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Adventist Church Building in Vietnam Destroyed

Seventh-day Adventist Church building in Da Nang, Vietnam, was torn down July 17 by government officials who want to build a school on the site. Adventist Church leaders, both in Vietnam and at the Church's headquarters in the United States, are protesting what they call the "unfair destruction" of church property.

In a letter sent to top national and local leaders, Tran Cong Tan, president of the Adventist Church in Vietnam, asked that "construction of the school on the land of our church building be stopped immediately.

"This is an opportunity for the Vietnamese government to demonstrate its policy on religious freedom and to show that "places of worship are always protected," said Tan in his letter dated July 23.

The church was built by Adventist Church members in 1939. In 1975, the Communist government closed 38 of the 45 Adventist Church buildings in Vietnam. The church in Da Nang was one of seven that the government allowed to continue as officially recognized Adventist churches. But in 1982, authorities stopped the worship services at the DaNang church and sealed the building. Despite ongoing efforts of local church leaders to recover the building, it has remained under government control for the past 19 years. After 1982, the building was rented out as a nightclub, but following protests, the premises were leased to a kindergarten.

John Graz, General conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director, says the destruction of church property is a serious matter. He expressed the concern of the world church in a letter to the Vietnamese ambassador to the United States, and he says the Adventist Church will also take the matter up with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Vietnam's constitution guarantees religious freedom, the government continues to restrict religious activity, according to human rights reports.

Mexico Celebrates Two Youth Congresses
Under the motto "Jesus Makes the Difference" more than 2,000 Adventist youth and leaders from eight conferences and missions of the North Mexican Union participated in a youth congress in Tepetongo Recreational Park, three hours from Mexico City, July 11-15.

Messages and seminars were presented by guest speakers including as Leo Ranzolin, a vice president of the General Conference; Baraka Muganda, youth director of the General Conference; Alfredo Garcia-Marenko, an associate youth director of the General conference; and Bernardo Rodriguez, Inter-American Division youth director. 

The official music group of the congress, Gethsemani, presented music and prepared the official CD comprised of praise music from the congress.

Youth delegates participated in several witnessing projects in a nearby city and distributed 28,000 missionary tracts.  They also spoke with hundreds interested in receiving Bible studies or additional literature.

The South Mexican Union Youth Congress III also took place in April this year with more than 5,000 delegates from 10 conferences and missions under the leadership of Heber Garcia Vasquez, the union youth director.

The congress was held in the Polyforum Arena, a modern convention center in the Tuxtla Gutierrez. At the opening ceremony, Chiapas governor Pablo Salazar commended the youth and leaders for their positive influence.

The Inter-American division and the General Conference recently voted to reorganize the South Mexican Union into two entities. This congress was the last youth congress of the mother union which contains over 400,000 members.

News Notes

Nellie Vandeman (right), 84, wife of the late evangelist George Vandeman, passed away peacefully on July 25 Camarillo, California.

Married in 1938, Mrs. Vandeman traveled extensively with her husband, evangelizing successfully and holding Revelation Seminars around the world.  Mrs. Vandeman often accompanied her husband to many strategic events that marked the expansion of the It Is Written telecast. Mrs. Vandeman was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease since 1996. She is survived by four children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

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