Greetings from Charlotte,
Last week we launched a new News & Prophecy e-mail magazine (e-zine). Mr. Charles Ogwyn reports that this new online service will cover news items of prophetic significance. To subscribe, go to the Tomorrow's World website, www.tomorrowsworld.org, and click on the E-mail Updates icon at the top of the screen and then check the appropriate box. The News & Prophecy e-zine will be sent once a week to your e-mail account. Last weekend, Mr. Meredith's TW program #363 "How Does Satan Deceive You?" drew more than 4,700 responses. This week, Mr. Meredith finished a new Tomorrow's World article and held a number of meetings. Mr. Rod McNair has been busy scheduling about 40 TWSPs for the first six months of 2011. We have also recorded a new instructional DVD on Song Leading that should be available by the end of the year. The response to last weekends' Tomorrow's World Special Presentations in Louisiana ("What's Ahead for America?") by Dr. Douglas Winnail was very encouraging. We had 30 visitors in Lafayette and 39 in Baton Rouge. This weekend, Mr. Rod Reynolds will make follow-up presentations on the subject "Where Is God's Church Today?" Your prayers will be appreciated for all these important activities that are focused on preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Church Administration
Note from Mr. Apartian: "Dear brethren around the world, I am grateful to you for your prayers, for your encouragement, for your faithfulness. In my venturous life, I have seen and experienced many sufferings, but the present one is much different. One experience—a very painful one—is loneliness. Yes, I have been alone in my life, time and again. This solitude, when the world around you goes on, is sometimes unbearable, but one thing I promise: I will not give up. I, as a leader, should never give up. Tears are painful, but smiles overpower tears. I love you all. I will not let you down."
Australasian Update
Visit to India
Mr. Michael Gill reports: Next week, Mr. Bruce Tyler will be leaving for India to visit a new congregation in the state of Manipur in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east. Manipur is considered a sensitive border state, and travel is very restricted, permits being valid for only 10 days. Visitors must arrive by air into the city of Imphal and are not permitted to travel outside the capital. Following this visit to Imphal, Mr. Tyler will travel through Kolkata to New Delhi, en-route to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Council of Elders meeting. Please pray for the success of his visits and safe travel.
Visits to Myanmar and Thailand
On August 9, Mr. Bruce Tyler arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he spent a couple of days with Mr. Rajan Moses and conducted a special Bible Study with the Kuala Lumpur brethren. Then, on August 11, he and Mr. Moses flew to Bangkok, Thailand, where they met Mr. Arius Nusantara from Indonesia. The three then travelled to Mae Sot where they met up with our most isolated minister in the world, Mr. Thomas Tial Hoe from Myanmar. The next four days were used to discuss many aspects of God's Work in Asia and especially how we might translate various booklets and articles into both the Thai and Myanmar languages. All the brethren living in the Thai-Myanmar regions were very pleased to have us visit them again. We also visited a number of members in their township of Tha Song Yang. It is so pleasing to see the steadfast faith of these remote members.
Indonesia: Two Natural Disasters in One Week
Mr. Arius Nusantara reports: Before writing about the two natural disasters that happened in Indonesia this week, I need to let you know that our brethren are safe and sound; none is hurt, as the troubled areas are far away from us. We live in the eastern part of Java Island.
One disaster happened on the island of Sumatra, in the western part of the island. It had been reported Monday night that an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale shook up the surrounding islands of Mentawai—the quake was strongly felt up to Singapore. At the same time, the Meteorology, Climate, and Geophysics office in the area reported that a tsunami was well expected, yet they put down the warning two hours after the quake took place. This was indeed a great mistake, as not long after that, a ten-meter high wave wiped out the northern and the southern part of Pagai Island in the area of Mentawai. The death toll reached 122 people and 502 people are reported missing; many are still reluctant to leave high lands, where they have been staying for two days.
Another disaster is the Merapi volcano eruption, in the middle of Java, close to the city of Jogjakarta, where I used to visit a family for Bible Study. The death toll so far has reached 16 people. From Monday, October 25, it has been reported that the volcano was very active, erupting hot materials 454 times and creating 624 multi-phased local quakes. This trend peaked until yesterday evening, when it erupted horribly. A village was totally destroyed and we are expecting the death toll to be much higher.
Local Congregation Libraries
Congregations should maintain a library of Living Church of God literature and sermons for members to borrow. If a particular sermon is not available at the local congregation, members should contact their Area Pastor to request it.
Mail Processing Department
We have implemented a mail tracking system to help us track mail delivery in the U.S.A. However, the system lacks volunteer monitors in sometimes as many as 26 states. It would be helpful to headquarters to have monitors established in each of our congregations. With the information they provide, we can report problem areas to the various postmasters and help them to smooth out the difficulties and increase our effectiveness in timely mail delivery.
To illustrate, for our last Living Church News, we did not receive any delivery reports from the following states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
If at all possible, we would like the help of at least one volunteer monitor in each congregation to regularly participate in the mail tracking program. To do so, just go to www.cogl.org, login to MyLCG, and then click the link for "Literature Tracking" to report the actual day that you receive an issue of the Living Church News, a co-worker letter, a Tomorrow's World magazine or another piece of literature. Thank you for your help in this!—Gaylyn Bonjour
Comments
The Value of Counsel: One of the common pitfalls of life is trusting in our own judgment when we only see our part of a picture. When we make decisions or take actions based on how we see an issue, the results can be costly to ourselves and to others. This is why Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5, "lean not on your own understanding" and in Proverbs 3:7, "Do not be wise in your own eyes" and again in Proverbs 28:26, "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool." Solomon also warns in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." To help us avoid making serious mistakes in life, God inspired Solomon to write in Proverbs 11:14, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" and in Proverbs 15:22, "Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established." We can obtain wise and valuable advice by prayerfully studying the book of Proverbs and by seeking counsel from parents, the ministry and from more experienced friends and associates who can be objective and help us see a bigger picture than we perceive on our own.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—October 28, 2010
Riots in France and Italy. According to the French Finance Minister, worker strikes associated with last week's riots over the increase in retirement age are costing France more than $500 million per day (Associated Press, October 25, 2010). Following the French riots, Italian citizens rioted in the Naples region to protest a proposed garbage dump. During the Italian riot, 20 police officers were assaulted, eight police cars damaged, and five garbage trucks and a police car were burned. Calls for Prime Minister Berlusconi's resignation also rang out (Yahoo News, October 21, 2010). The Italian riots and the government-stopping riots in France are generating concern in Europe. As members of the EU, Italy and France are committed to maintain order in their respective countries. Questions are being asked as to how these riots will be viewed by the EU. Could the internal instability within France alert Berlin that France is no longer able to lead "along with" Germany (Stratfor, October 21, 2010)? Will spreading riots foster a public demand for "strong" and "stable" leadership in Europe? Could the citizens of individual European nations become so disenchanted with their own leaders that they would be willing to follow one central figure who promises stronger leadership? Bible prophecy indicates that "ten kings" will give their power over to one central figure near the end of the age (see Revelation 17:12-14). The events we are witnessing in Europe today could be pointing toward this eventuality.
Double Disasters in Indonesia. This week a deadly tsunami and volcanic eruptions struck different parts of Indonesia within a 24-hour period. So far, more than 300 people have been killed, hundreds are missing and more than 40,000 people have been displaced. The ten foot high tsunami, generated by an undersea 7.7 magnitude earthquake, smashed into coastal villages in the Mentawai Islands off western Sumatra. The volcanic eruptions occurred in central Java at Mount Merapi—Indonesia's most active volcano. Rescue crews are still searching for survivors (Straights Times, October 28, 2010). These disasters occurred along a major fault line referred to as the Pacific "Ring of Fire." In light of this deadly geologic activity, it should be noted that Jesus Christ predicted that "earthquakes in various places" would be one of the signs of the approaching end of the age (Matthew 24:7). Events like this should motivate all Christians to pray more fervently, "Thy kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10, KJV)!
New Plague for Haiti. As if the devastating January earthquake was not enough, displaced Haitian families living in tent cities now face a new threat—cholera—a disease that kills within 24-48 hours of contact if not aggressively treated with rehydration therapy. As of Thursday, more than 4,000 Haitians had been treated for cholera—a disease not seen in Haiti in 50 years. Two hundred ninety people have died from the disease and another 174 cases are suspected in hospitalized victims. The current outbreak is centered about an hour from the capital of Port-au-Prince. More than a million homeless people are living in camps in and around the capital. Public health officials fear that spread of the disease into these camps could create an epidemic, and that the disease could become endemic in Haiti—remaining for a very long time. One aid worker in Haiti has observed, "There's so much stagnant pools of water, it's rainy season here at the moment, families are living on top of each other, with rubbish everywhere. It's spread so fast, this disease." Cholera spreads through contaminated water supplies, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene—a situation that is rampant in the vast, dirty, densely populated tent cities of refugees (Sky News online, October 28, 2010). When Jesus was asked by His disciples about signs of the end of the age, He said that besides "earthquakes in various places," there would be an obvious rise in pestilences or disease outbreaks (Matthew 24:7). These and other devastating events will be just the "beginning" of sorrows (v. 8). We need to pray fervently for ALL those made in God's image around the globe, yet also realize that the tragic events we are witnessing with increasing frequency MUST come to pass before Jesus returns.—Ben Whitfield, Bruce Tyler, Arius Nusantara, Scott Winnail