Jamaica: Government leaders commend Adventist church's integrity, community visibility Mandeville, Manchester Parish/Jamaica | 30.10.2007 | International Jamaican government leaders commended Seventh-day Adventists for their integrity and leadership role in the island nation during a recent visit to the country by the Adventist world church's President Jan Paulsen. Governor-General Sir Kenneth Octavius Hall thanked the church for its "committed public citizenship" in a meeting with Paulsen on October 26. "Adventists can be trusted," Hall said, adding that the church is in an ideal position to offer guidance and moral leadership to the cou
Adventist world church leader urges greater role for young people Mandeville/Jamaica | 30.10.2007 | International Seventh-day Adventist world church president Pastor Jan Paulsen gave a resounding endorsement of Adventist young people October 27 -- even offering a "yeah mon!" in Jamaican slang -- during "Let's Talk Caribbean", the 17th such program in a series of unscripted, unedited conversations between the Adventist church president and its under-30 crowd. "You don't have to be elected to an office to own the church. You don't have to be a local elder to own the church. The church is a place of mutual
Cayman Islands Christmas stamps with stained-glass windows series from major Churches George Town, Grand Cayman/Cayman Islands | 29.10.2007 | International Churches in the Cayman Islands boast some beautiful stained–glass windows, and the Cayman Islands Postal Service (CIPS) wants to share them with stamp collectors and remind residents of their beauty. The CIPS has therefore released six stamps and a First Day Cover in the Christmas 2007 – Stained–glass windows series. The stamps feature stained–glass windows at Wesleyan Holiness Church (25¢); Elmslie Memorial Church (50¢); St. George’s Anglican Church (75¢); East End Seventh–Day Adventist Chur
Jewish Philosopher Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Dies Basel/Switzerland | 22.10.2007 | International Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich, a Jewish religious philosopher who escaped the Nazis and became a European bridge-builder between Christians and Jews, has died at age 86. According to a family notice, Ehrlich died on October 22 at his home in Riehen, a suburb of Basel. The Berlin-born Ehrlich studied at Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, Rabbi Leo Baeck's rabbinical seminary, until the Nazis closed it in 1942. He was made to perform forced labour until he was able to find shelter with a Berlin coupl
Adventist Church approves 10-year mission initiative for Central Asia Washington D.C./USA | 17.10.2007 | International The Adventist Mission Committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church recently approved a 10-year initiative for the 60 million indigenous people of Central Asia. The five countries of Central Asia--Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan--represent a highly challenging area to Christian mission, Adventist church leaders said. In September, two Adventist pastors in Uzbekistan were sentenced by a court for "unduly organizing and holding worships." In 1999 an Adventis
Adventist Guidelines anticipate potential tension of church mission, social legislation Silver Spring, Maryland/USA, | 17.10.2007 | Religion + State Adventist Guidelines anticipate potential tension of church mission, social legislation[img id=1044 align=right] Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders took action on October 15 at their Annual Council Meeting in offering guidelines for instances when the church's beliefs are at odds with social legislation, particularly with hiring practices at church institutions. Meeting at the Adventist world church's headquarters near Washington, D.C., the church's executive committee approved a docume
Adventists with largest church growth rate since 2002 audit Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 15.10.2007 | International Every Seventh-day Adventist -- worshipping from Albania to Zimbabwe -- is now in the company of 15,433,470 likeminded members of the global Protestant denomination, Adventist world church secretary Matthew A. Bediako told some 300 Annual Council delegates gathered at world church headquarters October 14. More than 1 million of those members joined the Adventist Church between July 2006 and June 2007, making the year in review the fifth consecutive to net such a measurable response to the Gos
Adventist World Church president: Leaders share responsibility, trust Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 14.10.2007 | International More than 300 leaders hear President Jan Paulsen's Saturday sermon October 13 at the church's world headquarters near Washington, D.C. Paulsen addressed leaders as part of Annual Council, the world church's business meeting, which runs through October 17. Church leaders should focus on their own responsibilities and trust leaders in other areas of the world to do the same, the Seventh-day Adventist world church president told leaders of the global Protestant denomination. During worship,
Russia: Monument dedicated to Adventists killed during Stalin regime St. Petersburg/Russia | 10.10.2007 | International Seventh-day Adventists and community members in St. Petersburg, Russia, dedicated a monument on October 7 to Adventists killed during the Great Purge political repressions under Soviet Leader Josef Stalin in the 1930s. About 100 people, including a representative of the city's governor, gathered for the memorial at the Levashovsky Cemetery, according to Viktor Vitko, the Adventist Church's Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the church's Euro-Asia Division based in Moscow.
Christian Bookstore Manager in Gaza City kidnapped and murdered Gaza City | 07.10.2007 | Bible The manager of the Gaza Strip's only all-Christian bookstore was found stabbed to death on Sunday (October 7) in what appears to have been an act of aggression. Rami Khader Ayyad, a prominent Gaza Christian, disappeared on Saturday (October 6), following months of death threats from local Muslims. Ayyad ran the Teacher's Bookshop, which is a ministry of the Palestinian Bible Society (PBS) and the local Gaza Baptist Church. Ayyad was accused by area Muslims of spreading the Gospel. The 32-yea
Uzbekistan: Court fines two Adventist pastors for home church meeting Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 07.10.2007 | Religious Liberty Two Seventh-day Adventist pastors were sentenced September 27 by a court in Tashkent for "unduly organizing and holding worships," Adventist Church officials in the region said. The ministers, whose names were withheld, were each fined 80,000 soum, or about half a month's salary for a pastor, said Victor Vitko, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist church's Euro-Asia region based in Moscow. Two other church members will also have to pay a combined fine of 30,000
Jamaikaner leitet Siebenten-Tags-Baptisten in Nordamerika Kingston/Jamaika | 01.10.2007 | International Der aus Jamaika stammende Pastor Andrew Samuels (45) ist neuer Präsident der Generalkonferenz der Siebenten-Tags-Baptisten in den USA und Kanada. Seine Grosseltern und Eltern gehörten bereits der Kirche an. Er ist mit der Grundschullehrerin Kay verheiratet und hat zwei Töchter. Samuels arbeitete zunächst im Aussenministerium und ab 1982 in der Ständigen Vertretung Jamaikas bei den Vereinten Nationen in New York. Dort studierte er berufsbegleitend Theologie. 1988 wurde er zum Pastor der Seventh-d
