Roanoke, Virginia, USA
September 21, 2017
Dear Brethren and Friends around the world,
We thank God for the privilege of still enjoying religious freedom and wide communication so that we can pray for and comfort each other in such difficult times. In recent days, we have witnessed major natural disasters caused by hurricanes and floods in Central and North America, and by earthquakes in Mexico and Japan.
Although we are shocked and impressed by the contemplation of these things, they strengthen our certainty that the coming of Jesus is at hand—when we will join Him, never again to suffer from the hardships of this life. It is time to pray for one another, but as long as the Lord has not yet come, we also have something more concrete to do. We need to set aside part of our financial resources to help our brethren who are suffering directly or indirectly in these places.
We thank our Heavenly Father for His protective care over our people. So far, none of our brothers or sisters has died as a result of these disasters, but we urgently need the financial resources to serve them right away in order to replace the losses that follow such tragedies.
Let us remember that the time will soon come when our accumulated money will have no value for anything except to be employed in the pursuit against us. Now is the time to channel our resources to bless the families of the brethren who have suffered losses and will face great difficulties in order to resume a normal pace of life.
Please dear ones, separate generous offerings from your personal resources, and forward them to the General Conference World Disaster Relief Fund, in order to continue assisting our brethren.
There are two ways you can share your resources:
(1) The fastest and most effective method is via PayPal: treasurer@sdarm.org. The amounts directed via PayPal arrive quickly at the international aid fund;
(2) If you wish to use a more traditional method to forward your offering, please send your resources to your Field Treasury and request that it be transferred to the GC World Disaster Relief Fund. It will certainly be channeled to this end, yet this option will take more time for the means to arrive at the final destination.
When possible, please also promote special collections in your church on the Sabbath for this same purpose.
Thank you in advance for your generous efforts and precious offerings.
On behalf of the General Conference,
André Marcelo Devai
Welfare and Stewardship Department Director