In Jamaica, local Adventist ministry presents senior citizen with new home
December 11, 2014 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | ANN staff A men’s group from a Seventh-day Adventist Church…
Adventist leaders mark growth of Deaf Ministries
The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s ministry to the Deaf is gaining traction worldwide with increased coordination to better reach and minister to members of the often-neglected subculture. This year marks the first time that each of the denomination’s 13 world divisions has a designated coordinator for Deaf ministries in their area, a step that was announced at Annual Council in October.
ADRA’s holiday gift catalog features life-changing presents
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is offering donors the chance to purchase Christmas gifts for those in need, an action that can be life-changing for recipients and provide a sustainable source of income to feed a family or send kids to school. ADRA’s Really Useful Gift Catalog features 36 gifts that include clean water and medical care to disaster relief and helping orphans.
Publishing leaders gather in Europe to examine future trends
Seventh-day Adventist publishing house managers, publishing directors and bookstore managers from more than 40 countries gathered in Madrid, Spain, from November 5 to 7 to attend a Special Conference on Publishing and New Technologies. The conference, organized by the denomination’s Inter-European Division and the Safeliz Publishing House, was attended by several leaders of the Adventist Church’s General Conference, including President Ted N. C. Wilson, Vice President Delbert Baker and Associate Ministerial Secretary Jonas Arrais.
In El Salvador, Evangelistic efforts sweep across the country
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists in El Salvador gathered at Estadio Cuscatlan, or Cuscatlan Stadium, in San Salvador, on Nov. 28-29, 2014, to celebrate the end of evangelistic series which swept through the Central American country last month. More than 600 buses transported church members and new believers to witness a special program featuring John Carter, a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist and host of the "Carter Report" ministries. The special program, held Nov. 21-27, concluded the evangelistic effort in El Salvador, which included 93 campaigns.
In Inter-America, small groups are strengthening church membership
Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders from the Inter-American Division (IAD) spoke directly to leaders of thousands of small groups spread across the territory during a special online symposium based in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 21, 2014. “Today we have the Christian church thanks to the strategy blessed by the Holy Spirit that the early church used to grow,” said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America as he referenced Acts 2:46,47 during the event. “They met at the temple but went house to house, sharing bread, praising God and enjoying fellowship with one other.”
Ellen G. White Named Among 100 Most Significant Americans
A leading scholar on Ellen G. White welcomed a decision by Smithsonianmagazine to name the cofounder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as one of the 100 most significant Americans of all times. The magazine places White in a group that includes the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Helen Keller in its Spring 2015 issue. The individuals were chosen with the use of an algorithm that measures data taken from Wikipedia pages and Google book scans.
Uganda’s president commends Adventists for honesty
The president of the central African nation of Uganda commended Seventh-day Adventists for their honesty and integrity during a speech last month. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni called Adventists “honest,” during a speech to leaders and members at an Adventist center in the capital city of Kampala on November 22.
In Kenya, eight Adventists among 28 killed in attack
Eight Seventh-day Adventists were among 28 bus passengers massacred by militants in Mandera, Kenya on November 22. According to CNSnews.com, members of a Somalia-based militant group stopped the Nairobi-bound vehicle and questioned passengers to determine whether they were Muslims. Eyewitnesses said those who answered unsatisfactorily were taken aside and shot.
U.S. vice president’s wife praises ADRA’s work in Ukraine
Jill Biden, wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, expressed sympathy for a family with two children who fled fighting in eastern Ukraine, and she thanked ADRA for assisting the family and many other people displaced by the violence. Biden visited a shelter at ADRA’s office in Kiev on Friday as her husband held talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on measures to deal with the country’s sputtering economy.
In Jamaica, Adventist choir saves suspected robber from angry crowd
An Adventist church choir in Jamaica saved the life of an accused robber who sought refuge from a mob that killed one of his friends, a local church leader said Thursday. The unidentified suspect ran into the Harrison Adventist Church in the city of Montego Bay after being chased by an angry crowd that accused him and three friends of robbing and stabbing a woman in a nearby shopping district on Tuesday night, said Glen O. Samuels, president of the Adventist Church’s West Jamaica Conference.
Inter-America to hold online symposium for small group leaders
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America will hold a special online symposium on Nov. 21, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. (Miami Time) for leaders of small groups from across the territory. The event will be hosted from the Inter-American Division (IAD) Headquarters in Miami, Florida. The two-hour online program will seek to reaffirm and strengthen the role each small group leader has in discipling church members to grow spiritually and fulfill the gospel mission, said Pastor Melchor Ferreyra, personal ministries director for the church in Inter-America and organizer of the event.