ADRA kicked off a seven-day “Prayer for Everyone” initiative on Thursday to share with Seventh-day Adventists worldwide its plans to work with the United Nations to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and combat climate change. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is joining other faith communities around the world in promoting the initiative, which is using the hashtag #PrayerforEveryone.
Four new churches with seating for 600 members opened in the Dominican Republic this month as the Seventh-day Adventist Church races to keep up with surging membership in the Caribbean island nation. A total of 35 new churches were dedicated in the Dominican Republic last year, nearly half of which were built by Maranatha Volunteers International. Maranatha also built the four newest churches.
Two female pastors, both passionately committed to leading others to Jesus, are helping the Seventh-day Adventist Church expand in eastern Cuba. Gilma Carbonell, 44, leads the largest Adventist church in Cuba, the Guantanamo Central Adventist Church in the city of Guatanamo. She ministers to more than 1,000 church members, who pack the inside and outside of the church every Sabbath.
An extraordinarily diverse group of lawmakers from around the world called for greater global efforts to end religious persecution and repression at a Seventh-day Adventist co-sponsored conference in New York. The International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief produced an unlikely alliance of political leaders. Among the more than 100 legislators from some 50 countries were an ayatollah from Iran, Anglican lawmakers from Britain, a Christian member of parliament from Pakistan, Jewish politicians from Israel, Hindu lawmakers from India, and Buddhist legislators from Myanmar.
Seventh-day Adventist leaders praised the naming of a downtown Rome square after Protestant reformer Martin Luther at a ceremony attended by German and Italian politicians and diplomats, Adventist believers, and even a Martin Luther lookalike. The square, Piazza Martin Lutero, was inaugurated at Colle Oppio park, close to the Colosseum, during an event eagerly anticipated by the small Protestant community in Rome.
Seven Seventh-day Adventist believers have been killed in a nighttime attack in northern Cameroon, marking the most serious loss of life that the church has sustained since Boko Haram militants embarked on a violent campaign to establish a strict Muslim state in Africa about five years ago. Heavily armed men entered the village of Aïssa Harde, located 11 kilometers east of the regional capital, Mora, around 11 p.m. Thursday, breaking into homes and killing at least nine people, including the seven Adventists, said Richard Hendjena, head of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern Cameroon.
It’s a Revelation prophecy seminar unlike any you’ve ever witnessed. Seventh-day Adventist filmmaker Christopher Hudson has crafted an exploration of the Roman Catholic Church and Revelation 13 into a hip, fast-paced film that has gone viral on YouTube and even won accolades from some unlikely quarters in pop culture.
Angry villagers have demolished a new Seventh-day Adventist church building in the Solomon Islands and ordered the small congregation to leave their island by the end of the month. Irving Vagha, an Adventist leader in the Solomon Islands, an Oceanic country comprised of scores of islands east of Papua New Guinea, asked church members to pray.
Days after Tropical Storm Erika devastated the Caribbean Island of Dominica, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Dominica, with the help of local Adventist church member volunteers, are active in providing meals to those left homeless from the most affected communities on the island. The storm hit the small island of approximately 72,000 people on Aug. 27, triggering mudslides, destroying roads, bridges and homes. Over 30 people died and dozens went missing.
Against a background of serious challenges, spiraling inflation and a shortage of basic necessities, the Seventh-day Adventists in Venezuela continues to be faithful and its territory continues to rapidly expand, according to top administrators of the church in the Inter-American Division (IAD). IAD President Pastor Israel Leito completed a trip in Venezuela where three new missions were organized in the West Venezuela Union. The church there oversees five conferences, and three new missions.
Gary Rittenbach’s full-time job is running between computers as director of academic computing at Walla Walla University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution in College Place, Washington. His other big pursuit is running. He’s good at it — so good, in fact, that he recently joined a small club of runners who have completed all six of the world’s top marathons: New York, Chicago, Berlin, Boston, Tokyo, and London.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colombia asserted hundreds of its members studying across public campuses and working professionals of their value and role in becoming disciples of Christ during a three-day event held in Chachipay, Cundinamarca, Sep. 4-6, 2015. Some 300 university students from 35 universities were challenged to become missionaries by developing leadership skills, committing to evangelism and serving the church, the community, and their campuses. In addition, 150 Adventist professionals also participated in the training.