Warm greetings from Charlotte,
The "Grand Opening" of our new Headquarters facility is set to take place today. We are expecting a good turn out of leaders from the community. A crew from one of the local television stations is scheduled to be here as well. In the next update, we will let you know how everything went.
By the way, there may not be an Update coming out for the next week or two due to H.Q ministers traveling for the Spring Festivals. Please remember them in your prayers.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ames will be in Toronto for the Passover and First Day of Unleavened Bread. Then they will be in Boston for the Last Day. Mr. Dibar Apartian will travel to Geneva for the Passover and First Day of Unleavened Bread and then on to Paris for the Last Day.
Atlanta Spring Dance
Thanks to all those who have registered for our Spring Holy Days Singles (and Family) Weekend in Atlanta. The response has been great! If you have registered, please go to our web site, www.lcgatl.com for a schedule of the events and maps to event locations. If you have not yet registered, sorry, it is too late to register for this year's event, but we look forward to seeing you next year! Thanks.
—Carl Ponder
From C.A.D.
Final plans are almost complete for the Feast of Tabernacles sites, 2003. We intend to mail out a detailed Feast Brochure to everyone soon after the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Some time ago Mr. Carl McNair and I discussed the need to have a U.S. and Canadian Festival Coordinators meeting. That conference has been approved for May 19-20 here at Headquarters. Those meetings will take place right after the Council of Elders conference, which will be held here May 12-15.
We are happy to announce that Mr. Dan Friz will enter the Pastoral Training Program starting May 1, 2003. He and his wife Tammy and their children currently attend the Lufkin, Texas congregation, where he serves as an Elder.
INTERNATIONAL
Rod McNair sends an update and prayer request from Mr. Tex Benitez:
"In San Fernando, Bukidnon, members lost their crops this season. Rats attacked their ripening crops covering large farm areas of this town. They have to plant again… Here in Maranding, fighting is going on eight kilometers from this town. Sixty armed rebels attacked the barangay Katipunan and Panolo-on where we have two family members residing there. I visited them last Friday…" He went on to say that because of their livelihood, with their animals, it is not easy for them to just leave their homes, even in the face of this fighting. Please remember these brethren in Mindanao, in your prayers. They need God's direct protection and intervention in their life, as this war in Mindanao rages on. Cards or letters of encouragement for brethren in this part of Mindanao can be sent to Mr. Benitez: Mr. Tex Benitez, P.O. 5417, Iligan City 9200
Gerald Weston passed along this interesting account from Stuart Wachowicz:
"I have four contacts yet to make in order to catch up on the requests. One new contact did attend services in Edmonton last week . . . . We also had a contact by phone directly, from Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island in the high Arctic. A young man who has been interested in the Bible for many years, and finally took a 27 day kayak trip to get away from it all and read the Bible and pray for God's direction in his life and for understanding. Shortly thereafter he met Paul MacDonald in Kugluktuk, who provided him with a great deal of explanation and many church booklets and tapes. The man was overwhelmed and a phone call ensured. He will be in touch with me by internet."
This certainly gives evidence that the gospel is going to the ends of the earth. Cambridge Bay is about 275 kilometers (170 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.
Jonathan McNair sends an update on Jamaica:
We're looking forward to the Feast of Tabernacles in a new location this year - Runaway Bay. I'm putting the details for all the Caribbean sites together. We got behind this year, since we have had to find new locations for Jamaica, and Trinidad, and potentially for Barbados.
We're also looking forward to our Public Bible Lecture in Kingston on May 4th. I'll be speaking on the topic "Where is the Church that Christ Built?" We're praying for the success of the lecture.
An encouraging sign that you may have noticed from my monthly Caribbean report I sent in was the jump in responses. We're back up into the 65-70 responses per program range. That was down for the past couple of months for a number of reasons that were beyond our control. The number was not always being displayed correctly on the program, for example. We were bumped around time-wise also.
In closing, we have an important message from Dr. Meredith.
Charles E. Bryce
"A Special Note from Roderick C. Meredith"
Dear Fellow Ministers, Deacons and Hosts,
Just before Passover, I want to heartily thank all of you. There is no way this Work could go forward without your dedicated help and service to God's people. And I know that many of you who are pastors are sacrificially giving of yourselves because of the responsibility to pastor and care for several different churches and video groups scattered over a large geographical area. So, again, thank you in Jesus' name.
Now I want to address a personal issue because it is something the brethren may soon be hearing about and asking about. My wife, Sheryl, has been diagnosed with cancer in one of her breasts. The cancer apparently has not spread—for which we are thankful. So Sheryl has elected to have a lumpectomy before this might occur. As all of you should know, the Church has taught for many years "that each individual must decide how far to go and where to draw the line" in this matter of seeking health care and medical treatment. As I have taught for several years—and I trust that all of our ministers have taught—we should love one another, encourage one another and pray for one another whether one forgoes medical treatments or whether one seeks medical attention while yet trusting God. We must remember Jesus' statement, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick" (Mark 2:17).
So I will deeply appreciate your understanding and your prayers for my wife at this difficult time. I love her very much and need her very much. There is no one who understands my human weaknesses and peculiarities as Sheryl does. There is no one who can help me as she does. Please pray with me that God will go above and beyond what the doctors are able to do and cause my wife to be completely healed of this terrible disease. And dear fellow ministers, deacons and hosts, please read all of this to your congregations this Sabbath so that they will get this news directly from me before any rumors get started. Thank you, in advance, for your love and your prayers.
Your brother in Christ,
Roderick C. Meredith