Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters
March 11, 2008

In This Issue:
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London: Three men guilty of swindling fellow church members out of millions
March 10 London, England
Church leaders urge financial stewardship, hope to arrange pastoral care for convicts in $6M scam

Full court press: Adventist basketball team has law on its side
March 7 Portland, Oregon, United States
Sabbath-keeping athletes receive court injunction to reschedule Saturday games

World health leaders tout merits of vegetarian diet
March 11 Loma Linda, California, United States
At vegetarian congress researchers link plant-based diet, environmental conservation

Passing the plate: Global Tithe Index collects stats on Adventist giving
March 5 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Report indicates economy, culture don't always gauge faithfulness

Doing time: A year at Adventist halfway house fuels transformation
March 4 Gainesville, Florida, United States
Cobb brings home former felons for ministry


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London: Three men guilty of swindling fellow church members out of millions
March 10, 2008
London, England ... [ Taashi Rowe/BUC/ANN ]

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A London court has found three men guilty of swindling the equivalent of millions of dollars out of fellow Seventh-day Adventist Church members.

The Southwark Crown Court sentenced ring leader Lindani Mangena, 24, to seven years in jail on March 10 for "fraudulent trading, money laundering and carrying on an unauthorized investment business," according to the City of London Police.

The trio bilked fellow church members out of US$6.3 million. Mangena reportedly posed as a trader in London's financial district and promised some 1,000 church members exponential returns on their initial investments within six months. But the men used most of that money to fund lavish trips, apartments and car purchases, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.

Metro news also reports that accomplices Dean Hinkson, 29, and Curtis Powell, 31, were given jail sentences of 15 months each.

"I think the whole affair is regrettable," Pastor Don McFarlane, president of the Adventist Church in Britain, said in an interview with Adventist News Network. "I've noticed that the papers here described our members who have been involved as greedy, gullible and naïve but I would rather say our members have been trusting. Because the men were members of the church they trusted those young men."

Various reports said the victims included janitors and retirees -- people who could least afford the loss of income. Police reportedly have recovered US$1.8 million.

As the case went to trial in January church leaders in Britain released a statement that read, "Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who have been affected by this case. We ask our members to pray for all concerned."

"I don't think we can just bypass what they've done," McFarlane said. Still, he expressed interest in providing pastoral care for the young men explaining that "we still have a duty to see what we can do for them. We must see what care we can give to them and their families."

The church's earlier statement on the court case mentioned that it would "continue to provide positive stewardship counsel both on a national and local level in order to equip our members to make reasoned choices in their financial planning."

"We have to help our members realize that God will take care of them in whatever financial challenges they have," McFarlane said. "We all should be bypassing these get-rich-schemes."



Full court press: Adventist basketball team has law on its side
March 7, 2008
Portland, Oregon, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

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The Sabbath-keeping men's basketball team at Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado plays Mile High Academy at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Instead of playing state tournament games, many of which fall on Friday nights and Saturdays, the team heads to Adventist-owned Union College to play in a local championship game. [photo: courtesy Campion Academy]

Susan Long cheered courtside as her son Jeremy scored 19 points on the Portland Adventist Academy basketball court Thursday night, February 28, helping secure his team's first Oregon state playoffs win in five years.

"I was just happy to play in the tournament no matter what the outcome. Not very many Cougars have gotten to do that," says Jeremy, a freshman guard for the team. "But I still wanted to win," he adds with an abashed laugh.

Afterward, the locker room pulsed with blue-and-yellow jersey-clad Cougars, Jeremy says -- mostly because of the win, but also in celebration of a victory in another court: a recent ruling by the state's highest court rescheduled the game so the Cougars could play.

Since 2002, the boys' basketball team at Seventh-day Adventist-owned PAA has dominated the court, but players' religious convictions led the Cougars to forfeit Class 3A boys' tournament games every season. Consistently scheduled for Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, the games conflicted with Biblical Sabbath-keeping.

In 1996, a group of Cougars' parents began working toward a legal solution. Soon thereafter, a lower court first required the Oregon State Activities Association -- which regulates high school sports for the state -- to accommodate PAA players when scheduling games.

Parents and players assumed the ruling would apply in 1997. It didn't. A similar injunction in 2002 proved equally short-lived. But because the February 15 injunction comes from the Oregon Supreme Court, Mrs. Long finds reason to believe it may require the OSAA to respect Sabbath-keeping athletes' religious convictions beyond this season. "I'm hopeful they'll make it permanent."

PAA Cougars coach for eight years, Lance Judd, is more cautious. He says after playing in the 2002 tournament, it was especially "hard to take" when the OSAA blocked the Cougars from the next postseason. He doesn't want to set his guys up for another disappointment.

If the Cougars have to drop out next year, "Sure, it'll be tough," Judd says, "but our players have always just enjoyed the game. We'll know ahead of time how far we can play into the schedule, and whatever happens, we'll enjoy it for what it is."

Jeremy's older brother, Jonathan Long, agrees, but says players never fully rebound after forfeiting a tournament. "It's gonna be worth it whether you end up going to state or not, but it's pretty disappointing to work extremely hard and then just be completely shut down," he says.

Jonathan would know -- he played for the Cougars from '02-'06 and was named Northwest League Player of the Year his senior year at PAA when the Cougars' 24-1 record ranked them undefeated in their league. Now he plays for an independent varsity basketball team at Adventist-owned Walla Walla University in College Place, Washington. He says the PAA saga, already gone far into overtime in the minds of many Cougars' players and parents, isn't likely to end this season.

"A lot of people think this is finally it, but in 2002 everyone thought the same thing." He pauses, then adds, "I desperately hope I'm wrong."

At Adventist-owned Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado, Troy Beans, in his 18th year as athletic director and basketball coach for the school, sends his players to a championship game at Adventist-owned Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska instead of shooting legal hoops with Colorado state athletics officials.

With their 34-1 record and league sportsmanship awards for the past four years, Campion players are well respected and probably could have worked out a solution with the Colorado High School Activities Association, Beans says. In fact, he called local high schools to find out if rescheduling games would be possible. "They were all very favorable. They said, 'Absolutely, we'll work it out. We'll make sure you don't have to play on Sabbath.'"

Academy administration bucked the idea of going to state -- the launch of baseball season and a mission trip scheduled for the tournament weekend were among the reasons. Beans respects the decision. But he's concerned by the negative stereotypes he says some church members hold toward Adventist athletes and competitive sports. "They think there's just going to be a lot of anger, rivalries and trash talking." But Beans believes Christian coaches can use sports to ingrain some deep spiritual lessons in their players.

Beans says Campion players pray with the opposing team center court after every game. Even at public high schools, he says a hush sweeps the gym. "We might not be preaching sermons," Beans says, "but I believe we're witnessing. If you've treated somebody badly out there, your prayer's gonna come off awfully hypocritical at the end of the game."

Back at PAA, Mrs. Long says prayer also capped the Cougars' loss to Cascade Christian High School Saturday night, March 1. "You just heard this resounding 'amen' echo across the gym afterward."

Playing for PAA sharpened his character as much as his skills on the court, Jonathan says. "You have to show a lot of backbone in dealing with the Sabbath issue."

Jonathan's mom wishes some church members were more concerned by what she believes is the religious discrimination her sons and other Sabbath-keeping athletes face. "Whether you agree with competitive sports is not the issue here," she says. "This is a Sabbath issue."

Long and other PAA parents welcomed support from the Adventist world church's Office of General Counsel, which recently signed a brief filed by the American Jewish Congress on behalf of students facing Sabbath conflicts.

"Our involvement is more focused on the legal principles at stake in the case," says Robert E. Kyte, General Counsel for the Adventist Church. "We're not arguing the rightness or wrongness of competitive sports."

When the Cougars lace up their high tops next season, there are no guarantees tournament games will skirt the Sabbath hours. But for now, even disappointed former players have found something to cheer this season. "I have to say it was bittersweet to see them go to state, because I wasn't able to all those years," Jonathan says. "But it's a little easier to swallow because I have a little brother out there who got to play."

For Jeremy, "It was, like, awesome!"


World health leaders tout merits of vegetarian diet
March 11, 2008
Loma Linda, California, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

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A plant-based diet may be the best way to protect health and the environment, researchers said last week at a conference on vegetarian nutrition hosted by Loma Linda University. [photo: iStockphoto]

A vegetarian diet not only protects personal health, but may also help conserve the environment, world health leaders concluded at a conference on vegetarianism hosted by Seventh-day Adventist-owned Loma Linda University in California.

Organized 25 years ago by a group of largely Adventist health professionals, the International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition drew more than 700 attendees this year. Adventists helped establish the benefits of a vegetarian diet, which prior to 1950 was viewed with "great skepticism." They continue to pioneer research in the area of healthy living, said Dr. Allan Handysides, director of the church's department of Health Ministries.

Handysides, who also presented at the Adventist Nutrition Conference held in conjunction with the March 4 to 6 Fifth International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition, said while health traditionally prompts most Adventist vegetarians, other factors -- among them climate change and animal rights -- are now leading consumers to eschew meat.

"These aren't bad reasons, but those who become vegetarians for a cause are often not as generally health-conscious," Handysides said, explaining that Adventist vegetarians are likely to also regularly exercise, shun controlled substances and drink plenty of water, giving them a health edge.

Regardless of the reason, evidence does suggest downing spinach, soybeans and other plant-based foods may be the best way to "go green." Presenters said meat-based diets are likely not sustainable because they pollute the environment and deplete natural resources.

"Food stores have already diminished to all-time lows," Handysides said, "Feeding the world's burgeoning population is becoming a big problem." To grow one pound of vegetable protein, it takes one tenth of the water and energy required to raise an equal amount of animal protein, he explained.

"We'd be mad to expect the entire world's population to suddenly embrace a vegetarian diet, but if we can convince most to switch to a vegetarian diet twice a week, we could make a sizeable impact," Handysides said. "And it's an achievable goal."

Presenters also debated the merits of a vegan diet. Vegans -- vegetarians who also ditch eggs, milk, cheese and often animal byproducts such as gelatin and honey -- are typically thinner and have lower cholesterol than vegetarians, presenters said. However, preliminary studies indicate overall mortality rates for vegans may be slightly higher. Handysides suspects some vegans may not fortify their diets to ensure an adequate intake of vitamin B-12 and calcium.

"You can't just say, 'A vegan diet is superior to all other categories.' What you can say, however, is that a vegetarian diet is superior to a diet of flesh-consuming," he said.

Handysides, sharing his findings on the benefits of chocolate, said one ounce of dark chocolate -- that with a pure cocoa content of 75 percent or higher -- promotes better blood flow to the heart and brain in the elderly. The "very protective" antioxidants in chocolate are, however, masked in milk chocolate and other diluted forms of cocoa, he said.

Berries and nuts got resounding endorsements from presenters, who reported that blueberries, raspberries and other colorful berries bolster the difficult-to-raise HDL, or "good" cholesterol levels.

Congress chair and LLU research physician Dr. Joan Sabati, who first discovered nuts decrease heart attack risk more than a decade ago, offered new specifics on the topic. He said adding a quarter of a cup of nuts to the diet four times a week can cut heart attack risk by 30 to 40 percent. Sabati's presentation also indicated that the brown papery coating found on nuts such as peanuts and almonds is the most nutritious part.

Dr. Peter Landless, an associate Health Ministries director for the Adventist Church, presented on alcohol abstinence, another hallmark of the Adventist lifestyle. He said despite evidence that limited alcohol reduces the risk of heart attack in the elderly, the alleged benefit does not offset the substance's myriad negative effects. So much as bringing alcohol into the home can drastically increase a child's likelihood of becoming an alcoholic, he said. In fact, the risk of addiction increases 40 percent if the child is introduced to alcohol before age 14.

Next year, Adventist health experts will meet in Geneva, Switzerland with representatives of the World Health Organization for the first International Lifestyle Conference.


Passing the plate: Global Tithe Index collects stats on Adventist giving
March 5, 2008
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

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Adventist businessman and pastor Claude Richli hopes his Global Tithe Index report will provide church treasurers and stewardship leaders with a tool to measure levels of giving among countries. This year's report indicates some previously dependent regions of the church are now achieving financial self-sufficiency. [photo: Beate Richli/ANN]

Yen, euros, rubles and francs -- the currencies members of the global Seventh-day Adventist Church use to return their tithes and offerings vary as widely as do their lifestyles and the financial footing of their respective countries.

All that incongruity begs for an evenhanded means to compare stewardship among church members and peg giving trends from country to country. Adventist pastor and businessman Claude Richli's third Global Tithe Index report, released this month, uses what he calls an "objective yardstick" to measure faithfulness and trace several positive developments in giving.

Here's how it works. By comparing each country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita with tithe per capita -- or how much the average Adventist returns in tithe every year -- the GTI formula accounts for currency exchanges and "huge economic disparities" among countries to indicate where the church is best supported, Richli says. A GTI ratio close to 1 suggests a country's members are by and large faithful.

Richli, who now directs marketing for the church's flagship journal, the Adventist Review, developed the formula in 2003 during his stint as associate executive secretary for the church's then newly-formed East-Central Africa region. There, promoting financial self-sufficiency in fledgling areas of the church became one of his primary concerns.

"I hadn't seen anything that levels the playing field before, and that's really the reason why I started doing these reports," Richli says of his first GTI report, completed in 2004. That report, and the two that have followed, are based on figures from the church's annual Statistical Report and other publicly available data.

While not yet an official church document, the report is a valuable resource for comparing levels of giving worldwide, says Gerry Karst, chair of the church's Use of Tithe Study Commission and a world church vice president. "Are people sacrificing at the same level? Are [they] giving at the same level? You can make those comparisons," he says.

Richli singles out statistics from Africa as one of the report's most notable trends. In many African countries long dogged by corrupt governments and hyperinflation, the church has found securing an economic toehold difficult. This year's figures suggest the situation is improving. Also positive are the figures from former communist countries, some of which are now lockstep with affluent Western countries, Richli says.

Between 2005 and 2006, global tithe returns increased 8.3 percent, and discounting the church's North American region, the jump was even more dramatic: 17.4 percent. "Certainly, the loss of value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies explains part of these changes, but in the case of Brazil, we have real improvement," Richli says -- despite the dollar losing 12 percent against Brazil's real, overall tithes grew by 25 percent. As the church's second largest contributor, growth in Brazil is particularly encouraging and, he says, suggests a broader "positive trend" in tithe returns that "continues to gain momentum" globally.

Figures from Mexico represent another "bright spot" in this year's report, Richi says. Following a 25 percent decrease in tithe returns for that country between 2002 and 2003, Mexican Adventists shrugged off the peso's 1 percent loss against the dollar to grow their country's tithe returns a "remarkable" 78.6 percent, Richli says.

Other Latin American countries, however, lag in tithe returns. Consider Peru's "very weak" GTI ratio of 47.3 percent and Belize at 13.3 on the same scale. Richli speculates large influxes of members into the church in South America may keep stewardship leaders scrambling to educate new Adventists on faithful giving, thus explaining the low faithfulness levels.

Because several factors can skew GTI ratios, Richli admits its accuracy is limited. In countries where Adventists are largely from lower classes -- because the church may be new and underdeveloped, or members may have faced discrimination -- comparing tithe per capita to GDP may inaccurately reflect faithfulness. The same is true in countries where members are predominantly women, young, or rural -- groups that Richli says often face economic disadvantages.

However, the report contradicts the idea that a country's economic status or the culture of its people should somehow predict faithfulness, Richli says, citing figures from the eastern African nation of Burkina Faso. "It's gone from 6.3 to 2.6 -- that's on par with Germany," he says. "And Burkina Faso is not necessarily a rich country. We need to find out what they're doing right there and see if it can be duplicated in other countries."

Despite the encouraging reports, Richli says countries under the umbrella of the church's East-Central Africa region, apart from Rwanda, show little progress. Improvements in Kenya and Ethiopia are minuscule, and other countries, such as Uganda, have backtracked.

"This is particularly disappointing as greater progress seems to take place in other parts of Africa," Richli says. Even Zimbabwe, he says, continues to improve its GTI ratio after a "tremendous jump" in 2005 -- from a GTI of 68.5 to 20.3.

Tremendous, in part, due to that year's membership audits, Richli says, explaining that thousands of former or inactive members were removed from official church tallies as a result. "It didn't impact tithe volume," Richli says, "but it certainly improved GTI ratios."

Still, improvements in Zimbabwe and other African countries should "go a long way toward dispelling the notion that low ratios cannot be achieved in Africa and that educating our members [about stewardship] there is too difficult," Richli says.


Doing time: A year at Adventist halfway house fuels transformation
March 4, 2008
Gainesville, Florida, United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]

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Jeffery Cobb left a life of $70,000-a-night drug deals to help bring fellow former felons back into society. At Shelter in the Storm, the transition house he has run since 2001, residents learn responsibility by holding down jobs and following budgets. [photos: courtesy Shelter in the Storm]


A Shelter in the Storm resident trims grass at one of the nearly 200 Gainesville lawns maintained by former felons living at Cobb's transition house. The steady work helps fill the gap left by old habits, Cobb says. "If you don't put them to work, they're going to go right back to the only thing they know."

In his quiet Gainesville, Florida neighborhood, Jeffery Cobb is known as the guy who convinced a bunch of former felons to trade their guns for weed whackers, hedge trimmers and a whole lot of respect. The crew maintains nearly 200 area lawns every week working for Cobb's Eden Garden Lawn Service.

But the laidback Cobb doesn't just employ the ex-offenders -- he lives, eats and worships with them at Shelter in the Storm, the transition house he has run since 2001. Cobb says he couldn't be more comfortable; many of them are the same guys with whom he once cut lucrative drug deals and shared prison cells.

"I speak their language. I lived their culture," Cobb says. "Why shouldn't I invite them home?"

Cleveland Houser, who worked in the Tennessee Correctional System for 16 years as a Seventh-day Adventist psychiatric chaplain, says there are plenty of reasons -- fear, busyness and the stigma surrounding former offenders, to name a few.

"A lot of churches endorse the idea of transition houses, but frown upon the fruits -- former felons actually showing up at church," Houser says. "Or someone asking a church to start a support group for the families of inmates."

Sure, sharing a church pew with a guy out on parole can be unsettling, Houser acknowledges, but that doesn't license church members to shun former felons. "Jesus' last ministry on Earth was to prisoners. He was on 'death row,' you might say, between two thieves and he gave one of them hope."

Hope is what Cobb deals these days.

A former drug addict and felon, Cobb knows life after prison is tough and that the streets are often more welcoming than estranged family members and betrayed friends. With no positive references, he says many former felons find dodging bullets easier than cinching a job. That means most pass time in prison masterminding their next crimes.

That's exactly how Cobb spent more than two decades. "I never thought to quit. I used jail time to think up my next drug deals, because that was the only way I knew to survive once I got back on the street," Cobb says.

His older brother, one of Miami's most notorious drug dealers, introduced the then 15-year-old Cobb to cocaine and crime. Cobb remembers his brother's cohorts were in cahoots with corrupt police officers and judges. "We used to get high together."

Despite the unlikelihood of his arrest, someone -- "maybe God," Cobb says with a laugh -- finally tipped off an honest officer. Cobb landed behind bars at Miami County Jail on charges of selling drugs to students near school property. It wasn't long, he says, before he contracted a typical case of "jailhouse religion."

"I told God, 'If you get me out of here, I'll dedicate my life to you.' Of course I knew I'd go back to the only thing I knew -- I could make $70,000 a night selling drugs. Why would I go out and look for a job?"

He didn't. Cobb violated parole and went back to sniffing his typical $500 of cocaine a day. Three months later, he found himself back in prison.

"Jail isn't a deterrent," Cobb says. "But Jesus is."

While serving time at Gainesville Correctional Institute, Cobb remembers a fellow inmate convinced him to check out a Sabbath worship service offered by a Seventh-day Adventist prison ministries group.

"I told him, 'Church on Saturday? Are you out of your mind?'"

Still, Cobb says the services eventually impressed him to accept Christ. "It was no sudden bright light shining moment, like you hear some people say. I just felt filled with peace and calm and joy."

Cobb describes the transformation as a choice, one he encourages Shelter in the Storm residents to make for themselves. "If you're not ready for Jesus to change your life, you're wasting your time here," Cobb says. "A lot of these guys want to get off the streets, but they can't get jobs. If you don't put them to work, they're going to go right back to the only thing they know."

"This isn't a place where you come and just lay around doing nothing," says Jeffery Hunter, a former resident who now helps manage a local McDonald's restaurant. "You have to come with your mind made up to change."

The men at Shelter in the Storm are not pressured to become Adventists, but what they learn during daily devotions often makes an impression. Cobb says after six months at the house, one resident became an Adventist and took over teaching Sabbath school at the local church. Another, a 55-year-old blues singer, reconnected with his estranged wife after three months at Shelter in the Storm. "The whole family is going to church now."

During their year at Shelter in the Storm, Cobb connects each former felon with a local realtor, car salesman and potential employer so that when they leave, they'll have housing, transportation and employment.

Cobb admits the guys are getting a "pretty good deal," but says because they help out around the house, he won't be raising the rent or cutting back on services -- "Some of those guys can cook, man!" he says with a laugh.

Still, Hunter says, transitioning back into society isn't easy. "I let the new guys know what they're up against. These guys have battled drugs and crime for years and have left a lot of hurting people behind. I tell them, 'Don't come out expecting open arms. You're gonna have to work really hard to earn back trust and love, but it's possible.' It's all about giving them hope."

A few months ago, Cobb opened a second transition house, this one in Ocala, about 40 miles south of Gainesville. "Man, I'm having fun," he says. "I'm gonna do this until Jesus comes."



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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.

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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.

A few comments on the "Global Tithe Index" article.







Do you catch the definition which is implied time and again throughout the article?

"Faithful" equals "giving the correct amount of money through the channels we say you should."

Remember that when you are next reading your Bible, and come across texts like "well done, good and faithful servant" and "remain faithful unto the end and I will give you a crown of life."



That sounds like a great idea. Prune the membership books. Remove all of the names of those who are not interested in being members any more. That way the GTI ratios will look great, and you can stop haranguing the rest of us for more money all the time.



The economy of Zimbabwe is a basket case. Hyperinflation is out of control. There are massive crop failures, food shortages and famines. People are starving, and risking their lives to flee to other countries across the border. And all we can focus on is how to extract more money from them???! Look at the comparative wealth of the SDA church vs. average citizens of Zimbabwe. WE should be "sacrificially giving" THEM money.

Just like those heartwarming mission stories you hear in Sabbath School about the villagers in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, who have nothing, carefully separating out one-tenth of their sweet potatoes so they can "faithfully" contribute to the wealth of the global SDA church.

And we get dismayed about the obscene wealth that the Catholic system has amassed from their impoverished parishioners...well, all I can say is Pot. Kettle. Black.

And for the record, I do pay tithe. I probably pay more than 10%, as I do not always keep records. All of my 10%+ goes towards the work of spreading the gospel, upholding the work of our church and helping those less fortunate. Only, I pay my money where my conscience and the Holy Spirit directs, and not where the church powers try to force me to direct it my selectively mis-applying scripture.

I have friends and acquaintances who are virulently anti-religion, because they believe that the church (any church, not just Catholic or SDA) is just a money-making scam and they only care about getting money out of you.

I would not be able to show this week's Adventist News bulletin to those people, as it would just confirm their prejudices.

aldona
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