From the Editor

Andrew & Saskia Smith

Dear Friends

November 2003 is about to finish
and it would seem the world stage is heating up in many critical
areas. Iraq, Turkey, Korea – Britain, the USA – the
EU - Israel… There’s certainly no shortage of
current affairs activity to discuss relating to bible prophecy.
We will certainly be bursting at the seams by March 2004 when the
first Omega Times quarterly reaches you.

This is our last edition of the
Omega Times monthly newspaper, which began back in December 1989,
serving initially as the ministry newsletter for Barry Smith. The
editor and creator of the Omega Times was Johnie Koutsimanis (my
brother in law), before it was passed on to Dennis and Rebecca
Capell (my sister and brother in law) for a 12 month season.
Johnie then continued the work until April 1999 when I was asked
to take on the role as editor.

I would like to sincerely thank
Johnie, Rachel, Dennis and Becky for their contributions to this
publication which has challenged and informed readers about the
immanent return of Jesus Christ the Messiah over the last
fourteen years. I pray that God will bless you for your work.

I would also like to thank Keith
(Barry’s Ministry Administrator until April 2003) and
Angela Jones, Paul (Omega Times layout) and Jessica Jones and
Barry and Caroline Neale for their efforts in producing and
distributing this publication… which has included many
evenings of folding, stapling and applying stamps. For the last
nine months Saskia and our children have performed the
‘folding’ duties – and Andrew and Jacqui Watson
have assisted me with some of the writing. To you all –
many thanks.

Finally, I need to acknowledge the
work that my father Barry put in to writing articles for this
newspaper. He was gifted and called for the task – and his
labour was certainly not in vain - as many, many testimonies
verify. It did cost however – he spent countless hours
working through correspondence, newspapers and books in order to
present ‘the gospel.’ Thank you Mum for supporting
this man in his calling, I know the Lord has a very good
memory.

You will note a number of Barry
Smith articles reproduced in this edition of the Omega Times. It
seemed appropriate to re-focus on what Barry believed would take
place prophetically over the coming decade – we can gauge
for ourselves. I have also re-run an article “She went home
uninvited but received a warm welcome”. More and more
people are questioning issues of life and death, and eternal
security. This is found in ‘The Pendulum is swinging’
section - I trust we can see beyond our personal subjectivity and
conditioning.

“To know what you prefer,
instead of humbly saying amen, to what the world tells you to
prefer, is to have kept your soul alive” Robert Louis
Stephenson.

I had the privilege of conducting
my father’s funeral July 11, 2002. He asked me in January
of the same year to do this for him and I remember saying to him
“You’re not planning on going anywhere are you
Dad?” To which he replied “It will come soon enough,
and I trust you to do it well son.” Sure enough, five short
months later we were grappling with the end of an era.

The whole experience of saying
goodbye to Dad was pretty surreal. I’m slowly getting used
to the idea now.

After the funeral – a most
difficult and yet sweet experience, a dear friend Marcus Ardern
came up to me and gave me a little message he had scrawled on a
torn piece of paper. I still carry it around with me as it has
proved pertinent in my journey.

“Don’t hang on to the
past so much that you lose your future. Sometimes you need to
give up that which is familiar and feels safe. It could be
preventing you from the adventures and risks that help you
discover your strength. Holding too tightly to what know can
prevent you from having what you could have, and being loved by
those who await you.”

So, by faith we are making this
move, allowing closure to what we know, and allowing the birth of
something fresh and new. This has always God’s way for his
children – by faith!

If it wasn’t a walk of faith
– it would be a struggle of acceptance, so I really prefer
to put my faith in ‘the One’ I can trust.

I would like to commit two final
thoughts to you, taken from Colossians 2:10 and Psalm 139.

1. We are complete in Him –
but must accept and acknowledge this for
ourselves if it is to be true. This means we will become
more interested in pleasing Him, than pleasing the onlookers,
including our well-meaning brothers and sisters.

2. We are fearfully and
wonderfully made – designed carefully and lovingly, with
purpose written all over our hearts.

The word and work of
‘reconciliation’ has been given to us who believe,
and I pray that you too will experience the wonderful freshness
of singing a new song unto the Lord in these incredible days in
which we live.

Thank you for your support and
prayers

God’s blessing and love

Andrew & Saskia, Daniel,
Anneke, Anneliese & Tessa.