Greetings,
This week I was able to read a private email from an American living and working in Russia. He had asked for advice from his peers here about the wisdom of staying or leaving to come back to the U.S. His personal summation of reality within Russia was chilling. News reports later this week regarding the possible ramifications of the fall of the value of the Ruble served to confirm some of his observations. It is a tense time as the world watches what the Russian response might be.
The world seems to be developing many “flash points”, any one of which has the potential to trigger events that could have enormous impact on all of us. The timing, of course, is God’s but clearly we would be wise to heed what is developing around us and bear down on the work at hand. The apostle Paul admonishes us to, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Planning is under way for a ministerial conference to be held in Arcadia, California over the Martin Luther King weekend in January (the 18th and 19th). The elders and wives have been invited to attend if it is possible for them to do so. There will be quite a number of items to discuss with the view of further website development and how to move forward in the coming year. Your prayers for the preparation of this conference would be appreciated as we need our Father’s guidance. Also, given the importance of these matters we are asking the members to collectively fast on the Sabbath of January 10th. We all need to be close to our Father as we seek His will and direction through the living Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
Prayer Updates:
Joanne Bagley’s condition is slowly deteriorating. Her daughter, Candace is doing a great job of taking care of her mother and keeping their business running. They both need our prayerful support.
Willie Cadenhead was informed this week that his cancer count is very high. He is now having some pain in the stomach region. He and Carolyn remain positive and very grateful for the extra time God has allowed.
Sabbath service this Sabbath will originate in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
