Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Mike Norris, our elder in Northern California, reports that their home was quaking and rolling from the large 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck this past week. They only had minor breakage, but a member closer to the epicenter had some expensive breakage. This is a reminder to pray for all our members no matter where they are, as disasters of all kinds can strike suddenly. The Living Youth Program camps in South Africa have gotten off to a good start. Over the next two weeks, we will also be conducting summer camps in Benin and Kenya. The camp in Kenya anticipates more than 100 youths. As of this past Wednesday, we had more than 22,340 worldwide responses to the semi-annual letter advertising the new Germany in Prophecy booklet, and we expect many more responses in the coming days and weeks. Mr. Ephraim Abok’s funeral is this Friday, December 23, in Kenya. Family Weekends are scheduled this week in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, and Alabama. There is a major winter storm striking the U.S. this week, with dangerous driving and wind chills, so your prayers would be appreciated for any impacted by this monster storm. We already have ten applicants for the 2023–24 onsite Living Education program. We still have room for more, but this is the highest number of applicants this early, so if you are interested, be sure to get your application in. We also have our first alumni dinner scheduled for Thursday evening (December 22) for any who have attended the onsite program since its inception five years ago.—Gerald Weston
Church Administration
TWP Year in Review
Last weekend, we held two follow-up Tomorrow’s World Presentations, in Tempe (Phoenix) and Tucson, Arizona. These presentations had a combined total of twelve guests. This concludes the TWPs for this year. 2022 was an exciting year for TWPs. In the past calendar year, we held 76 TWP campaigns in the United States and 40 international campaigns, for a total of 116. A campaign includes one initial presentation and any subsequent follow-up presentations for a given city. After these 116 initial events, we held a total of 150 follow-up presentations, for a grand total of 266 Tomorrow’s World Presentations. At these events, we had a combined total of 2,932 unique visitors. For context, the next highest number of presentations was in 2012, when we conducted 187 total events. We plan to carry this momentum forward into 2023 with approximately 55 TWP campaigns already scheduled. We are tremendously thankful to everyone who supported and continues to support these efforts with your time, energy, and most of all your prayers.
Finance Department
Year-End Donations (U.S. only)—Repeat Announcement
Please be reminded that all U.S. contributions dated in December and postmarked on or before December 31 will be counted as a donation for 2022 and may be tax deductible in 2022, even if we receive it in January 2023. For those who donate online, the deadline for online contributions is 11:59 p.m. on December 31. Keep in mind that December 31 is a Sabbath this year, and sundown times will vary depending on your location.
Also note that if you plan on taking a tax deduction for contributions, your tax return should not be filed until you receive your year-end receipt for donations. This donation receipt is one of the tax documents the Internal Revenue Service requires you to keep as backup to claim this deduction. We plan to issue year-end donation receipts on or about January 20, 2023.
As we close the calendar year for 2022, we want to extend a hearty thank you to all our members and co-workers for your generous financial support, and for your prayers for every aspect of the Work. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, but collectively we are able to accomplish much through God’s blessing. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance in everything that we do at Headquarters and in the local congregations around the world as we begin 2023.
Comments
Keys to Friendship: The Bible tells us that “There are friends who bring ruin, but there are true friends more loyal than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, New American Bible, Revised Edition), and that true friends are supportive during difficult times (Proverbs 17:17). Jesus shared important thoughts and concerns with His friends (John 15:15). Real friends may not always agree with us, but they will tell us what we need to hear because they care for us (Proverbs 27:6, 17). The Bible warns that we need to choose our friends carefully because we are influenced by the company we keep (Proverbs 12:26). Abraham was a friend of God because he chose to obey God’s instructions (James 2:23; Genesis 12:1–4; Genesis 26:5), and he understood that friendship with the world would alienate him from God (James 4:4). If we choose to be a friend of God and Jesus Christ, and we work to build friendships with those we come into contact with, we can be lights to the world.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy—December 22, 2022
Conflict Draws Brothers Together: External threats have a way of driving people together. This is the case with Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. With increasing tensions in the South China Sea and belligerent talk from North Korea, Australia and America recently held talks to plan future joint military efforts (South China Morning Post, December 7, 2022). At the meetings, the U.S. Secretary of Defense warned that China’s dangerous actions in the region and its stated intentions concerning Taiwan are prompting defensive actions in other nations. As a result of the joint talks, the “United States will expand the number of bomber task force and fighter aircraft forces in Australia, add a U.S. army and navy presence, better integrate U.S.-Australian weapons manufacturing capabilities and invite Japan to join ‘force posture’ initiatives.”
In a broader move, Australia, the UK, and the U.S. signed an agreement in 2021 creating a strategic partnership between the three nations, known as AUKUS. As part of this relationship, the U.S. will share its nuclear propulsion technology with Australia and assist in the development of an Australian nuclear submarine fleet. The UK is the only other nation with which the U.S. has shared this nuclear technology.
But why are Australia, the UK, and the U.S. working so closely together and sharing powerful state secrets? The Bible reveals a little-understood reason! The ancestors of these nations are the ancient Israelite tribes that descended from two brothers, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were prophesied to become, respectively, a company or commonwealth of nations and a single great nation (Genesis 48:13–20). Although thousands of years have passed since those two boys were born, their descendants still feel a close trust and kinship—especially in times of trouble. While Scripture reveals the origin of their strong bonds, Bible prophecies also reveal that these same nations will face serious consequences for turning away from the God who has blessed them. To learn more about the past and future of these nations, be sure to read or listen to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.
Religious Faith and Health: According to The Guardian, studies show that behaviors and attitudes associated with religious faith can benefit believers’ health in many ways. As a professor of public health at the University of California at Berkley put it, “Religious and spiritual traditions give you access to different methods of coping that have distinctive benefits” (December 3, 2022). The news source notes that “the evidence base linking faith to better health has been decades in the making and now encompasses thousands of studies.” Long-term studies demonstrate that the level of religious commitment, measured by how often a person attends church, was consistently associated with “a lower risk of depression, anxiety and suicide and reduced cardiovascular disease and death from cancer.”
The article suggests, “One obvious explanation for these findings is that people of faith live cleaner lives than the non-religious: studies show that churchgoers are indeed less likely to smoke, drink, take drugs or practise unsafe sex than people who do not attend a service regularly”—choices that reflect biblical values. Social connections from church help protect against feelings of loneliness and isolation and have been shown to reduce stress and stress-related illnesses. The Bible encourages a focus on gratitude and being thankful—another factor known to reduce stress and increase happiness. Finally, religious faith is also associated with a sense of purpose for living, which has been demonstrated to increase one’s sense of wellbeing and to have a positive impact on one’s health.
Few today realize how unique the Bible is when it comes to divinely inspired guidelines about health. To discover more about the practical health-related aspects of the Christian faith that predate modern scientific discoveries in medicine, read or listen to our free booklet Biblical Principles of Health—it could change your life.—Scott Winnail and Francine Prater