Young finalists representing Inter-America’s Seventh-day Adventist church territories will take part in the final Bible competition of the year on Dec. 2. Twenty finalists are set to travel to Riviera Maya, Mexico, to test their knowledge on the books of Daniel, Hosea and Joel after months of competing against peers across campgrounds and churches in their respective countries and islands.
Hundreds of cleaning kits are being sent to hurricane stricken islands in the English Caribbean territory this week, thanks to donations recently sent into Miami by the Adventist Community Services in the Allegheny East Conference in Pennsylvania and the Columbia Union in Maryland. Some 1,615 buckets filled with disinfectant and cleaning supplies will go to St. Thomas for distribution in Anguilla, Tortola and St. John, as well as Dominica and Antigua for residents of Barbuda, church leaders said.
Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Inter-America met with Maranatha Volunteer International (MVI) leaders yesterday to discuss rebuilding efforts in the recently hurricane-ravaged territory in the Caribbean. Leaders briefly took note of the scope of damage to churches and schools after hurricanes Irma and Maria in the worse hit islands during a meeting at the Inter-American Division (IAD) headquarter office in Miami, Florida.
Montemorelos University, an institution operated by the Seventh-day Adventist in Inter-America, was granted a special Silver Medal from the French National Academy of Medicine last week. The medal was presented to Ismael Castillo, president of Montemorelos University, during the institution’s first Healthy Lifestyle Summit on Nov. 2-4, 2017, in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. “This Silver Medal represents special recognition to the institution for its contribution to the advancement of medicine and marks a further step in the relationship that we share,” said André Parodi, honorary president of the French National Academy of Medicine.
The Executive Committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America concluded its year-end annual business meetings on Oct. 22 with a renewed commitment to motivating church leaders and members to continue pursuing a spiritual transformation in Jesus for total involvement in the church’s mission activities. The more than 100 committee members met in Mérida, Mexico, to review core strategies of the “Lord Transform Me” initiative, established in 2015: (1) transform and live through spiritual growth; (2) explore and learn through training; (3) connect and share through social ministries; (4) proclaim and reap through soul winning; and (5) conserve and disciple others in their communities.
Seventh-day Adventist employees at the Inter-American Division (IAD) Headquarters in Miami, Florida, took time away from their desks to wave in drivers and onlookers nearby in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The two dozen women wore special t-shirts and passed out gift bags with treats, brochures on breast cancer information and offered prayers on Oct. 18, 2017. The activity was part of showing solidarity for one of the staff members at the office who has been undergoing treatment with the disease, said Jainie Pita, human resources director at the IAD and one of the organizers of the initiative.
Nearly three weeks since Hurricane Maria destroyed everything in its path, the island of Puerto Rico and its people seem trapped in another time period. With power still out, food and gasoline scarce, banks not working normally, and not enough aid and supplies coming in, “hope seems nearly gone,” said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America after a two-day visit to the island.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division (IAD) began coordinating disaster relief assistance for the affected territory devastated by the natural disasters which hit last month. Ten of the 24 major church regions across the IAD were hit by multiple earthquakes in Mexico and multiple hurricanes across the string of islands in the Caribbean.
Days after Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean Island of Dominica, leaving buildings, homes, roads and trees in shambles, Seventh-day Adventist leaders visited with local church leaders and members to offer solidarity, assess their needs and be updated on churches and schools. The Category 5 storm was one of the strongest to hit the island, killing dozens of people, overflowing rivers, destroying bridges and leaving the island without power, food, water and communication.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North Mexico pledged support for church members affected by the earthquakes in the country and those affected by the hurricanes which hit the Caribbean territory this month. During a special video message, Pastor Luis Arturo King, president of the church in North Mexico, called upon the membership of more than 150,000 to join in prayer and give a day’s worth of salary to those left homeless recently.
As heavy rains and winds from Hurricane Maria hit the east coast of the Dominican Republic on Sep. 21, 2017, a handful of master guides from two Adventist churches in Hato Mayor were busy rescuing dozens of people, including children and the elderly. “We lived through a terrible experience,” said Luis Ismael Berroa, a master guide from the El Renacer Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hato Mayor. More than 100 people had already taken refuge at the church, but as water began to fill the building, they had to climb walls and fences to get to safety.
Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Puerto Rico are finally beginning to connect with those around them after Hurricane Maria plowed through the island on Sep. 20, 2017. The Category 4 storm brought winds of up to 155 mph that killed 10 people, knocked down power lines and cellphone towers, flooded streets, and disrupted the infrastructure of the entire island like never before.