13 March, 2018

Fifteen Church Members Die in Rwandan Church after Being Struck by Lightning

Lightning struck a Rwandan church on March 10, killing 15 members. More than 130 others attending divine services at the Gihemvu Seventh-day Adventist Church were taken to an area hospital and other health centers. Some of those treated have since been released. Church leaders and government officials, including Abidan Ruhongeka, president of the South Rwandan Field and Mureshyankwano Marie Rose, the governor of the Southern Province of Rwanda, attended a special burial ceremony held Sunday, March 11.

13 March, 2018

Adventists in Inter-America To Impact Communities in Need During Global Youth Day

Thousands of young people across the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world will take center stage in their communities to unite in carrying out acts of kindness and sharing hope everywhere they go on Sabbath, March 17, 2018. The annual special day coined as Global Youth Day, is sponsored by the General Conference’s youth ministries department and motivates young people to get out of their comfort zones to “Be the Sermon” as they show the love of Jesus in their communities.

12 March, 2018

Preacher Prays with Supreme Court Judges, High-Profile Inmates in Guatemala

A pastoral visit to the Supreme Court magistrates and another one to high-profile inmates were part of recent evangelistic activities in the Central American nation of Guatemala. Speaker/director of “Escrito está” Robert Costa closed evangelistic efforts in Guatemala City in late February, with a public event attended by thousands. “Escrito está” is the Spanish version of It Is Written, a supporting TV ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

9 March, 2018

In Dominica, Recovery is Still A Challenge

She thought they were going to die. Darnelle Celestine and her husband were standing against the remaining walls of their home. Their young daughters huddled against them, cowering as the rain beat down on their heads and the water rose to their ankles. They listened in terror as the ferocious winds of Hurricane Maria screamed through their island and tore their house apart. “The wind kept battering the house. And the roof eventually was lost to the wind, and the ceiling started imploding,” recalls Celestine. “Then the back, the walls started falling down and the hurricane came into the house.”

9 March, 2018

Hope Channel Inter-America Strives For More Viewership

Seventeen months after Hope Channel Inter-America was officially launched, Seventh-day Adventist leaders are aiming for greater collaboration among its regional church leadership and multiple media centers across the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory. The goal is to increase the visibility of the television channel to reach millions with the message of hope and salvation. Church administrators, channel coordinators, communication directors, media center staff and production teams were called upon to strengthen the image, vision and mission of the channel during a special online training held on Mar. 6, 2018, from the IAD Office in Miami, Florida.

8 March, 2018

Soda Bad for Health, But May Not Be Making Us Fat

“Do not get me wrong,” said preventive medicine expert Neal Barnard in his presentation at the Loma Linda’s International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition on February 27, 2018. “Soda drinks are very bad for your health. No question about it. But the truth is, they may not be what are making you fat.” Barnard, who teaches at the George Washington University School of Medicine and chair the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington D.C., made this startling observation when discussing how plant-based diets can support obesity treatment efforts.

7 March, 2018

It’s All in the Gut

A common research search engine shows that studies of the gut microbial flora have skyrocketed in the last few years. Microbial genome, or the microbiome, seems to be a promising new area of research, said Michael J. Orlich, who teaches at School of Public Health at Loma Linda University. It is not, however, a “new” science, he reminded. Its origins can be traced back to gut flora researchers from the 17th century onwards, including 19th-century studies on the benefits of yogurt consumption for gut health. It also includes former Seventh-day Adventist physician John Harvey Kellogg around the turn of the 20th century.

5 March, 2018

Healthy, From the Cradle to the Grave

For Seventh-day Adventists, it may not be a big surprise to hear about the importance of prenatal influences on the life of the future baby. After all, it was Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White who penned over a century ago, “It is an error generally committed to make no difference in the life of a woman previous to the birth of her children. At this important period, the labor of the mother should be lightened. Great changes are going on in her system. It requires a greater amount of blood, and therefore an increase of food of the most nourishing quality to convert into blood. Unless she has an abundant supply of nutritious food, she cannot retain her physical strength, and her offspring is robbed of vitality” (Adventist Home, p. 256).

2 March, 2018

Adventist Church To Feature Hope Channel Inter-America Advisory Online

A special two-hour Hope Channel Inter-America advisory meeting will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 6, from the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Inter-American Division (IAD) headquarter office in Miami, Florida. The live online event will be addressed mainly to union, or regional, communication directors and channel coordinators, as well as personnel across the 18 media production centers throughout the IAD territory.

2 March, 2018

“Now that I have the desire to read the Bible, I can’t”

The dark night made it difficult to see the 450 listeners as all of them rose from their plastic chairs arranged in an open field. Some were coming forward to the wooden stage in response to the message that evening. As I watched the young and old starting to gather in the dusty dry clearing, my eye was drawn to an older gentleman led by the hand by a young lady. He was blind. We prayed for this newly committed group that God would keep them and build them up in the faith as we continued to study God’s Word night after night.

2 March, 2018

Adventists Volunteer in British Virgin Islands in Post-Hurricane Reconstruction

Seventh-day Adventists in the British Virgin Islands have been volunteering their time and talents to numerous roof reconstruction projects in the wake of the devastating 2017 hurricane season. The British Virgin Islands are comprised of Virgin Gorda, Tortola and St. Maarten. Dozens of volunteers took to rebuilding roofs, walls and assisting the many disrupted by the destructive winds of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

1 March, 2018

“It Is Possible to Be a Very Unhealthy Vegetarian”

“It’s possible to be a very unhealthy vegetarian,” said Harvard School of Public Health Researcher Frank Hu in his keynote address “Plant-based diet for personal, population, and planetary health.” Hu made this and other ear-catching remarks on February 26, 2018, the opening day of the Seventh International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition in Loma Linda, California, United States. The event gathered more than 800 nutrition and health professionals from 34 countries for three days of scientific presentations, Q&A sessions, discussions, cooking demonstrations, and networking opportunities.