ANR Bulletin
Adventist News Review
Trans-European Division of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church

19 January 2005

In this Issue:

* England: Youth rally 'sing a new song' at Wembley
* Serbia: The glimpse of hope in the heart of despair
* Poland: ADRA-Poland wins 'web-page of the week'
* TED Prayer Guide for week 23 ? 29 January


YOUTH RALLY 'SING A NEW SONG' AT WEMBLEY

LONDON, ENGLAND [ANR] ? On Sabbath 8 January over 2,000 young people
came together in praise and worship at the Wembley Conference Centre,
London for a Youth Rally organised by the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in the South of England (SEC). The theme for the day, which
also included an evening concert, was "Sing a New Song". The guest
speaker for the day was Pastor Ron Halverson (Junior) from America,
who presented two gripping sermons.

The SEC Youth team constructed the worship services to be simple and
uncluttered, allowing the emphasis to be on the words of the speaker.
A musical introduction was given by praise leader Paul Lee and his
team, who led out in a number of well-known worship songs.

Pastor Halverson caught the imagination of the young people with his
message and many expressed the view that the sermons could have been
longer. The morning's sermon based on Matthew 27:38-44 focused on the
painful paradox, 'He saved others, himself he cannot save'. "Jesus
chose to remain on the cross for all of us" said Halverson, "so that
we may live. He put us before Himself and paid the ultimate price".
He then went on to explain that it was the power of Jesus' love for
us that kept Him on the cross, not the nails.

Adding humour to his sermon Pastor Halverson told of his experience
as a young basketball player. Many related to his story illustrating
the need to seek God for His guidance, especially when the temptation
to do wrong becomes overpowering. "It is during these times that we
should stand up for Jesus," he said. "How is it possible for us to
forget to do so when He chose to remain on the Cross for our sake?
Even while He was being mocked by the crowd, Jesus still stretched
out His hand to the human race as He said 'Father forgive them'."

Working from Exodus chapters 3 and 4, Halverson's second sermon,
entitled 'Here I am Lord, send Aaron', described how Moses walked up
the mountain towards the burning bush to satisfy his own curiosity.
"It wasn't really his problem" he said, "he just wanted to watch, not
to hear or be part of it. But before he knew it, Moses was standing
on Holy Ground. He wanted to turn and run; this was not his plan! But
he wasn't quick enough. Moses was called by name." Halverson
explained, "It's not about how far or how fast you run, once called
the fire will always burn within you".

The Sabbath was closed with a lively evening concert featuring
singing, poetry, and cultural story telling. An important part of the
concert, though not in the original plan for the day, was a special
collection for the ADRA-UK Tsunami Disaster Appeal.

[Jacqui Grant/ANR]


THE GLIMPSE OF HOPE IN THE HEART OF DESPAIR

?ID, SERBIA [ANR] ? In the small town of ?id, in the North-West of
Serbia, Professor Radisa Antic, PhD, held a series of evangelistic
meetings from 3-12 January entitled "The glimpse of hope in the heart
of despair". Although it was the Orthodox Christmas Season the church
was packed with visitors each day.

Over 150 people attended, many of them professionals and from various
religious backgrounds including Atheists. At the close of the
meetings, 84 non-Adventists expressed an interest in the beliefs of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church and were given a book entitled 'I am
the Way the Truth and the Life' telling more about the truths that
are taught by the church.

"I am extremely pleased to meet people who are interested in
understanding more about Jesus Christ through the teaching of the
Bible", says Radisa Antic. "World events seem to have an affect on
the interest and receptiveness of people in religious matters and
maybe the Tsunami in Asia has started people thinking and wondering
about life in general. Obviously the story of Jesus can provide hope
to people in these days. There is no good or bad time for mission, it
is the time now!" Antic continued, "Five of the visitors who already
had a religious background, approached me and requested baptism". The
70 regular members of the Adventist church have been really kind and
hospitable to these newcomers.

[Miodrag Zivanovic/ANR]


ADRA-POLAND WINS 'WEB PAGE OF THE WEEK'

WARSAW, POLAND [ANR] ? Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
in Poland was originally registered under the name 'Christian Charity
Services' (Chrzescijanska Sluzba Charytatywna) due to some problems
registering the name 'ADRA'. Consequently their web-page, which has
been running for over a year and is visited by many people, still
exists as "ChSCh" (Christian Charity Services).

The programme, 'Portal Panorama of Religions', which chooses some of
the best web pages each week awarding them the title 'Web-Page of the
Week', last week awarded this prestigious title to the web-page for
ADRA-Poland (www.chsch.org.pl) with the following letter. "It is with
pleasure we inform you that the web page http://www.chsch.org.pl was
chosen as a 'Web-Page of the Week' in Panorama of Religions. I hope
that this information (together with our enclosed logo which you may
use on your web-page) will help you with the growth of popularity of
your valuable page."

"This is the third success for our church on the Internet" says Roman
Chalupka, Communication Director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church
in Poland. "Twice now, they have recognised our web-pages
"nadzieja.pl" and "hope.pl" which is now one of the best Christian
web pages in Poland and receives over 70,000 hits a month. We are
hoping that ADRA's web page will soon be as well known and rewarded,
affording them more opportunities for doing better work for others."

[ANR Staff/ANR]


TED PRAYER GUIDE FOR WEEK 23 ? 29 JANUARY

ST ALBANS, ENGLAND [ANR] ?
I asked God to take away my bad habit.
God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it
up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No. His spirit is whole and his body is only temporary..
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn't
granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings
you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make
you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said, Ah, finally you have the idea..
(by Anon)

Prayer Requests:

1. God?s love to be reflected through you to all you come in contact
with.
2. ADRA staff in your country as they carry out ADRA?s special
ministry of love to others.

[Roy Richardson/ANR]


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ANR Staff: Miroslav Pujic, news director, Beverly Coysten, editor
ANR, 119 St Peter's Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: anr@ted-adventist.org
Website: www.ted-adventist.org

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