ANN Bulletin - February 12, 2008 - unOFFICIAL ADVENTIST FORUM

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do.
And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with
– even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department.
Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. Romans 14.1: The Message

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#156827 - 02/14/08 06:39 AM ANN Bulletin - February 12, 2008
magilly46 Registered: 10/29/02 Posts: 140 Loc: BC	Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters February 12, 2008 In This Issue: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chad: Adventist leader urges peace, calls for prayers amid rebellion February 6 N'Djamena, Chad 50,000 flee country; some seek refuge in churches United States: Adventist representative to promote workplace freedom before Congress February 7 Washington, D.C., United States Standish urging U.S. citizens to write congressional representatives Church Chat: Mbwana on Adventist effort to quell Kenya's post-election turmoil February 11 Nairobi, Kenya Church leaders urging ethnic rivals to reconcile; 300 Adventists worshipping in one refugee camp 'Don't be a bystander,' Adventist leader advises young people February 12 Hong Kong, First 'Let's Talk' programs broadcast from Asia; Paulsen says local involvement key to global impact Adventist Church president to appear on international television network show February 7 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Paulsen discusses church's history, growth on Bloomberg's Night Talk Jamaica: Two church members shot leaving church meeting February 11 Westmoreland, Jamaica Both men stable after surgery; Two persons held in police custody Jamaican billionaire donates additional J$105 million to NCU February 12 Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica Donation to build nursing school, provide scholarships Cameroon: Adventist students escape bus crash unharmed February 8 Yaoundé, Cameroon Careless driver caused accident, students say -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chad: Adventist leader urges peace, calls for prayers amid rebellion February 6, 2008 N'Djamena, Chad ... [ ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some 50,000 Chadians fled their country after rebels attacked the capital of N'djamena February 2 in an attempted overthrow of President Idriss Déby's government. Adventist churches are among locations serving as shelters in neighboring Cameroon [photo: courtesy North Cameroon Conference] A Seventh-day Adventist Church leader in Central Africa called for peace and stability during an interview with state-run Cameroon Radio Television February 2 following a bloody rebel assault of the Chadian capital of N'djamena. Allah-Ridy Kone, president of the church for the region, also requested prayers and support from the international Adventist community for his native country. Weekend violence spurred at least 50,000 Chadians to flee their country into neighboring Cameroon as rebel forces staged an attempted coup near the palace of President Idriss Déby. Church leaders say some refugees have found shelter in Adventist churches in the border city of Kousseri. Despite the withdrawal of rebel forces from the capital on February 5 -- amid international pressure and government resistance -- the lull in violence is not expected to last, said Abraham Bakari, director of Communication and Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the church's Central African region. Bakari described the situation as a "spiral of violence." Families were separated while fleeing and many refugees fell to stray bullets and shrapnel or drowned while trying to cross the Logone and Chari rivers into Cameroon, he reported. Those who did escape need shelter and food, said Benjamin Hacheked, an Adventist Church official in North Cameroon -- the price of many groceries has quadrupled in Chad. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is assessing the situation and is expected to respond. Chadian church officials headquartered in N'djamena are unharmed and church infrastructure -- including Béré Adventist Hospital -- was unscathed, Bakari said. No reports indicate whether church members were among the estimated 100 killed over the weekend. Landlocked Chad, a French colony until 1960, endured three decades of civil war and Libyan invasions before securing peace in 1990. President Déby, who belongs to the country's ethnic minority, won a contested reelection in 2006. The Adventist Church was established in Chad in 1967. Currently, some 2,000 members worship in the country of nearly 10 million. United States: Adventist representative to promote workplace freedom before Congress February 7, 2008 Washington, D.C., United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Church representative James D. Standish will vouch for the rights of Sabbath keepers during a congressional hearing February 12. His testimony will support people of faith who face workplace discrimination. [ANN file photo] Seventh-day Adventist Church representative for Legislative Affairs, James D. Standish, Esq., will join other witnesses in testifying before a U.S. Congressional hearing February 12, urging legislators to sponsor the lately reintroduced Workplace Religious Freedom Act. "Americans don't accept bigotry in our media, in our schools, or in our government, and we certainly shouldn't accept bigotry against people of faith in our workplaces," Standish wrote in a letter that concerned U.S. citizens can send to their congressional representatives. The Act, originally brought before Congress 10 years ago, now garners broad, bipartisan support in both houses of the U.S. Congress, Standish said. If enacted, it would protect and expand rights first introduced 40 years ago when Congress passed workplace freedom legislation under the umbrella of the U.S. Civil Rights Act. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claims of religious discrimination climbed 83 percent between 1992 and 2006 while other claims of discrimination -- including race, gender and age -- either held steady or decreased. Standish and other faith leaders fault narrow interpretation of existing workplace freedom legislation for the rise. "As Congress has worked to give rights to many groups in the workplace, it has left Sabbath keepers and other people of faith far behind." Workers, Standish added, should not be required to choose between fulfilling job requirements and fully practicing their respective faiths. "This is a common sense, reasonable bill that simply requires employers to show they have a good reason to refuse time off on Sabbath before they fire [a person of faith]," he said. U.S. citizens can click he re to ask their Senators and House representatives to support workplace freedom. Church Chat: Mbwana on Adventist effort to quell Kenya's post-election turmoil February 11, 2008 Nairobi, Kenya ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adventist Church leader in East-Central Africa Geoffrey Mbwana, right, with Kenyan church leader Musyoka Paul Muasya and other regional pastors whose message of reconciliation Mbwana hopes will influence not only church members but also the country's political leaders. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN] As Kenya wrestles with remittent violence following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, one Seventh-day Adventist leader says the country's more than 600,000-strong Adventist community is politically savvy and positioned to influence reconciliation efforts. Geoffrey Mbwana, leader of the Adventist Church in East-Central Africa headquartered in Nairobi, recently spoke with Adventist News Network about a church campaign in Kenya to recruit every Adventist pastor and church leader to preach forgiveness and respect for life -- both from the pulpit and at the negotiating table. Only when Adventists hold Christian values above tribal loyalties, he says, can the church avoid another Rwanda. Despite security challenges, Mbwana says Adventists are assisting those affected -- church members are organizing Sabbath services at refugee camps and distributing food, clothing and other basic supplies to the displaced. Excerpts: Adventist News Network: Kenya's current Minister of Education, Sam Ongeri, is a Seventh-day Adventist, and you've noted earlier that several of the country's judges and other prominent figures are also church members. Have Adventists been able to use their public positions to sway opinions toward reconciliation? Geoffrey Mbwana: Yes, Professor Ongeri was among four leaders who were recently appointed by President Kibaki to represent his party at the negotiating table with Kofi Annan. I can remember very well the initial meeting, which was televised. Annan was about to start, and Professor Ongeri politely requested that the negotiations begin with prayer. He was then asked to offer a prayer, which we thought was a very positive contribution. ANN: Is there a flip side to political involvement -- a danger that political allegiances might eclipse Christian loyalties? Mbwana: We have people on both sides [of the political divide]. You know, they are nationals, and they participate in the political life of the country. We have members of parliament who are Adventists. Professor Ongeri was appointed by President Kibaki. So our members are active in the political life of the country. What happens to the general population affects our people. We hope they continue to understand that life is more important than politics and the sides that we take. We are asking our people to show the difference that becoming a Christian -- and an Adventist for that matter -- makes. ANN: What about the broader Adventist community? Do you see the Adventist population in Kenya polarizing over this conflict? Could this turn into another Rwanda, with Adventists pitted against other Adventists? Mbwana: Right now we do not see that happening. And yet if issues at stake are not addressed and remedied, it has the potential to grow into a situation of that unfortunate magnitude. But right now, what we are doing is to visit with congregations. We have had a number of meetings with pastors in different places, including the areas of the worse violence. We have been preaching brotherhood and reconciliation, love and respect for life and one another, forgiveness and peace. ANN: What toll has the violence taken on the Adventist population in Kenya? Mbwana: Right now we do not know of any Adventists who have lost their lives. It's a little bit difficult to get information, so we cannot rule that out completely. However in terms of church infrastructure, a night watchman's house at [the University of East Africa, Baraton] was almost burned, some faculty homes outside the university were destroyed, and one of our schools was almost burned down. The violence has affected our church members the greatest. We have many who are refugees now displaced in camps. In Eldoret, in the western part of Kenya, we have almost 300 Adventist church members worshipping together every Sabbath at one refugee camp. And we have many, many Adventists in other refugee camps, which we are visiting from time to time. ANN: How do you convince Adventists of opposing ethnicities to forgive amid such deeply rooted ethnic rivalries? Mbwana: Basically we have to appeal to their spiritual orientation, because we are all of the same blood through Christ. We have these ethnic differences, but they're not the issue really -- the main thing is that we are all from the same family. Jesus has so much respect for life that he gave his own blood that we may live. Now, instead of shedding somebody else's blood, we should be there to support. This is the spirit of Jesus Christ. We are just attempting to lead them beyond their ethnic sentiments, not just to embrace the powerful Christian values of humanity, but to really live at that level. ANN: Ideologically, that sounds good. But how do you translate that into practical advice and concrete results? Mbwana: One of the things that we have advised is for people at different camps and of different ethnic groups to reach out to the other side in acts of kindness, because we have people on both sides of this ethnic divide who are affected negatively and they need help at this moment, and therefore we have encouraged our churches to reach out without segregation, minister to all groups of people and show them love and kindness. This message is very well received. In addition to that, some churches have given voluntary services, like counseling services for children and the displaced. Some volunteers from our churches have gone to [baby sit] orphan children at camps, and again, all of our churches up until now are active in collecting food and clothing and delivering supplies, some through [the Adventist Development & Relief Agency] and some directly to refugee camps. It's not just one or two people's work. This is an effort by every pastor and church leader to preach reconciliation and address any issues that may arise locally. ANN: What sort of reactions have these efforts received? Mbwana: To places that we have been to, people have responded very positively -- I'm talking about Adventists, of course. Each time we have spoken to them, they tell us, "This is the message we needed." In some of these remote and still very dangerous places, they've told us, "We didn't know that you would come so far, risk your lives for us." They were so happy and very much encouraged to see leaders and hear their message. ANN: Do you think this message is influencing spheres beyond the Adventist community? Mbwana: We think it will. We have expressed a desire to meet leaders on each side of the political divide, although we've not yet been able to do so. We think that the role that we are playing, although not as major as we would want -- largely because there are some places where we cannot readily go because of the security situation -- but we think that it's having some positive impact and may contribute to healing the wounds and working toward reconciliation. Just yesterday I was invited to speak at an inter-religious meeting, which would have been publicly broadcast, but for some reason they postponed it. But that was one public event we would very willingly have participated in. Within the church itself, we are beginning to see people come together and say, "Yes, we need to love one another, we need to forget these differences." ANN: Church members around the world are concerned about the situation in Kenya. Is there anything else you'd like them to know? Mbwana: I need to say I'm so grateful to church members here in Nairobi, throughout the country and internationally, who have given of their time and energy to people who need our services right now. Our young people volunteered with ADRA to distribute food and clothing and certainly that's the Christian spirit we need more of. We have received a lot of support from Adventists around the world in terms of counsel, prayer, and even as we were evacuating our workers from the university and our hospital, we received tremendous support from [world church headquarters]. The leaders have been with us on a daily basis. 'Don't be a bystander,' Adventist leader advises young people February 12, 2008 Hong Kong, ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young people from Cambodia to Bangladesh met in Manila, Philippines on February 7 for the first of two Let's Talk installments in East Asia. [photos: Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN] Adventist world church president Pastor Jan Paulsen urges a group of students and young professionals in Hong Kong to embody the image of the church. "It's important that Christianity be dynamic -- a rich and appealing way to live," he said during the hour-long live broadcast. Getting involved in the local church is the best way to impact the global Seventh-day Adventist community, world church president Pastor Jan Paulsen told two groups of young people gathered for the first Let's Talk broadcasts in Asia. Urging active participation in both church activities and personal spirituality, Paulsen answered questions from students and young professionals from across East Asia. Previous installments of Let's Talk, a series of unscripted, unedited conversations between Paulsen and Adventist students and young professionals, have taken the church leader to 18 other locations worldwide since 2003. One theme -- how to make Adventism, a religion with predominantly Western roots, relevant in Asia -- emerged early in the February 10 broadcast from Hong Kong, which included young people from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and fell during Chinese New Year celebrations. "You don't take people out of [their] culture," Paulsen, who donned a red changshan, the traditional Chinese formal wear, for the occasion, said. "The church has to find a meaningful way to reach people within their cultures. The values God teaches must make sense and be meaningful within your own culture." Participants at both the Hong Kong broadcast and the February 7 recording from Manila, Philippines wanted Paulsen's take on marriage, divorce and being single. Paulsen, citing his own 52 years of marriage, stressed the value of choosing partners wisely and attending pre-marital counseling. Because marriage is a "commitment, not an experiment," Paulsen said cohabitation as a "trial run" is not an acceptable means of cutting divorce rates. Some participants wondered if divorce ought to even be an option. While certainly not the ideal, Paulsen described divorce as a "reality," not a reason to judge or ostracize members whose marriages have ended. "We need to remember that we are here to be a healing, forgiving, accepting community," he said. One student at the Hong Kong broadcast suggested roles in the church for singles, whether divorced or never married, were narrow. Paulsen acknowledged that while some cultures prefer to hire married people, "God does not require that you marry and have kids in order to serve him." He added that being a minister or counselor is a "professional qualification" that need only be accompanied by "spiritual commitment." Paulsen continued the theme of commitment -- this time loyalty to God -- when answering several questions about Sabbath observance from the group in Manila. When a student from Myanmar said some state exams are only held on Sabbath, Paulsen mentioned the work of the church's department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty to eliminate religious discrimination. "Governments don't like to be embarrassed, or viewed as depriving their citizens of the right to follow their consciences," he said. One student asked whether it's OK to let Sabbath-keeping slip to curry favor with a professor or a boss. "We don't compromise the Sabbath for anything," Paulsen said. "The rest of life -- professional, educational or otherwise -- must fit into that context. Difficulties may come, but they will bring new opportunities to trust God." And when young people trust God, they can also depend on their own "good minds and sound judgment," Paulsen stressed during both broadcasts. "Look, you know what's right," he said in response to questions about music, movies and other entertainment choices. He then shared the guidelines he uses to choose music for his iPod: "Is it worshipful? Does it communicate a message from God? Does it bond a community of believers?" If not, best not to "baptize" it, he said. Several questions surrounded appropriate activities for Adventists. Should Adventists campaign for politicians, run for office, associate with other denominations, play sports? Paulsen's "Yes" to each question was tempered by a warning -- don't let anything elbow out your commitment to Christ. If you seek election one day, he told the students, "don't confuse the agenda of the state with the mission of the church." "Know who you are and don't compromise your identity," Paulsen said, advising the students not to cloister themselves away in a solely Adventist community. "Christ said, 'Let's go down and meet those people.' So don't be a bystander -- go with conviction, the assurance of who you are and the value of what you offer," he said. When a participant from Cambodia whose family died in the genocide under Pol Pot asked whether God would allow people into heaven who never had a chance to accept Jesus, Paulsen assured him God was "generous" beyond human comprehension. "Aren't you glad He is the One who will ultimately answer your questions?" Adventist Church president to appear on international television network show February 7, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following a recently taped interview with Bloomberg TV's Mike Schneider, Adventist world church president Jan Paulsen said such media appearances are a valuable way church leaders can shape public perceptions of the church and its mission. The interview is scheduled to air on the February 11 edition of Night Talk. [photo: Rajmund Dabrowski/ANN] Seventh-day Adventist world church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen, is scheduled to appear as a guest on the February 11 edition of Night Talk with Mike Schneider, a one-hour program airing on Bloomberg TV. This is the first time the church's president has granted an interview with a major international television network. "We've never, as a church, had the opportunity to present our face to the public in this manner," Paulsen said following the show's January 24 taping in New York City. "I've said to many of my fellow leaders to both seek and use the opportunities that come your way to profile the church before the public." "We have something to say to the public, not only when we run the evangelistic campaigns or when we preach Sabbath morning," Paulsen later told Adventist News Network. "We represent a community of so many values. People will know about us in the most unbiased, informed way if we tell them ourselves." Program host Schneider asked questions about the church's history, growth and diversity, as well as its relation to contemporary issues. When asked about the church's future goals, Paulsen said, "My goal for the church is that we become more effective in communicating not only ideas, but care for people, so that they may discover that Seventh-day Adventists are good people to get to know." Rajmund Dabrowski, director of communication for the world church, said "often times, when there is a lack of information, people tend to create who you are by connecting with rumors and hearsay. These caricatures do not do justice to the church or its mission. Interviews like this go a long way in establishing who we are." Night Talk airs on the Bloomberg television network in the United States, Europe and Asia on Bloomberg TV at 10 p.m. and midnight on weeknights and is simulcast on Bloomberg Radio at 10 p.m. Jamaica: Two church members shot leaving church meeting February 11, 2008 Westmoreland, Jamaica ... [ Taashi Rowe ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two members of the Bethel Town Seventh-day Adventist Church in Westmoreland, Jamaica were shot on February 7 while leaving a meeting at the church. "Junior McKenzie was helping to direct Corporal Peter Salkey as he backed out on to the road when a man came up to the window and shot Salkey," Pastor Glen O. Samuels, president of the Adventist Church in Western Jamaica, told Adventist News Network. "While Mckenzie was approaching the first gunman, another came up and shot him in the back," Samuels continued. Salkey was shot twice, once in the chest and a second time in which the bullet entered his side and exited the other. "He wasn't in any police uniform, so we are assuming it might have been the car that they wanted to steal," Samuels said. Samuels visited both men in the hospital over the weekend. He said McKenzie came through surgery well. However, Salkey, while alert, remains in the intensive care unit. The men had just finished a planning meeting on how to reach out to men in the community. Just three weeks ago Salkey was ordained an elder of the church. Samuels said the police are holding two persons in custody but wouldn't release any names. Jamaican billionaire donates additional J$105 million to NCU February 12, 2008 Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica ... [ Nigel Coke/ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Lee-Chin, chairman of AIC Limited and the National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd. with Herbert Thompson, president of Northern Caribbean University. Lee-Chin made two donations to the nursing school that will be named in honor of his mother Hyacinth Chen. [Photos courtesy of Northern Caribbean University] Lee-Chin with nursing students at Northern Caribbean University. In addition to donating funds to build the nursing school, Lee-Chin has joined with the National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd. and the university to start scholarships for 25 to 30 freshmen nursing students. A sizable donation to a Seventh-day Adventist school puts it well on the way to expanding its nursing program. Michael Lee-Chin, listed in Forbes Magazine as one of the world's 500 wealthiest people, recently donated J$105 million (approximately US$1.48 million) to Seventh-day Adventist-owned and operated Northern Caribbean University (NCU). Lee-Chin met with university president Dr. Herbert Thompson and committed the funds on January 23. Lee-Chin, chairman of AIC Limited and the National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd., (NCB) made his first donation of J$142 million (approximately US$2 million) in September 2006. Both donations go toward the construction of NCU's Hyacinth Chen School of Nursing, a state-of-the-art nursing facility named in honor of Lee-Chin's mother. "We are very grateful for this latest contribution toward the completion of the nursing school," said Herbert Thompson, president of NCU. "It is my sincere hope that this contribution will encourage more persons outside of the church, and to a greater extent, those within, to assist the University with its church building and other projects slated to come on stream shortly," he added. Construction on the nursing school began in May 2007 and is scheduled to open in August 10. It will accommodate approximately 800 nursing students. With 400 nursing students now enrolled in the program, NCU has one of the largest nursing programs in the region. Lee-Chin and NCB have also joined NCU in the financing of scholarships for 25 to 30 freshmen who will enter the Nursing school in August. The tuition scholarships are each valued at J$248,500 (approximately US$3,500) for students in their first year of study. Cameroon: Adventist students escape bus crash unharmed February 8, 2008 Yaoundi, Cameroon ... [ ANN Staff ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A bus explodes right after the last of 40 students escaped it on February 6. The students of Adventist College in Yaoundi, Cameroon, were on their way to the zoo. [photo: courtesy Central Africa Union Mission] Forty students at the Seventh-day Adventist College of Yaoundi, Cameroon escaped unharmed from a bus crash on February 6. The students, ages 10 to 15, were heading to the zoo as part of a series of youth week activities. According to the students the accident was caused by the driver's carelessness. They said he scolded them when they started singing "Unto Jesus I Surrender" and asked them to stop. When they would not, he put on loud, secular music, left the wheel and started dancing. They then passed a police station and as a police officer started to pursue the vehicle, the driver went faster and lost control as the vehicle went down a slope. Witnesses said the driver and his assistant jumped out of the bus. The bus killed the assistant when it crashed against a bank. Bystanders ran to the scene and helped pull the students from the bus. The bus exploded after the last student left the bus. None of the students were seriously injured. "This is the manifestation of God's power," said Gaimatakone Pierre, the college's principal. "I thank God for His protection ... God's protection is the best and in this campus we pray every morning for [all the] students we have and we are confident in God's presence among us." Adventist College of Yaoundi has more than 2,500 students, most of whom are not Adventist. It is among the top 10 educational institutions in Cameroon, according to Abraham Bakari, communication director for the church's Central Africa region. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- news.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. 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. Ground 7 News Podcast: Ground 7 News 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. Reproduction of the ANN podcast is encouraged. When rebroadcasting this material, in full or in part, the words "Source: Adventist News Network" must be mentioned before and after the podcast. ANN Staff: Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant; Natacha Moorooven, proofreader. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
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