ANN January 11, 2005 - 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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#21913 - 01/12/05 02:31 PM ANN January 11, 2005
Stan Jensen Carpe Diem!!! Registered: 09/15/06 Posts: 3945 Loc: 49.05° Lat- 122.3° Long	ANN Bulletin Adventist News Network Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters January 11, 2005 In This Issue: --------------------- * ADRA President Visits Sri Lanka Disaster Sites * Indonesia: Disaster Response Continues, Clinics to Open in Aceh * India: Adventists Among Those Who Died, Suffered Loss in Tsunami; Aid Continues * World Church: Church President Says Each Tsunami Victim is 'Precious' to God * Fiji: Youth Congress Draws 1,800, AIDS Prevention Addressed * North America: New Study Guide on Sabbath-Keeping in Africa * News in Brief --------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ADRA President Visits Sri Lanka Disaster Sites Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [ADRA] ------------------------------------------------------- Charles Sandefur, president of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International, is in Sri Lanka visiting sites affected by the devastating tsunami. Sandefur arrived with an airlift, provided by the humanitarian organization Heart to Heart International, that included 40 tons of medical supplies, water filtration systems, and drinking water to be distributed by ADRA. "The magnitude of the disaster is like nothing I've seen," said Sandefur, who got an aerial view of the destruction earlier this week during a helicopter flight over the affected areas. "The country is lush and beautiful, but there is a point where that beauty stops and devastation begins." Traveling with Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, Sandefur visited an ADRA-supported camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Ham Ban Tota. During the visit ADRA provided approximately 2,000 people with 20 pounds of rice, powdered milk, oil and fresh produce. Sandefur also visited a water treatment unit run by ADRA that daily provides 50,000 liters. "I am incredibly pleased and proud of what our staff [is] doing here in Sri Lanka," said Sandefur. "They are working with their hearts and souls to make a positive impact on those affected by this tragedy." Sandefur is scheduled to visit affected areas in Phuket, Thailand later this week. ADRA is present in more than 120 countries providing individual and community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age or ethnicity. Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org. ------------------------------------------------------- Indonesia: Disaster Response Continues, Clinics to Open in Aceh Jakarta, Indonesia .... [Djoko Soewarso/AND/ANN] ------------------------------------------------------- As of Jan. 5, the death toll in countries affected by the December tsunami in South Asia has gone beyond 155,000 with tens of thousands still missing. Indonesia suffered the most deaths, with fatalities surpassing 100,000. Hundreds of thousands of others have been severely affected physically, psychologically and through a loss of livelihood. Reports from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Indonesia indicate that casualties in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province, reached at least 30,000, while Aceh Jayah province had at least 20,500 injuries reported. West Aceh (Meulaboh), also located on the island of Sumatra, registered 14,800 deaths with about 300 people still missing. Only the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the American Red Cross were said to be tending to the needs of those affected there. Dr. Reuben Supit, president of the Medan Adventist Hospital, 268 miles (431 km) southeast of Banda Aceh, reported that a medical expedition is planned for Aceh. The expedition is being coordinated by ADRA Indonesia with Bandung Adventist Hospital in Java, Bandar Lampung Adventist Hospital in Sumatra, and Medan Adventist Hospital, along with additional Adventist volunteers. Two medical clinics were to be opened under tents, and equipment and medicines were donated. An initial nine-day encampment in Banda Aceh was to begin on Jan. 6, Dr. Supit said. According to Dr. Supit, two American Adventist physician volunteers, Dr. Craig Thaya and Dr. Jeff Davies, are expected to arrive in Aceh, along with Robert Patton from New Zealand, formerly deputy director of ADRA Indonesia. Patton, based in Medan, will coordinate the overall activities of ADRA in the province of Aceh. The worldwide response to the disaster has been overwhelming. Fifteen Pathfinders from the Dubai Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United Arab Emirates have also chipped in and helped pack supplies collected for tsunami victims including clothes, food, shoes, blankets and other urgent supplies. These items were loaded into two 40-foot containers. Victor Harewood, pastor of the Southern Gulf region of the Adventist Church, which includes the United Arab Emirates, says many of the churches in that country have raised funds for South Asia. "The target for the Dubai church alone is 5,000 Dirhams (about U.S. $1,360)," he added. ------------------------------------------------------- India: Adventists Among Those Who Died, Suffered Loss in Tsunami; Aid Continues Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India .... [ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- Nine Seventh-day Adventists -- three children and six adults -- are known to be among the fatalities in 20 congregations located around the Bay of Bengal, part of the South Asia region struck by a deadly tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, church leaders report. Families in each of the 20 congregations suffered severe property and business losses as well. Aid is coming into the region from Adventist church members as well as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). While ADRA's relief is targeted to all in need, members of the world Adventist church family are also reaching out to their brethren in India. In the Tamil Nadu region, ADRA continues to provide 7,250 internally displaced persons, or IDPs, with food. Two water purifying units are also providing drinking water in this region. At the same time, losses among the Adventist family of believers are being keenly felt. News reports are not available from all areas affected by the disaster; however, the church's regional headquarters in India has provided details about the intense, local impact of the tragedy. In the Southern Tamil region, in Periyathazhai, 300 families are being fed three meals a day in an Adventist church building. These are all fishermen, and include 30 Adventist families in two villages who lost their fishing boats and nets. In Idinthakarai, a fishing village on the Tuticorin coast, 10 Adventist families lost their boats and fishing nets and are staying in an Adventist church near Vallioor. There, where it's expected that families will suffer economic loss for at least three months, the church is feeding 50 people three meals a day. There are seven Adventist churches on Rameswaram Island, whose membership includes 40 fishing families; all have been asked to vacate their villages. A new church was scheduled to be dedicated there on Jan. 1, but this was not possible as no one is allowed back on the island. In one Karaikal village, several Adventist families suffered individual losses, and building materials for a new school -- valued at U.S. $5,000 -- were also lost in the tsunami. The local pastor's motor scooter was damaged, as was his bicycle, both essential in reaching the community. The local church building was also damaged. In a second village, 20 families who had been preparing for baptism were among the 600 families who lost everything, including houses. The North Tamil region was also affected. In Cuddalore there are 15 Adventist families whose houses were damaged. In Pondicherry 10 Adventist families had houses damaged. The Adventist Church is feeding 200 people in Pondicherry every day. Also hit were the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, where Adventist work is concentrated in Port Blair. The church was damaged and will need to be replaced, officials report. On Nicobar Island, one church elder had a furniture workshop that was washed away. Adventist officials also met with the chief minister of Kerala state, Mr. Oomman Chandy, and donated funds for relief activity in the state. The church is also distributing rice to affected people in the region. "The Adventist Church in Southern Asia is doing what it can to help care for our members," said Pastor D. Ronald Watts, president of the church in South Asia. "Presently only feeding is going on and such immediate help as needed. More help will be extended as funds become available to help members," he said. More than 750,000 Seventh-day Adventists worship weekly in nearly 2,000 congregations in the Southern Asia region. ------------------------------------------------------- World Church: Church President Says Each Tsunami Victim is 'Precious' to God Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- "In the midst of this pain and suffering, these people are not forgotten by God. Each one is precious to Him," said Pastor Jan Paulsen, world president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in a statement commenting on the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami that struck Southern Asia, which he called "an unprecedented humanitarian disaster." "It is a tragedy on a scale that is difficult to comprehend," Pastor Paulsen said. "We see its continuing impact in the grief of those who mourn their loved ones; in the helplessness of the children who have lost parents; and in the desperation of survivors left without adequate food or water." Noting the location of the tragedy, he added, "It is a distressing irony that this disaster occurred in a region of the world that is not well equipped to cope with an emergency of this magnitude. The men, women and children who have been caught up in this tragedy are, for the most part, poor and already well acquainted with hardship." Pastor Paulsen, who formerly was board chairman of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and who, in more than 40 years of ministry, is well acquainted both with disaster relief and poor conditions in developing nations, urged members of the church to place a proper emphasis on responding to the disaster. "Now is not the time to ask 'why?' or to search for explanations -- some answers we may never have before our Lord returns. Now is a time to act; to reach out to our fellow human beings with compassion; to be Christ's visible symbols of hope in a situation where fear and hopelessness hold sway. This is what we are called to do," he said. "I trust that each one of you will do what you can to support the ongoing relief work with both your prayers and your resources, whether it is through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, or through other organizations engaged in this effort," Pastor Paulsen concluded. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, formally organized in 1863 in the United States, has 13.6 million baptized members, and 25 million people attending weekly worship, in 203 countries and areas around the world. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, or ADRA, has worked globally since 1984, carrying on an earlier tradition of Adventist community service. ------------------------------------------------------- Fiji: Youth Congress Draws 1,800, AIDS Prevention Addressed Suva, Fiji .... [Nathan Brown/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- Battling seasickness, 14 people traveled by boat for seven days from Kiribati to Fiji -- a distance of 1,256 miles (1,092 nautical miles or 2,022 km) -- to attend the first-ever South Pacific Adventist youth congress, outside of Australia or New Zealand. They were among the 1,800 who attended the six-day congress starting Dec. 30, at the FMF Dome in Suva on the island of Fiji to share, serve and celebrate diversity of cultures. Pastor Kabwata Toakai, group leader and director of youth ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kiribati, said the difficult trip was worth it. The group came by boat because it was cheaper than flying, allowing more young people to attend. "This is the largest group Kiribati has ever had at a congress such as this," he said. "Before we have had only one or two delegates. Having [this youth] congress in Fiji provided this opportunity to more of us." Kiribati representatives and others were able to hear several presentations on HIV/AIDS, community outreach and diversity. A Jan. 3 presentation held that young people are responsible for fighting HIV/AIDS. "Today's youth are the 'AIDS generation,'" said Dr. Arvin Chaudhary, director of HIV medicine for the Western region of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific. "They have never known a world without HIV. Millions of young people have already died from HIV. But it is largely a silent issue." Using medical and scientific evidence, Dr. Chaudhary upheld the church's belief that abstaining from sex outside of marriage and monogamy within relationships would help stem the spread of HIV. "HIV/AIDS is a behavioral disease. If we control our behavior, we can control the disease," he said. Another presentation dealt with how communities can help their young people address youth issues such as drug and alcohol abuse. The prescription is as simple as caring, said international public health researcher Dr. Gary Hopkins, an assistant professor of health promotion and education at Loma Linda University, California, United States. "This effect can be seen in medical treatment," he continued. "For example, research has shown that people who are battling breast cancer live longer and recover better if they are supported by a group of people who care for them." Congress participants also celebrated diversity with a Saturday evening concert. More than 500 performers from at least 11 countries sang, danced and shared other aspects of their unique cultures in a colorful and energetic celebration of the many cultures of the South Pacific. "We need to understand, appreciate and perpetuate what is best in each of our cultures," said Dr. Erika Puni, a Samoan and a leader of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific, based in Sydney, Australia. On the first day of the congress, participants were divided into small groups, which met each day to build friendship, discuss life issues and pray together. The groups were also challenged to consider service to others as a lifestyle. Many attendees took that message literally and took several opportunities to give back to their host country. They helped raise money to support the primary school at Fulton College by getting their hair braided, raising more than FJ $700 (U.S. $416). Congress participants also worked with the Suva City Council where one project included cleaning up central Suva. "A lot of people coming to Fiji, particularly from Australia and New Zealand, were almost more interested in what service opportunities we could give them rather than the congress itself," said Pastor Gilbert Cangy, director of youth ministries for the Adventist Church in the South Pacific. ------------------------------------------------------- North America: New Study Guide on Sabbath-Keeping in Africa Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Taashi Rowe/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- For those who have always wanted to study the origins of the Biblical Sabbath in other parts of the world beyond North America, comes a new study guide that explores Sabbath-keeping in Africa. Some 800 ministers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were among the first to receive copies of the study guide for the book "Sabbath Roots: the African Connection" at Oakwood College in Alabama, United States, in December 2004. The book, published five years ago, pulls together research from historians and theologians that shows that Sabbath-keeping has been going on in Africa for centuries. Adherents to the keeping of the Biblical Sabbath refer to the first book of the Bible where God set aside the seventh day of the week for man to fellowship with him. Charles E. Bradford, the book's author and former president of the church's North American region, says the book connects the keeping of the Biblical Sabbath in Africa with Psalm 68:31. The text says: "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." He sees the text as prophesy coming true as Christianity on that continent continues to grow in large numbers. He says that he also wants to recognize the part that Africa plays in Christianity -- something that has long been ignored by Euro-centric authors. The book was so positively recieved that it was only natural to provide a companion to help study the subject, says Nikolaus Satelmajer, associate ministerial secretary at the world headquarters for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. "[The book] opened a door to a whole new area of research that has long been neglected," says Satelmajer. Bradford says he had been interested in the subject for about 20 years. He also notes that Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Adventist Church, spoke of the importance of Sabbath-keeping churches in Africa. The book is an important resource to be used in congregations and for evangelism, says Douglas Morgan, Ph.D., who compiled the study guide. A history professor at Columbia Union College, in Takoma Park, Maryland, United States, Morgan has also used the book in his own classes to advance a more global view of Christianity. While many historians, such as Morgan, have been trained with the European and North American view of Christianity, there has been little scholarship on African Christianity. But that is changing, Morgan said, adding that there is a "major movement in the academic world to understand the history of Christianity in a more global way." Morgan is also part of a committee that seeks to advance that purpose. The primary purpose of the study guide is to try to get more people thinking and reflecting on the significance of select passages in the book, hey says. While the book is aimed primarily at African Americans, Satelmajer said the book is for everyone. It has even attracted interest from clergy members outside the Adventist community, he notes. The Ministerial Association became involved with the book because it is in keeping with its mission to provide relevant resources for pastors, Satelmajer says. "Church members ought to be exposed to the African roots of Sabbath-keeping," he comments, "especially since they have been keeping it there longer than anywhere else." Bradford agrees, saying that while the Sabbath-keeping culture probably stretches back to the beginning, it most likely originated back in the "days of King Solomon or with the Ethiopian eunuchs in Jesus Christ's day and the days of the apostles." While the Ministerial Association has no plans to translate the book into other languages, it is planning to make it available to pastors in Africa. For more information visit www.ministerialassociation.com. ------------------------------------------------------- News in Brief Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- "Let's Talk...Again" Ready For Distribution Worldwide "Let's Talk...Again" -- an hour-long, unscripted conversation between Seventh-day Adventist world church president Pastor Jan Paulsen and Adventist young people is being made available on DVD. The office of the world church president announced the release of the DVD Jan. 5. The event was broadcast from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, in the United States in September 2004 during which Pastor Paulsen answered wide-ranging questions from students. "Let's Talk ... Again" is the second in a series of conversations between the president and young people. The first was a conversation between the president and high school students held in August of 2003. Paulsen also launched a new Web site from his office called "Let's Talk," which can be found at www.letstalk.adventist.org. The Web site allows young people to go online and send questions and comments directly to the Office of the President, and participate in discussions. Young people are also invited to submit their artwork, short stories, photographs and poems to be viewed by the "Let's Talk" community. Copies of the "Let's Talk ... Again" DVD will be sent next month to Adventist colleges and universities worldwide, and to division and union youth directors. For information on how to obtain a copy, contact Jennifer Stymiest at stymiestj@gc.adventist.org. The full one-hour "Let's Talk...Again" program can also be viewed online at www.letstalk.adventist.org. ------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2005 by Adventist News Network. 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA 20904-6600 phone: (301) 680-6306. e-mail address: adventistnews@gc.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. Adventist News Network is a registered trademark of the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. Unauthorized use is strictlyprohibited. 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. ANN Staff: Ray Dabrowski, director; Mark A. Kellner, assistant director for news; Wendi Rogers, editorial coordinator; Taashi Rowe, editorial assistant; Lynn Friday, administrative assistant. French translation by Claude Fivel, Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara
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