Adventist Women's Ministries: Women Learn of Ways to Help Other Women Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 31.03.2006 | International It's a vicious circle. And many of the world's women are trapped in that cycle of illiteracy, overwork, abuse, ill health, lack of training and ultimately poverty. Some may view these huge, difficult problems as impossible to overcome and walk away, but Seventh-day Adventist women are finding significant ways for women to reach out to those in need. The Women's Ministries department at the church's world headquarters re-released six brochures on March 28 that spotlight and explain the six cr
33 percent of Fiji prostitutes are school students shows survey Suva/Fiji | 30.03.2006 | Health & Ethics A survey in Fiji has found that 33 percent of women engaged in the sex trade are school students. The survey was carried out by the Save the Children Fund (SCF) whose director of programmes, Margaret Logavatu said many of these students are those from outer islands sent to Suva for education. The non-governmental organisation was shocked by the survey. Save the Children is the world’s largest independent global movement for children. Save the Children Fiji has discovered that the more tour
Adventist Church in Iraq Has a New Leader Bagdad/Iraq | 30.03.2006 | International The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iraq, beset by war and the loss of members who have emigrated to other nations, has a new president: Basim Fargo, formerly secretary-treasurer of the church there. He was elected by leaders of the church's Middle East region, who met with Iraqi Adventist leaders. During the meeting, according to Pastor Kjell Aune, regional church president, it was disclosed that adult baptised membership, formerly at 250, has probably dropped to around 100 Adventists in Iraq,
Germany. European Adventist Media Center Foundation Stone Placed Darmstadt/Germany | 28.03.2006 | Media The placing of the foundation stone in a March 22 ceremony at Alsbach-Sandwiese, next to the city of Darmstadt (Germany), marked the formal start of construction of a new media center in Europe. Dedicated to producing and distributing messages of hope, the new facility will house the "Stimme der Hoffnung,"("Voice of Hope,") ministry operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Euro-Africa region. The new Media Center is not only "the [realization] of a vision," but also a "necessity which
UN Commission on Human Rights Ends Work Geneva/Switzerland | 28.03.2006 | Religious Liberty The U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) has ended more than 60 years of work. During a concluding session, U.N., governmental, and non-governmental representatives looked forward to the Commission's replacement body, the U.N. Council on Human Rights. The new Council is intended to have greater accountability and transparency, and will meet more frequently. The Peruvian chairman of the UNCHR called the 62nd and last session of the Commission to order. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human R
Adventist Church Communicators Affirm Ethics, Professional Development Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 28.03.2006 | Media Seventh-day Adventist world church communication directors, representing each of the church's 13 global regions (divisions), voted to approve a statement of ethics for church communicators, a key conclusion of a five-day advisory session held March 20 to 24. The group also learned about a new certificate program for communicators, which is being developed by faculty at U.S. based Andrews University and the General Conference as world headquarters. "To glorify God is the ultimate intent of al
ADRA Australia reponds to Cyclone Larry Wahroonga, New South Wales/Australia | 25.03.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Australia has allocated $50,000 to the response effort after Cyclone Larry devastated regions of northern Queensland on March 20. ADRA Australia will provide drinking water and emergency food parcels for affected families in the towns of Innisfail and those further inland on the Atherton Tablelands, and has purchased power generators for use in the relief effort. ADRA will also provide emergency funding to families who are uninsured or do not
Adventist U.S. Army Colonel Broome Selected as New Pentagon Chaplain Washington D.C./USA | 25.03.2006 | International Adventist chaplain Colonel William B. Broome, United States Army, currently the installation chaplain of Fort Sill in Oklahoma, has been selected to serve as Pentagon chaplain in Washington, D.C., beginning in June 2006. He will succeed Colonel Ralph G. Benson, who is retiring. Broome is not new to the Washington area. In 2001, he served as assignment officer for the Office of the Chief of Chaplains at DACH-PER (Department of the Army, Chaplains, Personnel and Ecclesiastical Relations) at the
Adventist Church Joins Pleas on Behalf of Afghan Christian Geneva/Switzerland | 24.03.2006 | Religious Liberty A 41-year-old Afghan citizen who faces execution over his 1990 conversion from Islam to Christianity is getting support from the Seventh-day Adventist Church as well as leaders worldwide. Global attention was drawn these days to the case of Abdul Rahman, who once worked for a Christian relief agency and who lived for several years in Germany. Now living in his native Afghanistan, Rahman was reported to Islamic authorities in the course of a custody dispute involving his ex-wife and children.
Conscientious objector who received U.S. Medal of Honour dies Calhoun, Georgia/USA, | 24.03.2006 | International Desmond T. Doss Sr., the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honour for non-combatant achievements in World War II, died March 23. He was 87. His death was announced by Seventh-day Adventist Church officials in Calhoun, not far from the northwest Georgia town of Rising Fawn where Doss lived for many years. Doss, who refused to carry a weapon during his wartime service as a medic, was the subject of a 2004 documentary, "The Conscientious Objector" and a previously published
World Church: Ministerial, Publishing, PARL Advisories Among Headquarters Meetings Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 22.03.2006 | International Representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's global ministerial, public affairs and religious liberty and publishing ministries held separate advisory sessions at the world church headquarters the week of March 13, sharing strategies and plans for the next five years. These sessions bring together departmental leaders from the Adventist church's 13 world regions for a time of fellowship, instruction and sharing. Strategies are considered and discussed, visions shared and accomplishm
Russia: Adventist Church Leader Discusses Religious Wars, Freedom, Church Growth Moscow/Russia | 17.03.2006 | International "Concerning human society, everything is possible," Pastor Jan Paulsen, world president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, told an interviewer for Russia's daily newspaper "Kommersant" during a February visit to Moscow during the 120th anniversary celebrations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Russia. Asked if the possibility of "religious war" exists, Paulsen said, "There are so many unpredictable things in this world. If the religious driving forces become destructive, then some prob
ADRA Provides Access to Clean Water in Darfur Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 17.03.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has recently completed a water project that provides improved access to clean water for 35,000 people living near the capital of West Darfur, Sudan. ADRA has drilled 19 successful boreholes for new wells and installed hand pumps for wells, providing better access to clean water for families in the region. ADRA also rehabilitated 50 existing hand pumps and trained more than 40 residents as hand pump mechanics. The newly constructed wells
Adventist Women Advocate Gender Equality at United Nations Adventist Women Advocate Gender Equality at United Nations | 12.03.2006 | International Seven Seventh-day Adventist women added their voices to thousands of other women in calling for drastic improvements in the lives of women worldwide at the United Nations' 50th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women. The Adventist delegation attended from February 27 to March 3 the meeting. The meeting ran until March 10. "The denial of women's rights touches every aspect of women's lives," explained Viola Hughes, the church's United Nations liaison specialist, who led the delegati
Baltic Region: Adventist Youth Director Brings Passion to Work, Church Life Riga/Latvia | 02.03.2006 | International The 21-year-old, blue-eyed, blonde from Latvia has a passion for working with youth: "I really breathe it. I just live with it and wake up with it and that's really what I love to do," Aira Arina quips. The young Arina has already served as the youth director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Baltic region, which includes Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, for nearly one year. She attends school full-time, studying economics and accounting. And, did we mention that she leads a youth/young a
Denmark: Adventists Aim for Bridge Building to Muslim Neighbours Naerum/Denmark | 01.03.2006 | International Responding to the global uproar over a series of controversial cartoons published in a Danish newspaper, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark is reaching out to build bridges of understanding with its Muslim neighbours. In their sermons pastors have taken up questions on freedom of speech and the relationship between Islam and Christianity. Members of the church have participated in the public debate on this issue by contributing letters and articles to the papers. The Danish Adventis
Nearly 7,000 Flood Survivors in Bolivia Receive Emergency Aid from ADRA La Paz/Bolivia | 01.03.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing humanitarian assistance for more than 1,000 families driven from their homes by severe flooding in the provinces of Madre de Dios, and Manuripi, Bolivia. Record rains in Bolivia during January and February have caused excessive flooding in both the highlands and the Amazon Basin, destroying crops and livestock, and forcing families from their homes. More than 33,000 families have been affected by this disaster, and thousands are
