13 June, 2016

North American Division statement on Orlando, Florida mass shooting

Daniel R. Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, issued the following statement on June 12, 2016, in response to the mass shooting at the Pulse Club in Orlando, Florida: “The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is heartbroken as we mourn the loss of innocent lives in the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. We extend our deepest condolences and prayers for the 50 people killed, the 53 wounded, their families, loved ones, and friends.

10 June, 2016

Adventists Rethink How to Defend Religious Freedom in South America

With religious intolerance growing in Brazil, about 500 Seventh-day Adventists gathered on the São Paulo campus of Brazil Adventist University (Unasp) to learn how they could defend religious freedom in their own communities. The training session was the first of its kind and marks a shift in church strategy by introducing a more practical approach to the issue, said Hélio Carnassale, director of the religious liberty department of the Adventist Church’s South American Division, which organized the event.

7 June, 2016

Sabbath School class paves way for next U.S. free clinic

The first small-town free clinic organized by Your Best Pathway to Health — which will be held in Beckley, West Virginia, on July 13-15 — is actually the brainchild of the Acceptance Sabbath School class at the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church in Collegedale, Tennessee. “Several years ago, our mission committee felt that passively writing checks for missions, while good, wasn't enough,” said Bob Gadd, leader of the class of about 100 members. “We wanted the class members to experience missions as well.”

5 June, 2016

Adventist-sponsored Washington D.C. gala rallies broad support for religious freedom

At a Seventh-day Adventist-sponsored dinner in Washington, D.C, a high-ranking African Union official challenged the international community to step up its efforts to track and respond to religious intolerance and sectarian violence. Erastus J.O. Mwencha, Jr., deputy chairman of the African Union, told a group of Washington D.C.’s policy makers and thought-leaders gathered for the 14th annual Religious Liberty Dinner on May 24, that there’s no room for complacency when it comes to defending religious freedom.

1 June, 2016

When a Rwandan woman asked to go home with me

Hurrying down the rocky path toward the Mudende Seventh-day Adventist Church, my interpreter and I called out our usual greetings and invitations to gawking residents to attend ongoing evangelistic meetings. Many people replied, “See you there!” with bright smiles. Few of them had ever seen a white person up close in this mountainous corner of Rwanda overlooking the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

31 May, 2016

Paul Ratsara steps aside as SID president

Paul Ratsara has resigned as president of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division of Seventh-day Adventists in what he described as an effort “to refocus the church that I love, back to its God-given mission.” The General Conference Executive Committee, voting Tuesday, accepted a request from Ratsara to step aside for possible reassignment as a local church district pastor in his home Indian Ocean Union, which includes Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

30 May, 2016

Record 95,890 baptized as evangelistic meetings end in Rwanda

A Belgian citizen visiting relatives in a corner of Rwanda. A 19-year-old woman who will lose her job. A police officer assigned to protect Seventh-day Adventist Church president Ted N.C. Wilson. These are among the record-breaking 95,890 people who accepted Christ in baptism during a two-week evangelistic series that wrapped up this weekend, church leaders said Sunday.

29 May, 2016

Adventist Church highlights declining religious freedom at major conference

As religious freedom deteriorates around the world, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has brought together a broad range of advocacy organizations and public leaders to consider ways to drive the issue higher on the public agenda. The 2016 International Religious Liberty Summit, held at the Newseum’s Religious Freedom Center in downtown Washington, focused on what has become a key concern for religious freedom advocates — the relatively scarce media and political attention given to rising rates of religious discrimination and persecution.

26 May, 2016

President of ADRA highlights development work of the agency at historic United Nations summit

The world is witnessing the highest level of human suffering since World War II, according to the United Nations. In response to this fact, Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, convened the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey from May 23 – 24. Jonathan Duffy, president of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International represented the agency’s global network of humanitarians and highlighted the priorities of the organization in development and emergency work around the world.

26 May, 2016

Loma Linda breaks ground on state-of-the-art hospital

With more than 3,000 people looking on, Loma Linda University Health leaders broke ground on a new hospital complex that they promised would be the tallest building in San Bernardino County in southern California and, more important, a beacon of hope for all. The new 16-floor Loma Linda University Medical Center and expanded Children’s Hospital is to stand 267 feet (81 meters) tall and contain 693 beds once its opens in 2020.

24 May, 2016

In Rwanda, Adventists say ‘I Love You’ with a cow

A husband who truly loves his wife will give her a cow. A man who wants to marry a woman will often follow the old tradition of providing a cow dowry to her family. A cow offers nutritious milk to children, a source of income, and a steady supply of natural fertilizer for gardens. Seventh-day Adventist church members presented 25 cows to impoverished families at a festive outdoor ceremony over the weekend.

22 May, 2016

Ellen White among most-read authors in Brazil

Anyone who doubts the effectiveness of distributing religious literature might want to consider the case of Seventh-day Adventist believers in Brazil. Brazilian Adventists, who may well pass out more literature than any other Adventists in the world, are being credited with propelling Ellen G. White into the ranks of Brazil’s most popular authors and making an Adventist missionary-sharing book one of the country’s most-read books.