ANN Bulletin - December 4, 2007 - unOFFICIAL ADVENTIST FORUM

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do.
And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with
– even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department.
Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. Romans 14.1: The Message

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#146460 - 12/06/07 08:48 AM ANN Bulletin - December 4, 2007
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 178 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church Worldheadquarters December 4, 2007 Please check out the new ANN Web site at http://www.news.adventist.org. In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mozambique: partnership between Adventist Church and government to battle illiteracy December 3 Maputo An initial 20 literacy centers set to open January 1 in nationwide effort Dominican Republic president meets with church leaders December 3 Santo Domingo Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders met with Dominican Republic's President Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reina on November 22 to discuss the church's work on the island and worldwide. ADRA expands response for survivors of Bangladesh cyclone November 30 Silver Spring, Maryland The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is expanding its response to meet the immediate needs of nearly 20,000 additional survivors after Cyclone Sidr made landfall over the low-lying coast of Bangladesh on November 15. Adventists Around the World December 4 Silver Spring, Maryland Oakwood College to become university -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mozambique: partnership between Adventist Church and government to battle illiteracy December 3, 2007 Maputo ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miguel Simoque, Education director for the Adventist Church in Mozambique and Maria da Conceicao Bila, secretary of the country’s Ministry of Education, agreed to a partnership on November 20 that will result in 20 new literacy centers in the country beginning next year. Less than half of Mozambicans are literate, with statistics even lower among women and those in rural areas, national estimates indicate. [photo: courtesy Mozambique Union Mission] Under a new literacy education program, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mozambique is partnering with national leadership to address the country's abysmal illiteracy rates, including among new Adventists. An agreement signed November 20 by the church's Education director, Miguel Simoque, and Maria da Conceicao Bila, secretary for Mozambique's Ministry of Education, is an attempt to boost the nation's estimated 47 percent literacy rate. At the signing, Bila noted the Adventist Church's worldwide emphasis on education. With the partnership, "we are saying that we want to learn and grow with Adventists," Bila said. "The church has grown rapidly among recent migrants to the city, often faster than church buildings can be erected," church leaders said in an outline for the Mozambique Literacy Program, which is set to begin in January. The launch will include 20 literacy centers throughout the country. Illiteracy among new Adventists is "glaringly evident," the program outline continued, calling for programs that "enable [these new Adventists] to move into the mainstream of church life and [into] more active participation in the economy." Church leaders in Mozambique report that the country's war for independence, beginning in 1962, and ensuing civil wars left the country's educational infrastructure in shambles, resulting in at least two generations without a functioning school system. The conflicts and civil unrest also led to mass migrations to the outskirts of the country's urban areas, particularly its capital, Maputo. There, church officials said, many subsistence farming families -- no longer able to practice their former livelihood -- are crammed in ramshackle shanty towns made of mud brick, thatch and tin sheets. Today, less than half of the country's overall population, and less than one third of Mozambican women, can read and write. In rural areas, an estimated 81 percent of women are illiterate. Under the November agreement, the Adventist Church is responsible for running and staffing literacy centers throughout the country, which will be located at newly built Adventist churches. Church leaders plan to hire an initial staff of 700. Mozambique's Ministry of Education will train staff and stock the centers with literacy curriculum. "We are praying that God will find resources not only for 20, but for 200 facilities by 2010," Simoque said at the signing. Simoque and other church leaders said they anticipate the program will not only improve literacy in Mozambique, but also build a strong relationship between church members and the communities where they live. Dominican Republic president meets with church leaders December 3, 2007 Santo Domingo ... [ Libna Stevens/IAD/ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez Reina, second from left, met with Adventist Church leaders at the National Palace on November 22 to learn about the church’s work in the nation and around the world. From left, Moises Javier, treasurer for the church in the country; Cesario Acevedo, the region’s church president; and Silvestre Gonzalez, the church’s executive secretary. [photo: courtesy Dominican Union] Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders met with Dominican Republic's President Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reina on November 22 to discuss the church's work on the island and worldwide. The one-hour private meeting at the National Palace was the first such meeting between national leaders and a religious non-Catholic organization, Adventist leaders said. "We had the opportunity to meet with President Fernandez and tell him about the Adventist Church's work in educating youth, strengthening families, serving the community as well as its medical work," said Silvestre Gonzalez, executive secretary for the church in the Caribbean nation of more than 9 million. President Fernandez thanked the nine church leaders for the meeting. "We are so busy in our work that sometimes we fail to see that there are valuable groups like you that can do so much for society, for the benefit of others," he said. Cesario Acevedo, president of the church in the Dominican Republic, gave words of encouragement to Fernandez and offered a prayer for the leader and his government. The Adventist Church, with its more than 238,000 members in the Dominican Republic, operates 92 elementary and secondary schools, one university, six radio stations and one hospital. ADRA expands response for survivors of Bangladesh cyclone November 30, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland ... [ Nadia McGill/ADRA/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADRA staff distribute food vouchers to survivors in the Barguna district after Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh November 15. More than 3,200 people died in the disaster. [photos: ADRA Bangladesh] ADRA's initial response used boats to transport and distribute food packets to survivors. Survivors in Bangladesh’s Barguna district head home after receiving emergency supplies distributed by ADRA. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is expanding its response to meet the immediate needs of nearly 20,000 additional survivors after Cyclone Sidr made landfall over the low-lying coast of Bangladesh on November 15. United Nations officials report that more than 7 million people have been affected, with 3,243 deaths and an additional 880 missing. In cooperation with the country's Barguna District, ADRA is distributing a two-week packet of oral-rehydration salts and emergency food to survivors in three villages where 236 people died. The villages, Dhakin Jarakhali, Chaulapara, and Uttar Jarakhali lost about 85 percent of its homes. About 90 percent of the region's crops were damaged by the cyclone and nearly 70 percent of its livestock was lost. Designated beneficiaries are also receiving emergency temporary shelter materials and non-food relief items, such as bedding, household kits, and vegetable seeds. The four-week project is valued at nearly $250,000, and is financed by ADRA International and ADRA supporting offices from around the world. The Government of Bangladesh estimates that more than 1.8 million acres of crops were damaged, with more than 523,000 livestock killed. Public buildings were affected as well, with 1,374 educational institutions destroyed and another 8,635 damaged. For more information, see http://www.adra.org. Adventists Around the World December 4, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland ... [ Compiled by ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oakwood College to become university Seventh-day Adventist Church-owned Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, United States will become Oakwood University starting January 1. Constituents of the historically black educational institution voted the name change December 2. School administrators said the board of trustees had considered the change since June when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools approved the college?s first graduate degree -- a master of arts in pastoral studies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- news.adventist.org ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors. Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices and the world headquarters. Reproduction Requirements: Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged. When reproducing this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must appear under the headline or immediately following the article. The words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be given equal prominence to any other source that is also acknowledged. Ground 7 News Podcast: Ground 7 News is a review of news and information issued by the Communication Department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist News Network. Reproduction of the ANN podcast is encouraged. When rebroadcasting this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be mentioned before and after the podcast. ANN Staff: Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant; Natacha Moorooven, proofreader. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
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