Nearly a week after Hurricane Irma swept through dozens of islands in the Caribbean on Sep. 6 and 7, killing more than a dozen people and flattening buildings and homes, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is still trying to account for all of its members. No fatalities among church members have been reported yet.
A Loma Linda University School of Public Health study not only found that dairy foods may protect against colorectal cancers, but also that the individual components that protect against rectal cancer may differ from those that protect against colon cancer. The study, which was published in an online edition of the journal Public Health Nutrition, found that dairy foods, independent of their calcium components, were found to protect against rectal cancers, while calcium itself—whether from dairy or non-dairy sources or calcium supplements—appeared to protect against colon cancer.
Seventh-day Adventists in Mexico are still reeling from the massive destruction caused by an 8.2-magnitude earthquake, which hit the southern coast of Mexico late on Sep. 7, killing dozens of people, flattening homes and buildings, and leaving thousands homeless. It has been reported as the strongest quake to hit Mexico in a century. The epicenter was near the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca but felt as far away as Mexico City. Top church leaders in the affected regions reported four members dead and many more hospitalized.
My fellow Seventh-day Adventist Church members around the world,As many of you have worshiped already today and many more will around the world, I am asking you to especially pray for those who have recently experienced devastation and death in the Caribbean from Hurricane Irma. I have prayed for them. Wherever you are pray for God's church and the witness of His people.
Dozens of eager Seventh-day Adventists from across Cuba and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean convened for the Adventist Photographers Conference last weekend at the Cárdenas Adventist Church in Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba. The event, a first-of its-kind sponsored by the Inter-American Division’s (IAD) Communication department in collaboration with the top church leadership in Cuba, brought training to the more than 80 in attendance. The goal was to teach the participants how to become more creative with visual communication in fulfilling the mission in their local churches and communities.
As Hurricane Irma makes its way west toward the U.S. State of Florida today, the Seventh-day Adventist Church across Inter-America is still waiting to assess damage to the worst-hit islands in the Caribbean. The category 5 hurricane is responsible for 14 deaths, destruction, and leaving thousands homeless. So far, no loss of life among Seventh-day Adventists has been reported, according to top church leaders.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Brazil’s Amazon Region inaugurated a new mission boat last month. The launch of Luzeiro XXX follows a decades-old tradition of mission vessels providing medical care across the vast Amazon basin, said church leaders in the region. “The Luzeiro project is not only a forerunner of ADRA’s presence [across the region] but also essential to inspire new generations to understand the value of [the pioneers’] sacrifice and service,” said ADRA Brazil Director Jefferson Kern. “We are happy…to support and coordinate this initiative.”
On Sept. 9, 2017, churches across the North American region of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will collect a special offering to support the relief efforts of Adventist Community Services (ACS) after millions in Texas and Louisiana were impacted by the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey. A flyer has been prepared to announce this special offering — links to downloadable files are below.
Hundreds of board members from across Seventh-day Adventist unions, conferences, missions, and educational and health institutions in Inter-America will have the opportunity to take part in a special online training on Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2017. Inter-American Division (IAD) top church leaders will conduct the orientation event from the headquarter office stationed in Miami, Florida, United States.
Stanborough Park, the headquarters estate of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the UK and Ireland, was transformed on the weekend of August 11-13. In a major celebration of 500 years of the Protestant Reformation, the event saw a coordinated program involving all departments of the British Union Conference (BUC) church region working together. The event received tremendous support from church members, but more importantly, from the local community, as over 2,000 people enjoyed one or more of the various programs offered.
Are Millennials concerned about human rights, social justice, and religious freedom? The answer may surprise you, according to a panel of young experts, leaders, and activists during a session held recently at the 8th International Religious Liberty Association World Congress held in Hollywood, Florida, United States. When it comes to human rights, social justice, and religious freedom, Millennials—a generation between 16-36—are a force to be reckoned with. Millennials possess certain traits that make them a unique group of young people with the potential to create change, panel experts said.
In the wake of the violent Charlottesville, Virginia attack that left a family grieving, 19 others injured and a city in shock, Seventh-day Adventist worshippers made their way to the downtown promenade where residents and visitors gathered to post messages of comfort, love and hope on giant chalkboards erected in the town square. In front of a large chalk sketch of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who died after being struck by a car that plowed into a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally in her city, church members and leaders prayed and placed red roses and a handmade prayer chain for her family. Then, they headed to 4th Street where they planned to sing, pray and recite “The Lord’s Prayer.”