Two days after a pair of fierce tornados touched down in Southwest Georgia--killing 22 people, destroying more than 300 homes, and injuring hundreds of residents in its 10-mile path--Adventist Community Services (ACS) opened a collection and distribution warehouse in the hardest hit town of Camilla, at the request of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA).. "I was in the storm and I lost my house," said one woman who came to the multi-agency warehouse to gather a much needed supply of non-perishable and frozen food items, water, personal hygiene materials, clothes, and shoes. "It was so devastating, I don't want to talk about it," she said. This woman was one of 879 individuals in 250 households served at the warehouse the first three days it was open. The facility was staffed by nearly 200 volunteers. In addition, shipments were delivered to smaller distribution centers in damaged areas in nearby counties on February 18.

"We are here to help the community and will keep this warehouse open as long as it is needed--as long as it takes for our friends and neighbors to re-establish their lives," said Carolyn Lipscomb, an Adventist from Smithville, and co-director of Adventist Community Services for South Georgia. Lipscomb and her co-director husband, Hew, have worked in disaster response in the region for the past five years. While heading to Camilla in their camper, the couple began working to secure a warehouse early Monday, hours after the tornados hit. That afternoon, a local company provided a building and truck loads of donated goods began arriving.

Home Depot, McDonald's, Feed the Children, Flower's Industries, Sunland Foods, Loew's, Bi-Lo Corporation, and many religious-based agencies including the Salvation Army and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, brought dozens of semi-trucks loaded with canned and boxed goods, water, frozen meat, clothing, and cleaning supplies.

"As Christians, we are supposed to be ambassador's and help others," said Doug Moxley, a support manager from Wal-Mart who stopped by the warehouse to see what was happening. "Give me a list of what you need and I'll get it," he told Larry Buckner, national disaster response coordinator for ACS.

The volunteers also came. About a dozen local fire fighters came by and built long tables to hold rows and rows of supplies and food. Each day, 20 members of the Albany, Georgia-based National Guard came to unload trucks and take inventory of the goods. Thirty-six inmates from the nearby state prison helped sort, pack, and load shipment orders for distribution at centers across the region. Twelve volunteers from two area Adventist churches volunteered alongside those from the Assemblies of God, Baptists, and numerous county and community volunteers.

"I've been there. In the past I've lost everything I had and I know what it's like to be in need," said Buddy Clark, a nearby resident who volunteered each day and arranged for everything from blankets and bread to telephone lines, and a second warehouse which opened Friday. "I've been totally overwhelmed to see that there's a religious group that will take the bull by the horns and run with it like you [Adventists] have in organizing this warehouse," he said.

Early in the week, Gerald Abbott, GEMA's donated goods coordinator, asked ACS to manage the warehouse in Camilla for Mitchell County relief efforts. Due to the quick and efficient response, the state of Georgia plans to enter into a written agreement with ACS to manage multi-agency warehouse operations in the future, Abbott said Friday.–Celeste Ryan, North American Division Media Relations


Dramatic Church Growth Continues in Mexico

The dramatic growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church continues in Mexico with the latest baptismal celebrations in Veracruz state February 12-13.

"More than 4,000 chose to be baptized and join the Adventist Church this weekend," says pastor Jan Paulsen, General Conference president. "We celebrate together with the 500,000-strong membership of the Church in Mexico and continue to be amazed at what God is doing in this wonderful country."

The largest baptism was held in Catemaco, in south Veracruz state on February 13, with more than 20,000 traveling to attend the celebrations at the lakeside site. In his address to the participants, Paulsen pointed to the importance of a personal commitment to the faith.

"If you hope to have a future beyond this life, this is only by accepting Jesus Christ," Paulsen said. "Jesus is now the Lord of your life. We are people 'on The Way,' as the early Christians were called. We are on a journey. We have only one destination: the new earth."

Under the title "Desde los umbrales del siglo... hasta las puertas del reino," (from the shadows of this century... towards the doors of the kingdom-check trans.), the celebration was directed by pastor David Javier Perez, leader of the Adventist Church in southern Mexico, and pastor Reynold Zebadua Perez, leader for the Church in southern Veracruz.

"We are delighted to once again be celebrating the growth of the Church under the direction of God," says David Perez. "Over the past weeks we have been privileged to have a number of such events, of which this is the highlight."--Adventist News Network


Shady Grove Delivers Surviving Twin

A baby boy was born at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Maryland 153 days after his twin brother was delivered stillborn at 15 weeks gestation.

To save the remaining twin, doctors used a combination of surgical intervention, medication and other treatment protocols to halt the mother's labor for 153 days so the second twin would have a chance for a healthy birth. Doctors estimate the chance of survival for the second twin was less than five percent, but the boy, Benjamin, was born healthy to Mindy and Stephen Rosenthal of Silver Spring, Maryland, says Robert Jepson, a spokesperson for Shady Grove.


Adventist Judge Elected Master Of The Bench

Dr. Peter Jackson, one of Her Majesty's Judges in England and a member of the Riverway Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kent, has been given the high privilege of being called to the Bench of The Honourable Society of The Middle Temple, London. This is probably the greatest honour the profession can confer--to be called to the Bench of one's Inn.

Joining this select group (there are only 550 Circuit Judges in England and Wales), entitled him to a personal coat of arms from the Queen, a title and position is that it has given me the means of serving God, the public and my profession.

"I see a particular responsibility to help those entering the profession, as they are the leading lawyers and judges of the future," he says. Judge Jackson teaches and counsels many law students from Middle Temple and abroad and holds seminars for judges.

For More Church News
Adventist News Network
Religion News Service
Religion Today