Bulletin of Prophetic Historicism

19 March 2018                                                                          Editor and Proprietor

                                                                                                   Edwin de Kock

Bulletin #34                                                                                       

The editor/proprietor assumes responsibility for his own contributions. He is not, however, responsible or liable for the ideas expressed in pieces by other writers, also sometimes mentioned or cited.

                                      A Special Celebration

     Friday, March 9, was Edwin’s 88th birthday and a joyful day for our family. At the Golden Corral in McAllen, we had a meal together with our sons. Carl, the younger, also lives in the nearby Edinburg. André, however, was there after traveling by bus some 2,400 miles, all the way from Redding, northern California. The next day, at our Mission Hope church, during potluck there was a big white cake with the number 88 on it, and many photos were taken. All of this was most gratifying, but Edwin was even more pleased about two books that were now ready for publication.

     The first was his masterpiece, La Konflikto de la Epokoj (The Conflict of the Ages), an epic poem in Esperanto, the International Language, already referred to in Ria’s Corner. The other one, which has for several months been occupying Edwin’s attention, is the Spanish translation of his Christ and Antichrist in Prophecy and History (2001, 2013), a very popular work. This new book is titled Cristo y Anticristo en la Profecía y la Historia. Its origin and present status is quite a story.

                                  Origin and Present Status

     It was translated by a gifted friend in Cuba. He sent it, chapter by chapter, as e-mail attachments to Edwin, who does not speak much Spanish but can read it fairly well. He had to reformat it and then transmitted it in the same way to Dr. Byron S. Villacorta, an El Salvadorian research scientist now living and working in Australia. After editing it, he e-mailed its chapters back to Edwin, who incorporated them into a master manuscript. This was then submitted to two other men for their input.  One of them is our dear friend Esteban J. Hidalgo, who a few years ago was the youth pastor at our local Edinburg church but later left to lecture at our university in Puerto Rico. He is now a Ph.D. student in continental America. The other is Dr. Hector E. Ramal. He used to head the Theology Department at Monte-morelos University, Mexico. In 2003, he had been so impressed with Edwin’s Christ and Antichrist that he invited him to come and lecture there as part of a symposium on prophecy. Already att that time, he recommended that this book be translated into Spanish.

     Both these friends suggested some further improvements to Cristo y Anticristo en la Profecía y la Historia.

     But how could we afford its publication? A few days before his birthday, Edwin had lunch with a special celebrated friend, who is not a Seventh-day Adventist, who handed him the two necessary checks to pay for the printing and related expenses. What a wonderful gift!

     In the meantime, another friend, Norma Fleitas of RGV Promos and her designer prepared the four-color front and back covers, which are the same as for the English Christ and Antichrist, except that the text is in Spanish. For this artwork, there was also no charge. Please support our precious sister with your business if you need flyers, banners, T-shirts with beautiful text on them, or other promotional material. Her website www.rgvpromos.com show samples of her products on the Internet.

     On his birthday, Edwin also forwarded this final part of the manuscript to Patterson Printing in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

     Within two days the proofs for the whole book landed at our gate. Edwin optically scanned its pages for possible problems, approved it, and mailed it back to the printers. We expect to receive the first copies within the next month or so.

     Cristo y Anticristo will retail for only $19.95, plus shipping by media mail, for readers in America. Unfortunately the postage for sending it out of the country will be more than the price of the book itself, and people south of the border are generally poorer than here.

     For our Cuban believers, the prospects are worse. First, in that country, the normal price of the book almost equals a monthly salary. Second, because of the embargo, copies cannot be sent in by mail but could only be taken in as personal luggage. We decided to donate 100 copies for this purpose.

     For potential buyers in other Latin American countries, we can drop the price to $10.00. Kind friends, will you perhaps be willing to help with the postage? Other suggestions are also very welcome.

                           Resuming Our Prophetic Bulletins

     Our last Bulletin reached you on or just after 20 September. That was five months ago, which left an uncomfortable silence. We apologize. Fortunately, in the meantime, two letters from Ria’s Corner, dated 6 November 2017 and 12 January continued our communication, while Edwin was fruitfully preoccupied with the books referred to above.

                                      The Unfinished Work

     Increasingly we read speculations about how soon the Lord Jesus will return. Will he suddenly appear next week, a few months into the future, next year, or when?

     Recently we were shocked by the statistics for 2015 that we found in the Adventist World of February 2018. A graph showed the “Number of Adventist Members per 10,000 Population in 2015.” Globally there were 26.06, which really is not many. But what startled us was that most of our members—namely 65.72 per 10,000—live outside the 10/40 Window. And inside it? Fewer than per 10,000! In Myanmar there is, according to this month’s Adventures in Missions, 1 SDA for every 1,695 people and in neighboring Thailand only 1 for every 4,246. Both are Buddhist countries, with altogether 123 million inhabitants.

     What is meant by the 10/40 Window? Look at the following map and read about it.

     The 10/40 window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist and Partners International CEO Luis Bush in 1990 to refer to those regions of the eastern hemisphere, plus the European and African part of the western hemisphere, located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, a general area that was purported to have the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the Christian message and Christian resources on the planet.

     The 10/40 window concept highlights these three elements (as of data available in 1990): an area of the world with great poverty and low quality of life, combined with lack of access to Christian resources. The window forms a band encompassing Saharan and Northern Africa, as well as almost all of Asia (West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and much of Southeast Asia). Roughly two-thirds of the world population live in the 10/40 window, and it is predominantly Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animist, Jewish, or       atheist. Many governments in the 10/40 window are officially or unofficially opposed to Christian work of any kind within their borders. (Source: Wikipedia)

     Two-thirds of the world’s population, which still knows very little about our Lord and hardly touched by the Three Angels’ Messages! But Jesus gave his disciples a Great Commission to preach the Gospel, the good news of salvation through his merits, to all the world, including the 10/40 window. It must go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, in all of the 7,000 languages on earth.  God has Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animist, Jewish, and atheist children whom he wants to reach and wants us to bring into the marvelous light with which he has entrusted us.

                                     Something to Remember

     Near the beginning of his ministry, after he had preached to a multitude standing on the shore while he sat in Simon Peter’s boat, the Lord Jesus said to him: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” He responded that he and his companions had been fishing all night but had caught nothing, but he would obey. The results were hugely spectacular. They caught so many fish that they had to call on James and John in the other boat to come and help them. The net tore and both craft began to sink. Thereupon Peter fell down at the knees of the Saviour, who was still with them, and said: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” But the Master answered: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” That is, they would become fishers of men.  So all these disciples brought their boats to the shore and left them there, the catch included, to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11, NKJV)

     After the Lord’s resurrection, the apostles were at first not sure exactly what to do and how they would make a living. He then repeated the miracle. Involved once more were six of his disciples. They were again at the lake of Galilee. Peter said he was going to do some fishing, and the others joined in. But once more, all night, they caught nothing. Then Jesus appeared on the shore and called out, asking them about their success. They acknowledged their failure.

     But he said: “Cast the net on the right side, and you will find some.” They did so and caught 153 large fish, which they dragged ashore in the net, which this time did not tear. In the meantime, Jesus was standing at a fire with fish on it, where he also had bread. He told them to bring along some of the newly caught fish. Then he said: “Come and eat breakfast.” Afterwards he especially spoke to Peter, who had thrice denied him before his crucifixion but now, also three times, had to confess his love for the Lord. (John 21:1-24, NKJV)

     But casting the Gospel net on the right side or the other side, as some have put it, also has another application. It is not to expend our means and energy on working for the same people over and over again, while we neglect vast multitudes that the Lord also wants us to reach.

                            What, Concretely, Can Be Done?          

     Begin with prayer and realize that God himself is at work in many ways. Some of his heirs to salvation, especially Muslims, are reached through dreams. We have read about angels who have at times appeared to guide searchers after truth to get in touch with Seventh-day Adventists. But beyond that the Lord especially wants to use people like us to. We must focus on the needs of the 10/40 window and find ways to enter those forbidding areas.

     As two seniors we are especially interested in ministries that do so and, to the extent that we can, are privileged to contribute our mite to some of them.

     One of these is Adventist World Radio. It even reaches into atheist North Korea. We pray that war will not devastate that peninsula but that a way will be opened for the Gospel to enter into all of it, as it did in what used to be the Soviet Union.

     Three others are Adventist Frontier Missions, Laymen Ministries International, and Gospel Outreach. Since both Edwin and Ria are very much interested in truth-filled literature, they find Jeff Reich’s LMI very appealing. It was been involved in providing translations of The Great Controversy into both Hindi, the premier language of India, and Mandarin Chinese. The latter can be read by more people than those who know English, Spanish, German, and French combined.

     Then there is Gospel Outreach. It funds the training and work of Seventh-day Adventists who live in the 10/40 window. These laborers for the Saviour are natives of their countries and therefore know their language, culture, and historical background. They can be most effective workers. More than 90 percent of the donations to Gospel Outreach are sent overseas to help them. Those who administer it in America are unpaid volunteers.

     Many other groups as well as individuals are also engaged in ministering to the Lord’s work in the 10/40 window. Please pray and help where you can. Jesus is not going to come before his Gospel has been thoroughly preached in those countries, too.

                      Other Personal News

     Edwin’s health is basically unchanged, and he believes he will be enabled to continue with his ministry. At present, our friend in Cuba is also translating The Truth About 666 and the Story of the Great Apostasy. He has already finished the first volume and sent it here as an e-mail attachment.

     Ria must still receive the results of allergy tests and a sinus CT-Scan to diagnose the nature of her ailment and why she has been so weak for many months. She apologizes for her failure to communicate with her loved ones and friends to the extent that she would prefer.        

                                         Web Site Linkage

     Many more details about Edwin’s publications, our activities, and previous Prophetic Bulletins appear on our Web site: www.propheticum.com. We can be contacted by e-mail at edwdekock@hotmail.com, or snail-mailed to Edwin de Kock, 12916 Los Terrazos Boulevard, Edinburg, Texas 78541, U.S.A. Please, we need your help in promoting these doctrinally and prophetically sound books through your recommendations, personally or by e-mail. If you have a Web site, kindly mention us there and supply a link to our Website.