UN Expert Defends Importance of Combating Religious Intolerance Geneva/Switzerland, | 28.03.2007 | International The U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir In her report to the UN Human Rights Council, notes with concern that freedom of religion or belief is not a reality for many individuals throughout the world. She reiterated her concerns at a special meeting with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on March 28 at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva. Responding to a question from the U.N. representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jonathan Gallagher, she s
Adventist Statement on Islam to Provide Strovolos/Cyprus | 28.03.2007 | International On the initiative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East (MEU), Adventist leaders in the church's Trans-European (TED) recently adopted an official Statement on Islam to help foster a more constructive relationship between Muslims and Christians. "As [the Adventist] movement continues to grow in the world," the statement begins, "we are looking for [a] good relationship with Islam, a faith with a similar sense of godly calling that is followed by one-fifth of the world's populati
ADRA São Tomé and Principe Marks Completion of Anti-Malaria Campaign São Tomé, | 21.03.2007 | ADRA In February, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) celebrated the successful completion of an anti-malaria social marketing project in the African nation of São Tomé and Principe that promoted the use of ITNs (Insecticide-Treated bed-Nets) to fight the spread of the dangerous disease. The official closing ceremony was held February 23 in the capital city of São Tomé. R. Barrie Walkley, the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Gabon and São Tomé and Principe, opened the ceremony by
British ADRA-Team Robbed at Gunpoint in Papua New Guinea Port Moresby/PNG | 21.03.2007 | ADRA Bert R. Smit, director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in the United Kingdom (ADRA-UK), program officer Pansi Katenga, and three other ADRA team members were held at gunpoint by armed robbers on March 1 while visiting Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to monitor adult literacy education programs there. The robbers ambushed the ADRA minibus the group was travelling in following a visit to the Jesus Centre Halfway House training centre. The driver of the minibus wa
ADRA Rehabilitates Flooded Farmlands in Bolivia Santa Cruz/Bolivien, | 15.03.2007 | ADRA In response to severe flooding in eastern Bolivia, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing emergency and long-term agricultural rehabilitation assistance to households affected by the disaster in the rural farming village of San Luis, approximately 10 miles from the town of Camargo in Chuquisaca, Bolivia. In January, heavy rain caused extensive flooding in the eastern region, overflowing riverbeds, flooding villages, and destroying homes, buildings, and public infrast
Evangelical Religious Liberty Organizations Form Historical Network Amsterdam/The Netherlands | 15.03.2007 | Religious Liberty At a conference held from March 6-8 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, fifteen human rights organizations promoting religious freedom including the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met and formed "The Religious Liberty Partnership" to find new ways of working together for the persecuted church. Chaired by Merwyn Thomas from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), based in the U.K., the network will meet annually, while a working group of five members will lead various works during the year. The mem
Adventist Church's AIDS Ministry in Africa Expands, Calls for More Regional Coordinators Nairobi/Kenya | 14.03.2007 | unknow The Adventist AIDS International Ministry (AAIM), set up by the Seventh-day Adventist world church in 2003 and based in Johannesburg, South Africa to minister to those on the continent of Africa suffering from AIDS, may have started small. But at its fourth annual tri-regional advisory held February 12 to 14 in Nairobi, Kenya, its growth was evident. When Drs. Oscar and Eugenia Giordano began directing the office, just four delegates showed up for AAIM's first advisory. Four years later, that nu
Brazilian Police Arrest Man Who Raped and Strangled 20-month-old child in Adventist Church Joinville/Brazil, | 14.03.2007 | International The Brazilian police say they have solved a macabre crime involving a rapist and a one and a half year old girl, who after being raped was thrown in the baptismal font of a Seventh-day Adventist church in Joinville, a small town in the southern state of Santa Catarina. Gabrielli Cristina Eichholz, was violated and strangled on March 3, during the church's Saturday services. According to authorities, the murderer is Oscar Gonçalves do Rosário, a 22-year-old jobless mason who has confessed t
Iraq: Adventist College Graduate Killed Washington D.C./USA | 14.03.2007 | International U.S. Army Sergeant Jonathan D. Cadavero, 24, a medic and 2004 psychology graduate of Seventh-day Adventist-owned Columbia Union College (CUC) in Takoma Park, Maryland (USA), died soon after sustaining major head injuries improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Baghdad (Iraq) on February 27. Cadavero was on a Operation Iraqi Freedom mission when the explosion occurred. Also killed in the blast were Sergant Richard A. Soukenka, 30, and Corporal. Lorne E. Henry, Jr., 21. The men
South African Adventists Host Women Somerset West/South Africa | 09.03.2007 | Ecumenism This year marked the 77th time that South African women participated in a woman-led worldwide day of prayer. But it was the first time that the women of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Helderberg Basin in Somerset West, near Cape Town, South Africa, hosted the interdenominational day of prayer. The day of prayer took place Friday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. The Women's World Day of Prayer (WWDP) is a worldwide movement of Christian women from various cultures, races and churche
Adventists Back Movement to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls New York, N.Y./USA | 09.03.2007 | International A delegation of five Seventh-day Adventists joined some 5,000 women at United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York this week for the organization's 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The session, which began Feb. 26 and ends March 9, gives voice to the plight of millions of women and girls worldwide for whom abuse and basic human rights violation is a way of life. Reports from UN member states and experts indicated some 55 million girls do not attend formal school
Brazil: Local Adventist Church Leaders Denounce Crime that Occurred in the Joinville Church, Reiterate Commitment to Child Safety, Welfare Brasília, Brazil | 07.03.2007 | International Seventh-day Adventists in Brazil are grieving after a 20-month-old child was discovered strangled in the baptismal tank of an Adventist church in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil on March 3. Church leaders there have released a statement denouncing the heinous crime and reiterating the Adventist church's commitment to the safety and welfare of all children. "The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Santa Catarina comes before the public, in light of this unfortunate episode ... to state that the
Queen Sofia of Spain Visits ADRA Water Project in Indonesia Jakarta/Indonesia | 06.03.2007 | ADRA On February 7, 2007, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency was honoured with a visit from Queen Sofia of Spain at their water and sanitation project site on the island of Nias, in the North Sumatera province of Indonesia. The queen’s own humanitarian foundation, La Fundación Reina Sofia (The Queen Sofia Foundation), along with ADRA Spain, and AECI (the Spanish Agency for International Development), provided funding for the one-year project. Leire Pajin, the Spanish state minister of
Adventist Development and Relief Agency Receives Highest Rating by Leading U.S. Charity Evaluator Silver Spring, Maryland/USA | 02.03.2007 | ADRA The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has received for the second consecutive year a coveted four-star rating from Charity Navigator (CN), America's premier independent charity evaluator. "The four-star rating affirms ADRA’s focus on transparency and accountability," said Tereza Byrne, bureau chief for marketing and development at the ADRA International office. "With more than 95 percent of funding going toward direct humanitarian services, our donors are assured that their gifts
Thailand chosen for 2008 World Evangelical Alliance General Assembly Washington D.C./USA | 01.03.2007 | International The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), based in Vancouver, Canada, announced today, that its next General Assembly will be held in Thailand, October 27-31, 2008. "The General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance meets every four years to endorse WEA programs and brings together representatives of various regional and national evangelical alliance and fellowships," reports Geoff Tunnicliffe, WEA International Director. These WEA programs are then carried out through the office of the Int
Adventist Lawyers Review Services to Church in Africa Cape Town/South Africa | 01.03.2007 | Religious Liberty A conference of Seventh-day Adventist lawyers from throughout Africa was a first for the African continent. Religious liberty, the legal status of church properties and establishing legal offices were among several issues discussed at a conference of Seventh-day Adventist lawyers from throughout Africa meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 26. Lawyers reviewed their role in serving the church in increasingly complicated operational governance throughout Africa, and compared not
