More than 750 Seventh-day Adventists converged in Tucson, Arizona, on Jan. 8-11, to worship, learn, share their talents, and network at the 2017 North American Division Adventist Ministries Convention (NAD AMC). They also gathered to serve the local community through three NAD Compassion Movement outreach opportunities: assisting two public schools through Tucson Serve the City, and packing more than 25,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now.*
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic recently inaugurated its first church equipped with a radio antenna to spread the message of hope to communities in the Maria Trinidad Sanchez Province on the northeast part of the island. The new church transmits the church’s Radio Amanecer station programming from its rooftop to a population of more than 195,000. The new church called “Radio Amanecer I” becomes the 39th church to be built on the island in 2016, as part of an on-going annual church construction plan. The difference with the new building is that it's not just a structure to transmit radio waves, but also a real church.
Spiritually strong pastoral families equal spiritually strong congregations. That is the urgent message the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America has been driving home to its 3,700 pastors in the territory. Pastors and their families will have the chance to worship and pray together every day with other thousands of other pastoral families during a special week of prayer program online from January 22-27, 2017.
During its 2016 Annual Council, the 342-member General Conference Executive Committee met at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, to hear reports and consider a number of items. A strong emphasis was given to the Church’s mission, which featured prominently in numerous discussions and reports. Of the many items considered and voted by church representatives from around the world, perhaps none has received more attention than the document, “Unity in Mission: Procedures in Church Reconciliation.”
For a fifth year running, the South England Conference's Advent Shelter, held at the Advent Centre in Central London, was full in housing 70 homeless and lonely people, from December 24, 2016 to January 2, 2017. Throughout the Christmas and New Year period, volunteers from churches across the entire British Isles from Cornwall to Scotland helped provide fully-catered meals, drinks, warmth, entertainment and safety for each of the homeless that made their way to the shelter.
Twenty-seven Syrian refugee students from the Adventist Learning Center (ALC) in Beirut, Lebanon piled into a tiny rented bus for the one and a half hour to north Lebanon to deliver sacks of clothing and some donated foods. This annual project started as a simple assignment for the Adventist Learning Center to express gratitude for the donations and support it receives from around the world. For example, the refugee children of ACL have been given winter jackets and rain boots.
Bella Vista Hospital, a facility owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, inaugurated its first helicopter during a short ceremony last month. The modern helicopter, which sits atop the hospital’s newest tower, represents a historic moment for the 62-year-old facility. "With this new acquisition, Bella Vista Hospital is making history by providing air transportation to patients in need of immediate medical attention and direct access to the intensive care unit, operating room, and the emergency room service of our hospital,” said Luis Rivera, administrator of Bella Vista Hospital.
Seventh-day Adventist leaders and staff of the Inter-American Division (IAD) headquarter office took time this week to reflect on the blessings 2016 brought to the church across the territory and looked on blessings ahead despite the challenges the new year may bring. The nearly 100 leaders and staff met in Miami, Florida, Jan. 3, to pray together, review church and financial growth in 2016, and touched on initiatives and activities aimed at sharing the gospel across cities and communities this year.
Seventh-day Adventists in the Inter-European Division expressed solidarity and sympathy after a New Year’s Eve nightclub shooting rampage in Istanbul, Turkey's Ortakoy district killed at least 39 people and left dozens more wounded. Government officials in Turkey have said the attack was an act of terrorism, and while the alleged gunman has been identified, he had not been apprehended as this article was published.
“Jesus works best with faulty people — as a matter of fact, Jesus only works with faulty people!” That was the declaration of Seventh-day Adventist evangelist John Bradshaw to thousands of young adults attending the GYC 2016 event here. Noting the flood of “fake news” pervading social media and other channels during 2016, Bradshaw noted, “I have real news, good news for you to believe. Jesus died for your sins. Jesus ascended to heaven to be your High Priest in the judgment. That judgment is soon to end. And God’s power is able to keep you now, and then. It’s time to be ready, and God can make you ready. That’s truly good news. Amazingly good news. You can believe that good news today.”
Loma Linda Surgical Hospital, a 28-bed specialty unit of Loma Linda University Health, is one of 29 facilities named a Top Teaching Hospital for 2016 by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit promoting healthcare quality nationally. The designation of Top Hospital is based on the results of the 2016 Leapfrog Hospital Survey. Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates and a hospital’s ability to prevent medication errors.
Hacksaw Ridge — the film that tells the story of Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objector Desmond Doss — has scooped the pool at Australia’s leading film and television awards. In addition, the film has been nominated for three “Golden Globe” awards by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and is believed to be a strong contender for several Academy Award nominations, the U.S.-based prize popularly known as the “Oscar.” The movie was also named “Film of the Year” by the American Film Institute.