Editor’s Note: In a March 26 statement shared to social media, Daniel Honoré, president of the Northeastern Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, shared that he has tested positive for coronavirus. His statement is included in full below:
A Personal Statement from Northeastern Conference President Daniel Honoré
A few moments ago, I received confirmation of something I have suspected for several days: I have Coronavirus. Last week my eldest son, who is a healthcare worker, also began showing symptoms. We are working diligently to keep other members of our family from being infected.
I share this deeply personal information with our church family for two reasons. First, I want to urge each of you to redouble your efforts to practice preventive measures. Secondly, we are receiving reports of cases in some of our churches. It is inevitable that members of our spiritual community will be affected and when this happens it is not a cause for shame or stigmatization. I want you to know that you are not alone. We will fight this together through prayer and healthy practices.
So far, my symptoms have been mild and so I remain in self-quarantine to ride this out. I will not be making any public appearances until I am cured of the virus. I solicit your continued prayers as we still believe that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Sincerely,
Daniel Honoré
President
The Northeastern Conference is a regional conference organized in 1945 within the Atlantic Union and is comprised of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The membership is over 58,000 according to the Adventist Yearbook.
Alisa Williams is managing editor of SpectrumMagazine.org
Image courtesy of the Northeastern Conference website.
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according to CNN, 80% of people who become infected with coronavirus can expect to self-recover…prince charles, boris johnson, rand paul, tom hanks, andy cohen, etc., will all likely be fine…
Let’s keep Pastor Daniel Honoré in our prayers, as well as the millions of people that may still be infected.
These are difficult times. And if drastic measures are not taken, it will be a major tragedy for humankind. We need to just disregard those who are minimizing this problem. They may be insane!
Exactly, Jeremy! The virus was treated as a “hoax” by the POTUS, and he refused to engage in ANY preparedness until very recently, showing total carelessness about American lives. Then, basically forced by the circumstances (people dying) he very reluctantly started doing something. Too little too late though. And now today’s briefing… full of lies and misrepresentations again. Just unbelievable! Hope your government is not treating you guys this way!
deena hinshaw, our chief medical officer for alberta, is getting very high marks from all over canada for levelling with us completely, yet inspiring us with hope…and prime minister trudeau, who grew a beard immediately after the xmas holidays, and so looks a lot more credible and serious (he had a cartoonish baby face that used to annoy me), is also getting very high marks across the country…again, it’s because he defers to the professionals, and when he does talk, takes pains to get his facts right…
total honesty and making the effort to get things right, instead of resorting to a blame game and conspiracy theories, are the only way to manage a crisis…
the thing i don’t get is that trump’s poll numbers are now higher than before…i guess americans love being lied to…or maybe they feel sorry for the guy, and believe they need to rally behind him for the sake of the country…but regardless, it’s scary what’s happening south of the border…you guys are now the world epicentre for this crisis, with the most cases, in terms of absolute numbers…
I watched Trudeau talking on TV this morning, and it was good. He seems on top of it. And his beard, yes, makes him look as an adult now… But his hair doesn’t come even close to our President’s hair…
trudeau’s hair is at least natural, as is his skin tone…honestly, it’s hard to say what trump’s up to…some days he really does look orange…i’ve read that he spends time in a tanning booth every week, but who knows what’s true anymore…
george, what do you make of the new GOP position, that society should return to work and willingly sacrifice the lives we know will be lost…the thinking is that shutting down society and the economy - and essentially killing everyone - in order to save the lives of the weak and the elderly isn’t worth it…
this seems to be a type of thinking springing up out of panic mode…glenn beck is championing it now…
Sounds like Glenn Beck has an agenda. Get the old folks to work and mingle. They get sick and die off and thin out the ranks for the monthly Social Security clients. Cuts down on future Medicare expenses; save the government $$$. Hmmm (Unexpected consequences of an idea that runs amuck)
personally, i’m a bit shocked, given that the GOP is so adamantly pro-life, sometimes even violently so…but i guess this position doesn’t apply seniors…
Babies are cute and cuddly. So it is easy to take a position to force a pregnant woman to have the baby. But then when it comes to supporting it and nurturing it, don’t put them on welfare. Make that deadbeat mother get a job. Don’t pay her a living wage so she can pay for child care. Make her work several jobs to make her way. And when the kid isn’t cute any more and has behavioral problems because there was no one at home to nurture it, there is always the juvenile justice system and a pipeline into the prison system.
The system is rigged so that people can feel good about those cute babies and loath those folks who are a drain on society. And COVID-19 might just be a convenient pandemic for our day.
The bottom line is: The Little Time of Trouble has begun. The Big Time of Jacob’s Trouble is not far behind. And God is about to put an end to humanities inhumanity to humans.
Henry, i appreciate that many posters give their opinions and qualify what they say with 'I believe" or “i feel that” or “this is my opinion”.
I find your statements arrogant because you make them as a statement of fact:
“The Little Time of Trouble has begun” etc
Out of respect for others on our forum, could you not have a little bit more humility and admit that these are your opinions, based on your research, but are not fact?
I’m sure there are many, like me, who are dedicated Christ followers, who wish you all the blessings that can be enjoyed. Yet your tone and insistence on your views being fact put a barrier between us. I would appreciate if you acknowledged the uncertainty. Even in these last few days before your proposed timeline of events play out. Would that be possible?
I sense we as a people have a peculiar solidarity on this very thing, as evinced on these boards on an hourly basis. I could give you specifics, but in the interest of allowing myself the luxury of being wrong-and allowing them to by some strange happenstance be right, I won’t.
interesting…do other parts of our church believe this…
i’m not so sure i subscribe to your view that trump won’t finish his first term; that mike pence (michael) will stand up for his people - and presumably you’re saying a president pence fulfills Dan 12:1; that a war with iran will then commence; and that this war will then lead into the national sunday law in the u.s…i’m thinking you’re being a bit narrow in your approach to the prophecies in daniel, which i believe are broader than incidentals like the stepping down of benedict and brexit…
as i see it, of far greater concern to us should be events like the latter rain, the sealing, the winding up of IJ, the close of human probation, the seven last plagues, and the false second coming, all of which must precede any national sunday law…and superceding all of this, of course, should be another manifestation in our church of a genuine case of the gift of prophecy, which we are definitely looking and praying for…
I must agree that I tend to come across as opinionated. For that I apologize.
But from my study of Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy:The Little Time of Trouble has begun! It is not an opinion, it is a fact that I cannot soft peddle. My study also indicates that President Pence is about to implement the 666 Mark of the Beast.
The dilemma: know the truth and say nothing out of a respect for others’ opinions or say something that is not politically correct? Or say the truth in such a way that it is politically correct and have it come across as this might be or it might not be…
Out of respect for Jesus, I am obliged to teach the truth as I understand it relating to the Third Angel’s Message and out of respect for the sleeping saints, I am obliged to tell them that their house is on fire without alarming them when I attempt to alert them to the danger.
Many dedicated followers of Christ need to know:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hosea 4:6)
Correct me if I am wrong but Hosea was saying that God’s people are going to be destroyed. Not heathens or unbelievers. And since judgment starts at the house of God, we need to join together to get the right message to the people at the right time.
I appreciate your counsel. I just do not know how to sugar coat the message without sacrificing the sleeping saints to their complacency.
Thank you for your reply. But, again, two things you repeat:
1.It’s a fact - well no, its your belief, but that doesn’t make it a fact.
2. Others are complacent if they don’t agree with your opinions.
Henry, kindly: please do not judge others when you know nothing about our lives, our personal connections (unbreakable) with our saviour, how we spend our days and wait and wish for a new world.
You see, it’s not about tomorrow or next week, it’s about this minute. Who am i trusting? If my life is in Gods hands, then I can rest and not be fearful of the future.
But his hair doesn’t come even close to our President’s hair… 
