I’m sending this update with the high hopes of saying, with God’s help I hope to begin taping News, Nuggets, and Insights next week and have it ready to send to you next Friday.

It has been a long stretch since our last program. The “famine” of our program began with Hurricane IDA on Sept 29th. It was exactly 16 years to the day of Hurricane Katrina, the most deadly hurricane to hit the New Orleans area, and the most costly to hit this nation. Fortunately, God blessed us to have only minor damage. Additionally, one of our members, Hubbald Alexander was able to temporarily repair the roof and fix the internal damage caused by the water damage to get us protected from the elements.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have power restored for almost a month. Additionally Cox Cable was out. If you follow NNI, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Nearly every week their live streaming services fail. Even last Sabbath, we tried to live stream for the first time and it failed again.

By the time power came back, we were off to the FEAST. This year has been devastating. COVID seemed to have assaulted nearly every site for nearly of all the church of God community. This was quite a reversal from last year where almost no one was affected.

Like many others, Audrey and I began getting sick late at the Feast. We assumed it was simply a flu bug. But just days later, I found myself in the hospital for two weeks. It was a tough stay with nine days spent in ICU. (Thankfully, Audrey’s was not as serious.) Following the hospital stay, I’ve been on home oxygen. One of the painful things was receiving texts daily from Audrey and others of all the other brethren who had caught COVID. Some who were also in the hospital, and some who had succumbed to the virus. There was plenty to think and pray about while being bedridden.

This was a long way to say, it’s been just over two months since our last NNI.  There have many obstacles and concerns to overcome, one of the greatest has been seeing the world changing so rapidly, and not being able to address the issues to bring to God’s elect. One of the biggest that comes to mind is the warnings of the famine of the word found in the book of Amos. (Amos 8:11-12)

We know time is growing short and we need to be busy. I am still on oxygen, but getting much better every day. God willing we’ll be able to tape a new program next week. It might be shorter than the full hour, but God willing there will be a program. There is a lot to talk about. Please keep us in your prayers that there will not be any more delays.

Thank you for your patience, your prayers, and your support during these past two months; it has meant more than you may know. I’m looking forward to seeing you all next week on News, Nuggets, and Insights.

Have a blessed Sabbath and a great week.
Tom

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