Greetings from Charlotte,

 

Prophetic events have been making news this week: a hurricane ripping through the Caribbean, continuing volcanic explosions and a tsunami in Southeast Asia and another historic step towards a federal Europe! Here in Charlotte, Mr. Meredith has just finished a very stirring letter to more than 300,000 Tomorrow’s World magazine subscribers. Mr. Wayne Pyle reports that last weekend, Mr. Ames’ TW program #363, “The Coming Day of the Lord” is expected to draw more than 5,200 responses. Mr. Pyle also reports that in December, the Tomorrow’s World television program will begin airing all across America on the prestigious Discovery Channel. This coming weekend, Mr. Rod King will make Tomorrow’s World Special Presentations in Chester and Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Dr. Douglas Winnail will be in Albuquerque this Sabbath for services and to make a TWSP. Also this weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Ames will visit congregations in Braselton, Georgia, and Anderson, South Carolina, and Mr. Rod McNair will visit congregations in Montana. Please keep these efforts to preach the Gospel and serve God’s people in your prayers.

 

 

 

On October 23 and 24, Dr. Douglas Winnail gave a TWSP on the subject of “What’s Ahead for America?” in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There were 97 in attendance in Lafayette, including 30 guests from our subscriber list; and 99 in Baton Rouge, including 39 guests. The response to the presentation was quite good and drew positive responses from brethren and guests—and many stayed afterward to visit and ask questions. The following weekend, Mr. Rod Reynolds made a follow-up presentation entitled “Where Is God’s Church Today?” Attendance in Lafayette was 76, with 11 guests; 67 attended in Baton Rouge, with 19 guests. A policeman who listened with great interest commented positively on both of the presentations. Five guests from each area asked about attending services. Our local brethren were very enthused about having the presentations and went out of their way to serve and welcome visitors. Overall, the presentations were very successful, and we are looking forward to hosting presentations in other cities in Louisiana in the future.—Rod Reynolds  

Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Tomas battered the Lesser Antilles islands last Saturday and Sunday, devastating the island of St. Lucia. Tomas has been described as the worst natural disaster in St. Lucia’s history. The town of Soufriere, in the south of the island, was ravaged. Our only member in St. Lucia, Mr. William Raphael, lives in Soufriere. He was baptized at the Feast of Tabernacles in Martinique this year and is a result of our Tomorrow’s World Special Presentation held in St Lucia in March 2009. Our elder and deacons in Martinique have been trying to reach him but have so far been unsuccessful, since telephone lines in St. Lucia are not yet working properly. Please keep Mr. Raphael in your prayers, for his safety and protection, and so we may be able to get in touch with him soon. The island of Martinique fared better during Tomas’ trek. Services were cancelled last Sabbath, much of the island was without power and water for several days, and some banana and sugar plantations were destroyed, reported elder Marcel Ginier and deacon Etienne Duval. Thankfully, all our members are safe.

 

In Barbados, our office manager Williana Mallet wrote, “there has been devastation over a wide area of the island. From where I live (only by God’s grace my roof did not come off, it is very old), I look around and fully grasp what Psalm 91 says. Some people lost everything. We are still cleaning up. The airport and port are open, but some roads are still impassible with telephone and electrical lines as well downed (some trees flattened houses). There are no injuries or deaths reported. Most of us were totally unprepared. I saw the system coming and could not imagine how we would not be affected. In about two hours it went from a tropical wave to a tropical storm. As Dr. Douglas Winnail mentioned in one of his sermons during the Feast, it was ‘sudden destruction.’ We are still trying to come to grips with it. The emergency services are doing their best, but much of the island is still without electricity and to a lesser extent without water. While some are complaining, many of us are counting our blessings.”

 

The storm is now making its way to Haiti, where it could have catastrophic effects, due to the islands’ poverty and deforestation, the lingering consequences of January’s earthquake and the recent cholera outbreak. Please pray for God’s mercy and protection for our brethren there, and for all the population.

Mr. Simon Muthama reports: I returned home last night from a trip to the Rift Valley (Nakuru City) and Western Kenya.  The brethren in this part of the world are warm, loving and eager to learn God’s Truth.  Six new people have joined the Nakuru congregation since last month, and one person has joined the Ndhiwa congregation since the Feast.  In Ukerewe, Tanzania, 25 people have joined us since April this year, and we baptized four of them during the Feast.  This weekend was wonderful and 19 attended Sabbath services in the Ndhiwa congregation.

Mr. Kinnear Penman reports: We had a month of very good responses to the Tomorrow’s World broadcast. There was no broadcast on October 10 because all religious programming was pre-empted by live broadcasts of the Commonwealth Games…. known weekly responses for October averaged 181 with an average of 71 of these being first-time callers. During the month, we put 807 postal items into the mail and these contained a total of 1,693 items of literature. One adverse event was a general postage increase of about 20%. It was possible to make some savings by pre-buying postage at the old price. Sixty-six sets of Bible Study Course lessons were mailed during the month.

You are invited to a delightful weekend of activities that is being planned for December 24-26 in Charlotte. The weekend activities will begin with a Friday night Bible Study. Sabbath services will be held at the Hilton University Charlotte Hotel. That evening we will have a dinner and dance with music provided by a live band. On Sunday, there will be activities for all age groups in a local gymnasium. This will be an excellent opportunity for fun and fellowship. More details will be provided next week, so mark your calendar and look for more information to come.

 

 

Mark your calendars for the 2011 Kansas City Family Weekend! Starting Friday, December 31, activities include fellowship time and a Friday evening Bible Study. On Saturday, January 1, we will have afternoon Church services, a chili and beef stew dinner, and then we will have a dance and fun show. On Sunday, January 2, we will have family games, a Bible seminar, family games, full-court basketball games, team and recreational volleyball, and did we mention family games? We have negotiated special rates with the local Comfort Suites, so please begin making your plans soon, as hotel registration ends December 3. Of course, the option to stay with local brethren is always available as well.

 

For more information, please visit the activity website found at http://lcgkc.org (not an official Church website) then click the KC Family Weekend item near the top of the page. Activity descriptions, starting times, locations, registration, activity sign-up and much more can be found there. For those not as Internet-savvy, please call Michael Keesee at 816-847-5635. Also, we are looking for participants in our fun show, so if you can sing, play an instrument, humor us with a skit or perform something completely unexpected, please check the website for directions on how to apply, or contact Michael Keesee.

 

 

Seeking God’s Guidance: In our world today, people look in many directions for guidance: to horoscopes, philosophers, political and religious leaders, friends, celebrities and best-selling authors. Yet the Bible clearly points us in a different direction. In our search for guidance in all walks of life, the Scriptures advise, “Seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6). We are also told that God will look on those who are humble and teachable and “tremble at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). King David, a man after God’s own heart, modeled the attitude that God is looking for when he wrote, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes…Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:33, 105). David understood the importance of looking to God’s word for instruction and guidance. Jesus emphasized this same theme when He instructed His disciples to “live by… every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus also taught, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). By earnestly seeking God’s guidance in everything we do, we can find real answers and lasting rewards in this life and in the life to come.

 

Have a profitable Sabbath,

Douglas S. Winnail

 

 

Federal Europe by Stealth. A recent London Times headline read, “Softly, softly a federal Europe draws nearer.” The Times article continued, “While British and US politics have dominated the headlines this year, the truly historic events have occurred in Europe… The EU has taken its most decisive step towards becoming a genuine unitary State, by shifting key policies on taxes and public spending from national to federal level. That one of the most controversial decisions in modern European history has been taken with almost no public awareness or debate is a tribute to the top-down style of government perfected by the EU’s political elites. The EU version of elitist representative democracy, despite its apparent drawbacks, may go down in history as a more successful mechanism for managing the complex compromises demanded in a world of huge geopolitical change than the… US and British models.” The article concluded with the sobering observation, “European integration has always advanced through crises—and a great leap forward towards fiscal and political federalism has become irreversible after this year’s eurozone crisis. That was precisely what the euro’s creators intended” (Times, November 3, 2010). Bible prophecy reveals that the sudden appearance of a unified Beast power in Europe, consisting of ten kings (leaders) who give their power to this central government will surprise the world (Revelation 13:3; 17:12-13). We are watching truly historic events developing in Europe! For more about this topic, request our booklet Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return at www.tomorrowsworld.org.    

 

Russia Territory Expansion Continues. Russia continues to expand its territory and influence into satellite states of the former Soviet Union. It now maintains four separate air bases within Tajikistan and is planning for a fifth. Negotiations are underway between the Russian and Tajik governments to allow Russia “an open military contract with Tajikistan giving the Russian military the ability to move as if it were a domestic force—much like the relationship between Russia and Armenia.” In exchange, the Tajik government wants Russian protection for a new hydroelectric plant opposed by neighboring nations, which Tajikistan cannot protect by itself. This plant could cause a “water war” and ignite conflict with neighboring Uzbekistan (Stratfor, November 1, 2010). Bible prophecy predicts a major military offensive that will be launched towards the Holy Land from lands “north and east” of Jerusalem, immediately prior to Christ’s return (Daniel 11:44-45). This offensive will consist of the largest military force in human history—200 million men (Revelation 9:13-18). As for the nations that will make up this massive force, we should consider not only the most populous nations “north and east” of Jerusalem (China and India), but also those with the military capacity to pull off such an attack. Russia’s expanding military potential may contribute to the fulfillment of this sobering prophecy.

 

Hungry Animals Dig Up Cemetery. The densely wooded area of Russia’s Arctic Circle is home to a large population of bears. “Last summer was Russia’s hottest on record, with raging forest fires and droughts wiping out woodland and crops, forcing the bears to forage closer and closer to human settlements….” Two weeks ago, bears entered the village of Verkhnyaya Chova and began eating partially decomposed bodies in a local cemetery. “Encounters with bears in urban areas are not common in the sparsely populated region, but becoming more frequent, officials say.” One official noted, “Attacks on people by some of Russia’s 140,000 bears are on the rise nationwide, concentrated in the country’s Far East, where rampant fish poaching often forces the bears to seek other sources of food…” (Associated Press, October 28, 2010). Jesus foretold numerous events that “must come to pass” before He returns to this earth (Matthew 24:3-8). The book of Revelation describes a notorious black horse, “And power was given to them [Death and Hades] over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8). As wars destroy the land and natural disasters ravage crops and food sources, even the animals are prophesied to rise up and destroy.—Daniel Bennett, Ben Whitfield and Scott Winnail