ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
October 30, 2007

In This Issue:
---------------------
* Jamaica: Adventist world church president stresses personal
empowerment in dialogue with young people
* Jamaican national leaders commend church's integrity, community
visibility
* Mission to Africa: a need to rethink methods?
* Activists celebrate 25 years of trumpeting women leaders in ministry

* New digital channel a 'biggy' for Adventist video
* Colombia: nationwide Adventist effort feeds 80,000 in two hours
* Adventists Around the World
---------------------


-------------------------------------------------------
Jamaica: Adventist world church president stresses personal empowerment
in dialogue with young people
Mandeville, Jamaica .... [Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN]
-------------------------------------------------------
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 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 ownership -- we're in this together," Paulsen told nearly 40
eager young people during the conversation, based at Adventist-owned
Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, Jamaica, and broadcast on
the church's Hope Channel.

Paulsen anchored his remarks during the hour-long broadcast -- as he
often does during Let's Talk -- on empowerment and church ownership.
While it's a key message worldwide, he said, it's particularly
important in the church's West Indies region where young people make up
some two-thirds of the Adventist Church's membership.

Early on in the broadcast, Paulsen turned briefly to the camera for
remarks meant largely to amend some of the church's older generations'
opinions of young people. "I'm more preaching -- and I am preaching --
to those who are watching. You need to make sure that you trust those
who are young with responsibility. It is an indisputable fact that if
you do not engage those who are young, they will walk away from the
church."

Following a question on civil engagement, Paulsen said Christians
should not only ask what they can contribute to the church, but also
what they can contribute to the communities in which they live. One way
to impact society is to hold political office, Paulsen said. But, he
cautioned, someone considering candidacy must ask, "Is this something I
can do without compromising who I am and my loyalty to God?"

Let's Talk Caribbean again touched on protecting personal spirituality
when one young delegate asked what the church was doing to shield young
people from the "ill effects" of the media. Paulsen reminded the group
of both the "colossal" good media can do, and its potential to
propagate vice. "The church is not going to make the choice you will
have to make," said Paulsen, who often advocates private rather than
corporate responsibility while answering Let's Talk questions.
Entertainment choices, he said, are inherently a matter of conscience.
"When you switch on the set, it's not, 'What does the church say on
this one?' It's 'Is this going to make [me] a better person?'"

During the second half of Let's Talk Caribbean, many of the young
delegates addressed issues of sexuality in their questions.

One student asked a question regarding young women who are pregnant
outside of marriage, specifically when a pastor or other church
official is accused of molestation or rape and the victim is too afraid
to come forward. Paulsen answered adamantly: "Look, if you've committed
a crime, you go to jail. The church will not provide shelter to people
who are abusing their role or engaged in criminal activities condemned
by society." He added that the church should "provide a safe haven and
healing for those who carry wounds and scars."

The conversation then turned to AIDS, and whether the church's message
of abstinence was enough to combat the disease's rampant growth.
"Should we be preaching something else?" one delegate asked.

"Look, let's be perfectly frank," Paulsen said. "Sex belongs in
marriage. Promiscuity is never condoned in the Bible as a lifestyle.
Let's not look for ways to accommodate it or make it safer. Save the
good things for the right time."

Following the broadcast, Paulsen said he was pleased by the young
delegates' pointed questions.

Other questions addressed the church's methods of ministry. When one
student asked whether Paulsen thought so-called "tent" evangelism was
"outmoded," he said traditional evangelism still works "amazingly well"
in most parts of the world. But church leaders, he said, should not
depend on the initial effects of an outreach effort to produce
"enduring, in-depth decisions" for Christ, something he said long-term
small groups are better at. "For a person to stay in the church, you've
got to have friends in the church." He said large-scale events might be
better if they focused on celebration rather than conversion.

The church may spend too much time on outreach at the expense of
"inreach," one delegate said. For a new Christian still struggling with
drug addictions, the counsel to "trust Jesus" may not be enough, he
said, suggesting that the church oversee more addiction and skills
training programs. Paulsen agreed more inreach should be done, so long
as funds aren't diverted from outreach.

Let's Talk tapered off with a lighter question: whether or not
Adventist young people should play competitive sports. Paulsen said if
sports consume players and fans to the point of ousting God and
religion as their priorities, they were certainly not healthy. But
generally, he said, sports encourage strong relationships.


-------------------------------------------------------
Jamaican national leaders commend church's integrity, community
visibility
Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica .... [ANN Staff]
-------------------------------------------------------
Jamaican leaders commended Seventh-day Adventists for their integrity
and leadership role in the island nation during a recent visit to the
country by the world church's President Jan Paulsen.

Governor-General 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 country's
young people.

"Be assured," Paulsen said, "that we will be here for the good of the
nation. We want our church to be a visible contributor to a better
future, to be a voice for those who are poor, forgotten, or who are
struggling with addictions." Paulsen added that such a role should well
be "expected" of the Adventist Church.

The governor-general also congratulated the church's visibility within
the community. The church has become so ubiquitous, Hall said, "if you
are giving directions in Jamaica, often you say 'turn after the sign
for the Adventist church.'"

Paulsen visited the Caribbean nation to participate in a live broadcast
of Let's Talk Caribbean and address the country's church membership
during the centennial celebration of Adventist-owned Northern Caribbean
University in Mandeville. Paulsen, who was accompanied during his visit
by Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church's Inter-American
region, also met with the church's ministers for a question-and-answer
session.

The church's impact in Jamaica is due largely to its education system,
said the country's prime minister, Orette Bruce Golding, during a
breakfast meeting with Paulsen.

"How many more schools can I turn over to you?" Golding asked with a
laugh.

With enrolment at 5,700 students, NCU is the church's largest
university.

"As a church, we want to make a significant contribution to the quality
of life -- here and now -- and education is a big part of that.
Education builds community," Paulsen said.

Paulsen congratulated the university's Imagine Cup Team members for
representing Jamaica and winning third place in Microsoft's annual
international software design competition in August. He also commended
the church for obtaining a broadcast license with a cable company to
carry the church's television network, HopeTV, in the region. The
celebration at NCU was the first program aired on the channel.

Jamaica has one of the highest rates of Adventists per capita in the
world -- one out of 12 people in Jamaica is an Adventist.

More than 240,000 Adventists worship in 667 congregations in the
church's West Indies region, comprised of Jamaica, The Bahamas, Cayman
Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.


-------------------------------------------------------
Mission to Africa: a need to rethink methods?
Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States .... [Ansel Oliver/ANN]
-------------------------------------------------------
Evangelism and external aid alone will not solve the problems affecting
the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa, church leaders said during
a discussion regarding mission.

While per capita incomes have risen in India and China by the efforts
of their own citizens, many African nations still depend on support
from beyond the continent. Pardon Mwansa, originally from Zambia and a
general vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, said
the church in Africa, similarly, might be reaping less than desirable
results from well intended outside help.

Among the issues in Africa, Mwansa listed a lack of financial
self-reliance, both in political circles, as well a within the
Adventist Church itself, as a concern of many around the world.

Eighteen leaders of the global Protestant denomination, most originally
from Africa, addressed challenges the church faces in Africa during the
Adventist Mission in Africa conference at Adventist-owned Andrews
University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States, October 19 to
21. About one-third of the world's roughly 15.4 million Adventists live
in Africa. At the current rate of growth, church leaders estimate that
Africa will be home to half of the worldwide faith community within a
decade.

Many challenges are intertwined, church leaders said. Several issues
repeated by delegates included a membership that has grown nearly twice
as fast as the number of pastors and infrastructure. Mass public
evangelism campaigns can bring in thousands of new members, some of
whom have not been adequately instructed in Adventist beliefs.

"Many who are baptized do not even know what being an Adventist or even
a Christian means," Mwansa said.

Luka T. Daniel, president of the Adventist Church in West-Central
Africa, said a few weeks to study the Bible before becoming a church
member is not enough time for an unchurched person to learn doctrines.


Church leaders said some members lack significant knowledge of their
newfound faith and still engage in practices that are at odds with
church doctrines, such as ancestor worship and spiritualism.

"Multiple allegiances ... [have] now become one of the major problems
within the church in Africa," said Cornelius M. Matandiko, president of
the Adventist Church in Zambia.

The conference sought a balanced approached to presentations with a
critique given after each presenter.

Daniel responded to criticism of brief evangelist visits to Africa by
pointing out that many African pastors who are in charge of more than a
dozen churches welcome help from visiting evangelists, even though they
might be untrained or promoted as a "celebrity."

But evangelism alone should not be considered mission, said Tite
Tiénou, vice president of education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity
School in Deerfield, Illinois. "In my experience 'mission to and in
Africa' often means evangelizing and making converts," Tiénou said.
"This concept of mission seldom includes the necessary aspects of
pastoral care and the deepening of the faith of those who identify
themselves as Christians."

Some suggested coordinating a pool of retired Adventists from developed
countries to teach their technical skills to fellow members in Africa.

"What is needed is training young people who can learn useful skills so
they can create their own employment as well as employment for others,"
said Leonard K. Gashugi, chair of the Accounting, Economics and Finance
department at Andrews.

Mwansa said $2.3 trillion of foreign aid during the last 60 years has
done little to help Africa become economically self sufficient.

"Foreign aid will not solve the poverty or joblessness in Africa,"
Mwansa said.

Gashugi countered criticism of foreign aid by saying funding from the
Adventist Church has helped the denomination on the continent.

Presenters also addressed the opportunities to fight malaria and AIDS
-- principal causes of the declining life expectancy in Africa.

The Adventist AIDS International Ministry now operates in more than 43
countries, but every church should serve as a community health center
offering education and appropriate prevention for church and community
members, said Dr. Peter Landless, a cardiologist originally from South
Africa and associate health ministries director for the Adventist world
church.

"Despite the church's commitment to supporting missionaries, dependence
on expatriate workers is not the sustainable solution," Landless said.

Another positive step that presenters mentioned was the Adventist world
church establishing a graduate study program in Africa earlier this
year. Though the school -- Adventist University of Africa in Nairobi,
Kenya -- now only offers degrees in religion, University President
Brempong Owusu-Antwi has previously said the school will offer other
graduate degrees, including business, beginning in 2009.

Owusu-Antwi said he hopes offering the degree will help fill empty
treasury positions in the church. Several conference presenters said
there is a need for greater financial accountability in the church in
Africa.

"One thing that has not yet collapsed is the African spirit of hope,"
Mwansa said. "I am optimistic about the future of Africa. Rightly
guided, the members of the Adventist Church in Africa would not only be
able to support the work of God on the continent without depending on
foreign aid, but would go a step further and share its resources to
other parts of the world for spreading the gospel of salvation."

The mission conference was sponsored by the Pan-African Club and
Department of World Mission at Andrews University.


-------------------------------------------------------
Activists celebrate 25 years of trumpeting women leaders in ministry
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Taashi Rowe]
-------------------------------------------------------
In spite of strides made to include women in ministry within the
Seventh-day Adventist Church during the last 25 years, more needs to be
done to include the demographic that comprises 70 percent of
membership, some church members say.

Members of the Association of Adventist Women say they were considered
by some as rabble-rousers 25 years ago when they first advocated
including women leaders in all levels of the Adventist Church. Many of
the activists' recommendations have been realized -- a department
dedicated solely to women's ministries on all levels of the church,
women executives and ordained women elders at local churches. Despite
the gains, AAW members say their independent advocacy is still needed.

"Our hope is that in the Christian community there are no people who
have greater favor than others," said AAW president Verla Kwiram during
the organization's 25th anniversary conference from October 24 to 28 in
Silver Spring, Maryland, near the church's world headquarters.

Some have hoped the church would match the gains women have made in
other parts of society. "Many women are being used, but not by the
church," said Pat Habada, retired assistant director for the world
church's Sabbath School and Personal Ministries department. "They're in
business and in politics," she said. "Some have wanted to serve but
have been frustrated at not being able to."

AAW was founded out of a desire to advance the issue of women's
ordination, which would give women pastors equal privileges as their
male counterparts. But when brought to the world church General
Conference Session, the idea was defeated in 1990 and again in 1995.
Still, current world church President Jan Paulsen and others continue
to encourage a greater inclusion of women in ministry on all levels of
the church.

"Local churches are reluctant, and conferences find [women] difficult
to place. That, I think, is a most unfortunate failure," Paulsen said
in an October 13 keynote address during the world church's Annual
Council business session.

For many women the issue isn't necessarily ordination, but employment
within the church, Paulsen said.

Still, activists point out that not ordaining women prevents them from
serving as president of church administrations.

"We are the majority of the church and women need to be more involved
in the decision-making process of the organization," said Beverly
Habada, a conference attendee and executive director of Time for
Equality in Adventist Ministry.

Pat Habada said "the goal is not that women want to dominate or take
over the church. It is to stand beside the leaders of our church and
work with them."

Kwiram said in some places "women in chaplaincy are not considered
qualified unless they have been ordained by their church, so they are
considered second-class citizens in their careers."

Rosa Banks, associate secretary for the world church and the church's
first woman officer, said that AAW is a "conscience-arouser keeping the
issue of women leaders on the front burner."

"They performed a great service for the church, but they were not the
only voice," Banks clarified. "There were many voices and many men
involved."

Today, though, she questions AAW's relevancy. The biggest barriers were
broken when the world church installed three women in top positions as
associate treasurer, vice president and associate secretary at its 2005
General Conference Session, she said.

"The Lord's always been behind this," Banks said. "Change has been
made. Now we must figure out how to keep it going. But then again if
the men ever forget they can always look over there and see AAW."

Dilys Brooks, an associate campus chaplain at Loma Linda University in
Loma Linda, California, said AAW made it easier for her generation of
women pastors.
"We are benefiting from work they did but we have not had the same
struggle. Because they have prayed, led, established scholarships for
women and kept women in leadership on the agenda, I didn't have huge
gender issues when I went to seminary school."
AAW continues to recommend that the world church ordain women and
create an office of human relations at the world church level.

AAW also spotlights the work of Adventist women around the world in
various areas with a Woman of the Year Award. This year's awardees
include Joy Butler from Australia, women's ministries director for the
church in the South Pacific region for outstanding church leadership;
Karen Hanson Kotoske from the United States for philanthropic
excellence; Qin Zheng Yi from China for outstanding achievement; Nancy
Weber Vyhmeister from the United States and Dorothy Eaton Watts, based
in India, for entrepreneurial church leadership. Rigmor Mari-Anne
Nyberg from Sweden received this year's humanitarian award for her work
as director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Sweden.


-------------------------------------------------------
New digital channel a 'biggy' for Adventist video
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN]

-------------------------------------------------------
A digital video hub -- à la YouTube -- has introduced professional
Seventh-day Adventist-produced videos to a vast and largely untapped
Internet audience.

In August, a partnership between BiggyTV and the Adventist Church in
North America launched the first religious content on the Hollywood,
California-based video distributor's Web site. The Adventist Channel,
fully functional as of this month, fits well within BiggyTV's
"inspirational target market," according to its Chief Executive Kyle
Borg.

As a BiggyTV affiliate, the church will turn millions of "eyes" every
week on the video distributor, which will syndicate The Adventist
Channel free of charge.

"As Internet users seek videos online that are more than just 'funny
clips,' BiggyTV will be the destination site for these viewers due in
part to The Adventist Channel," Borg says.

Content on The Adventist Channel -- ranging from health and wellness
programs to music and mission videos -- can be added directly to North
America's more than 5,500 individual church Web sites, says Fred
Kinsey, the region's church communication director.

The Adventist Channel is also available to anyone with an Internet
connection and is accessible on cell phones and other mobile devices.

"We're offering incredible content a church in, say, Omaha, Nebraska,
can't get by itself," says Kinsey. "Digital video of this quality would
be too expensive to create and distribute. It's free for us, so it's
free for them."

Current selections on The Adventist Channel include new and "recycled"
videos -- those previously used by other Adventist media. Kinsey says
The Adventist Channel will add a dozen new videos each week.

Because BiggyTV operates by syndicating professional content to some
3,500 media affiliates rather than distributing amateur video
submissions, Kinsey says viewers won't have to sift through video clips
to find what they want.

Adapting to an online audience will require the church to "rethink" its
approach to media, Kinsey says. "We're so used to putting together
30-to-60-minute spots," he says. Research indicates most people watch
online videos during work hours, which explains the average 9-minute
video length, he says.

All BiggyTV content can be translated and made culture-specific,
something Kinsey says will become valuable as the distributor draws an
increasingly international audience.

The Adventist Channel, he adds, is not meant to replace or meddle with
other church media, such as Hope Television. We want to figure out how
to 'cross-pollinate' between HopeTV and The Adventist Channel."

Plans are also drawn up to one day distribute the church's quarterly
Adventist Mission DVDs on The Adventist Channel. Thousands of dollars
could be saved through online distribution of the DVDs, which are
currently mailed to each church, Kinsey says.

To view The Adventist Channel, visit theadventistchannel.org. To
suggest or submit a video, email Fred Kinsey.


-------------------------------------------------------
Colombia: nationwide Adventist effort feeds 80,000 in two hours
Medellin, Colombia .... [Libna Stevens/IAD/ANN Staff ]
-------------------------------------------------------
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventist volunteers prepared and delivered
boxed dinners to Colombia's neediest communities, feeding more than
80,000 in two hours on October 13, the Saturday before World Hunger
Day. Each church member donated $1.50 to cover the cost of one meal.

The effort was the third annual nationwide food distribution project
organized by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in
Colombia. In the northeastern city of Bucaramanga, other volunteers
pitched in, offering free medical treatment, clothing and haircuts. The
local fire department provided water for makeshift showers.

Next year, the Adventist Church's Inter-America region, including its
Youth Ministries, plans to join the effort.

Gabriel Villarreal, ADRA Colombia director, hopes the project will
catch on in other parts of the world. ADRA Japan's director, Mitsuo
Chris Ishii -- who visited Colombia during this year's food
distribution -- plans to hold a similar event in Japan next year.

-------------------------------------------------------
Adventists around the world
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States .... [ANN Staff]
-------------------------------------------------------
United States: Loma Linda physician joins commission on cancer . With
her recent appointment to the Commission on Cancer of the American
College of Surgeons,
Dr. Sharmila Roy-Chowdhury joins a network of more than 1,600 volunteer
physicians who lead their respective hospitals' cancer programs.
Roy-Chowdhury, an attending surgeon in the division of clinical
oncology at Seventh-day Adventist-owned Loma Linda University Medical
Center in Loma Linda, California, will hold the post for three years.
She says she hopes the position gives her the opportunity to help
educate the community about cancer prevention and treatment --
particularly the "life-saving value" of cancer screening. Chowdhury
also serves on a cancer committee at Loma Linda and teaches in the
university's School of Medicine. [Loma Linda/ANN Staff]

-------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network. 12501 Old Columbia Pike,
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA 20904-6600 phone: (301) 680-6306.

To subscribe to this free bulletin, go to
http://news.adventist.org/subscribe.html.en .

Send comments and story leads to adventistnews@gc.adventist.org.

ANN World News Bulletin is a review of news and information issued by
the Communication department from the Seventh-day Adventist Church
World Headquarters and released as part of the service of Adventist
News Network. It is made available primarily to religious news editors.
Our news includes dispatches from the church's international offices
and the world headquarters.

Adventist News Network is a registered trademark of the General
Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. Unauthorized use is
strictly prohibited.

Reproduction Requirements:
Reproduction of information in this article is encouraged. When
reproducing this material, in full or in part, the words "Source:
Adventist News Network" must appear under the headline or immediately
following the article. The words "Source: Adventist News Network" must
be given equal prominence to any other source that is also
acknowledged.

ANN Staff: Ray Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director;
Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial
assistant.

Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos
Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara
and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.