Letter to the Brethren: July 21, 2022

Posted on Posted in Letters to the Brethren

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

Funds to Haiti

From Canada, Herb Haddon sent the following report about sending funds to Haiti:

On May 31st CCOG Canada sent a wire transfer directly to Moise’s bank account …  to cover the repayment of a debt incurred by Moise for construction materials used for a building project. …
 
Wednesday, July 13th, the funds were finally deposited into Moise’s bank account! A full 43 days!
 
Normally a wire transfer should take (according to the bank) 5 business days.
 
Moise made several trips to his bank over the past month to inquire as to the status of the funds and met with dead ends. His bank even accused the sender (me) and CCOG Canada bank (Royal Bank) of being at fault.
 
On July 1st, from our end, an investigation was launched through our bank to find the missing wire funds, and at a cost of $25.00 to the Church! This process was supposed to take an additional 5 business days.
 
When the funds were finally released, it was shown that the bank in Haiti was holding the funds all this time, and not transferring them to Moise. A mistake made by the Haitian Bank? A possibility . . . but the prospect of corruption could also be the case!
 
Conclusion:
– Moise has received the funds, paid off the debt he incurred for building materials and has enough money left to buy some food for the brethren. See note from Moise below:
I’m at the business food store, a little rice bag is for 50$, I’ll just buy 10 bags for 500$, And I’ll share by some pots to the people. Things are going very hard.  
–  Moise has informed us that, because of the gangs and the corruption of those in charge, parcels usually do not reach their intended recipient.  He advises against future mailings until, hopefully, conditions improve. 
–  Amidst all the unrest and corruption in Haiti this shows how bad life is becoming  and the difficulty in even trying to assist our brethren in Haiti.
Herb

Money movement involving international wires does not normally work as instantaneously as often portrayed in American movies.

That being said, things are very difficult for our brethren in Haiti.

Please keep them in your prayers.

COVID Deaths in the USA, Haiti, and Ghana

SARS-CoV-2 Variants (Soupvector)

The Washington Post posted the following:

WHO warns covid ‘nowhere near over’ as variants spike in U.S., Europe

“The virus is running freely,” the World Health Organization warns as the latest omicron offshoots drive up coronavirus infections around the world. …

A virus surge across Europe prompted health regulators on the continent to recommend a second booster for high-risk groups this week as part of efforts to fight the subvariants. …

“A new COVID-19 wave is ramping up across the European Union,” the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Monday in a statement. It urged governments to prepare “for a next expected wave in the autumn and winter seasons.”

In China, the arrival of the BA.5 subvariant raised fears of a return of lockdowns in Shanghai, where many residents have just emerged from two months of home confinement.

Health experts say the spread of the variants highlights the need to immunize populations that remain unprotected because of vaccine apathy or unequal access. More than 12 billion coronavirus shots have been administered worldwide, but in low-income countries, only about 19 percent of people have received at least one dose, according to Our World in Data. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/13/covid-pandemic-wave-who-ba5-variants/

While there is still COVID, the above article did not go into natural things one can do, though it hinted about wearing masks and being in lockdown.

As far as unequal access to vaccines in poorer countries, consider Haiti.

Haiti is a very poor nation, but has had a relatively low COVID death rate.

Reuters reported:

Updated 07/15/22

There have been 31,980 infections and 837 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began. …

Haiti has administered at least 348,769 doses of COVID vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs 2 doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 1.5% of the country’s population. https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/haiti/

Haiti has a population of about 11.4 million which is about 3.46% of the estimated 329.5 million people in the USA. In the USA, 79.1% have had at least one vaccination and 67.6% are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Yet, the USA reportedly has had 1.02 million COVID deaths.

Although only about 1.5% of people in Haiti are vaccinated, it has a COVID death rate about 2.4% of that of the USA. So, a nation in this hemisphere that is mainly made up of poor persons of color, and without much access to Western medical care, has a death rate over 40x lower than the USA. While there might be some under-counting in Haiti and over-counting in the USA, that is a huge difference.

The fact that the Haitians are less likely to be overweight, are outside more, and probably walk a lot more than those in the USA are probably all factors. Eating more fresh fruit and consuming less junk food may also be factors as well.

But Haiti’s results have not been widely reported by the media.

It is not that vaccines cannot help some, but the science should lead government officials to look at other ways as well to help support the immune system.

For example, in Ghana, they have properly advised exercise (see COVID-19: Ghana pushing exercise, Germany reports about Vitamin D) as well as the use of some herbs (see ‘Ghanaians Look to Herbal Remedies for COVID-19’ ‘Enti  wobԑdi Onyankopↄn  Nna Kronkron  anaa Ahonhommↄnee  Ahomegyeԑ Nna?’), to help deal with COVID.

And Ghana’s COVID deaths? A total of 1456 out of a population of 31.07 million. The USA has a COVID death rate for its population 66 times higher than Ghana!

For daring to suggest that vaccines are NOT the only thing to do, in November 2021 YouTube pulled our video COVID-19: Eat what is good!

When I asked YouTube if there was anything that was untrue in that video, they did not say they found that to be the case, but essentially stated that they censored matters that disagreed with positions of those they preferred.

That censored video said that there are things other than just vaccines that pubic health officials should be promoting. And that is still true.

So far, however, YouTube has not censored our newest recommended sermonette video which is related to that.

However, because of YouTube’s improper censorship in the past, we are suggesting watching it on our BitChute platform.

Here is a link to our video: Omicron, Science, and the Bible.

As far as vaccines go, we consider that to mainly be a personal matter. Information on that can be found in the article: Continuing Church of God position on vaccines.

Suggested Sabbath Service

Here is a suggested  service for the weekly Sabbath:

Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the Bible News Prophecy online radio channel. Note: If there are ever commercials before, during or after, they ARE NOT from us nor do we receive money from them–but sometimes platforms put them up.

IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOG channel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel. There are also some messages at the CCOGAfrica channel. There are also messages in the Spanish language at the CDLIDDSermones channel.

World News Items

Wildfires and record breaking heat have been impacting parts of Europe (see Record heat in Europe, riverbeds low, and ‘Germany won’t survive winter without Russian gas ‘ and CNBC: ‘Heat apocalypse’ and wildfires in Europe; hottest day ever in the UK ). The Rhine river, which is used for commerce and hydroelectric power generation, is at a low level and this looks to result in more economic problems for Europe.

Military conflict in Ukraine (e.g., see ‘Russia strikes south Ukraine city, presses attacks in east’) and policies related to Russia are also impacting Europe (e.g. see ‘EU’s top diplomat defends anti-Russia sanctions’ ‘Economics of war: Pain for Europe now …’). German’s Chancellor Scholz recently called for forced European unity and increased German leadership in Europe (see GFP: Germany as Leading Power … Olaf Scholz wants the EU to play a “geopolitical role.”).

There will be a series of crises that will cause Europe to reorganize (Revelation 17:12) and turn power over to the Beast (Revelation 17:13). We are seeing some steps already in process.

A worldwide study that recently came out pointed to increased unhappiness (see ‘Why People Worldwide Are Unhappier, More Stressed Than Ever,’ ’14 Biblical Keys to Happiness,’ and ‘Loneliness and Ways to Help Cure It’). We have put out information in articles, sermons, and sermonettes on related matters, including the following:

Concluding Comments

The Book of Genesis has the following:

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. (Genesis 12:1-6)

Brethren, Abram was a wealthy man living in an area with whatever luxuries existed in his part of the world.

But God told him to leave and go to a less ‘civilized’ and more dangerous place.

This was not easy for him to do. He lost contact with nearly all his friends and relatives.

Instead of living in a fine  house, he had to live in tents (Hebrews 11:9).

He risked his life, his livelihood, his possessions, land his comfort.

But Abram, who was later named Abraham, did so.

He will get his reward when Christians alive today get theirs (cf. Hebrews 11:8-9, 39-40).

When God calls us, we too, face many challenges.

But IF YOU WILL DO WHAT GOD SAYS AND NOT GIVE UP, you will be able to make it and join Abraham and others in the Kingdom of God.

Sincerely,

Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer