he Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) will feed nearly 250,000 children in Yemen, Bolivia, and Madagascar as part of the first international school lunch program.

"Children need good food in order to be alert in school," states Ralph S. Watts, Jr., president of ADRA International. "This grant utilizes ADRA's years of experience in development projects to make a difference in hungry children's lives."

ADRA is one of fourteen private voluntary agencies (PVOs) that will distribute $300 million worth of food supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approximately nine million children in 38 countries. The Global Food for Education program is similar to one that feeds poor children in the United States. In Yemen, this food program will improve enrollment rates for girls in basic education (grades 1-9) in the areas of Taiz, Hodeidah, and Aden.

Additionally, it will also help reduce gender disparities and inequitable access to education. ADRA¹s track record in development in Yemen is demonstrated in renewal of a multiple-year Child Survival project grant in 1999, which was based on successfully completing similar previous projects.

In Bolivia, the program will improve school enrollment, attendance, and performance for primarly school children in regions of Camargo, El Alto, and Riberalta. ADRA staff will provide detailed information about proposed implementation activities to municipalities and educational authorities, which will guarantee sustainability of the program. In Madagascar, ADRA will provide a vitamin-enriched meal containing corn, soy, and iodized salt every school day during two school years for up to 90,000 primary school students in the rural school districts of Antsirable II and Antanyfotsy, located in the central highlands.

An internationally recognized non-governmental organization, ADRA is active in more than 120 nations. ADRA was granted general consultative status by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 1997.

ADRA is an independent humanitarian agency established with the specific purpose of individual and community development and disaster relief. Without regard to age, ethnicity, or political or religious association, ADRA assists more than 19 million children, women, and men annually.

Three Worship Centers Dedicated in Israel
The perception of Israel as a fertile field of growth for the Seventh-day Adventist church was underscored with the dedication of three new Seventh-day Adventist worship and witness centers dedicated in Tel Aviv December 9.

"This has been a very special Shabbat," said Richard Elofer, president of the Adventist Church in Israel, at the close of the dedication service for the Romanian congregation in Petach Tikva. "During this Sabbath we have dedicated three new worship centers-- one for the first Romanian congregation in Tel Aviv, another for the Ghanaian believers, and now, this worship place in Petach Tikva, which means 'the gate of hope.'"

Participating in the services of celebration, worship, and dedication, and assisting Elofer and Peter Hinks, secretary-treasurer of the Israel Field, were Matthew Bediako, secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide; Adrian Bocaneanu, president of the Romanian Union in the Euro-Africa Division; and Peter Roennfeldt, Trans-European Division Ministerial Association secretary and Global Mission coordinator. Three years ago there were five Seventh-day Adventist groups and congregations in Israel. Today there are seventeen.

"During the last 10 years there has been a migration of Jews from Africa and the countries of Euro-Asia," explains Roennfeldt. "More than one million Jews from Russia alone have arrived in Israel. It is expected that more will arrive soon. Many of these Jewish people from the countries of Euro-Asia and Africa had contact with Seventh-day Adventists before leaving their countries of birth. The members and pastors are learning to relate the gospel in ways that are sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of the people."

"In Israel it is very important that we do our ministry in context--identifying with the Jews so as to share with them," adds Elofer. "We believe that 20 to 25 new prayer and worship groups will be established during the next five years." -–Adventist News Review

New Hospital Opens in Maryland
Kessler-Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital, a new rehabilitation hospital in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, opened on the campus of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, on January 2. The new facility is the only one of its kind in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The acute rehabilitation hospital is a joint venture between Kessler Rehabilitation Corporation and Adventist HealthCare. Employing 100 staff members, the facility will offer three basic services:neurologic rehabilitation, Orthopedic rehabilitation, and medical rehabilitation.

"We are very pleased to join with Kessler in developing this rehabilitation hospital to care for patients in our region," said Bill Robertson, president and CEO of Adventist HealthCare. "This hospital and the other rehabilitation services we provide in conjunction with Kessler are an important part of the continuum of health care services offered by Adventist Healthcare."

New Zealand Forms New Union
In a special constituency session, delegates from the two New Zealand conferences and the French Polynesia, Cook Island, and New Caledonia missions, voted to form the New Zealand Pacific Union Conference.

The formation of a new union conference is part of a overall restructuring of the South Pacific Division. The new union will give the Seventh-day Adventist Church one national voice in New Zealand.

"This session was historically significant because it grouped together areas that had never been connected in the past," said Bill Townsend, North New Zealand Conference president. "It will also lead to managing the departmental needs of New Zealand in quite a unique way."

The delegates elected Allan Walshe, Tasmanian Conference president, as president of the new union conference and its 16,133 members.

News Notes
Richard S. Osborn, North American Division vice president for education, was recently elected president of Pacific Union College in Angwin, California. Osborn replaces Malcolm Maxwell, who will retire at the close of the current school.

Breakthrough in Actau. Seven people have been baptized into the Adventist Church in Actau, Kazakstan, according to Valery Ivanov, communication director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Russia.

Actau, formerly Shevchenko, had no Adventist presence until October 2000. Ivanov acknowledges the work of Vladimir and Svetlana Pilipuk, who moved to Actau in December 1999 and began active missionary work. "We are very happy for the work that the Pilipuks are doing to bring God into the lives of the residents of this city," says Ivanov.