ANR Bulletin No. 8 ? GC Session 2005, St. Louis, USA
Adventist News Review
Trans-European Division of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church

Wednesday, 6 July 2005


INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MISSION

SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEAN DIVISION

?Inspired by Hope? is the title the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean
Division gave to their report presented Tuesday evening of the
General Conference Session. Although the population is diverse in
many ways, hope transforms them into a family.

Organised in 2003 with a membership of 1.8 million, the church in
this area which covers 24 countries from Angola to South Africa and
Indian Ocean islands, has had eight focus issues for the past five
years, Growth, Spiritual Nurture, Unity, Self Support, HIV/AIDS,
Leadership, Ministry to Minorities and Christian Education. This
report consisted of very moving personal stories of the work of lay
people in winning souls for Christ; for perseverance through
adversity.

SOUTH AMERICAN DIVISION

?Going to Extremes? to spread the Gospel in the region of South
America highlighted individuals in this Division who have been active
in unusual ways to win souls to Christ.

The dentist who turns his clinic into a small group in the evenings
recorded 60 baptisms; the drug trader who turned Literature
Evangelist; the saucepan factory that places tracts in each of their
pans; the pastor with 99 churches; the young girl who cycles 10 miles
each day has won 30 to Christ; trained gorilla becomes teacher for
Jesus; lady who ministers to alcoholics; judge who visits the
convicted and imprisoned to bring them the Gospel; the lady who
rescued villages from a dam burst ? 24 baptised as a result of her
love and concern; prisoner confined for 8 years, having learned of
Jesus, talked to 3,000 prisoners and baptised 16; the lady who
offered her house as a church and now has a membership of 60.

Due to the dedication of the lay people, together with the work of
institutions and departments, this division has recorded a total of
1,104,821 baptisms for the past 5 years.

BUSINESS

In the fourth session on Leadership, Ted Ramirez introduced a paper
entitled "Acting with Responsibility", asking in his opening
statement, "How do we, as leaders, act 'with responsibility' in a
relentlessly irresponsible world, one in which complex situations fly
at us thick and fast each day?"

He noted that "Increasingly, our unity and leadership effectiveness
depend less on things or facts we think we 'know' or used to know,
and more on our willingness to know and trust God in the present
tense
God seeks to move us beyond the disputations of weeks and
decades past, toward wholeness that conveys light and love." He
emphasised that "It is love that leads us to act with
responsibility."

BERT B. BEECH ATTENDS HIS 14TH GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION

Bert B. Beech, longstanding PARL director for the General Conference
has attended 14 GC sessions. He says, ?The first session I attended
at the age of 18 was in 1946 right after World War II. I was not a
delegate; I was still at college. The meetings were held in the newly
built Sligo Church, the largest in Washington DC, USA and the total
attendance was 2,300; not like today?s large convention centres with
60,000 people.?

Beech continues, ?There were about 800 delegates; the membership of
the world church at that time was close to 180,000 it hadn?t yet
reached 200,000. I remember some of the members were worried because
we had passed the 144,000 mark!"

Beech had spent the war years in Switzerland 1936-1946 and so was not
involved in the leadership of the session but was involved in the
actual work. He says, ?I would carry messages from the nominating
committee requesting certain people to come for interview, so I knew
a little of what was going on. It was very interesting and allowed me
as a young person to get acquainted with all the leaders of our
church. At that time it was easier as there were less leaders than
there are today.?

In response to my question, what were the main issues at that time,
he said, ?The main issue in 1946 was the reconstruction of the
church; rebuilding churches destroyed in Europe and the Far East by
the war. There was also the issue of how to deal with former enemies
of the war; would they be in the same division or would they be
placed in another division. These were issues that took a few years
to iron out but thankfully that has all been resolved.?

I asked Dr. Beech how he saw his Seventh-day Adventist Church today
after 14 sessions. He replied, ?It is a much more complex church; I?m
sure it?s more difficult to lead and increasingly difficult to hold
the church together as one church. There are very few world churches;
to hold one together with work in over 200 countries; with all the
different nationalities, political systems and ideologies; it takes
the Spirit of God and wise leadership.?

I asked him, what is his counsel for today?s leaders, and he replied,
?I would suggest that we need to be giving Spiritual leadership, but
also intelligent leadership; leadership that listens to what is going
on; that is accountable and open; that is transparent. Sometimes our
leaders do things that are correct but do it in such a way that
people are not really clear what has been done and they suspect
certain things that are not actually going on. I think that if we are
open and relevant and pay attention to the needs of people, our
church will be successful.? [Miroslav Pujic/ANR]

IRAQ: THE CHURCH IN HARD PLACES

The church bells ring out on Saturday morning across the city. The
Vacation Bible Club is so popular that families book up one year in
advance. The Community Services and Women's Ministries departments
are appreciated by the community. Each Christmas a personal letter of
congratulations comes from the country's president.

That may sound an idyllic picture but, according to Basim Fargo,
secretary-treasurer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iraq, that
was the Adventist Church in Baghdad before 2003.

The 500-member church in Iraq was one of 13 Christian denominations
that were recognized by the government and had considerable religious
freedom in the context of the Middle East, and in a country where
Christians make up just 3 percent of the population.

Today the story is different; perhaps as many as 90 percent of the
members have fled Iraq for greater security elsewhere. About 40
members remain in Baghdad with a further 10 in Mosul. Security is the
main issue.

In September 2003 a car bomb exploded near the front of the Baghdad
church causing U.S. $150,000 of damage. Thankfully there were no
casualties and the church has been partially repaired. Fargo told ANN
that there is still freedom of worship but evangelism is limited to
church services only. Due to the security situation the church only
meets on Sabbath, or Saturday, morning. The pastor and members of the
Women's Ministries department do their best to visit and encourage
the remaining families. "The situation is not normal. There are no
evangelistic meetings. We cannot expose ourselves to the public."

But for all the challenges of being an Adventist in Iraq, Fargo is
not without hope. While things are difficult now he believes that,
with the reorganization of the government in Iraq, within a couple of
years the church may be able to resume more of its activities.

As Fargo sits in the indoor stadium during the 58th business session
of the world church, he rejoices in the reports of growth he hears
from around the world, but is quick to point out that it is very
different working in a country where Muslims who convert to
Christianity would fear for their lives, and where the Christian
community is mainly comprised of a very traditional form of inherited
religion.

Basim pleads, "Pray for us. We are living in very difficult times. We
hope things will settle down and we can resume our work so that we
can give our message of hope to the people of Iraq."

Why does Basim stay there? "It is my responsibility that keeps me
there. It is God's work. I cannot leave and go outside the country."
[Victor Hulbert/ANN/ANR]

GC SESSION PHOTO GALLERY

If you wish to see photo?s of the session please visit the following
site:
http://news.adventist.org/specials/2005/gcsession/photogalleries.html

[ANR Team/ANR]


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ANR Team: Miroslav Pujic, news director/writer, Beverly Coysten,
editor/writer, Gavin Anthony, news writer.

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