specific topic that the Presiding Evangelist feels is of sufficient importance to be heard by the entire Church.
Some have asked: When should "must play" video sermons be played to the congregation?
While this is not a problem for smaller groups that have only an occasional visit from a minister, in areas with a Pastor it may be. In all groups, "must play" videos should take precedence over those not bearing that designation.
Congregations having a resident Pastor or one who visits quite often need to work into a schedule the "must play" material from Headquarters. The minister in charge of making up local preaching schedules should set aside at least one Sabbath a month to view these specially marked sermon videos.
If headquarters feel the entire Church should view a special video on a specific Sabbath, superseding a scheduled speaker, special notification will be given.
If you have specific questions about this policy, please contact me (C. McNair) at Church Administration.
COMMENTS
I must thank Mr. Dibar Apartian for faithfully preparing the weekly update while I was away. He is truly a gentleman and a scholar! Many of you have expressed your appreciation for Mr. Apartian—particularly his "Texas accent." I marveled recently when a lady expressed her love (meaning appreciation) for his sermons in glowing terms! Since I passed on to him her sincere statement he has been strutting this week!
Seriously, I want you all to know that I appreciate Mr. Apartian's dedication to the Work of God. At a time in life when most men choose to retire, he works diligently day in and day out in the office. And when Sabbath comes he travels 85 miles to Orange County to serve the congregation there. Have a great Sabbath and drive carefully.
Carl McNair