Adventist Young People
Catch Olympic Fever

ore than 200 Seventh-day Adventist young people from Australia and around the world are taking part in the More Than Gold evangelism initiative that aims to make an impact at the Sydney Olympics.

In cooperation with Quest Australia, an inter-denominational Christian organization, the young people are distributing literature and food, providing street entertainment, performing free health checks at the Adventist Church's health assessment van, and staffing a tent café.

Quest has chosen Signs--a magazine published by the Adventist Church in Australia--as the official magazine of its Olympic initiative. One hundred thousand copies of a special edition of Signs are being handed out to Sydney's residents and visitors during the 14 days of the games.

"Our aim was to introduce people, first of all, to Christianity, as we assumed there are many non-Christians attending the games," says Lee Dustan, Signs senior assistant editor. "And secondly, we wanted to give them the basic beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." The special edition includes a range of international Adventist authors, and covers topics such as healthy lifestyles, faith in Christ, baptism, and the seventh-day Sabbath.

Small groups called Olympic Ministry Teams will be at various sites around the city, says Gilbert Cangy, the Adventist Church's youth leader in Australia. "While the athletes and observers enjoy the games and securing the gold medals, our youth will be involved in the most important business in their daily lives--bringing Jesus to the many thousands of people through the various tools of evangelism."

New Breakthroughs in Southern Sudan
Adventist leaders in Southern Sudan report new growth in the region. More than 100 persons were recently baptized in the previously unentered territory of Natinga.

"We had a cow pond in which to conduct the baptism," says Beat Odermatt, South Sudan Field president. "The mud was up to my knees and the water to my hips. When the baptismal candidates came up out of the water they were covered with mud. After the baptism there was very little water for cleaning."

Many of the baptisms are the result of the efforts of an ex-army commander, now a Global Mission volunteer, who has witnessed to many of his military colleagues.

In Narus, a town of 15,000 with a strong Catholic presence, the local government has given the church a plot of land, and evangelistic meetings are scheduled to begin in October. Odermatt sees more than a dozen areas where local congregations can be established, most of them accessible only by a four-wheel drive vehicle. Church leaders eagerly await the graduation of several students from Sudan Adventist Seminary who will assist in planting new congregations, Odermatt said.

Adventist Youth in Rio De Janeiro
Participate Area Community Services
For nearly one week, more than 50 Seventh-day Adventist youth from São Gonçalo, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, developed and implemented several community projects to assist needy citizens.

Based at a local public school from August 14-20, Adventist youth engaged in projects such as medical screening in the areas of cardiology, pediatrics and general medicine; dental assistance; laboratory and other examinations.

To carry out the service they received support from Silvestre Adventist Hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which sent doctors and technical personnel. In addition to health-reltated work, the youth set up a large area where hundreds of individuals had their hair cut.

More than 500 took advantage of these services daily. The most important part of the program was that each person received evangelistic literature and a number which gave them the right to participate in a drawing for a food basket that would be given at a Worship of Thanksgiving held at the close of the project on August 20 in the São Gonçalvo Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Approximately 120 people are now receiving Bible studies as a result of this joint effort by Seventh-day Adventist youth, reports the South American Division.

News Notes
A youth evangelistic series at the Temple of Adventist Hope in Hollywood, Florida, resulted in 19 new believers joining the Adventist Church. The series, conducted by lay evangelist Errol Nembhard of South Africa, also included nightly health lectures, reports elder Desmond Mattocks. In addition to those baptized, 21 persons requested further study.

The Temple of Adventist Hope, a multi-ethnic congregation, is also noted for its special Messianic outreach service for the local Jewish community, Mattocks says.