Southern Asia-Pacific: Adventist Chaplaincy Department Braces Pastors on Crisis Situations Silang, Cavite, Philippines | 30.09.2004 | International Some 170 pastors and chaplains working in Myanmar and Indonesia received training in crisis intervention in two separate venues between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7. The first seminar was held in conjunction with the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries' retreat at an Adventist university in Manado, in terror hard-hit Indonesia, while the other was at the Adventist headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar. Hospital, college and school chaplains within the Southern Asia-Pacific church area joined the first retreat
Adventist Relief Agency Aids Survivors, Families of Russian School Tragedy Moscow/Russia | 30.09.2004 | ADRA Survivors of the tragic school attack that took place September 1, 2004 in Beslan, Russia, are being provided assistance by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). Survivors, their families, and families of the 331 people that died in the attacks will benefit from a community centre that will assist with the psychological and social rehabilitation of the affected population. The one-year project will provide post-trauma training for teachers of Beslan schools and the centre volun
East Africa: New Adventist Church Leaders Prepared In Training Eldoret, Kenya | 30.09.2004 | International Developing a new generation of leaders is at the top the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa's agenda, reports Jules K K Lumbu, spokesman for the church in the region. A joint program of the 1978 established University of Eastern Africa - Baraton (Eldoret/Kenya) and the U.S. based Andrews University (Berrien Springs MI/USA), both connected with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is helping to prepare a new generation of leaders. September 23 saw the "proxy" graduation of 62 Master of
Philippines: Government Accredits Adventist Pastors as Healthy Lifestyle Promoters Manila, Philippines | 30.09.2004 | International The Philippines is set to activate church resources to improve lifestyle of its citizens, according to Jonathan C. Catolico, Seventh-day Adventist Church spokesman in the region. A three-day, government-sponsored seminar has led to the accreditation of 28 Seventh-day Adventist pastors and church workers as trainers for healthy lifestyle programs in the Philippines. The government's Department of Health sponsored and led the seminar. Dr. Judith Tawatao, technical program coordinator for t
Russia: Adventist Church, Government Seek to Help After Beslan Terrorist Killings Beslan, Northern Ossetia, Russia | 30.09.2004 | International Following the recent terrorist siege at a local school in Beslan, organizations and the local government are continuing efforts to help neighbors in the region. Seventh-day Adventist church leaders in the North Caucasus area and in the church's Euro-Asia region are bringing various forms of aid. "The Seventh-day Adventist Church [in the] North Caucasus [region] is doing everything possible to comfort people of Beslan and help in this situation. It is the most important work of the church at
Haiti/Dominican Republic: Church Mourns and Prepares to Rebuild After Hurricane Tragedy Gonaives, Haiti | 30.09.2004 | International "There is such a devastation here; [the] people need everything; people are dying, they need food, water, clothing and medicines," said Pastor Etzer Obas, president of the Adventist church in Haiti while assessing the aftermath of hurricane Jeanne which flooded and levelled parts of his country. "Flood waters are still present, and the people are mourning. They cannot bring people in the morgue, they cannot bury their dead, they cannot find their loved ones amidst the dead animals and bodies
ADRA Continues Distributing Hurricane Aid in Cayman Islands, Grenada, Jamaica Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 26.09.2004 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing with its comprehensive assistance to those affected by the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean. On September 22 nearly 8,000 pounds of items were airlifted to the Cayman Islands to be distributed by ADRA. Included were 300 blankets, 200 food boxes that are a two-week food supply for a family, 560 hygiene kits, can openers, hammers, Hibachi grills, nails, rope, tarps/plastic sheeting, and five pallets of water. The Church of Jesu
Southern Asia-Pacific: Adventist Chaplaincy Department Braces Pastors on Crisis Situations Silang, Cavite, Philippines | 26.09.2004 | International Some 170 pastors and chaplains working in Myanmar and Indonesia received training in crisis intervention in two separate venues between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7. The first seminar was held in conjunction with the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries' retreat at an Adventist university in Manado, in terror hard-hit Indonesia, while the other was at the Adventist headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar. Hospital, college and school chaplains within the Southern Asia-Pacific church area joined the first retreat
ADRA Angola Improves Food Security of IDP Returnees Berne, Switzerland | 26.09.2004 | ADRA Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returnees are benefiting from a unique project being implemented by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) aiming to improve their food security through increased attention to the health of cattle. The majority of the beneficiaries recently returned to their homes in Huambo Province, Angola since peace came to the country approximately two years ago The project is currently funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Adventist Describes Resistance to Rwanda Genocide; Pleads for Civil Society Washington, D.C., U.S.A., | 22.09.2004 | International At a time when world leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan are focusing their attention on a looming genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, a soft-spoken Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Carl Wilkens, told an audience of congressional staffers and human rights advocates that standing against the 1994 genocide in Rwanda "was the right thing to do." He then added a plea for a more civil tone in society, contending that even jokes that disparage others can be a portent of civil stri
Grenada: Two Adventist Church Members Killed, Church Hit Hard By Hurricane Ivan Grenville/Grenada | 16.09.2004 | International Hurricane Ivan's impact on Grenada included the deaths of two Seventh-day Adventist church members, looting of the local church headquarters, and the destruction of the church's two schools and half of its 37 church buildings. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grenada has more than 10,000 members, officials report. Funeral services for an Adventist mother and daughter were held on September 11. On that same day, Adventist leaders from the church's Caribbean region visited Grenada to meet wi
Iraq: No Injuries As Car Bomb Explodes Outside Baghdad Adventist Church Baghdad, Iraq | 16.09.2004 | International A car packed with an estimated 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of dynamite was detonated outside the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Baghdad late Friday night September 10. While there were no services in progress at the time, a guard was present on the church compound and escaped unhurt. "Details are still sketchy, but it appears to have been a deliberate attack on the church since there are no other significant targets on the side that was bombed," says Homer Trecartin, secretary-treasurer for
Adventist Named One Of Most Influential U.S. Foreign Policy Makers Washington D.C.,/U.S.A. | 16.09.2004 | International Seventh-day Adventist U.S. Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett has been named one of the 500 most influential people in United States foreign policy by the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA), a non-partisan international affairs system. Each person’s influence is determined by their impact on broad national opinion through their prominence, their writings, public presentations, media appearances, and their influence on government decision-makers. Within government, this influence derives fro
Rwanda: In Rebuilt Adventist Church, Satellite Series Yields 10,000 Baptisms | 03.09.2004 | International The just-concluded ACTS* 2004 evangelistic series in the Rwandan capital yielded a large number of new Seventh-day Adventist church members - more than 10,000 at last count. However, that's not the only residual effect of the campaign. Thanks to efforts by Adventist broadcast ministry It Is Written, the church's East-Central Africa region and local church leaders in Rwanda, the Remera Seventh-day Adventist Church, in a suburb of Kigali about five miles from the city center, was refurbished a
