20 May, 2016

Mega-Clinic Provided ‘Miraculous’ $38.4 Million in Services in Los Angeles

Final numbers for a Seventh-day Adventist mega-clinic in Los Angeles show that 8,538 patients received 18,957 health-care services worth $38.4 million, an outcome that its chief financial officer called “a miracle of the Lord.” Your Best Pathway to Health, the group that organized the mega-clinic in partnership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, had hoped to provide $30 million in services, and it credited God and 4,400 volunteers for making the April 27-29 event a success.

20 May, 2016

Cows and cheap produce propel La Sierra University students to U.S. victory

A team of 20 students from Seventh-day Adventist-owned La Sierra University has placed first in a prestigious U.S. competition that showcases young business talent. The students, led by a six-member presentation team, were declared the champions against 118 universities and colleges at the Enactus United States National Expo in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 15-17.

18 May, 2016

Magic Johnson shows gratitude to Adventists with $550,000 donation

Former U.S. basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. has donated more than half a million dollars to Oakwood University and the Oakwood University Church in appreciation for the influence that Seventh-day Adventists have had on his life. Johnson, 56, who was raised in an Adventist family, retired from basketball in the 1990s and became a wealthy businessman with interests in entertainment and sports. But he told the congregation at the Oakwood University Church in Huntsville, Alabama, last Sabbath that he also is a Christian.

18 May, 2016

Crowds overwhelm 3 free clinics in Rwanda

Three Seventh-day Adventist clinics operating on the sidelines of a major evangelistic series in Rwanda have provided free medical treatment to more than 4,500 patients and will likely exceed their goal of 6,000, the church’s top doctor for East Africa said Wednesday. Hundreds of people have waited in long lines for free medical, dental, and vision care from 130 doctors and nurses in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali; the lake resort of Gisenyi; and the southern city of Butare.

15 May, 2016

Evangelistic Campaign Kicks Off in Rwanda With Prayers for 100,000 Baptisms

Tens of thousands of people gathered at more than 2,200 churches and other sites across Rwanda on Friday evening for the start of a two-week evangelistic series that is expected to culminate in 100,000 baptisms. A meeting led by Adventist Church president Ted N.C. Wilson got off to a rocky start amid rain and a power outage in Gisenyi, a resort town of about 106,000 people on the shores of Lake Kivu in western Rwanda.

12 May, 2016

Christon Arthur Named New Provost of Andrews University

Christon Arthur, dean of the Andrews University School of Graduate Studies and Research, will become the university’s next provost in July, filling a position vacated when Andrea Luxton was elected as the next president of Andrews University earlier this year. Andrews University’s board of trustees elected Arthur on May 11. He has served as dean since 2010 and as associate provost, with responsibilities for faculty policy and faculty development, since 2012.

12 May, 2016

Adventist leader offers prayers for families affected by Fort McMurray wildfire

The president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, Dan Jackson, released a statement in response to the devastating wildfire in Fort McMurray that started May 1 and has displaced nearly 90,000 residents and destroyed half a million acres, or 229,000 hectares of land. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America continues praying for all the women, children, and men who have been forced to flee from their homes and seek refuge from the wildfires that devastated Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

11 May, 2016

6 new churches dedicated during historic trip to Nepal

The three top leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Southern Asia Division have made a historic visit to Nepal to open six churches, including several rebuilt after a devastating earthquake last year, and to witness the baptism of 22 people. The trio — division president Ezras Lakra, executive secretary M. Wilson, and treasurer E. Selvin Moorthy — made the whirlwind trip to view Adventist work firsthand and encourage pastors, Bible workers, and ordinary members, said Umesh Pokharel, president of the Adventist Church in Nepal.

9 May, 2016

Wildfires lead to evacuation of 88,000 in Alberta Canada

Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada are closely monitoring a wildfire in Ft. McMurray, Alberta in Canada, that caused the local government to declare a statement of emergency and more than 80,000 residents to flee their homes. A mandatory evacuation order was issued on May 4 when wildfires spread across the Athabasca and Hanginstone rivers and engulfed several neighborhoods in flames.

5 May, 2016

Adventist Church in Alabama gives away cars to single parents

A Seventh-day Adventist church in the U.S. state of Alabama has presented two cars as gifts to single parents and expects to give away five more vehicles by year’s end. The car giveaway at the First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntsville may be the first initiative of its kind by an Adventist church to reach out to the community — and it has made two single mothers very happy.

4 May, 2016

Annual report tracks ‘serious and sustained assault’ on religious freedom

The state of religious freedom worldwide has deteriorated over the past 12 months, according to a report released May 1 by an independent United States advisory body. The 270-page report compiled by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) documents continuing abuses in 33 countries and regions, but focuses particularly this year on the plight of prisoners of conscience and the increasing numbers of refugees fleeing religious persecution.

2 May, 2016

Christian Record Services for the Blind Joins NAD

The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s North American Division (NAD) has voted to receive governance of Lincoln, Nebraska-based Christian Record Services for the Blind, a former Seventh-day Adventist world church institution. The transfer of governance, made at a specially called NAD Executive Committee meeting, affirms a larger restructuring plan that was implemented in January this year by action of the Christian Record board of directors.