Greetings from Charlotte,
Requests for the new booklet, Spiritual Warfare, started coming in heavily this week. It is still too early to predict the overall response. Directors, workers, and campers are gearing up for an exciting summer, with the teen Adventure Camp to begin June 21 and the Missouri Preteen Camp to begin June 28. Two other preteen camps and the Texas Teen Camp are not far behind. Mr. Phillip Johnson finished his time here in Charlotte as a Ministerial Trainee and is taking care of personal matters in Texas before moving to Kansas City. Mr. Everett McNair will be here later this month to begin his ministerial training. Our Canadian office will begin printing the Spanish language Tomorrow’s World magazine—El Mundo de Mañana—and, depending on the exchange rates, this will save more than a dollar per magazine in printing and mailing costs. There were more than 2,400 new subscribers to the Tomorrow’s World magazine last week. Be sure to remember our members around the world as a lot is happening.
—Gerald E. Weston
Church Administration
Tomorrow’s World Presentations
Last week, we held eleven TWPs, drawing a total of 79 guests. This week, we will hold the seven presentations listed below:
- Rice Lake, Wisconsin – “Presentation Series” Presentation
- Peterborough, Ontario, Canada – Initial Presentation
- Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa – Initial Presentation
- Santa Ana, California – Follow-up Presentation
- Redlands, California – Follow-up Presentation
- Nevada, Missouri – Initial Presentation
- Bridgetown, Barbados – Initial Presentation
Feast of Tabernacles
Feast Sites Closed for Transfer
An additional Feast site has been closed to further transfers. The closed sites are as follows:
- Branson, Missouri
- Gulf Shores, Alabama
- Russell, Manitoba, Canada
- Carry-le-Rouet, France
- Fernandina Beach, Florida
- Bradenton, Florida
Living Youth Program
TrainRight Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Training
All staff members who are 18 years old and up are required to participate in the TrainRight Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Training Program. It is an online training course that takes about one hour to complete. Once you have been accepted as a staff member at one of the camps, you will receive an email from [email protected] titled “Invite - Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Training Program” with a link to register for and complete the program online.
The Certification for this course is valid for two years—the year in which it is taken and the following year. For example, if you took the course in 2024, the certification was valid in 2024 and 2025. Therefore, you would need to retake the course in 2026 to receive certification for 2026 and 2027. If you have any questions, please contact Jill Ewers ([email protected]).
First Aid/Lifeguard Certificates
If you have a current certificate in First Aid, Lifeguarding, etc. and will be serving in this capacity at any of the United States camps in 2026, please send a copy of your certification to Jill Ewers ([email protected]). The certificate must be valid through the entirety of the camp(s) where it will be used.
Food Handler Training Program
If you have received certification through an ANSI-accredited food safety program for the State of Texas as a Food Handler or Food Manger and will be attending the Texas Teen Camp or Texas Preteen Camp in 2026, please send your certificate to Jill Ewers ([email protected]), copying Joshua Penman ([email protected]).
Comments
The Importance of Working Together: Jesus referred to His disciples as His friends and encouraged them to “love one another” (John 15:12–17). The Apostle Paul called those who assisted him in his ministry “my fellow workers” (Romans 16:3). Working together smoothly is a skill that we can learn, and the Bible gives us important guidelines. We are instructed to be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” and not let contentions divide us (1 Corinthians 1:10–13). We are to be humble; live in harmony; be patient; avoid being haughty, conceited, or ambitious; and be willing to yield (Romans 12:16–18; James 3:14–18). Proverbs 13:10 reminds us that pride is a major cause of contention, and Galatians 5:16–26 teaches us that using God’s Spirit is a key to eliminating dissension and promoting peace, cooperation, and friendship. Are you developing these skills?
Have a profitable Sabbath,
Douglas S. Winnail
News and Prophecy
A Step Closer to a “King of the North”? With the apparent stalemate between Russia and Ukraine, European leaders are worried that Russia may expand its conflict with Ukraine to more of Europe; France’s minister for European Affairs recently warned that Mr. Putin intends to “threaten the whole European security architecture.” Russia’s recent drone strike on Romania has intensified Europe’s concerns (The Week, June 1, 2026). “Several European national-security officials have warned that Russia could try to test the cohesion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by targeting one of the Baltic nations, Swedish and Danish islands in the Baltic Sea or alliance territory in the Arctic” (Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2026).
A new defense agreement between the United Kingdom and Poland adds “to a growing list of bilateral European security pacts prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine” (Politico, May 27, 2026). France is now looking to connect with Germany and the UK to produce long-range missiles (Financial Times, May 22, 2026). And the fighter jet partnership among Britain, Italy, and Japan may soon expand to involve other nations (Reuters, November 19, 2024).
These forming alliances may be laying the foundation for what Scripture reveals to be the final revival of the ancient Roman empire. That empire has historic links to central Europe, and the Bible foretells that “ten kings”—leaders of nations or regions—will surrender their sovereignty to a leader called “the beast” (Revelation 17:8–13), also referred to in prophecy as “the king of the North” (Daniel 11:5–16). Watch for a “king” or charismatic individual who will lead a European military and economic superpower. You can gain further insights into coming events in Europe by reading or listening to The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor, or Soon-Coming Reality?
New Evidence Supports the Bible: For decades scholars believed two desert fortresses in southern Jordan were built by Assyrians. While Jewish history and the Bible claim that the territory of the northern tribes of Israel stretched beyond the Jordan river, others have dismissed the biblical record to be “literary exaggeration.” Now, new research supports the fact that this northern kingdom did control territory in that area.
A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Levant used radiocarbon dating to date cereal grains found in a granary near one of the fortresses. The results were consistent: the grain appears to have been grown between 791 and 772 BC, placing the grain and fortresses at the time of Jeroboam II, king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The Bible asserts that this Jeroboam “restored the territory of Israel” in this region (2 Kings 14:25). “The findings suggest they were built by the biblical kingdom of Israel almost 2,800 years ago, and not by the Assyrian empire decades later” (Times of Israel, May 16, 2026). This supports the conclusion that the northern kingdom of Israel possessed “hegemony over the region, as documented also in the biblical narrative and based on archaeological evidence.” As the lead author of the carbon-dating study observed, “It is now crystal clear that the Kingdom of Israel was present and involved along the southern border of Judah, as it is echoed also in various biblical verses.”
While many sceptics and even scholars refer to the Bible as a work of fiction, scientific discoveries continue to prove otherwise! You can learn more by reading or listening to The Bible: Fact or Fiction? —Scott Winnail, Richard Franz, and Francine Prater