This just in from Pastor Andrew Samuels, General Secretary of the Seventh Day Baptist World Federation:

January 2017 may seem like a long way off, but in reality it is not. In full recognition of that, the SDB World Federation is appropriately accelerating plans for its next Sessions scheduled for January 22-28, 2017 in Brazil. Historically, the Federation Sessions have been held every five years, except for those times when finances or other factors have prevented that from happening. The last time the Federation met was in 2008 in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the USA.

Thirteen of the seventeen active World Federation member conferences have already submitted completed pre-registration forms indicating their delegate lists, and the process of requesting and obtaining travel visas will ensue. If you are interested in attending as an Observer, please make contact with me using my contact information below.

President Dale Thorngate is also in high gear in his preparation for the Sessions program. His announced theme is, “The Kingdom Of God Is Like…” There will be daily Bible Studies and Worship Services, and there are few experiences as thrilling as the worship of our God using a variety of languages. That is indeed, “a foretaste of glory divine.” There will also be seminars, committee meetings, and business sessions. Some sight-seeing is planned, as well as visits to a few of the local SDB churches in close proximity to the Sessions venue.

The World Federation Semi-centennial fund-raising campaign is also current. Our goal is to raise US$50,000 by challenging 1,000 Seventh Day Baptists anywhere in the world, to donate US$50 each. The first 500 such donors receives an inflatable globe, which can be used to identify and locate the countries where member conferences exist, and also as a prayer guide for those countries. In my next article, I will give an update on the number of Seventh Day Baptists who have accepted that challenge. This campaign will continue for our entire financial year, which ends in June 2016. Donations may be sent to our Treasurer, Gavin Fox at P.O. Box 7755, Silver Spring, MD 20907, USA or by paypal at treasurer@sdbwf.org.

Pastor Andrew Samuels
General Secretary
SDB World Federation
2612 Arcadia Drive,
Miramar, FL 33023
USA
(954)684-4961
andyosam@aol.com