Greetings from Charlotte,
Mr. Gerald Weston has been in Canada all week recording telecasts, recording Viewpoint videos, and conducting meetings, and he will be presenting an online Tomorrow’s World Presentation on Friday night. Dr. Scott Winnail is in Kendu Bay, Kenya, for a Living Youth Camp December 10–16 and will be visiting the South African teen and pre-teen camps afterwards. Mr. Rees Ellis will be in Benin for the French-language youth camp December 22–27. The Philippines teen camp will run December 30–January 5. Dr. Wil Pierre has been in Charlotte all week to record radio programs for use in Francophone Africa. Final preparations are being made for next week’s family weekends in Charlotte, North Carolina; Montgomery, Alabama; and Big Sandy/Dallas, Texas. Please continue praying for the youth camps, these and other ministers traveling, and for those suffering from serious health issues. – Rod McNair
Church Administration
Church Survey
The Information Technology Department at Headquarters is sending out the yearly Church Survey to all pastors (except those in Canada, where the survey was already conducted by the Canadian office). The purpose of this survey is to ensure that our member records at Headquarters (including phone numbers and addresses) are accurate. This ensures that brethren receive their literature on time and can register for the Feast. Thank you to all for your help in supplying pastors with the needed information for this survey.
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week we held the last event of the “Tomorrow’s World Presentation Series” in Buffalo, New York. This presentation drew two first-time guests and three returning guests. This week, while in Canada, Mr. Weston will host an online TWP for the Canadian subscribers. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the Tomorrow’s World Presentations.
Living Youth Program
Kendu Bay, Kenya, Living Youth Program Greetings
Greetings from Kendu Bay in western Kenya, where 107 youth, along with staff, are enjoying LYP 2024. The weather is comfortably warm, and campers have enjoyed daily activities including football (soccer), frisbee, tug-of-war, and an excellent Bible-question-and-answer session. Mr. Weston kicked off the Christian Living classes with a class addressing our camp theme, “Be ready with an answer” from 1 Peter 3:15. Campers also enjoyed an engaging mixer activity where they became better acquainted. Campers and staff have traveled from all over western Kenya and from as far away as Nairobi. All are excited to be experiencing God’s camp in Kenya once again.
Comments
What Is Your Most Important Priority? What is the major focus of your life—job, family, friends, health? While all of these are important, the Bible offers a very different perspective on our most important priority. Jesus teaches us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). For many today, spiritual things are simply not a high priority. Yet the Apostle Paul urged those who want to be in the Kingdom of God to develop the very mind and character of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5–8). We can do this by following the example of Jesus and spiritually feeding on the Scriptures (John 6:53–57; 2 Timothy 2:15). If we make this our main priority—to be teachable and strive to live by every word of God—we will receive eternal rewards.
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy – December 12, 2024
Germany, Finland, and Sweden Prepare for War: “Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide” (The Guardian, November 29, 2024). The Swedish government views being prepared for war as a civic duty, though many Swedes do not believe the current situation is as dire as the government apparently does. Finland’s government produces a brochure and website aimed at helping its populace prepare for everything from power outages to military conflicts and war. Finland also shares an extensive border with Russia. In Germany, the government is actively working to make more underground shelters available in the event of a military attack, including underground train stations and parking structures. Germans have also “been urged to adapt their own cellars, garages or storerooms, or excavate old bunkers, while housebuilders will be legally obliged to include safe shelters in new homes—as Poland has already done.”
For many across the world, the threat of war, let alone nuclear war, is far-fetched and far away. But for many in European nations that have experienced war on their own soil in the last 80 years, Russia’s actions in Ukraine have been a disturbing “wake-up call” and a motivation to act. To learn more about the coming global conflicts prophesied in the pages of your Bible, be sure to read or listen to our free study guide, Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return.
Children Need to Be Rescued: We live in a world where children are often abused and even treated as a commodity. Many children grow up without a parent or without both parents, and too many know lives with little hope—but plenty of fear. As a new UNICEF report highlights, “Early exposure [to violence] can cause toxic stress, affecting brain development, and lead to aggression, substance abuse, and criminal behaviour. Children who experience violence are also more likely to be affected by cycles of trauma and violence as adults, impacting entire communities” (UNICEF.org, November 4, 2024).
According to the report, every four minutes a child is killed by violence somewhere in the world. Over 650 million women and girls were subject to sexual violence as children—that is one in six of all women alive! Between 410 and 530 million boys and men experienced sexual violence during childhood. On average, violence claims the lives of approximately 130,000 people under the age of 20 each year. And 90 million children alive today have experienced sexual violence—a number more than 30 percent greater than that of the United Kingdom’s entire population.
Children are vulnerable, weaker than adults, and seldom able to flee or fight back. Thankfully, the Bible reveals that a time of hope and safety for children is coming. The prophet Zechariah records a future vision of elderly people sitting in the streets of Jerusalem while children play around them (Zechariah 8:4–5). Isaiah paints a picture of that coming time, as well, saying, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13). The statistics we’ve read should move caring individuals to pray for God’s Kingdom to come! To learn more about the wonderful future time when children will finally be safe, read or listen to The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? – Scott Winnail and Francine Prater