ANN - March 29, 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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#33613 - 03/30/05 03:41 AM ANN - March 29, 2005
Stan Jensen Carpe Diem!!! Registered: 09/15/06 Posts: 3477 Loc: 49.05° Lat- 122.3° Long	ANN Bulletin Adventist News Network Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters March 29, 2005 In This Issue: --------------------- * Kiribati: Adventist School Principal Adrift 22 Days at Sea is Rescued * ANN Feature: Afghan Boy Gets Second Chance at Life from LLU Surgeons * United States: Adventist Students Raise Funds for Tsunami Relief * United States: Country Singer, Skating Champion Headline LLU Children's Hospital Fundraiser * News Briefs --------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Kiribati: Adventist School Principal Adrift 22 Days at Sea is Rescued Kauma, Kiribati .... [Joe Talemaitoga/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- Dedicated to their mission of providing quality education, school principals often go beyond normal duties to reach those who could benefit from learning. But Tekemau Ribabaiti may truly be in a class all his own: for the second time, the principal of Kauma Adventist High School was rescued after weeks adrift at sea. Ribabaiti had been missing since Feb. 16 while going from atoll to atoll recruiting students for the school. He was in a cramped, four-meter aluminium dinghy when he was picked up by Volt Venture, a foreign fishing vessel. He was transferred to a Kiribati government-owned vessel and reunited with his family the next day. "We have been assured that Mr. Ribabaiti, though very weak, was nonetheless in remarkably good spirits and health when the Volt Venture picked him up in Kiribati waters," says Kevin Brown, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kiribati and Nauru. This is the second time Ribabaiti, a seasoned fisherman, has been rescued after being lost at sea. However, his belief in a Christian education continues to spur him to recruit students from the islands using the only boat he has, those who know him say. "This man is a real hero," says Brown. "How many people have shown skill and tenacity, unbeatable human spirit, and trust in God demonstrated in surviving such incredible odds like this man has? Praise the Lord for a man like Tekemau." ------------------------------------------------------- ANN Feature: Afghan Boy Gets Second Chance at Life from LLU Surgeons Loma Linda, California, United States .... [Richard B. Weismeyer/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- Twelve-year-old Asadullah wants what every adolescent dreams of -- freedom. Freedom to run and play with his friends without worrying about the warring factions in his native Afghanistan, or whether the nickel-size hole in his heart will let him run more than a few steps at a time. Thanks in large part to Layne Pace, a chief warrant officer with the Utah National Guard in the United States, Asadullah is getting the chance to live a longer, healthier life. Pace, who used his off-hours to fly sick Afghan villagers to hospitals at Bagram Air Base North of Kabul, found the boy in the village of Jegdalek, 50 miles from Kabul. "He was blue. He was always hunkered over trying to catch his breath. He would collapse on us," says Pace. As an Apache attack helicopter pilot, Pace wanted to remember more than just offensive missions from his time in Afghanistan. The town of Jegdalek, which still bears scars from the Soviet invasion more than 25 years ago, seemed an apt place to fly humanitarian missions. Pace met Asadullah shortly after beginning his flights to the village last fall. "I didn't have a clue how we could help," Pace remembers thinking. Army cardiologist Col. Steven Jones was able to diagnose Asadullah with either a heart valve disorder or a condition in which oxygen-replenished blood in the heart mixes with oxygen-depleted blood returning from the blood stream. Tests confirmed that the boy had a hole in his heart that allows blood going in to mix with blood going out. Asadullah's heart defect leaves him with about one-third less oxygen in his bloodstream. This problem requires advanced medical equipment necessary to support delicate heart surgery, equipment not available in Afghanistan. Pace began e-mailing family and friends back home in Utah. He had no idea how large a ripple his e-mail pebble would make. Shelby Everett belongs to an e-mail Afghanistan support group and, after seeing Pace's correspondence, knew the boy needed to be taken to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. The Seventh-day Adventist health care institution has a global reputation for children's healthcare. Her husband, American television actor Chad Everett, is spokesman for "Gift of Life," a Rotary International-sponsored program that helps finance medical care for children around the world. The Gift of Life program helped a young boy from the Philippines travel to Loma Linda for open-heart surgery in August of 2004. The program helped raise awareness for Asadullah's condition, and soon Jet Blue and Pakistani Airlines agreed to provide the 25-hour flight needed to get to Southern California for no charge. While there, the hospital and other charitable groups provided for the boy's remaining expenses, and those of his father. "I want them to fix my heart," Asadullah says before the surgery through his interpreter, Mohd Ayub, country director for the Afghanistan project at the Loma Linda University Center in Kabul. "He cannot walk," says his father, Sarbazkhan. "He would like to play. I hope they can fix my son's heart. Then he should have a good life." On Feb. 4 a medical team led by professor of surgery Leonard L. Bailey, M.D., successfully repaired the hole in Asadullah's heart. Asadullah returned to his native Afghanistan last week where he rejoined his mother and eight siblings. ------------------------------------------------------- United States: Adventist Students Raise Funds for Tsunami Relief Placerville, California, United States .... [Bonnie Rambob/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- When students of El Dorado Adventist School (EAS) returned from Christmas vacation, they came with a goal: to help victims of the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The students decided to help fishing families in Kakinada, India, by replacing destroyed fishing boats. The boats, which cost $3,500 each, would be purchased through Mahima, Inc., a non-profit organization headed by former EAS principal Rajeev Rambob and his parents. Students and faculty throughout the school participated. The kindergarten class hosted a hot cocoa and muffin sale, while the first and second graders had a Krispy Kreme donut sale. On the first Friday morning of January 2005, the youngest students of EAS, wearing signs around their necks, called out to passing cars to stop and purchase hot cocoa, muffins and donuts. Caffidy Wheelwright was one of those student solicitors. "I liked it when Amber [Mace] helped me ask people to give money for the tsunami people," she said. "And the hot cocoa was really good." The fundraising event soon attracted media attention. The Mountain Democrat, a local newspaper, featured Wheelwright and Mace on the front page. These fundraising efforts on the behalf of tsunami survivors resulted in more than $900. The following Friday, the elementary students held an old-fashioned bake sale. The sale was widely publicized in church bulletins and newspapers, as well as on local TV and radio stations. When the money was counted, students had collected $6,500. When asked about her involvement in tsunami aid, Alix Kopitzke told a Sacramento NBC TV-affiliate, "It makes us feel really good when we do this, because we're helping so many people." High school students committed to raising $1,500 by combining their personal money, earmarked for basketball team sweatshirts, with matching donor funds. They surpassed their goal with a total of U.S. $1,677. Home and School, a parent-teacher association, sold tickets for a pancake breakfast for $7.50 each. Many patrons of the breakfast also donated extra money, which resulted in a total of $1,200 raised. Collectively, EAS students and faculty were able to purchase three fishing boats. "It's nice knowing we gave a family their livelihood back," said Cari Cardis, a high school student at EAS. Faculty and staff members have been impressed by the students' efforts. "I'm amazed at the incredible generosity of this community," said Larry Balley, principal of EAS. "When a need arises, there is always a response." Jeff Youker, vice principal and high school science teacher, feels the same. "It is nice to live in a community where it is no problem for people to open their kitchens and their wallets to support a cause such as tsunami relief." ------------------------------------------------------- United States: Country Singer, Skating Champion Headline LLU Children's Hospital Fundraiser San Bernardino, California, United States .... [Richard B. Weismeyer/ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- The struggle to save tiny lives -- infants who require neonatal intensive care -- will be easier thanks to a March 13 fundraiser for the Loma Linda University (LLU) Children's Hospital Foundation. A total of U.S. $380,000 was raised at the 12th annual fundraising gala held in San Bernardino, a city bordering Loma Linda. The LLU Children's Hospital, part of a Seventh-day Adventist Church healthcare and medical training institution celebrating its centennial this year, promotes that every child deserves the best care available, and treats all children without regard to their family's ability to pay. The evening drew support from Brad Paisley, a country music singer, who presented the evening's entertainment, and Derek Parra, Olympic champion speed skater, who presided as master of ceremonies. Included in the evening's activities was special recognition of key people who have made a difference in the lives of children. Those honored included Neal and Carol Baker, founder of Bakers Drive Thru Restaurants, who have dedicated themselves for more than 50 years to caring for children; Tom Hartman, a volunteer with LLU Medical Center and Children's Hospital since 2001; and Juan Carlos Luna, the Kiwanis advisor for K-Kids, a group of 52 students who do volunteer work in the local community. ------------------------------------------------------- News Briefs Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Compiled by ANN Staff] ------------------------------------------------------- World Church: Sahly Accepts Home Study International/Griggs University Presidency Silver Spring, Maryland, United States [ANN Staff] ... Donald R. Sahly, Ed.D., a Seventh-day Adventist Church educational administrator for 38 years has accepted an invitation to become president of Home Study International and Griggs University which provide independent study and distance education programs from pre-school to higher education. Sahly is currently president of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. "[We] feel that God is directing us back to the East coast," Sahly says. Sahly has served in a broad range of academic settings from elementary schools to colleges in the United States and in Asia. Sahly also worked at the Adventist Church world headquarters, from 1997 through February of 2002, as an associate director of education, an associate secretary of the world church and as a general field secretary. Throughout his years of educational leadership, he established a strong reputation as a spiritual, academic, and financial leader. Mongolia: Country's President Presents Award to ADRA Ulan Bator, Mongolia ... Natsagiin Bagabandi, president of Mongolia, recently recognized the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Mongolia for teaching and training people in that country to work for their own change. Llewellyn Juby, director of ADRA Mongolia, accepted the Friendship Medal, which is given to foreigners who have made a significant contribution to the welfare of Mongolians. ADRA has provided development and relief work in Mongolia for 10 years. "We have built up a team of amazing colleagues," said Juby. "Although I accepted [the award] from the President of Mongolia, it was really on behalf of ADRA and our team in Mongolia that I did so." [ADRA Mongolia] Adventist Church in Southern Asia Starts Feeding Program Silang, Cavite, Philippines ... The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southern Asia-Pacific region launched a new feeding program in San Miguel II to help malnourished preschool children. Through the program underweight children are fed healthy meals three times a week. A training component taught mothers how to feed their children inexpensive, but nutritious food. "This two-month feeding and training program is aimed at improving the health of the community," said Irene Duroe, liaison officer for the church. [Adventist News Dispatch] Hundreds Complete ADRA-UK Half Marathon for Good Cause Hyde Park, London, England ... More than 700 people walked, jogged, ran, cycled or skated their way around Hyde Park on March 20 for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency -- United Kingdom's "13 Miles for Good" half-marathon. People of all abilities and ages participated to raise money for the cause. The event, now in its third year, was organized jointly by the Personal Ministries and Youth departments of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South England. Last year the half-marathon raised an estimated £20,000 (about U.S. $37,472), part of a larger sum used by ADRA-UK to support disaster relief in Sudan, Liberia, Zambia, the Caribbean and Bangladesh. Money raised this year is expected to exceed last year's figure and will support the special needs of children in the UK as well as projects in Peru, Nepal, Kazakhstan, South Sudan, Rwanda and Pakistan. [Jacqui Grant/ANN] Andrews University Research Center Receives Historic Library Collection Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States ... A collection of 2,500 items that document Adventist history through rare books, tracts, periodicals and early advent charts have been moved from the Review and Herald Publishing Association offices in Hagerstown, Maryland to Berrien Springs, Michigan. The items are now a part of the Review and Herald Editorial Library collection in the James White Library on the campus of Andrews University, an Adventist tertiary institution. The collection was dedicated March 5, and is believed to have been started with the publishing house in the mid 1800s by James White, one of the church's founders. The collection has been added to throughout the years. "The most exciting thing [about the collection] is the stories," said Merlin Burt, director of the Center for Adventist Research. "It's not just dusty old books. There's a story of faith connected with it that is remarkable and thrilling." [Bev Stout/Andrews University/ANN] Indonesian Leaders Visit IRLA Headquarters Silver Spring, Maryland, United States... Two Indonesian leaders visited the headquarters of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in Silver Spring, Maryland seeking to understand how religious freedom works in the United States on March 20. Chofifah Parawansa, national chairperson for the Muslimat Nadhlatul Ulama and Zuhairi Misrawi, program officer of the Emancipatory Islamic Network, toured the country under the auspices of the State Department's International Visitor Program, in order to learn about multiculturalism in a democratic society. In the town of Aceh, Shari'a law (Muslim law) has been approved by the central government and is currently implemented there, said Parawansa and Misrawi. "The challenge for us" said Misrawi "is to know how to promote a culture of peace and respect." A non-denominational organization, the IRLA has worked to promote religious freedom worldwide since 1893. [Viola Hughes] ------------------------------------------------------- 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.
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