In Brief... World News Review
Beyond Today Magazine
World News and Prophecy: November 1999
Course Content
Will American ships be blocked when a crisis arises?
On December 31, 1999, the United States will formally hand over total control of the Panama Canal and withdraw its troops from the canal zone. This is in accordance with the treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1977.
The canal has been a vital sea link for the United States, saving military and commercial ships the long trek around Cape Horn. More than 15 percent of goods imported into and exported out of the U.S. pass through the canal.
A major concern over continued free access to the canal comes from the fact that Panama has granted a Chinese company, Hutchison Whampoa, Ltd., a 25-year concession to operate the Atlantic and Pacific entrances. Because Hutchison has ties to the Chinese Communist Party it is feared this important waterway could come under the control of China. American leaders fear that U.S. naval ships could be denied access to the canal at a time of international crisis (Forbes, October 4, 1999).
Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43 years. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. He also is a resident faculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren.
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Peter serves at the home office as Media and Communications Services operation manager.
He studied production engineering at the Swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and is a journeyman machinist. He moved to the United States to attend Ambassador College in 1980. He graduated from the Pasadena campus in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and married his college sweetheart, Terri. Peter was ordained an elder in 1992. He served as assistant pastor in the Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, California, congregations from 1995 through 1998 and the Cincinnati, Ohio, congregations from 2010 through 2011.
