TED News Bulletin
Trans-European Division of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
29 May 2008
In this issue:
-------------------------
* England: World Church Leader and Pastors in Conversation on Live TV
* Qatar: The Adventist Church Represented at Inter-Faith Conference
* Iraq: Iraqi President Affirms Christian Presence and Roots
* Latvia: The Greater Picture of the Health Message
* Myanmar/China: ADRA Responds to World Crisis
-------------------------
WORLD CHURCH LEADER AND PASTORS IN CONVERSATION ON LIVE TV...[TED
News Staff/TED News]
Chalfont St Peter, England - On 28 May Dr Jan Paulsen, World Church
President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church took part in a
conversation session with six pastors from Northern Europe,
broadcasted live by the Hope Channel.
After an introduction by Dr Bertil Wiklander, President of the
Trans-European Division, Dr Paulsen answered questions about
diversity, emphasising the richness that these groups add to the
recipient church.
Amongst the ten major questions he spoke to during the one hour
presentation were: reaching the post-modern mind; reclaiming "lost"
members; female pastors; giving young people more responsibility;
dealing with small churches; and the role of the church in its
community.
Dr Wiklander pointed out that this was one of a series of world-wide
programmes being aired on the Hope Channel, but it was the first time
that pastors from Northern Europe had been involved in the excitement
of a live broadcast like this.
The programme was coordinated by the General Conference Communication
Department, and facilitated by the British Union Media team.
The programme will be available at:
http://www.hopetv.org.uk/content/home/ THE ADVENTIST CHURCH REPRESENTED AT INTER-FAITH CONFERENCE....
[M. Phillips/TED News Staff/TED News]
Doha, Qatar - On the 13 and 14 of May, the 6th Doha Conference of
Interfaith Dialogue (among Jews, Christians and Muslims) was held
under the auspices of the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa, who in a spirit of promoting a culture of dialogue in
the region, has supported this initiative. This conference was
organized by the Ministry of foreign affairs, the Qatar University
and the newly inaugurated Doha International Center for Interfaith
Dialogue.
The overall theme was Religious Values: Perspectives on Peace and
Respect for Life. Ethical issues such as euthanasia, desecration of
sacred symbols, human trafficking and violence in media were
addressed together with some others more philosophical in nature such
as attitudes in each faith towards the other, spiritual values,
ideals, and some tragic issues that are a source of pain the region.
The conference represented a major undertaking by the Government of
Qatar who generously sponsored more than 160 international
professors, Rabbis, Sheiks, Priests, Pastors, wives, members of
various dialogue centers, ambassadors, journalists, researchers,
writers, etc. from 55 countries.
The structure of the conference was intended to promote learning but
also personal interaction. In each panel, Jewish, Christian and
Muslim views were presented, after which a period of discussion
followed. The organizers showed great wisdom by allowing adequate
time for networking during breaks, meals and free evening time. This
gave considerable interaction and enabled Adventists to share their
faith and belief. Anglicans, Armenians, Catholics, Copts, Orthodox,
and Seventh-day Adventists represented the Christian community.
Five Adventists participated in the conference, including Dr William
Johnson, Assistant to the World Church President on Inter-faith
Relations. The Global Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations was
requested to give two of the 26 papers that were presented during the
conference. One of the papers presented was on the topic of
'Desecration of Religious Symbol' and the other paper was on
'Attitudes Towards Other Religions'. Both presentations were well
received with many positive comments, and extracts of the paper on
the 'Desecration of Religious Symbols' was published in the local
paper.
The Adventist Church was represented at the opening of the new Doha
International Center for Interfaith Dialogue. It was decided that
working groups will be set up by the Dialogue Center for Interfaith
Dialogue to find ways to carry out what was recommended by the forum.
IRAQI PRESIDENT AFFIRMS CHRISTIAN PRESENCE AND ROOTS...[B. Fargo/MEU
News/ANN/TED News Staff/TED News]
Baghdad, Iraq - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani invited leaders from
the Seventh-day Adventist church 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.
In his after-dinner address to leaders of various churches, President
Talabani acknowledged that Christians were among the founders of
Iraq. He asked them to embrace their country and its history, and
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 colour and the sweet fragrance."
During the visit, the Christian leaders expressed some of their needs
and challenges to the president. He promised to study and follow them
up personally.
Baghdad Adventist Church Pastor, Fawzi Benjamin, represented the
Adventist Church during this event.
Today there are 171 Adventists in Iraq, worshiping in three churches.
THE GREATER PICTURE OF THE HEALTH MESSAGE...[TED News Staff/TED News]
Riga, Latvia - Members of the Riga Church, along with pastors from
Latvia, and some who travelled from further afield met to discuss,
ask questions and listen to evidence-based health lectures from the
leaders of the World Church headquarters (GC) Health Department.
Subjects were varied and ranged over general health questions,
vegetarian diet versus meat eating, the dangers of drinking even a
small amount of alcohol, the myths of some current so-called health
statements; and alternative medicines and extreme diets.
"For the first time," said one pastor, "I fully understand that our
health message to the world must be based on scientific and evidence
based facts; and as a result of today [that is the lectures listened
to], I realise that we should be proud of our health message."
Another said, "It was refreshing to hear the evidence presented by
doctors who knew what they were talking about, and yet to hear a
balanced approach to health."
Even after Drs Handysides (Director of the Health Department, GC) and
Landless (Associate Director, GC) had completed their nightly
programmes, people gathered around them to ask further questions, or
seek personal medical advice. "It has been a great privilege to be
here," said Dr Landless, "as we have tried to emphasise that health
is not an end in itself, but part of the special relationship God
wants with His children."
The health emphasis concluded on Sabbath (Saturday) afternoon with
Pastor Paul Clee (Health Director of the Trans-European Division)
speaking about exercise, and the correct use of natural remedies.
ADRA RESPONDS TO WORLD CRISIS...[ADRA UK/ANN/TED News Staff/TED News]
St Albans, England - The Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA) is stepping up its assistance to the survivors of two natural
disasters in East Asia in the month of May.
In devastated Myanmar (Burma), recent heavy tropical rains, boggy and
flooded roads, and the isolation of so many communities have made
distribution of relief assistance challenging. However, ADRA aid
continues to flow into affected areas in the Labutta Township of the
Irrawaddy Delta, where at least 150,000 people are receiving
assistance in the towns of Labutta, Myaungmya, and the Pyinsalu
islands, where ADRA workers were the first to deliver aid.
"Our teams spend 16 to 18 hours a day delivering rice bags to camps,
travelling by boat to reach the remote islands, and assisting in
setting up basic camps for the internally displaced people," said
Mark Castellino, programmes director for the ADRA network emergency
response in Myanmar.
Having also received well cleaning and desalination units from the
Swiss Government, ADRA has completed training of its field staff to
operate the units, and is currently assessing the field in
preparation for project implementation. ADRA personnel are operating
these water purification units in the region in partnership with
Muslim Aid.
ADRA's emergency response is centred in the devastated Irrawaddy
Delta region, which suffered the most damage as a result of cyclonic
winds that reached at least 120 mph (193 km/h). The United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported
on 18 May that up to 2.4 million people have been affected, of which
1.4 million severely.
ADRA is also partnering with the World Food Program to provide some
25 metric tons of rice to approximately 50,000 internationally
displaced persons in 14 camps.
ADRA's emergency response efforts to the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in
China are centred in the town of Jiulong in Sichuan province, where
about 12,000 people are expected to receive direct assistance. ADRA's
emergency personnel of 40 volunteers have already conducted the first
distribution of relief goods with the assistance of local
authorities.
The death toll has topped 67,000 with another 20,000 missing, reports
indicate. This disaster is considered the worst earthquake in China
since 1976 when another quake killed more than 240,000 people.
For more information, visit
www.adra.org..________________________________________________________________
TED News Staff:
Paul Clee, News Director and Editor
Heidi Kamal Kendel, Editorial Assistant
119 St Peter's Street, St Albans, Herts.,
AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: tednews@ted-adventist.org
Website:
www.ted-adventist.org TED News is an information bulletin issued by the Communication
department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European
Division. You are free to re-print any portion of the bulletin
without the need for special permission. However, we kindly request
that you identify TED News whenever you publish these materials.
Previous Topic
Index