Adventist World News

2012-11-08 Webmaster World News  “Please accept our sympathy and sadness for the devastation that has taken place, especially in New Jersey, the metropolitan New York area and the Caribbean,” Wilson said. “We will continue to pray for members, churches, church organizations and the wider community that has been struck by tragedy.” Seaside, New Jersey is among coastal areas of the U.S. that sustained widespread flooding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. [photo: Tim Larsen/Office of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie] No Adventist lives have been reported lost as yet, but 152 church members and one pastor in Cuba lost their homes, according to the church's Inter-American Division. Fifteen Cuban churches were a “total loss,” IAD said, and another 93 churches suffered partial damage. An additional 352 Cuban Adventists reported some damage to their homes from the storm. Hurricane Sandy was the largest storm by area to hit the U.S. in generations, resulting in widespread flooding, power outages and property damage. The so-called “superstorm” -- a hurricane-winter storm hybrid -- crippled the subway system in New York City and prompted the New York Stock Exchange to close for two consecutive days because of weather for the first time in more than a century. The death toll from Sandy rose to at least 82 across eight states today, with the largest number of fatalities occuring in New York, according to media reports. New York Harbor sustained a record 14-foot storm surge during the hurricane. Residents of the affected areas, among them Adventists, are reeling in the aftermath. It is estimated that at least 42 Adventist churches, with congregations totaling 4,500 members, are located in the most affected areas, a press release from the church’s North American Division Communication department said. Only eight of the church’s pastors had been contacted at the time of release. Don King, president of the church’s Atlantic Union Conference, said at least three New York City-area congregations were hit hard by the storm. Among those sustaining damage, King said, are the Macedonia Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wyandanch on Long Island, and the Solid Rock Seventh-day Adventist Church in the New York City borough of Queens. “The pews were floating,” King said of the Solid Rock church, where flood waters encroached from the Atlantic Ocean and Rockaway Beach, about a quarter of a mile away from the church. Extensive power outages continue to complicate communication to church offices in the region, especially on Long Island, where the church’s Greater New York Conference is headquartered on the North Shore. Adventist Community Services volunteers distribute emergency supplies in New York City borough of Queens. [photo courtesy Greater New York Conference Communication department] So far, five Adventist churches have reported that families in their congregations were affected by Sandy. Two Adventist churches in the Bronx are currently serving as shelters. So far, five Adventist churches have reported that families in their congregations were affected by Sandy. Two Adventist churches in the Bronx are currently serving as shelters. “We are working with [conference] administration to collect a special offering for the following two Sabbaths in all the Greater New York Conference churches,” said Reuben Merino, ACS director for the conference. Adventists in hard-hit New Jersey are also planning relief efforts. The New Jersey Conference’s ACS is “ready to help out wherever necessary,” said Claudia Ramirez, ACS disaster response coordinator for the region. The agency is currently collecting personal care kits, clothing and canned food items to distribute. The church's humanitarian organization, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, is coordinating with ACS to provide electric generators, hot meals, temporary shelter and emergency kits to affected residents along the East Coast. “It’s important for our church to be there to help people who have been affected by widespread devastation,” said Dan Jackson, president of the church’s North American Division. “We could be the Jesus that some of these people will only see and experience through these acts of kindness.” World church headquarters, near Washington, D.C. closed for two days this week while the region weathered Sandy. Wilson was on one of the last flights to Moscow before area airports were put on lockdown. Now in the church’s Euro-Asia Division for Year-End Meetings there, Wilson expressed solidarity with those involved in rescue and cleanup. “We are praying for you and your colleagues as you assist our church members in this difficult situation,” he said. “May God guide and encourage you and our members as you witness for Him during the challenging aftermath of the hurricane.” Members of the Boston Adventist Church in Northeastern Jamaica’s Portland Parish hold Sabbath worship services under a Gynep tree after Hurricane Sandy destroyed their church building. [photo: Danielo Daniels] Before slamming the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region, Sandy ravaged the Caribbean, killing more than 70 people and destroying homes and businesses. Much of the region remains without electricity and some roads are still impassable, due to downed trees and utility poles. In the Bahamas, electricity was out for days, while many agricultural areas of the Dominican Republic were flooded, collapsing local bridges. Before the storm, the Dominican Republic’s government asked the local ADRA office to help warn people about Dengue fever and how to prevent it, the church's Inter American Division said. ADRA is also distributing water, food and blankets to families in the Dominican Republic, where more than 1,200 homes were completely submerged in mud, a press release from the agency said. Adventists in northeast Jamaica reported that up to 75 percent of Adventist Church property in the island nation incurred damage, leading the Boston Adventist Church in Portland Parish to hold Sabbath worship services under a Gynep tree. Despite setbacks in northeast Jamaica, church members there are leading a humanitarian relief effort. ADRA has distributed blankets and continues to monitor the situation, assessing damange to homes and assisting in rehabilitiation effforts, the agency said. “Though we have been hit hard, the church is organizing assistance to persons in need of food, clothing and repairs to roofs through the community services department, service groups and ADRA in Jamaica,” said Damion Clarke, who pastors the Boston Adventist Church. —————————Nov. 01, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States    

Adventist Church president offers condolences in aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Seventh-day Adventist world church President Ted N. C. Wilson this week offered a message of condolence to residents...

2013-01-23 Webmaster World News  Earlier this month, some 800 people attended a three-day symposium in this Caribbean island, with Adventist leaders continuing to urge local pastors and administrators to deliberately pursue dialogue with government officials and other religious groups. In attendance were pastors, local church officials and government leaders, including the island’s top government official Victorin Lurel, president of the Regional Council of Guadaloupe. Guadaloupe is a department of France. “We think a symposium like this is a model for more Adventist Church conferences and unions to organize locally,” said Ganoune Diop, associate director of the department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) at the denomination’s world headquarters. “We want people to better know who Seventh-day Adventists are and be aware of their contributions to the community,” said Diop, who also serves as the church’s liaison to the United Nations. Roberto Herrera, PARL director for the denomination’s Inter-American Division, said he hopes the event spurs more commitment on behalf of all congregations in understanding the importance of promoting religious freedom. It’s also a chance to promote the church’s commitment to health, education and humanitarian assistance, as well as empowering women and children. Guadeloupe has long had strong religious liberty, said Max Laurent, president of the Adventist Church’s French Antilles Guiana Union, which oversees Guadeloupe. One challenge, however, is Adventist secondary students periodically running into problems with classes and exams held on Saturdays, the day Adventists observe the biblical Sabbath. Laurent said church leaders in Guadeloupe would continue to dialogue with government leaders and school officials on behalf of their students. The Adventist Church will hold a union-wide religious liberty celebration later this year in Martinique. —————————Jan. 22, 2013 Pointe-à-pitre, Guadeloupe.      

First religious liberty symposium in Guadeloupe spurs civic engagement

Seventh-day Adventist public affairs leaders heralded the church’s first religious liberty symposium here in Guadelo...

2012-11-28 Webmaster World News  Adventist Frontier Missions worker John Lello, right, died this week during an accident while serving in a remote territory of Papua New Guinea. Here, he poses with his wife, Pam, and two daughters in 2011, before the family moved to PNG. [photo courtesy AFM] Lello died while felling trees near a remote project site in the South Pacific island nation’s East Sepik Province, a press release from the Adventist supporting ministry said. He was 46. “We are greatly saddened to announce the tragic death of John Lello,” the release said. “Please join us in surrounding his family in prayer.” Lello’s wife, Pam, and the couple’s two daughters, Alissa and Abby, have since been flown to Port Moresby, where they were joined by Stephen and Laurie Erickson, another family working in PNG through AFM. AFM Associate Training Director Dale Goodson, who spent 12 years in PNG with the Dowa tribe, and his wife are currently en route to lend additional support, said James Arkusinski, Communication director for the ministry. The Lello family had worked with Adventist Frontier Missions since 2009. They finished fundraising and launched to PNG in March. There, they ministered to the animist Ama people in the country’s northwest. The Ama live along a small tributary of the Upper Sepik River accessible only by plane or dugout canoe, Arkusinski said. In an article for Adventist Frontiers, the magazine published by AFM, Lello was confident that God was leading his family to PNG, adding that “one thing is certain – He is calling you to give your all.” Lello was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from church-run Walla Walla University in Walla Walla, Washington, United States, in 1991. Later, he graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, United States, with a master’s degree in Science Education. Before accepting a post with AFM, Lello taught math and physics at church-run Glendale Adventist Academy and Spring Valley Academy. Adventist Frontier Missions is a Seventh-day Adventist lay ministry dedicated to establishing church-planting movements among people groups with no Adventist presence. AFM currently has 30 long-term missionary families or single missionaries serving worldwide. So far, five Adventist churches have reported that families in their congregations were affected by Sandy. Two Adventist churches in the Bronx are currently serving as shelters. Lello is the first AFM missionary to die in the field over the ministry’s 27-year history.   Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailMore Sharing Services   —————————Nov. 27, 2012 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.       

Adventist Frontier Missions worker John Lello killed in accident

An accident has claimed the life of John Lello, a Seventh-day Adventist missionary who was serving in Papua New Guin...

2013-01-23 Webmaster World News  “We have real hope that the church will be able to find a way to resolve the differences we have on the issue of ordination,” committee chair Artur Stele, director of the General Conference Biblical Research Institute, reported to church leaders worldwide via a phone conference following the session. “We left the meeting feeling very optimistic and confident that God is leading us. We have many reasons to thank the Lord.” The General Conference Administrative Committee organized the TOSC in October 2012 to study the concept of ordination from a biblical perspective and whether it is intended for only one gender. The study committee comprises 106 members, including theologians, laypersons, pastors, and Bible students from each of the church’s 13 world divisions. The General Conference appointed Stele as chair, Geoffrey Mbwana as vice chair, and Karen Porter as secretary. About 25 percent of the members are women. La Sierra associate professor of religion Kendra Haloviak-Valentine, assistant to the General Conference president Mark Finley, and newly appointed Solusi University president Joel Musvosvi presented the daily devotionals. Seasons of prayer invoking the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance were then followed by the presentation of papers by individuals assigned to study various aspects of ordination. These papers included topics on how to deal with doctrinal issues in the church, the history of ordination, and hermeneutics. After each presentation, time was given to discuss the material presented with the entire committee. On the second day smaller groups met for reflection and to develop suggestions and recommendations on the papers. Based on the suggestions and recommendations from the working groups, the presenters will refine their papers, and second drafts will be sent to the divisions’ Biblical Research Committees and to the TOSC members for input before the next meeting. Differences of opinion were animatedly expressed on the second afternoon of the session, one member said in an interview, “but then Pastor Stele stopped and said, ‘Let’s pray,’ and the whole atmosphere changed. There was a warm Christian spirit, and we felt free to openly share our views.” A letter to the General Conference Executive Committee from the TOSC chair, vice chair, and secretary summing up the session read, in part: “Members of the committee could not help but express their gratitude to God for the sweet spirit that prevailed in these meetings. Please continue to pray for the Committee as it works under the leadership of the Holy Spirit in this study.” The second of the four scheduled sessions will be held in July 2013 in Maryland.   —————————Jan. 18, 2013 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States    

Theology of Ordination Committee ends first session

Members of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee (TOSC) ended their first session – held January 15-17 at a mee...

 

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