ANN Bulletin - May 20, 2008 - 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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#171302 - 05/26/08 08:18 AM ANN Bulletin - May 20, 2008
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 163 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters May 20, 2008 In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese church leaders call for prayer, help after earthquake Eight Adventist churches leveled; Sabbath worship still on May 15 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ADRA effort continues amid concern over aid distribution Food, supplies reaching survivors, relief workers say May 19 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Iraqi president affirms Christian presence, roots Adventists join other Christian churches at presidential residence May 20 Baghdad, Iraq Religious freedom association to launch first symposium in Mongolia Important first step for IRLA, religious leaders say May 15 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Inter-America: A breather for overburdened pastors Priorities sometimes muddled amid overwhelming schedules; overseeing 24 churches May 20 Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Health leaders urge churches in Jamaica to serve as counseling centers National Council on Drug Abuse offers training for ministers May 20 Kingston, Jamaica -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese church leaders call for prayer, help after earthquake May 15, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Ansel Oliver/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite some congregations losing their churches in a May 12 earthquake, some Seventh-day Adventists in China are still planning to meet for worship this Sabbath, church leaders said. Adventist leaders are also calling for prayer after the 7.9 earthquake in Central China killed thousands, destroyed buildings and left many people buried. Several Adventist Church members have died and several are buried, said David Ng, a ministries director for the church's Chinese Union Mission. "Please continue to pray for those families who have suffered and those who are helping," Ng said in a May 15 e-mail. Chinese officials reportedly said the 7.9-magnitude earthquake has so far killed nearly 35,000 and left 26,000 buried. An additional 14,000 are still missing. Ng said eight Adventist churches were destroyed. The Adventist church in the city of Chengdu has gathered limited funds to purchase food, water and other necessities to distribute, Ng said. Roads are blocked to Hungpai in the region of Shifang, leaving colleagues and volunteers to search for church members in area with few signs of life, he said. Chinese officials say 80 percent of the buildings have collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province, home to 7,210 Adventists. The church's Chinese Union Mission has arranged for fellow workers to visit church members in the disaster area. The church's Chinese Union Mission is accepting donations, which can be marked "Helping Churches in Disaster." ADRA effort continues amid concern over aid distribution May 19, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADRA's established position within Myanmar is aiding its response to widespread devastation following a cyclone last week, officials of the Adventist Church's humanitarian agency said. [photo: Steve Tasker/ADRA/ANN] Adventist Development and Relief Agency efforts in Myanmar continue despite international claims that the country's government is mishandling the distribution of some outside aid two weeks after a cyclone decimated the nation's coastal regions, an ADRA spokesperson said. "The shipping and distribution of ADRA emergency supplies and food in Myanmar has not been hampered, despite ... reports that relief aid has been diverted," Julio Munoz, ADRA bureau chief for Marketing and Development, said in a May 19 statement. "All ADRA aid intended for survivors is reaching the target communities," he added. The humanitarian agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is delivering food, clothing, medicine and other relief supplies to survivors of the two-day storm with its partners, including the World Food Program. ADRA's longstanding presence in the southeast Asian country is facilitating its relief efforts, ADRA officials said. ADRA staff is working from its headquarters in Yangon with emergency response teams in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta to expand the flow of aid, ADRA officials said. Only 20 percent of some 2.5 million survivors have received even rudimentary aid, the United Nations reported May 18. Steep increases in deaths from starvation and disease continue to concern government and aid agencies. Official estimates indicate more than 78,000 have now died. Another 56,000 remain missing, leading U.N. officials to project the death toll will eventually soar to more than 100,000 in the country of nearly 50 million. Iraqi president affirms Christian presence, roots May 20, 2008 Baghdad, Iraq ... [ Basim Fargo/MEU News/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani invited the Seventh-day Adventist and other Christian churches to a formal dinner at his residence last month to affirm their unique role in Iraq's historical and cultural heritage. Baghdad Adventist Church Pastor, Fawzi Benjamin, represented the Adventist Church during the April 26 event. In his after-dinner address to leaders of various churches, President Talabani acknowledged that the Christians were one of the founding inhabitants of Iraq. He asked them to embrace their country and their history. He encouraged them not to leave Iraq in spite of the difficult situation the country is passing through. The president concluded his speech by declaring, "Iraq is a large garden and the Christians are the flowers in this garden. If we lose them, we lose that beautiful color and the sweet fragrance." The Christian leaders expressed some of their needs and challenges to the president. He promised to study them and follow up personally. There are 171 Adventists in Iraq worshiping in three churches. Religious freedom association to launch first symposium in Mongolia May 15, 2008 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia ... [ Ansel Oliver/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Graz, secretary-general of the International Religious Liberty Association, says Mongolia's first religious liberty symposium will include experts from Mongolia, Russia, other areas of Asia, and the United States. [ANN file photo] Religious freedom proponents are hoping Mongolia's first symposium on religious liberty later this month will increase awareness and lead to a large-scale religious liberty conference next year. The May 29 symposium, co-sponsored by the Mongolia's Council of Religious Affairs under the nation's president and the International Religious Liberty Association, could pave the way for the country to play host to the 3rd Asian Congress on Religious Liberty. "The government seems very positive and appreciative," said Glenn Mitchell, an IRLA representative from the Adventist Church in Northern Asia. "The president has been advised of this symposium and is giving it his support." The Northern Asian nation is home to about 2.6 million people, 50 percent of whom are Buddhist. About 40 percent claim no religion. "Religious freedom is generally respected in Mongolia, which is rather a remarkable exception in this part of the world," said John Graz, IRLA secretary-general. "This will be a first for Mongolia." Established in 1893, the IRLA has affiliated associations in some 80 countries and is the world's largest non-sectarian forum dedicated to religious freedom. Inter-America: A breather for overburdened pastors May 20, 2008 Punta Cana, Dominican Republic ... [ Libna Stevens/IAD/ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overloaded schedules fetter many pastors' ministries, regional church president Israel Leito said at the Adventist Church's first Ministerial Association Summit in Inter-America beginning last month. [photos: courtesy IAD] Magdiel and Raquel Garcia, who pastor 24 Adventist churches scattered across the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, say they depend on committed lay people for many day-to-day elements of ministry. More than 1,500 Seventh-day Adventist church members in Mexico call Magdiel Garcia "pastor." The number might not seem remarkable, but those members are scattered among 24 churches in the country's southern state of Chiapas. Each congregation sees Garcia on a tightly scheduled month-and-a-half rotation. "There's not a lot of time to spare," he says. Garcia is not alone. Recent burgeoning membership in the Adventist Church's Inter-America region -- now home to more than 3 million members -- is stretching the effectiveness of area pastors and cramping their time for family and personal spiritual growth, church leaders say. Ministry is suffering as a result, says the Adventist Church president for the region, Israel Leito. "Our growth outstrips our ability to produce ministers." Thirty-two other ministers in Garcia's region each pastor an average of 18 to 24 churches -- sometimes more. "There isn't a single pastor [here] who ministers to just one or two churches," he says. Garcia joined regional church officials and more than 900 other district pastors and their spouses April 30 to May 3 for Inter-America's first large-scale Ministerial Association Summit, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. With a 1 to 1,304 ratio of pastors to church members in the region, church leaders agree solutions are needed. But finding new pastors is not a quick or easy fix, church leaders say. "We are fighting a losing battle," Letio says. "Ten years ago we [said] an average load for a pastor should not be more than 600 or 700 members. But we have found that in many instances ... there are pastors who average 2,000 members." A survey of ministers' needs is currently underway in Inter-America. Expected to wrap up within the next four months, the survey will help church leaders better understand pastors' needs in the region. Garcia admits he sometimes struggles with time management. His wife, Raquel, is equally overbooked, overseeing Children's and Women's ministries, coordinating and training deaconesses and running local Dorcas Societies. Connecting with every single member attending the couple's 24 churches is nearly impossible, Garcia says. A second-generation pastor who says he still loves his job, Garcia depends heavily on "a lot of dedicated elders and laypeople." "I try to visit three of my church leaders' homes every time I visit a church. I generally can only visit elders' homes and depend on them to visit the members who are in need, sick and discouraged," he says. Learning to delegate routine aspects of ministry frees time for "the real work a pastor needs to do -- being a shepherd to his flock," says Hector Sanchez, director of the Ministerial Association in Inter-America and summit organizer. "We can accomplish so much more when we care, train, and inspire our church members to serve others," Sanchez told summit attendees. Carl Sterling, a 28-year ministry veteran who pastors seven churches in West Jamaica, agrees learning to delegate tasks gives pastors more time for one-on-one ministry. "We need to go back to ... [having] more of a personal contact with the members' needs, and study and pray with them," says Sterling, who visits three of his churches each Sabbath, ministering to members and even squeezing in a board meeting after sundown. Weekday services, visitations and street outreach campaigns fill the rest of his week. A father of two sons attending university and two school-age daughters, Sterling admits he finds little quality time to spend with his family. Garcia says he struggles with a similar situation. Family time is rare -- it's usually only once a week that he's able to set aside time for his wife and two small children. The seemingly impossible task of juggling church responsibilities and family commitments is a matter of priorities, Sanchez told summit attendees, who learned about marriage enrichment, strengthening families and how not to neglect their children as they lead their congregations. James A. Cress, secretary for the world church's Ministerial Association, commended IAD church leaders' efforts to address the challenges ministers face. "Church leadership can do nothing more important than affirming pastoral leadership in prioritizing ministry to their own families and training their elders and other church leaders to more effectively nurture the members and reach out evangelistically," he said. "We want to clearly emphasize to our pastors the correct order of priorities: to put God first, then family, then the church, and all else after that," Sanchez says. For more information on the summit and Inter-America's Ministerial Association, visit www.interamerica.org. Health leaders urge churches in Jamaica to serve as counseling centers May 20, 2008 Kingston, Jamaica ... [ Nigel Coke/ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Wendel Abel, head of the department of psychiatry at the University of the West Indies, urged churches to open their doors as counseling centers in a speech to Adventist health leaders in Kingston on May 18. His speech was part of a drug addiction conference sponsored by the Adventist Church in East Jamaica. [photos: Nigel Coke/ANN] Oneil Smith, a regional director for the National Council on Drug Abuse, offers training for ministers who would serve as counselors for people in need. Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Jamaica are welcoming a call from health officials to train pastors in counseling individuals as the nation faces continued social problems. Speaking at a drug addiction seminar hosted by the Adventist Church in Kingston May 18, Dr. Wendel Abel, head of the department of psychiatry at the University of the West Indies (UWI), said the Adventist Church in the Caribbean island nation is an ideal organization to offer such counseling because of its human resources and its message of health and temperance. "Open your doors and operate as counseling centers," Abel told Adventist health leaders gathered at the Kincot Adventist Church. "Those that embrace Christianity are better able to overcome addiction. This is so because personality problems are deep in the heart of the problem of drug addiction." A representative for the National Council on Drug Abuse offered assistance to help the church through training. "We have a structured program of training and we are willing to partner with the church in its efforts to fight drug addiction in our society, said Oneil Smith, the council's regional director for the country's eastern region. The three-day training would include basic counseling, referrals, stress management, the processes of addiction and in-depth analysis of the five most commonly abused substances. Church leaders said the offer will complement the church's goal launched last year for its congregations to serve as wellness centers. "We welcome the offer by the NCDA and will put plans in place for the training of our pastors and volunteers," said Pastor Milton Gregory, Health Ministries director for the Adventist Church in the West Indies. Surveys indicate drug abuse is one of the biggest problems facing elementary school students. A 2006 national surveyed revealed that 33 percent of students used alcohol before the age of 10. Drug use is a root cause of disciplinary problems in schools, health leaders said. The Adventist church in Jamaica recently launched the Jamaica Chapter of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (ICPA) in line with one of its strategic issues of Healthy Lifestyle. Founded in 1952, the ICPA is a nonsectarian, nonpolitical organization placing the spotlight on the science of alcoholism and other drug dependencies. It also seeks to reveal the impact of such dependencies upon the economic, political, social, and religious life of the nation and points out effective preventive actions. There are nearly 227,093 Adventists in Jamaica worshiping in some 600 churches. Nearly 1 out of every 12 people in Jamaica is an Adventist. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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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