June 2026 Member Letter

June 4, 2026

Dear Brethren,

A month ago, I reported on the progress being made on our new Education Center. It is really beginning to take shape, with walls and ceilings now going up. We did experience a couple of rain delays during the past week. When storms move through with high winds, thunder and lightning, it is not safe to be working in a steel structure. When that happens, the workers are understandably quick to move to safety. Lightning is always a serious threat, especially when workers are surrounded by steel.

We are already working on several projects for the new facility. One has moved beyond the concept stage to become an actual plan: a marriage enrichment weekend for couples, now scheduled for early 2027. The other, which we will begin making plans for shortly, is our International Ministerial Conference, to take place in May 2027.

While it is certainly possible to hold such events without the new facility, having our own auditorium will make them much more effective and cost-saving. These events will be in addition to weekly Sabbath services and special holy day observances that will be held in the new building. There is a great deal of excitement surrounding this project and the opportunities it will provide.

From all the reports we have received here at the office, Pentecost and the Sabbath preceding it were very successful. For the most part, the weather was excellent across the country, with only a few exceptions.

It will take another week or so to finalize the Pentecost offering totals, but we now have the figures from the Days of Unleavened Bread. I am pleased to report that we set all-time records for both holy day offerings. Overall, offerings during the Days of Unleavened Bread were up 3 percent over the previous year, which itself was a record at that time.

Sharron and I traveled to Colombia for Pentecost. Earlier this year, we were informed that the pastor of the congregations in Colombia, Eduardo Hernandez, was seriously ill. He had been diagnosed with cancer last year, and his condition worsened this past January. So, I made plans in the spring to travel to Colombia for Pentecost in order to help out.

To everyone’s amazement, Mr. Hernandez began to improve in February of this year. The recovery did not happen overnight, but by Passover his condition had improved dramatically. He had lost a significant amount of weight, but his appetite returned, and he gradually regained his strength.

By the time my wife and I arrived for Pentecost, Mr. Hernandez had regained all the weight he had lost. He was sleeping well, his appetite was excellent, and he appeared to be doing very well. I had not seen him since the Feast of Tabernacles in 2024, before his diagnosis, and it was wonderful to see him looking like his old self again. We continue to pray for Mr. Hernandez’s health, but it seems evident that God has already intervened in a remarkable way. The future remains in God’s hands, and we continue to pray for complete healing.

A few days ago, we completed the second session of a program that began in 2022. It is called the Pastoral Development Program, or PDP for short. This ongoing educational program is designed for all of our U.S. pastors. The program consists of three sessions, with approximately one-third of our U.S. pastors attending each session. This approach allows us to provide continuing training and education to our entire group of pastors over these three sessions. For this most recent session, we also invited all pastors and full-time elders from Latin America to participate. It was a tremendous success. We are now in the third round of these classes that were designed to occur every other year—2022, 2024 and now 2026.

Each session includes approximately 15 hours of classroom instruction, combined with valuable opportunities for fellowship and interaction. The sessions begin on a Thursday morning and conclude on a Sunday evening. The curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including doctrine, effective communication, the use of artificial intelligence, and doctrinal and heretical issues that occasionally arise within congregations. The four days have proved to be both productive and beneficial for everyone involved.

Now, I would like to ask your prayers for another matter, and that is the recent outbreak of Ebola in several African countries. The two primary countries affected at present are Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We have members and congregations in both countries. Ebola is a deadly disease that can spread rapidly once an outbreak begins. If left untreated, the mortality rate can be as high as 90 percent, making it a very serious threat to life.

One of our pastors from the United States, Nathan Willoughby, was recently traveling in Kenya and had plans to continue into Uganda. However, because of the outbreak, he had to cut his trip short. He was unable to enter Uganda, so he completed his work in Kenya and returned home. We are very thankful to report that he arrived back safely last week.

I want to conclude this letter by requesting your prayers for the ministry and members around the world. We currently have congregations in more than 40 countries, and in each one there are particular challenges. In Colombia and Ecuador, we are struggling to get the Church registered with the government. In Rwanda, we still can’t meet for services in our own building because of government restrictions. Then there is the outbreak of Ebola in some countries in Africa. And we could continue around the world, documenting the challenges that we face. It is getting more and more difficult to provide pastoral care for all the brethren, who in some cases live in remote areas.

As God’s people, let us remember one another in our daily prayers. For those who are sick, the apostle James reminds us to be anointed and to “pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). The apostle Paul also wrote to encourage us: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). And those prayers are needed now more than ever!

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Jim Franks