Yugoslavian Church Responds
to Dramatic Political Change

ollowing the people's revolution in Yugoslavia earlier this month, a letter of congratulations and support was sent to the newly-elected president, Vojislav Kostunica, by Radisa Antic, the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South-East European region.

"We wish to congratulate you on your appointment as president of Yugoslavia and wish you God's blessings in your new role, and blessings to all the citizens in our country," wrote Antic in his letter dated October 10. "We want to assure you that the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, according to the Bible, will continue to pray for you and your government to be successful in bringing peace and prosperity in our country for all peoples."

Commenting on the presidential change, Antic says: "As disciples of Jesus Christ we respect any authority, any government, and we accept Dr. Kostunica and his new government as well. We believe that it is going to be for the better. We are happy to see that our new president is a believer, with faith in God, and using the Bible as a basis for the values of democracy, freedom of choice, and a right to choose one's beliefs and philosophy of life."

"We pray that peace will take place in our country," says Antic. "The country's economy is in a poor state--after almost 10 years of sanctions and isolation from the rest of the world. Our church faced some real challenges in helping to provide necessities such as food and clothing for the members and our neighbors during these difficult years." –-Adventist News Network


Cayman Island Governor
Visits Pathfinders
When the seven Pathfinder clubs in the Cayman Islands organized a special Pathfinder day at the George Town Adventist Church on September 23 there was a special visitor among the 700 guests. His excellency Peter Smith, the governor of the Cayman Islands, also gave his support to the program.

Smith commended the church for providing wholesome activities for the youth of the island. He also inspected the 186 fully-uniformed Pathfinders, says Jeffrey K. Thompson, Cayman Islands Mission president.


Italian Network goes live
on AWR Europe
On Monday October 9, the first live program was broadcast on Adventist World Radio's new Voice of Hope Network for Europe, according to Bert Smit, AWR's Europe Region Director. "This was the first live broadcast AWR has transmitted via satellite for rebroadcast to FM stations," said Smit.

From KJOI, the Voce della Speranza (Voice of Hope) studios in the heart of Rome, a 30-minute live presentation in Italian was available to the nine Adventist radio stations in Italy. Mario Calagno and Luigi Carateli presented the program, introducing listeners to the 24-hour digital satellite network AWR operates on the Sirius 2 satellite. Smit and AWR's digital program distribution engineer, Daryl Gungadoo, were present at this historic event.

"The nine Italian Adventist stations reach about eight million listeners," says Lucio Altin, president of the Italian Union. "We consider this a very important evangelistic tool for the Church in Italy."

Italian network director Daniele Benini said that the new satellite network is expanding the possibilities for the Italian Voice of Hope programs.

"We are tremendously pleased with the success of this Europe satellite network," says Don Jacobsen, AWR president, "and look forward to increased results from AWR's multi-lingual radio ministry in Europe."


Former GC President Witnesses
Unveiling of New Gandhi Statue
When President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister of India unveiled the new Mahatma Gandhi statue in Washington D.C., former General Conference president Neal C. Wilson and his wife were among the invited guests.

While serving as president of the Southern Asia Division, Wilson met with Gandhi on three different occasions, according to John Wycliffe, of the General Conference.

Gandhi, who influenced Martin Luther King Jr., is best known for advocating non-violent means of achieving freedom. "My formative years were deeply enriched by living in India," Wilson says. "I was deeply impressed by this great personality.