Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) is transitioning its campaign that focused on preventing child abuse to the enditnow campaign, led by the Women’s Ministries department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the World Divisions. The move will enhance the resources provided by the enditnow campaign and expand its focus to children in distress. The transition will be completed this fall.
True religion is comprised of faith mixed with elements of forgiveness and reconciliation, not a divisive force that fuels tension and violence in society as many people believe, a group of scholars, lawyers and religious freedom advocates declared at a major forum organized by a Seventh-day Adventist-founded group. The 17th annual Meeting of Experts, organized by the International Religious Liberty Association, brought together some 20 academics at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California, to consider the role of religion in current global conflicts, and to focus on ways that faith can, instead, be a powerful force for peacemaking and conflict resolution.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North Colombia recently celebrated a newly organized church on the campus of a public university in the State of Antioquia, in North Colombia. Church administrators and leaders boasted about the importance of organizing the first church on a public campus in the territory and the country, during a special ceremony on Aug. 8, 2015.
Seventh-day Adventists are planning a variety of family-focused activities to coincide with Pope Francis’ high-profile visit to the United States next month. The pope will arrive on Sept. 22 for a six-day trip that will include talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, speeches at U.S. Congress and the United Nations, and meetings connected with a Roman Catholic Church-organized faith and family congress in Philadelphia.
Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist youth in the Caribbean Union region packed their bags and traveled to Castries, in the island of St. Lucia to participate in a historic territory-wide youth congress from Jul. 29 to Aug. 1, 2015. Nearly 1,000 young people were challenged to continue being a powerful generation in serving the church and their communities everywhere they go. It was the first such island-wide event held since 1973, organizers said.
Children and Adolescents Ministries at the Inter-American Division (IAD) recently launched a series of resources available online for children throughout the vast territory. The resources include five game apps, five animated shorts, as well as audio and interactive online books where character building and Christian values are reinforced.
Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists in St. Maarten gathered for the church's annual lay evangelism rally to celebrate the growth in baptisms this year, which more than doubled from last year. The more than 800 laypersons, or active church members, from across the seven church congregations on the island met at Cole Bay, St. Maarten, on Aug. 1, 2015, to report on evangelistic activities, receive further training, honor outstanding laypersons and participate in a witness march across.
Seventh-day Adventists could do better in preparing and caring for those who choose to join the denomination through baptism, according to a new study. Almost 1,500 Adventists aged 18 years and older participated in “Before and Beyond Baptism,” a study sponsored by the Adventist Church’s South Pacific Division to investigate the relationship between the church’s baptismal practices and its members’ Christian maturity and commitment to core Adventist beliefs.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Caracas, Venezuela, mobilized thousands of its church members to bring a smile, share hope, beautify parks, and offer assistance to scores of people across streets and communities in the eastern part of the country on Aug. 1-9, 2015. It was the third such event in as many years. Church leaders are calling it the most comprehensive community outreach to take place in Caracas and 28 other eastern cities in the country. More than 12,000 volunteers took time off from their jobs and daily schedules to touch the lives of more than 200,000 individuals.
Pastor Gary Anthony Buddoo-Fletcher, former executive secretary in North Jamaica is the new Force Chaplain of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). His appointment was made official and announced by Commissioner of Police Dr. Carl Williams to the JCF Executive Management Board in Kingston on August 3, 2015.
More than 1,600 healthcare professionals and volunteers operated a no-cost mega medical and dental clinic in Spokane, Washington on August 3-4, 2015. Organizers announced yesterday that a total of 7,757 free services were offered to 3,111 noninsured and underinsured residents of Spokane at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, including 319 who were given surgical services at no cost. Organizers had originally estimated that services would be given to 3,000 residents.
Seventh-day Adventist relief workers are distributing food and other essential items in Myanmar after heavy flooding killed at least 46 people and affected more than 210,000. The flooding, brought on by six weeks of monsoon rain, also damaged at least 32 Adventist churches, many of which remain underwater.