Armed Hostilities Create Humanitarian Crisis in the Middle East, ADRA Beirut/Lebanon | 28.07.2006 | ADRA The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has forced 700,000 people from their homes in Lebanon to seek shelter in Beirut and other parts of the country, with a further 150,000 having fled into neighboring countries, according to estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These numbers are expected to rise. As armed hostilities between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon rage unabated, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) staff and vol
Adventist Relief Agency Helps Australian Evacuees from Lebanon Sydney, New South Wales/Australia, | 28.07.2006 | ADRA Australians arriving in Sydney this week from war-torn Lebanon are receiving immediate assistance from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in securing short-term accommodation. Those arriving at Sydney’s international airport are being met by ADRA Australia and other community service providers so that their needs can be assessed and met quickly. Since Sunday 23 July, when the first flights started arriving, ADRA has provided short-term accommodation for more than 100 people
Moldova: ADRA Organizes Summer Camp for Disadvantaged Children Chisinau/Moldova | 26.07.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) will host its third annual summer camp for 140 children from disadvantaged families and orphans in the country of Moldova. The weeklong camp will be held in the village of Sarata-Noua, 62 miles from Chisinau, the capital. Implemented ADRA’s office in Moldova, the camp will run August 1 to August 8. The children, ranging in age from 8 to 15, are selected from children’s centers, families with disabled or impoverished parents, orphanages, and c
Beirut: Adventist University Prepared Campus Bomb Shelter Beirut, Lebanon | 24.07.2006 | International On July 21 we started cleaning the bomb shelter of the apartment building on Middle East University campus, anticipating that we may need it in the coming days," reports Pastor Levon Maksoudian, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the East Mediterranean Region, whose family resides in one of the apartments. The Middle East University is an Adventist institution situated on the summit of the Sabtieh Hill, overlooking Beirut city. It is a relatively considerable distance away from
Northern Israel: Refugees Sheltered In Adventist Churches Haifa/Israel, | 24.07.2006 | International "The situation in Northern Israel continues to be difficult," reports Richard Elofer, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Israel. "Many Adventist Christians and Jews celebrated the Sabbath on July 22nd in bomb shelters with frequent interruptions by blaring sirens and explosions of fired rockets." On July 21 one of these rockets fell down on Herzl Street, downtown Haifa, which is very close to three Adventist Churches: the Hebrew, Romanian and English speaking congregations. "We
European Adventist Leader Call For Peace in the Middle East St. Albans, United Kingdom | 21.07.2006 | International Joining earlier calls from regional Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the Middle East region, Pastor Bertil Wiklander, president of the church's Trans-European region, said the current crisis must not endanger the hope for peace.[img id=780 align=right] "I share the alarm and sadness of our church members in Israel and Lebanon, many of whom have had to leave their homes and flee for their lives. We entrust them and all other people who mourn the loss of lives and struggle for their own
Adventist Relief Agency Responds to Crisis in the Middle East London/U.K | 20.07.2006 | ADRA As the ongoing conflict between Lebanon and Israel escalates, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is responding to the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Lebanon. The United Nations reports that an estimated 500,000 Lebanese have been displaced, many of who are fleeing southern Lebanon to what they perceive as safer neighbourhoods in Beirut and the northern part of that country. A further 200,000 are estimated to have fled into neighbouring countries to escape the
Methodists to Affirm Roman Catholic Theology on Justification Seoul/Korea, | 20.07.2006 | Ecumenism The World Methodist Conference (WMC) will adopt the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) agreed in 1999 between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which, in practice, eliminated the main theological element of division between Catholics and Lutherans. The act to extend the Declaration will take place in Uiwang near Seoul, during a special church service in the presence of Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Chr
Cardinal Kasper reiterates Roman Catholic Church's unique place in Ecumenism Uiwang-Seoul/Korea | 20.07.2006 | Ecumenism The head of the Vatican organization in charge of ecumenism has reminded bishops of Asia that the Second Vatican Council taught Christ's Church is to be found only in the Roman Catholic Church, reports the Hong Kong based news agency UCAN. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, acknowledged that the Second Vatican Council left room for dialogue, but "it also wants to maintain that the Church of Christ has its concrete location in the Roman C
Adventist Relief Agency Fights Hunger in Haiti Port-au-Prince/Haiti, | 18.07.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Haiti has launched a nutritional supplemental program for children between the ages of 6 and 12 in Diquini, Carrefour, Haiti. According to United Nations reports, Haiti has the worst daily caloric deficit per inhabitant in the world, with Haitians consuming an average of only 460 kilocalories each per day. At the nutrition program inauguration ceremony held on May 30, 2006, Fritz Bissereth, country director for the ADRA Haiti offic
Middle East: Adventist Church Postpones Headquarters' Relocation To Beirut Nicosia/Cyprus | 18.07.2006 | International Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the Middle East (MEU) voted July 17 to postpone the much-anticipated September 2006 relocation of its headquarters offices to Beirut, Lebanon. An emergency meeting of the MEU executive committee was called at the present headquarters in Nicosia, Cyprus where the escalating consequences of the regional conflict were acknowledged. The situation will be reappraised at the church's year-end executive committee meetings in December to determine wheth
Adventist Theologians Affirm Role of Bible, Call for Theological Unity Ephesus, Izmir/Turkey | 18.07.2006 | International Theologians, scholars and administrators of the Seventh-day Adventist world church closed the organization's Second International Bible Conference in Ephesus, Izmir Province, Turkey, on July 15 with a call for theological unity. In a "consensus statement" passed by a show of hands among the nearly 250 in attendance, the group passed six affirmations and three "calls" addressed to various segments of the worldwide Adventist community. The affirmations centered on the importance of the Bible,
Israel: "Be Makers of Peace," Adventist Leader Urges Jerusalem/Israel | 16.07.2006 | International Seventh-day Adventists in Israel are encouraging peace in the midst of the recent escalation of violence in Israel, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. "We condemn the killing of innocent people in any area of our region," said Pastor Richard Elofer, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Israel. "We also condemn provocations, and reaffirm the right of every nation to live as independent states with secured borders and in peace with their neighbors." "We urge all people -- Israelis, Pa
Lebanon: Rocket Attacks Near Beirut Adventist School Beirut/Lebanon | 16.07.2006 | International Subsequent to the recent upsurge in regional violence the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East is calling for restraint on all sides of the conflict and between various factions in Lebanon and Israel. Early on Thursday morning, July 13, rockets fired from Israeli warplanes took out all three runways of Beirut International Airport, the only international airport in Lebanon, as well as specific targets in Beirut, some close to the Mouseitbeh Adventist School which
Turkey: International Adventist Bible Conference Begins With Call to Future Efes/Turkey | 11.07.2006 | Bible "Our future is what beckons us and challenges us. And we must walk into that future without distancing ourselves from the 'wall' at our backs. We must feel its support constantly," Seventh-day Adventist world church president Pastor Jan Paulsen said during a July 8 message at a gathering of 240 Adventist theologians and scholars in Izmir, Turkey. He spoke on the second day of the 10-day 2nd International Bible Conference on the role of theology in the modern church. The conference takes plac
ADRA Improves Access to Electricity in Nepal Kathmandu/Nepal | 10.07.2006 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing access to electricity for thousands of residents in Nepal, by distributing compact pedal generators to homes in rural areas. Outside Nepal’s major cities, homes and villages are widely scattered, making the task of centralizing power very difficult. Local renewable energy sources are often unavailable or uneconomical, and to date, no affordable method has been found to redistribute power from more highly industrialized areas to
Adventist World Church Secretary Gets Ghana National Honour Accra/Ghana | 05.07.2006 | International Seventh-day Adventist Pastor Matthew Ango Bediako, born in rural Ghana, has received on June 30 the "Order of the Volta" award from Ghana's president, John Agyekum Kufuor, as a memorable distincton. Bediako is Secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, with headquarters in Silver Spring/Maryland (USA). In the past Bediako received three honorary degrees and the leaders of Kenya, the Gambia and Malawi have given him awards for service. "When it comes from your own count
