APD - Archive (Adventistischer Pressedienst)

Articles by year and month - 2005/8

U.S.A.: Adventists Aid Hurricane Survivors

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 31.08.2005 | International

Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects can be seen in the flooded streets and homes of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi as residents try to recover from one of the worse hurricanes ever to hit the United States. The driving 165-mph winds and battering rains irrevocably changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, leaving behind flooded streets, damaged homes and nowhere to go. Katrina is responsible for at least 110 deaths and may claim hundreds or even thousands more, government
ADRA Commits Funding for North American Hurricane Katrina Relief

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 31.08.2005 | ADRA

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International has committed funding to Adventist Community Services (ACS) to provide relief aid to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. While ADRA operates emergency management programs worldwide, but outside of Northern America, it provides funding to local organizations, such as Adventist Community Services, when disaster strikes in the U.S.A. [img id=552 align=left]According to an August 30 news release from ACS, its disaster respons
Liberian Adventist Women Observe Abuse Prevention Day

Monrovia, Liberia | 31.08.2005 | International

Women of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Liberia paraded the principal streets of Monrovia August 26, carrying placards, some of which read: "I am not a punching bag"; "I am your child"; If you teach me hostility, I learn to fight"; among others. As they observed the National Abused Emphasis Day, they later assembled at the Monrovia City Hall for an indoor program. Since Liberia has been in the vanguard of the promotion of peace and dignity, the women argued that Liberians need to cont
ADRA Wins Prestigious National Award in Ghana

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 31.08.2005 | ADRA

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) was presented with the “International Development Partner Award for Excellence” on August 19 during the second Millennium Excellence Awards ceremony in Accra, Ghana. “The award was given in recognition of ADRA’s contribution to the development of the people of Ghana,“ said Samuel Asante-Mensah, country director for ADRA in Ghana. “We thank God for His leadership, as well as the Millennium Excellence Committee; and the government of Ghana for
Adventist Relief Crews From Region Set Out to Help Gulf Coast Victims

Washington D.C./USA | 30.08.2005 | International

Relief Crews From Region Set Out to Help By Michael Laris, Washington Post Staff Writer Volunteers and professional disaster workers from the Washington region began the launch yesterday of what will be a far-reaching relief effort to help Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. They tried to contact their hurricane-buffeted colleagues in Louisiana and Mississippi, readied canine search teams and headed south in mobile canteens. In Fairfax County, a 34-person rescue team that inclu
Flood Survivors in India Receive Aid From ADRA

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 26.08.2005 | ADRA

After heavy rainfall last month caused severe flooding in Maharashtra, India, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) responded to 500 families affected by the flooding with emergency aid and supplies. Each family received approximately 20 pounds of food, a blanket, a hygiene kit, and education on proper hygiene and sanitation practices. “Special emphasis was given to vulnerable and marginalized families,” noted Paulo Lopes, country director for ADRA India. “Women, children,
New 'Seventh-day Adventists Believe' Book Published

Nampa, Idaho/USA | 23.08.2005 | International

Six weeks after world church leaders voted a new fundamental belief statement, Seventh-day Adventists can now consult a 446-page reference volume offering a deeper explanation of what Adventist Christians believe, and why. The new paperbound volume, titled "Seventh-day Adventists Believe: An exposition of the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church," has just been printed by the Pacific Press Publishing Association, one of the church's North American publishing houses, a church o
Roman Catholic "World Youth Day": Biggest Worship Service on German Soil

Cologne/Germany | 23.08.2005 | Ecumenism

Pope Benedict XVI Receives Mixed Reactions From German Protestants The Roman Catholic "World Youth Day 2005" has ended in the biggest worship service ever on German soil. More than one million participants from 200 countries celebrated an open air mass with Pope Benedict XVI near Cologne, August 21. [img id=547 align=left] During his homily for the closing Mass, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the youth to pursue a pure and full faith, which does not pick and choose among doctrines. "If it i
Adventist World' Magazine Will Launch in September

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 18.08.2005 | International

The "Adventist World," the international paper for Seventh-day Adventists, will launch in September, Dr. William G. Johnsson, Adventist World editor, said in an interview. The initial print run is for at least 1 million copies in English, with additional copies expected in Spanish and French. "We anticipate that at least 5 million people will read each issue of the Adventist World" magazine, Johnsson said, who also edits the Adventist Review (ISSN 0161-1119), the weekly general paper of the c
Founder of French religious Taize Community stabbed to death at evening prayers

Founder of French religious Taize Community stabbed to death at evening prayers | 17.08.2005 | Ecumenism

The founder of the French religious Taize Community, Brother Roger, 90, was stabbed to death on August 16 during evening prayers by a mentally disturbed, his community said. Police said that a 36-year-old Romanian woman was detained as a suspect. According to a news report of Agence France Press (AFP) Brother Roger was attacked with a knife during evening prayers attended by some 2,500 young people at the Reconciliation church in Taize, in the eastern Burgundy region. He was seriously wounded
Relief Aid Chief Technical Advisor Killed in Madagascar

Antananarivo/Madagascar | 15.08.2005 | ADRA

At approximately 7:00 p.m. on August 10, Fanja Michel Rakotomanana, chief technical advisor for the Food Security project for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Madagascar, was killed when his motorcycle collided with an unlit parked truck. Rakotomanana was 40 years old. The accident happened on a long stretch of road six miles north of the city of Moramanga, Madagascar. “There was a thick fog covering the road, which prevented Michel from seeing the truck until it
Roman-Catholic "World Youth Day": Pope Benedict XVI on the road to Germany

Cologne/Germany | 15.08.2005 | Ecumenism

Today the curtain rises in Cologne, Germany, on the biggest event of the Roman-Catholic summer, as well as the most important road test to date of Benedict XVI’s papacy. World Youth Day (WYD) begins August 15 with Marian celebrations in local parishes, though Benedict XVI doesn’t arrive until Thursday, August 18. The weeklong festival of Roman Catholic youth, instituted by Pope John Paul II and known affectionately as the “Catholic Woodstock,” closes with a papal Mass on Sunday, August 21.
ADRA Receives Funding for Cleft Lip and Palate Project in Nepal

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 14.08.2005 | ADRA

On June 24, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Japan received US$31,100 worth of International Voluntary Aid funds from Japan Post to help children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) disorders in Nepal. Of the 54 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that received International Voluntary Aid funding from Japan Post, ADRA’s Cleft Lip and Palate Project received the third largest funding. The project began in 1995, and since then has helped more than 1,300 patients who were born w
Humanitarian Disaster in Niger: ADRA Crisis Team Arrives

Niamey/Niger | 09.08.2005 | ADRA

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) crisis assessment team arrived in Niger on August 5 to begin their assessment of the food shortage crisis in that country. They will continue to research the situation on the ground as well as contacting other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), potential donors, and other organizations for partnership opportunities until August 19. Once the assessment is complete, ADRA will begin to allocate private funding and contact interested governm
Hiroshima remembers atomic bomb

Hiroshima/Japan | 06.08.2005 | International

The Japanese city of Hiroshima has marked the anniversary of the moment an atomic bomb exploded above the city 60 years ago. Around 140,000 people were killed by the bomb and its aftermath. Nuclear survivors, known as Hibakusha, joined dignitaries at the annual commemoration in the Peace Park, built at the epicentre of the blast. The head of the UN has said the world has made little progress in tackling the spread of nuclear weapons. "Today, we are all Hibakusha," Kofi Annan said in a st
ADRA Assists Hurricane Survivors in the Ukraine

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 05.08.2005 | ADRA

During the week of July 25 to July 29, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) began repairs on a schoolhouse for 127 kindergarteners in Mukachevo, Ukraine, whose school was badly damaged during a hurricane in late May. ADRA chose to repair kindergarten No. 23 after being contacted by the Mukachevo city council and the mayor. “This kindergarten is one of the most important projects for the community and also relates well to ADRA’s disaster response possibilities,” said Andriy Chupr
Adventist Church Holds First International HIV and AIDS Conference

Berrien Springs, Michigan/USA | 04.08.2005 | Health & Ethics

"HIV and AIDS Call to Compassion", the first international conference of its kind held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, took place at U.S. based Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, from June 23 to June 27, 2005. The conference was held in conjunction with an International Church Planting Conference on the same campus and focused on church planting from a world-in-need perspective. Between 75 and 100 people from around the world, including directors of various church ministri
Sydney is Next Stop For Adventist Church President

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 04.08.2005 | International

To Seventh-day Adventist young people worldwide who wonder if the church is really listening to them, world church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen, says, "Yes." [img id=541 align=right]On September 5 Paulsen will continue a two-year series of conversations with young people. The program, called "Let's Talk... South Pacific," will broadcast from Sydney. It will air live, unscripted and unedited exchanges where Adventist young people from all over the South Pacific will speak with Paulsen about
Barriers lifting between U.S. Catholics and Evangelicals, say researchers

Washington D.C./USA | 03.08.2005 | Ecumenism

A news report from the Catholic News Agency (CNA) says the relationship between Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics has improved dramatically in the United States of America in recent decades, and increasingly these two groups have ever more in common both politically and spiritually. According to the CNA article a number of Evangelical and Catholic researchers and scholars have observed this phenomenon and written about it. Richard Ostling of the Associated Press recently report
Number of Christians surges in China

Beijing/China | 03.08.2005 | International

A report in the Australian Daily newspaper "The Age" says that Chinese Christians currently outnumber members of the Communist Party. The Gospel message is being spread everywhere, in the countryside and in the cities, and even in uncommon places, like beauty salons. Xun Jinzhen, owner of a beauty salon near Beijing Zoo gives its customers more than they bargain for: not just facials and manicures, but the Word of God. Mr. Xun sees beauty salons as a good place to transform souls as well as
APD-Feature: Student-led Adventist Churches Grow on Public Campuses in Kenya

Nairobi/Kenya | 03.08.2005 | International

On a typical Saturday morning in the East Central African country of Kenya, more than half a million Christian gather in Seventh-day Adventist churches all over the country for worship and fellowship. On many of these mornings last year, 25-year-old Richard Mc'Otieno could be found standing behind the pulpit looking at the hundreds of faces of his fellow students at Kenyatta University as he delivered the morning sermon. As an ordained elder, or lay leader, for the Adventist Church on campus
Sudan: Adventist Students Stranded as Rioters Move Through Khartoum

Khartoum, Sudan | 03.08.2005 | International

Intense rioting and looting broke out in Khartoum, Sudan, after Monday's official announcement that the country's vice president, John Garang, had been killed in a helicopter crash. "I've been in contact with the church's regional office in Khartoum all morning and things are not good," says Michael Porter, president of the Adventist Church in the Middle East region. He adds that most of the students from the elementary self-help school, located in the same compound as the church offices
Adventist World Church Vice Presidents Assume Wide-Range of Roles

Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 03.08.2005 | International

Leaders at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring (Maryland/USA) have a special challenge: think globally, but also work to serve the interests of the church's fast growing membership. A faith community of 25 million Christian, Adventists live and worship in more than 200 countries around the world, with a wide variety of local needs. Pastor Jan Paulsen, world church president, works with a team of nine vice presidents whose responsibilities range from overse
ADRA Assists Flood Survivors in Tajikistan

Silver Spring, Maryland /USA | 01.08.2005 | ADRA

Throughout July, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International has provided emergency relief aid to 2,325 people affected by flooding in the Panjakent and Hamadoni regions of Tajikistan. From July 10 to July 17, ADRA delivered emergency aid to 215 families in Panjakent, providing 22 tons of essential food items, such as vegetable oil, sugar, rice, flour, and children’s food, and emergency nonfood supplies, such as kitchen utensils, blankets, bedding, towels, and clothes. T