ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
February 1, 2005

In This Issue:
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* World Church: Be Relevant to Community Needs, Health Experts
Challenge
* Nigeria: Visiting Speakers Aim to Strengthen Churches
* World Church: Massive Print Project Yields 14 Million Bible Lessons
* Adventist Health International Works to Improve Medical Facilities
Globally
* World Church: Liberty Magazine, Advocate for Freedom, Marks
Centennial
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World Church: Be Relevant to Community Needs, Health Experts Challenge
Orlando, Florida, United States .... [Ray Dabrowski/ANN]
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Even though the Seventh-day Adventist church has a 145-year history of
"practicing health reform" it still must evaluate the effectiveness of
its message in the communities it serves, says health experts.

Addressing a 500-strong audience of Seventh-day Adventist church
leaders, laity, and professional health specialists attending a health
summit in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 30 to -Feb. 5, Dr. James Kyle II,
voiced a challenge to revisit the way Adventists speak about and
practice healthful living.

"Our religious observance, our church going, our Adventist lifestyles,
while admirable, are not enough to please God and men," he stated in a
keynote address. Dr. Kyle was named last year as dean of the Loma Linda
School of Public Health and chairman of its department of health
administration. Among the issues of concern he identified is the often
overwhelming approach of relegating wholeness of life to a concept of
"don'ts."

"We don't eat meat, we don't smoke, we don't drink alcohol, we don't,
we don't, we don't. And for many, our health message has become the
standard by which we judge the truly converted among us," he stated.

"The gift of health reform in this church has much broader applications
than to simply make us all healthier," Kyle added.

Mark Finley, director of the church's Center for Global Evangelism who
is conducting an intensive health-outreach training program at the
Florida event, explains that meeting people's physical needs first is
"Christ's method of reaching people."

"Seventh-day Adventists view the gospel as physical, mental, spiritual
and social wholeness, therefore we cannot conceive the total health as
being without spirituality," Finley told Adventist News Network. "In
practice, this means leading people to an understanding of the God who
created them, and His essential principles of life and health."

"Understanding the spiritual component and putting it into practice
wherever Adventist communities are will allow us to make significant
changes not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us,
added Dr. DeWitt Williams, organizer of the conference. "That's why we
are talking about a holistic approach to our ministry as a church."

This is the fourth Health Summit organized by the church and the event
"is growing each year," Williams added.

Dr. Kyle said that "true success" in the church's health ministry "can
only happen when we are contextually relevant to the needs of our
communities." Commenting on the needs of today, he drew a parallel with
the biblical times and the experience of the ancient people of Israel,
who "neglected their opportunity to join the ministry of God by
helping the sick, the prisoners, the oppressed and the Gentiles ... Yet
as we participate in the inevitable social, economic, and spiritual
blessings of the Adventist lifestyle, we have become increasingly more
disconnected from the suffering of real people around us and less
capable of mingling with domestic outcasts."

"It's time for the church to confront the gates of addiction,
injustice, intemperance, and depression ... We need to engage not only
the communities where we live, but to systematically evaluate our areas
for how we can be of help to vulnerable populations that are in the
greatest need," Kyle stated.

Connecting the theme of the conference, "Empowering Health Leaders to
Reach the Unreached," Kyle stressed the disconnect that often permeates
a one-sided mission approach of many. He encouraged the church to
engage in a deeper role -- "to lead [the people] to discipleship, not
just conversion."

"The community is calling us," said Dr. Williams. "That's why we have
here such an array of people and approaches to offer and make our
response relevant and responsible. This summit offers a best slate of
authorities, scientists and medical experts, and among the obvious
advantages of being here is that participants can not only get good
materials and hear great experts, but also receive appropriate
certification in a given subject. We are taking this approach because
we are aware of trends with some of our church members opting for
alternative medical options which often have little scientific
background in what they offer."

The courses offered at the summit address a holistic lifestyle with
courses covering emotional, mental, physical health and financial
health. Instruction is given on such topics as vegetarian cooking,
forgiveness, regeneration, depression recovery training, coronary
health improvement, and lifelong weight management.

Pastor Jan Paulsen, Seventh-day Adventist Church world president, is
expected to address participants at the conference's conclusion.


"What you see at this event is a smorgasbord of topics and tools to
help your church become a center where people can come to improve their
lives," comments Dr. Allan Handysides, health ministries director for
the Adventist world church.

He added that the summit is the biggest such gathering in the
Adventist world church. It is organized by the , North and Inter
American regions of the church, but is now attracting participants from
Europe, the Philippines and Singapore. "We are international and
diverse in our church. The materials can be adapted to fit the context
where they are to be used," said Handysides.


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Nigeria: Visiting Speakers Aim to Strengthen Churches
Abuja, Nigeria .... [ANN Staff]
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A month-long evangelistic outreach in Northern Nigeria, recently in the
news because of a religion-incited strife, will aim to communicate the
Christian message to the local population while strengthening the faith
of those already in the Adventist Church, an organizer said.

"By three public evangelism campaigns and district meetings in two
rural areas, [we want] to strengthen the churches and Christians who on
occasion experience resistance -- even persecution -- in their
sometimes hostile environment," said Dr. Borge Schantz, a retired
professor at Newbold College, in St. Albans, England, who once served
as a missionary in the region.

A second purpose is to stress the importance and role of angels, as
active agents in spiritual warfare and [local] "ancestor cults" on a
general and personal level. "Converts from traditional religions, often
for a long time, experience and have to struggle with spirits of
various kinds," he said.

Schantz added a third goal: emphasizing and explaining to Christians
the importance of biblically-based ordinances, rituals and ceremonies.
"In too many cases," he said, "[these believers] cannot read the Bible
and other Christian literature. An understanding of the deeper meaning
of these rituals as means, not goals, will render an enlarged
appreciation of the plan of salvation."

The team consists of Dr. Schantz; Dr. Hyunsok Doh, a Korean Adventist
pastor from Washington, D.C. and Patrick Boyle, a recently retired
minister of the Stanborough Park Church in Watford, England.

"As an expatriate team we have worked well together in Pakistan and are
looking forward to being of service to the churches in Nigeria," Dr.
Schantz told ANN. "For me it is a kind of homecoming. I worked in the
area 35 years ago. Then there were about 1,700 members in North
Nigeria. Today, there are more than 35,000 members in the area."

The meetings are scheduled to commence Feb. 5 followed by sessions for
church workers in the area. Public meetings on various topics are
planned, along with Sabbath, or Saturday, meetings in nearby churches.

Seventh-day Adventists first established a church administrative region
in Nigeria in 1914. Today, more than 207,000 members worship in 700
congregations in the nation.


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World Church: Massive Print Project Yields 14 Million Bible Lessons
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [ANN Staff]
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A flood of requests for Bible lessons in Africa has prompted a plan to
print 14 million individual Bible lessons in five languages to help
meet the demand. The massive print project was driven by an
overwhelming response in Africa to Sow 1 Billion--a Seventh-day
Adventist Church global effort to distribute 1,000 million invitations
to study the Bible.

Kurt Johnson, Voice of Prophecy Bible School director and Bible School
coordinator for the world church, says the demand for Bible lessons is
a "good problem" to have. The church in Kenya, for example, received
nearly 400,000 requests for Bible studies after distributing 2 million
of the Sow 1 Billion invitations.

Each Bible lesson set provided for Africa has a potential "ripple
effect," adds Johnson, as people share the lessons with others. "This
ripple effect from just one Bible study often results in multiplied
decisions for Christ from other family members and friends," he
explains.

In total, six containers loaded with Bible lessons -- in English,
Portuguese, Luganda, French and Kiswahili -- will be shipped to Africa
in the coming months.

Light Bearers Ministry (LBM), an independent Adventist organization
based in Washington state which is located in the Northwest of the
United States and is undertaking this extraordinary printing effort.
LBM runs both a television and publishing ministry. Over the past 25
years, Light Bearers Ministry has published gospel literature in 35
languages and circulated more than 350 million publications free of
charge around the world.

Ty Gibson, president and founder of LBM, says his organization feels
"privileged to be called upon by the world church to provide Bible
studies for the people of Africa in support of the Sow 1 Billion
project. Our hearts beat in unison with the mission of the world
church."

Much of the funding for this Bible lesson project has been provided by
Go One Million -- a world church initiative to train and equip
Adventist church members for personal witness.

Bettina Krause, an assistant to the world church president, says church
members in Africa urgently need these Bible lessons as they continue
with the Sow 1 Billion project. But, she adds, without the willingness
of Light Bearers Ministry to print at a below-cost rate, a printing
effort of this size would simply not have been possible. "We are
indebted to Light Bearers for their extraordinary support of this
project."


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Adventist Health International Works to Improve Medical Facilities
Globally
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Wendi Rogers]
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Though he is still a Hindu, the doctor says he has new priorities.
Those priorities include making room for Jesus in his daily life.

Rodney Applegate, retired president of Walla Walla Hospital in
Washington state, United States, says the doctor -- whose name was not
disclosed -- works at a hospital in India whose management is assisted
by Adventist Health International (AHI). Those who work in Adventist
hospitals such as this physician, have multiple opportunities to learn
about the gospel.

Starting in 1999, AHI, a non-profit organization based out of Loma
Linda University in California, began with the goal of transforming
struggling Seventh-day Adventist hospitals and offering hope for a
problem facing the church's medical system: keeping open hospitals on
the verge of financial shutdown.

Applegate, who works with AHI-assisted hospitals in India, says when
seeking to establish hospitals in that country, the church looked for
areas in great need of medical care.

However, he says, "In doing that we did not take into consideration the
inflation of medical care costs in the future. It took a few years
before we realized that we could not operate these clinics and
hospitals [and break-even] in most locations. Any hospital must have
enough patients that pay full fees in order to have the money to take
care of the poor."

Establishing AHI is "a recognition that our mission hospitals are not
doing well," says Dr. Richard Hart, AHI president and chancellor of
Loma Linda University. There are multiple reasons for this, he says,
and they're not all common to any single hospital. "The prominence and
effectiveness of our hospitals have gone down significantly in the last
20 years. There's tough economics, limited management skills, decaying
equipment and buildings," he explains.

With the church facing a decrease in mission offerings over the last
several years, there are also fewer funds available for church-owned
hospitals. "There is reduced support for health ministry and
international work in general," says Don Gaede, secretary of AHI. "Most
Christian denominations are struggling with that. People want to give
to what they know about," such as their local church.

"So what do we do?" asks Applegate.

"Our goal is to become attractive to those that can pay so we can
afford to take care of the poor," he answers. "And then as well provide
health education and wellness to these masses of people. The needs of
these dear people are overwhelming. Above all they need hope, and if we
do not give it to them, who will?"

AHI is driving the growth of 26 hospitals and even more health clinics
in 10 countries. Half of the 26 hospitals can cover all their local
expenses with the money they generate, Hart says.

"In the traditional church system, board compositions are made up of
pastors and others with that background," says Hart. "[That] has not
given the kinds of expertise that hospitals need to develop." Hart adds
that with health care becoming increasingly complex, hospitals need
board members with management expertise, which is something AHI can
provide.

Hart, writing in AHI's 2003 annual report, said, "Even in the poorest
countries, good management can make a hospital self-sufficient for
operating expenses." He says this has occurred in Guyana and Ethiopia,
the first countries in which AHI began work.

"In each case, solid governing boards and strong management have led to
operational solvency and the ability to control their own destiny," he
stated in the report. "When this state is reached, much less time is
required from AHI Global for management assistance, allowing efforts to
be concentrated elsewhere."

It takes about five years, Hart says, for a hospital to really get up
and running well again.

AHI assesses management, accounting, debt, equipment and personnel
needs. "We try to figure how to break the cycle and start moving
forward," Hart says. Then, AHI establishes a new governing board,
develops a timeline and a strategy for the hospital, and develops
management.

The AHI global board is made up of corporate members from the church's
world headquarters, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA),
various health corporations in the United States, and Loma Linda
University and Medical Center.

"[AHI] starts developing ties with donors, fixing equipment, repairing
buildings, and constructing new buildings on occasion," says Hart.
"That comes with a business plan that says 'this will go forward.' You
can't get donors to contribute unless you have a viable plan. That's
where AHI and LLU's credibility comes in. You've got to establish a
plan first and market that plan and bring in money."

"AHI is focused on management and trying to strengthen the health
structure and the way we do business," says Gaede. "Hopefully what that
results in is a consistent and reliable source of health care in those
communities we serve."

However, Gaede adds, "The things we struggle with the most are finding
and training people, particularly in the area of management. Trying to
find mangers who have that experience and are interested in that,
that's tough."

This also ties into financing the facility. "It's not like managing
churches. [It's] basically how to finance health care. ... Every
country is different." Insurance is getting more and more complex all
the time, he adds. It affects the fees hospitals charge, and managing
the technical areas of health care, getting the trained professionals,
and keeping equipment repaired is a challenge, he says.

"Trying to manage those systems as they continue to evolve and change
is a hard task," Gaede adds.

He stresses that AHI is not trying to take over mission hospitals. "We
are here to help the church's health ministry. We're not trying to set
up something separate," he says.

"It is crystal clear that God wants these clinics and hospitals to
survive, for they can convey the message of a loving God very vividly,"
Applegate adds.


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World Church: Liberty Magazine, Advocate for Freedom, Marks Centennial
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Melissa Reid/ANN Staff]
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Demonstrating the power of print to mold opinions and promote human
rights, Liberty magazine, the Seventh-day Adventist voice of religious
freedom, marks 100 years of continuous publication this year.

Liberty is designed to emphasize the separation of church and state, as
well as to promote the rights of all to follow their conscience as they
choose. Though at times these values seem to conflict, the publication
has striven to reconcile them.

"Religious freedom, and in turn the mission of Liberty magazine, is
about people, fighting for the right to serve the God they love, as
their hearts, and the Holy Spirit, dictate. We are a Christian champion
of rights of conscience," says editor Lincoln Steed.

In honor of the anniversary, Steed is publishing an article series
entitled "Remembering Liberty," which will reflect back on the
magazine's rich tradition of defending religious freedom throughout the
past century. The retrospective series began in the January/February
issue with an article by Adventist religious liberty advocate W.H
Hackett entitled "Eternal Vigilance," originally published in 1950, but
is just as relevant today, he said.

"As Liberty magazine comes up to 100 years of continuous publication, I
am more conscious than ever that it is a precious trust," says Steed.
"I look back over the decades and I can trace moments of world and
national crisis -- times of religious intolerance -- religious
persecution. Adventist church pioneers [said] we can make no compromise
when it comes to religious freedom, and I am determined that will
remain the stance of Liberty magazine in our days of testing," he adds.


Liberty magazine is currently read by nearly 200,000 thought leaders
throughout the United States and Canada, including those in local,
state and federal government offices. Annually, the magazine cosponsors
an awards banquet held in the historic United States Senate Caucus Room
on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The print distribution and the
banquet are made possible in large part from support of Seventh-day
Adventist church members who donate specifically to help the magazine.

"I regularly hear from mayors, judges and leaders in the Christian
community [about] how much they value the magazine -- how much they
need it," says Steed. "A state legislator recently confided to a church
official how important Liberty was to her in evaluating the issues."

For more information on Liberty magazine, visit
www.libertymagazine.org.
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ANN Staff: Ray Dabrowski, director; Mark A. Kellner, assistant director
for news; Wendi Rogers, editorial coordinator; Taashi Rowe, editorial
assistant; Lynn Friday, administrative assistant.