ANNUAL REPORT – 2022-2023
PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
Birmingham, Alabama
July 14, 2023

As I’m completing my 2^nd year as your president, I’d be remiss in not thanking all of the Secretariat Officers, Chairs and Members for their on-going support and love for this ministry, and for investing their time, talents, treasures and thoughts!

As you may be aware, just about all of our work on the Secretariat is done at the committee level.  Since each Committee Chair has included a report of their activities for this past year, I’m not going to try to repeat what they’ve presented.  Instead, I’d like to point out, first, some stats for the year, and then some of the key issues your Secretariat has been dealing with, and finally, where we hope we are heading by this time next year.

STATS:  We seem to have come out of the Covid lockdowns fairly well, with most communities reporting solid restarts, and only one community being lost during that period:

• NEWLY CHARTERED COMMUNITIES: There are two newly chartered Communities this past year:
  • River of Grace (Texas)
  • Las Huellas de Cristo (Spanish speaking – Texas)
• COMMUNITIES DE-CHARTERED: Two communities lost their charter due to willful non-compliance with the Essentials:
  • United Tres Dias (a Chinese speaking community in California
  • Ottawa Tres Dias (a Canadian community).
• EMERGING COMMUNITY WITHDREW FROM TRES DIAS: One emerging community withdrew their request for charter due to their unwillingness to comply with the Essentials:
  • Agape Tres Dias (another Chinese speaking community in California).
• COMMUNITY FAILED FOLLOWING COVID: As noted above, one community failed to restart following Covid and subsequently disbanded:
  • Midwest Kansas City
• COMMUNITY REHAB EFFORT: One community agreed to undergo rehab under the direct supervision of Tres Dias International following a long trend of non-compliance with the Essentials.  That community, Tres Dias Con Cristo – a Spanish speaking community in Georgia – has successfully completed the rehab program and is now in compliance with the Essentials.  As of the date of this Assembly, they are again a fully chartered, self-governing community!
• IMPORTANCE OF COMPLIANCE: It is essential for the Tres Dias ministry to preserve and support all communities, and we are truly saddened when we must part ways.  However, compliance with the Essentials, By-Laws, and established policies is crucial for the ministry’s success. The International Secretariat is committed to working with any community that expresses a desire and willingness to align with the required standards.
• CURRENT STATUS OF COMMUNITIES. As of this date, there is a total of:
  • 90 Chartered Communities
    • 64 in the United States
    • 26 in other countries
  • 9 Emerging Communities
    • 8 in the United States
    • 1 in other countries

When I presented my first Annual Report to the Assembly last year, I pointed out some key principles that I believe we need to embrace to guide us in growing and safeguarding the ministry, and these principles have guided us in our decision-making process.  For instance:

• STANDING FIRM ON OUR PRINCIPLES: We understand that it’s reasonable for policies and procedures to change over time and circumstances PROVIDED the well-grounded principles are not impacted.  Our society has changed dramatically over the past few years so we do need to have conversations concerning our practices in order to remain relevant – but NEVER to the point of compromising our principles!  And those principles are as outlined in the Essentials of Tres Dias, our Statement of Belief and, of course, Holy Scripture as the basis for all.  All this to say that any changes that have been made or will be contemplated will be in full alignment with these core principles.
• CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE RELEVANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES WHILE IMPROVING COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN THE MINISTRY: Areas that we have been working on include:
  • A re-assessment of the training and qualifications of our Liaison Program to assure that Liaisons are effectively communicating and teaching on behalf of the International Secretariat. This will hopefully include an increase in the number of Liaisons.
  • Quarterly “Town Hall” Zoom meetings open to all community leaders have been resumed.
  • A private Facebook Group has been created to enable Pescadores around the world to communicate with each other and with the International Secretariat. As of the date of this report, the Group is about 3 months old and has over 500 members.  As noted, it’s open to ALL Pescadores.
    • To join us, go to https://facebook.com/groups/tresdiasinternational (not to be confused with our traditional Facebook page which is open to the public).
  • Unfortunately, the lack of manpower has prevented us from resuming a regularly published newsletter. To help make up for that, a monthly email from the President is being sent to all community leaders, former newsletter subscribers, and any other Pescadores who wish to be included.  The email then becomes a blog on the Tres Dias website and is posted on the private Facebook page.
    • If you would like to be added to the email list, simply contact office@tresdias.org and let us know your name, community and preferred email address.
  • The Liaisons, on behalf of the Membership Committee, will be setting up regional Zoom meetings with the communities they represent in an effort to improve communications and problem solving with each other and with the International Secretariat.
  • We’re hopeful that, in the very near future, our new website will be unveiled which will enhance our communication abilities.
• COMPLIANCE: As mentioned above, we have continued to monitor compliance with our core principles (Essentials & Statement of Belief) and are dealing more directly with communities who are found to be in non-compliance.
  • It’s noted that, in many instances, the lack of compliance is simply related to a lack of knowledge or training. In those cases, the communities are usually willing to come into compliance once they are made aware, so not much is said or reported formally in those cases.
• MOVING FORWARD:  Tres Dias is a microcosm of the greater Church and, therefore, we are impacted by all the forces – good and bad – that affect the Church.   A recent Barna survey conducted among Born-Again Christians (https://tinyurl.com/4ukwbp62) revealed some upsetting facts which will most definitely impact our ministry in the long-term:
  • Church attendance is down by 15 million people since 2020.
    • Much of that is due to Covid, but it was dwindling prior to that although the lockdowns sped everything up.
  • Only 44% of Born-Again Christians believe Jesus did NOT sin while on earth (that means that 56% either believed he did sin, or are unsure – and that’s ASTOUNDING because that’s one of the bedrocks of our faith!
  • 54% do NOT believe they have a God-given calling or purpose for their lives!
  • Only 48% believe that human life is sacred – which means that 52% don’t believe it or are not sure.
  • On a little bit of a bright side, 63% of Born-Again believers believe that God is the basis of all truth. That’s good, BUT it means that an astounding 37% don’t believe it or are undecided.

These are just some of the reasons that we MUST remain true to our principles and to scripture.  The secular worldview has infected our own people throughout the Church so, as a ministry, we must remain diligent and do what we can to counter that impact.

And frankly, that is exactly what we do:  Tres Dias is a discipleship ministry, and surveys of this nature show how badly true discipleship is needed within the Body of Christ!

WITH THAT IN MIND:  Please consider these concepts when making decisions on the local and/or international level:

1. 1. Keep our connections to the past intact so we’re aware of the Founders principles; be in the present to serve as needed; and always make decision with an eye on future generations.
   2. Changes in our policies and procedures are inevitable if we are to remain relevant. However, any changes MUST be faithful to our founding principles.
   3. Understand that our society is in serious trouble, as are many of our churches. We need to be prepared to impact the changing attitudes of Christians in all of our environments as more and more are being influenced by our secular culture.
   4. Remember that showing God’s Love through our personal one-on-one contacts is one of Tres Dias’ strongest ministry points. It’s not about events or activities – it’s about personal sharing and relationships; much of which has been lost in our high-tech/impersonal age.
      – When planning events, simply ask the question:  “If I perform this (non-Essential) activity – whatever it is – will it enhance the personal one-on-one contact that we strive for or will it detract from it?”

I’m convinced that if we work together as ONE BODY, focusing on the foundational principles that unite us, we will become even more empowered to share the true love of God to other Christians.  It means that we’ll have the assurance that candidates on our weekends, wherever they are held, will experience the true love of God and His Grace!  And make no mistake:  Our love of God, our reliance on the Holy Spirit, our faithfulness to Jesus, and our adherence to the teachings of Scripture are the absolute basis of our founding principles to which we are committed!.

So please engage as much as possible with your own communities, with International, and consider joining our private Facebook Page.  Your individual input is critical to this ministry and we’d love to hear from you.

De Colores!

Jeff Mehl
President
Tres Dias International