Canadian Field Conference 2002

The Canadian Field President, Br. Kanagarajah opened the 2002 Canadian Field Conference on Friday evening with a responsive reading from the words found in Psalm 122 and speaking on the conference motto “Be thou faithful unto death” Revelation 2:10. He welcomed all the churches that were represented; members, visitors and those that had travelled long distances to attend the conference.

Br. Ivo Yonov, the Canadian Field Bible Worker from Montreal opened the Sabbath. He spoke about the hope that we, as God’s children have, of reaching our goal – our heavenly home. The one that shall endure unto the end shall be saved. He urged all present to take heed that no man deceive them although iniquity abounds. He stressed the fact that it is not what we say about ourselves but it is what God thinks of us that is important. God needs those who will remain faithful until the end. It is the end that counts. It doesn’t matter which year you were baptized but if you were faithful until death. God needs people who will remain faithful to Him until the end.

We were then privileged to hear the word of God from Br. Guillermo Gamallo, from Spain, who was visiting us for the first time. He said that each of us today has the duty to know the time in which we are living. The fulfillment of Revelation 13 is taking place. The world marvels after the beast and follows him wherever he goes. We have to wake up from this sleep in which we have been living. We have a wonderful message that no other church in the world preaches. We have to awaken. We are to speak the present truth. To be almost saved is to be totally lost. We cannot play with our salvation. There is still time to go to Jesus and to say “Lord, forgive me” and be reconciled with the Father.

On a beautiful, sunny Sabbath morning we were greeted by Br. LaRue Shields for the Sabbath school. He told us that we must be united in love and praise God. Br. Errol Fletcher conducted the adult review lesson and Br. Timo Martin the Adult English lesson and Br. Abel Conde the Adult Spanish lesson.

The Divine Service was kept by our newly-elected General Conference President, Br. Branko Cholich. He said, “Whenever I come to this place, I feel at home”. We were all happy to hear those words from Br. Cholich as he and Sis. Cholich lived many years in Canada with us. Br. Cholich spoke about the church entering a new era of the reform movement. He spoke of us needing to mobilize all our energies to go forward united and to accomplish the task that remains before us. Christ told his followers to be faithful until death. The ability to talk is a great gift that was given to man. We should practice holy conversation wherever we go. God’s people will be tested and their faithfulness will be at stake. In these days you will be saved because of your faithfulness to God. Be ye reconciled to God.

After lunch the examination of four young souls who would be baptized the following day took place. The church provided overwhelming support for the baptism of these young souls. Following this event the Streetsville church youth presented their program. The theme was “Music”. The young children sang praises and told memory verses while the older youth spoke about music throughout the ages and sung beautiful songs. The music included instruments and voice. The Toronto children and youth then presented their beautiful spirit filled songs of praise to God.

Following the youth program Br. Timo Martin held the Missionary Experiences and Testimony meeting stating that it remains always encouraging to hear of the experiences that brothers and sisters have made. All present received a rich blessing listening to what brothers and sisters had experienced around the world. Br. Cholich spoke of his experiences in China, Korea, Bangladesh, Congo and Burundi. The work was going forward in these countries and he thanked God for his protection throughout his travels. Br. Tzevtan Petkov, the General Conference Secretary, spoke on his experiences in Russia, in countries of the former Soviet Republic and Greece. He encountered perils from Muslim extremists when traveling through some of these countries. There were difficult times for some of our members, but with prayer, the Lord took care of the matters. Sister Leila McTavish spoke of her experiences in Fiji, Malaysia and Thailand. Speaking about Christianity to Muslims is prohibited in these countries and it is punishable by hanging. She had to spread the word of God very carefully. We need to plant the seeds of reformation – to save a few more souls before it is too late.

After dinner Br. Tzevtan Petkov closed the Sabbath. We spoke on the Reform having a very serious message. Not only were we to be faithful, but to be faithful unto death like the motto of our conference read. Many times we believe that we are ready to die for our Lord but we do not really know ourselves yet. Today we have to be prepared. We need to sacrifice ourselves spiritually every day. We need to be ready to die every day for Jesus – not just for some time in the future. Today is the day that we must be ready to be faithful until death.

Br. Michael Mitov, the Canadian Field Bible Worker from Vancouver, gave the concluding service of the day. He spoke about the words in the Bible where it says that it is difficult to find a faithful man. There are people who are faithful in difficult times but during good times they are not. God wants us to be faithful at all times – good and bad. Saul did not exactly fulfill the commandment of the Lord. He was faithful in the big things but he did not fulfill the things that God told him. We must be faithful to God during every step of the way. We must go forward with Jesus in front of us leading the way.

On a beautiful warm and sunny Sunday morning, Br. Kanagarjah baptized four dear, young souls in the murky waters of Lake Ontario. These souls who had decided to dedicate their lives to Jesus were Debbie Conde, Emelina Garcia, Adam Luoranen and Bryan Urizar.

After returning to the church these new members were accepted into God’s church. All were happy to see these young souls give their hearts to follow the Lord Jesus. Following the acceptance of the new members Br. Cholich presented the new Canadian Field Officers to the church. He encouraged the new officers to perform their duties faithfully as well as all members to provide their full support to them.

Br. Gamallo then spoke again providing some very spiritual and encouraging words to all present. He spoke on how God made a pact with Abraham, with Moses and with Noah. The Lord wanted to be with His people so He called for them to put away their sins and to abandon their idolatry. The Lord wants us to be saved and He wants us to make a covenant with Him. If we look at the model of the sanctuary that God told Moses to build, it is the true pattern of the sanctuary that exists in heaven. Br. Gamallo had visual aids which served to illustrate the different aspects of the contents of the Ark of the Covenant and how they related to us and of their importance. Jesus had made a complete sacrifice for us – 100%. The Father was suffering through the crucifixion with His Son. The Lord wants a people that will make a 100% covenant with Him. He wants one true and faithful people. We cannot be saved at 99%. Jesus is interceding on our behalf at 100%. We need to renew our covenant with the Lord. We need to confess our sins to our Lord. He wants us to approach Him.

After listening to these words the whole congregation stood up and renewed their covenant with the Lord. There were also four souls who came forward as the altar call was made. Today there is still a time of grace. We need to renew our covenant with the Lord daily.

After a very uplifting conference the time had come for the farewell meeting. The workers and church leaders spoke words of encouragement to all. We were reminded that we had to remember the essence of Christianity – to love one another. Each one of us must think about what we can do for God so that we can finish the work. Let brotherly love continue. We need to pray one for another. God will help us with faith to go ahead.

It was truly a blessed conference with many special songs and music throughout the entire time. This added to making all the meetings more pleasant and special. We were also very thankful and privileged to have Br. Cholich visit us again in Canada.
Let us pray for the work all around the world, as well as in the Canadian Field. Let us go forward with renewed strength to finish the work and hasten the Lord’s soon coming.
AMEN.