Mandeville, Jamaica [Nigel Coke/WIU/IAD]
The President of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, Pastor Jan Paulsen, is scheduled to visit the island of Jamaica from Oct. 26 – 28, 2007.
Pastor Paulsen’s visit is to facilitate the conversation with 35 young people of the English-speaking Caribbean in a live television program dubbed “Let’s Talk Caribbean.” The one-hour unscripted, unedited program will be broadcast live to the globe via satellite from the Northern Caribbean University Gymnatorium on Saturday Oct. 27, at 3:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time on HOPE TV.
Pastor Paulsen will also be the speaker at the thanksgiving service in celebration of the centenary of the founding of Northern Caribbean University (NCU), formerly West Indies College. The service will be broadcast live on HOPE TV from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday Oct. 27.
“It is an honour to have the World Leader of our Church here with us for this occasion,” said president of the Adventist Church in the West Indies region Pastor Patrick Allen. “This Union, historically, has been very supportive of the mission and the leadership of the Church. The members and workers consider it an honor to welcome Pastor Paulsen and his entourage to Jamaica for 'Let’s Talk.' I have no doubt that our young people will engage him in meaningful conversation on the issues with which they contend regularly.”
17th “Let’s Talk”
Let’s Talk is now in its 17th series, having been held in places such as Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States of America. In 1999, Pastor Paulsen became president of the Church which now has a membership of more than 15.4 million persons. He has constantly looked for ways to improve communication between church administration and Adventist young people. “Let’s Talk” is a place for young people to air their opinions and ideas and to ask questions.
“I recognize that too many of our young people feel distant from the church,” said Pastor Paulsen. “They feel as if they don't have a voice, they don't feel that they have been heard, they don't feel that they have been understood. I want young people to know that it is my intention to take them seriously. I want to hear from them!” he emphasized.
Pastor Paulsen, whose last visit to Jamaica was in December 2000 for the dedication of the Portmore Church, is the 16th president of the Adventist World Church, which was officially organized in 1863 with 125 churches and a membership of 3,500.
Norwegian-born Jan Paulsen was re-elected president of the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church in Toronto, July 2000 and again reelected in 2005. He is an ordained minister and has served in many areas, beginning in the West Norwegian Conference. He served as pastor; Bible teacher in Ghana; teacher and principal in Nigeria; teacher and principal of Newbold College in England; and general secretary and education director of the Trans-European Division, headquartered in England, and later it’s president. In 1995, he was elected general vice president of the World Church, with headquarters in Maryland, United States, a position he held until he was elected president.
The Adventist church in Jamaica has an active membership of over 228,000 worshiping in over 650 congregations. It operates institutions such as Northern Caribbean University (NCU), Andrews Memorial Hospital (AMH), and the Book and Nutrition Centre (BNC).
