ANN Bulletin - August 12, 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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#180504 - 08/14/08 12:04 AM ANN Bulletin - August 12, 2008
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 183 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters August 12, 2008 In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Church Chat: Why the church can't slacken its abuse-prevention message Small on community, government partnerships against abuse; 'Why shouldn't we join them?' August 8 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Adventist Southern Asia church president Watts resigns Family medical needs prompt departure from India August 7 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States United States: First Adventist woman commissioned to serve as Navy chaplain Townsend calls military 'mission field' August 8 Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States Adventist storefront church leading community-based evangelism Conscious Café offers Pittsburgh nontraditional ministry; 'If this is a church, I'm coming back every day' August 5 Carnegie, Pennsylvania, United States ADRA provides aid to Ukrainian flood victims Days of storms "worst of century" August 8 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Church Chat: Why the church can't slacken its abuse-prevention message August 8, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Adventist Church's annual Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day, held August 23 this year, is part of a wider effort to curtail abuse within and outside of the church by changing attitudes, says Heather-Dawn Small, Woman's Ministries director for the world Adventist Church. [photo: Megan Brauner/ANN] Excuses cannot be part of the church's message against abuse. So says Heather-Dawn Small, the no-nonsense Trinidadian who helps craft the world Seventh-day Adventist Church's formidable yet sensitive approach to abuse prevention. Since she began directing Women's Ministries for the world church in 2001, Small, 50, has fought reluctance by some within the church to admit the reality of abuse. She applauded the church when it voted to add an Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day to its calendar of special Sabbaths, now held the fourth Sabbath of every August. But with local pastors telling her that 70 to 80 percent of their home counseling focuses on domestic abuse, she says the remaining 364 days are just as vital. Given her ambitious travel schedule, luckily the former director of Children's and Women's Ministries for the church in the Caribbean is fond of flying. But helping church members respect each other and become partners in the church's ministry is what propels her. In the run-up to the church's seventh annual Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day, August 23, Small spoke to ANN about the church's responsibility to convince every member that abuse is unconscionable, regardless of culture or upbringing. And, she explained that while the church is not equipped to comprehensively handle abuse, it can and should serve as a conduit, connecting abused women to local legal and counseling agencies. Excerpts: Adventist News Network: Since the Adventist Church established Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day, what specifically has been addressed? Heather-Dawn Small: We've focused on child abuse and domestic violence, particularly spousal abuse, which is a big problem in the church. During the first couple of years, most of what we emphasized was creating an awareness of abuse in general. It's only in recent years that we've begun to deal very specifically with topics, such as Abuse of Power, which is this year's theme. ANN: Are your efforts well received? Small: We've generally gotten very good feedback. There are those people who still think, 'Well, do we really need to handle this in the church?' or 'Do we have to bring this up on Sabbath?' But that attitude is getting rarer. It's more like it was long overdue that the church would actually have an abuse prevention day and that materials would be provided. ANN: You travel extensively. Where do you find that the church's anti-abuse message is best latching on and what tactics seem to be most effective? Small: I just got back from Uganda and Kenya. In Africa, there is definitely a lot of progress being made. Because of the culture in some of these countries, abuse to some extent is almost regarded as a "right" of the husband. I know in the Caribbean, where I come from, that was a longstanding problem. It isn't now, but it took years and years to reverse that thinking. In countries where that mindset is still pervasive, the church is partnering with governments and other churches to speak out against it and launch programs that will sweep through the community, not just within the church. It's more effective than for us to try to do it on our own. If there is a community-based program or government initiative against domestic violence already there, why shouldn't we join them? ANN: What would you single out as one of the biggest challenges the church faces in working to end abuse? Small: There's very little we can do to immediately change the mindset of the man, and sometimes even the woman. As we keep talking about [abuse prevention], attitudes slowly change. You see, it doesn't happen overnight. Some people may think, 'OK, fine, we've talked about abuse,' and then forget about it, but it's only as we reiterate our message and keep it at the forefront that things begin to change. ANN: How far-reaching is the church's message against abuse? Are there limits to what the church can accomplish? Small: Our goal is to create environments where women feel safe opening up. I think that's one of the roles that a Women's Ministries department fills -- it's a place where women can feel safe approaching a leader or another woman and saying, 'Listen, I have a problem.' This has happened to me countless times as I've traveled and I always try to connect these women with a social worker through the local Women's Ministries director. As a church, we are not equipped to properly handle addressing the abuse itself, even though we are creating an awareness of the problem. That's why we have to partner with legal and counseling agencies that are already in the community. ANN: The church doesn't cite abuse as a valid reason for divorce. How do you advise women who are in dangerous and unworkable situations? Small: Being a pastor's wife for many years, and now directing Women's Ministries, the immediate concern is for the wellbeing of the woman and her children. In many cases, the woman has to escape. Of course the challenge is that if there are no shelters, where does she escape to? Church members are sometimes afraid to open up their own homes in case the husband comes and harms them as well. Sometimes the church will help the woman relocate. I know the question of divorce can get quite complicated, and while I don't see it being an immediate option, I'm not going to rule it out because there are women who have resorted to divorce when their husbands refuse to get help. But our immediate concern is that the women get out of the environment if it is harmful or hurtful. ANN: You've said that it's difficult to change ingrained attitudes toward abuse. At what age can children begin to learn appropriate behavior patterns so that new generations can hopefully reverse old thinking? Small: In South America, the church has a program targeting elementary children. They create characters and stories with pictures that teach kids about child abuse and domestic violence. There are materials available, people go into the schools dressed up as these characters -- they sing, they act, they dance and the kids learn how to respect others and how to respect themselves. Their theme right now is Abuse of the Elderly. I visited Brazil earlier this year and was amazed by how well thought-out the program is. And when we start with the children, we're looking at the next generation coming up. When we put into their minds the importance of respect for others and themselves, I think that message is going to stay with them, and it's impacting their parents as well. ANN: Have you noticed any factors that seem to influence attitudes toward abuse? Small: Social standing and education levels, unfortunately, mean nothing, whether we're talking about the abuser or the abused. This is such a big challenge. We'd like to be able to say education level changes things, that people begin to see that this is wrong, but we don't see that happening. ANN: For Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day resource materials, you've said that you're now honing in on specific abuse topics rather than the more umbrella-like treatment of previous years. What themes have yet to be addressed? Small: While we've talked about child abuse, we've not specifically targeted child sexual abuse, but I think that -- as you can see from the news -- this is a huge problem. Similarly, when we've talked about spousal abuse, we've not talked about the abuser. I think that's something we're going to have to deal with. Do we just condemn these people, or do we still consider them children of God? After the abuse itself has been addressed, after the law and social workers have gotten involved, do we seek to rehabilitate the abuser? We also need to find what it is that causes young women to stay with a man who is abusive, even before they're in a marriage. We're discovering that quite a lot of domestic violence begins long before the vows are said. We need to ask how we can help young women make the right choices and see themselves as being worthy of something better. Adventist Southern Asia church president Watts resigns August 7, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Megan Brauner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ronald Watts speaking at the Adventist World church session in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, in 2005. Watts recently retired as president of the Southern Asia Division, one of 13 divisions of the Adventist world church. [photo: Chris Drake/ANN] Ron Watts, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Southern Asia Division, resigned from his position last month due to family health concerns. He is currently residing in the United States with his wife Dorothy. "With deep regret, with counsel and with prayer we decided that I should tender my resignation from the division officer assignment," Watts said. "I will continue to serve as division president until another person is elected to this role... [and] until that person reports for duty." Watts held the position of division president for the India, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan regions from 1997 until his resignation this year. Prior to serving as division president, Watts spent 16 years in India working in different capacities. He also worked at the Review and Herald Publishing Association in Hagerstown, Maryland, United States, as the editor of Celebration magazine, and at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, as the director of volunteers. The Southern Asia Division executive committee will meet September 9 to elect a new division president. The candidate chosen by the division executive committee must also be voted in by the executive committee of the world church at its next regular meeting, which will be held October 10 to 15 in Manila, Philippines. Watts said he plans to continue working for the church in another assignment after the transition from president is complete. United States: First Adventist woman commissioned to serve as Navy chaplain August 8, 2008 Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States ... [ Keri Suarez/ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adrienne Townsend accepts the oath of office to serve as the first Adventist woman chaplain for the U.S. Navy during a July 24 ceremony. Townsend brings a background in education and psychology to military chaplaincy, which she calls a "mission field." [photo: courtesy Andrews University Office of Integrated Marketing & Communication] Adrienne Townsend accepted the oath of office and was officially sworn in July 24 as the first Seventh-day Adventist woman to serve as an active duty chaplain in the United States Navy. Lieutenant Junior Grade Townsend said her four years as associate dean of women at Adventist-owned Andrews University prepared her for chaplaincy and called her new post a "huge mission field" where she could minister to similarly aged young people. "I feel God has laid the foundation for me here to go out into the military and reach those who need to hear about Christ," Townsend said. "I want Christ to be glorified and God to be seen as real for everyone I come in contact with." Townsend, who holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews, brings a background in education and psychology to her new position. While studying theology, Townsend met a Navy recruiter and first felt called to chaplaincy. Townsend's post is an "encouragement" to other Adventist women feel similarly called to ministry within the military and who "find the traditional roles limited," said Chaplain (Colonel) Gary R. Councell, director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries for the world church. Councell worked with Townsend over the past two years to prepare her to meet the military and denominational requirements of her post. Lieutenant Christopher Carmichael, a Navy representative from the Navy Officer Recruiting Station in East Lansing, Mich., presented Townsend with her Presidential Appointment signed by President George W. Bush. Seminary Chaplain James North delivered the oath of office. Once stationed, Townsend's duties will include leading worship services, providing counseling and visitation services and performing ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. --Andrew Campbell contributed to this story Adventist storefront church leading community-based evangelism August 5, 2008 Carnegie, Pennsylvania, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A group of local teenagers frequents Conscious Cafi, where manager Andrew Clark has opened his doors to young people seeking a safer alternative to street life. His ministry is part of a broader trend toward church-led projects tailored to a community's needs. [photos: courtesy Conscious Cafi] A local teen paints over graffiti in downtown Pittsburgh. Clark, who directs Adventist Community Services for the city, regularly recruits the teenagers who hang out at Conscious Cafi for community outreach projects. What downtown Carnegie needed four years ago, Andrew Clark remembers, wasn't an Adventist church but a cafi. In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, which flooded Carnegie in 2004, locals who waded it out petitioned businesses afterward to move downtown to help rejuvenate the area. Hoping to draw people downtown and jumpstart economic growth, they asked specifically for an establishment with comfortable seating and free Wi-Fi, says Clark, who directs Adventist Community Services of Greater Pittsburgh. With funding from the local church conference, Clark established a cafi with an attached used bookstore, expecting to attract twenty- and thirty-somethings looking for a good read and a cup of tea. Instead, local teenagers began frequenting Conscious Cafi, prompting Clark to redefine the now-thriving ministry. "I remember the first three kids who came in," Clark says. "When I saw them, I thought, 'Great, this place is gonna go downhill.'" When the teenagers asked Clark if they could eat snacks they'd picked up at the dollar store in his cafi, Clark told them, "Fine," but remembers his eat-and-get-out attitude. Then he says God impressed him to let them stay: "He said, 'You know, this is My ministry, not yours.'" When one volunteer called Clark "pastor" in front of the teenagers, they asked where his church was. "'You're sitting in it,' I told him. And he said, 'Well, if this is a church, I'm coming back every day and I'm bringing my friends,'" Clark remembers. He did, and Clark soon opened the store's second floor, which the teenagers christened "The Upper Room." They hang out, eat together, play games and help out with ACS community projects, such as housing rehabilitation. They follow their own list of rules, which include 'respect each other' and 'no cursing.' "It's just somewhere I can go where I don't have to worry about people trying to pressure me to do things I don't want to do," says Jake Crawford, an Upper Room member. "I tell my friends, 'Hey, stop by. It's a cool place to hang out.'" On average, Clark says about 20 teenagers come through the store -- some grab a drink, others stay for the day. Special events, including Saturday morning church-like programs, draw up to 50. "Pretty much whenever they show up, we open the doors," he says. Clark, 31, overcame a drug addiction earlier in life and says sharing his testimony creates a trusting environment where the kids can open up. "It's not so much, 'I'm going through drug addictions too, can you help me?' as it is, 'Can you help me understand my parents?'" Clark says the majority of the kids who hang out at Conscious Cafi are there because they want to get off the streets and away from drugs and other negative influences. Parents and community members appreciate the safe environment, he says. After all, "they asked for it." That underlying need is what propels the ministry, Clark says. "When you look at our church's history, it really started on the basis of mingling with people, sympathizing with them, meeting their needs and winning their confidence, and then making them disciples, not the other way around," he says. Ask Clark what the linchpin of successful ministry is, and he'll tell you, "Know why you're doing it. I've never seen a ministry start in genuine sincerity and not be successful." Nothing throttles a ministry quicker than ulterior motives, Clark says. "If you're just trying to build a church, get recognition, or feel good about yourself, that's not in the interest of the community." Such so-called "social evangelism" is anchoring a new wave of Adventist ministry, says Sung Kwon, who directs Adventist Community Service for the church in North America. "Traditionally, Adventists have been very passive. We've tended to proclaim a 'come and see' attitude," Kwon says. "We are now learning to be more proactive, to 'go and help' instead." Conscious Cafi is one example of this trend toward more engaged ministry, Kwon adds. "There are many ways, but I am convinced we have to meet people's needs. Jesus said, 'I came here to serve.' As Christians, what more can we do?" Clark, too, says service should dovetail with Christian witness. "We need to plant more ministries and grow churches from them, not plant churches and think, 'Maybe ministry will happen.'" For more information about Conscious Cafi and Adventist Community Services in Pittsburgh, the local humanitarian arm of the church, visit www.consciouscafe.com and www.acsgp.org. ADRA provides aid to Ukrainian flood victims August 8, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ ADRA/ANN staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After thousands of Ukrainians lost their homes to severe flooding, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is distributing food and personal items to more than 1,300 survivors. Torrential rains hit western Ukraine last month, leading government officials to call it the worst storm in a century. The region is suffering from the aftereffects of heavy rains that the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergency reports covered more than 40,000 homes and thousands of acres of farmland. The United Press International reported 30 people dead after the storms. For more information, visit www.adra.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant; Megan Brauner, 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. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.6.3/1610 - Release Date: 8/13/2008 4:14 PM
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