N  E  W  S  B  R  E  A  K

Adventist Pilot Dies in PNG Crash

BY BRENTON STACEY, news correspondent for the South Pacific Division Record

es Anderson, 58, director of Adventist Aviation Services and an Adventist Review author, died in a plane crash in the eastern highlands of Papua New Guina on May 3.

Anderson had been flying the new Fletcher 54 P2-SDG solo from Karamui on a routine freight flight. The plane crashed 30 kilometres south of Goroka at 3.25 pm. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

The Civil Aviation Authority reported the plane missing that evening. A team in a helicopter and a team from Adventist Aviation Services searched the area until dark. Teams in two helicopters and two planes searched again the next morning.

"We found the wreckage within half an hour of the first helicopter leaving," reports Glynn Lock, the chief pilot for the South Pacific Division (SPD).

Lock had been visiting Goroka for an annual assessment of Adventist Aviation Services. He describes the news of Anderson's death as "shattering."

Peter Brewin, associate secretary of SPD, calls Anderson "a real man of God" who showed "absolute commitment to furthering the mission of the church through aviation."

An expatriate from the United States, Anderson had planned to conduct a baptism on May 4. "Les earned the respect of those living in the Eastern Highlands," reports Denis Tame, associate secretary for the Papua New Guinea Union Mission. "He's a missionary in the truest sense of the word."

Bill Norton, a pilot from the U. S. whom Anderson had been training as his successor, is the new director of Adventist Aviation Services. Brian Scarbrough, also from the United States, and Jock Mackay, a volunteer from Townsville, Queensland, continue to work as pilots.

Anderson has been buried in the cemetery on the campus of Kabiufa Adventist Secondary School. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lane, and their children, Loy and Glen. The couple were to return permanently to the U. S. on June 10.

Anderson has been working as a mission pilot for more than 25 years, serving first in Ethiopia (where he had his personal plane "nationalized" by the revolutionary government after it deposed former emperor Haile Selassie in 1974), then in northern Canada. He had been living with his wife, Mary Lane, in Ukiah, California, before accepting a call to Papua New Guinea.

Anderson described the work of mission pilots in his article "They're Circling for Me!" which appeared on the cover of the October 14, 1999, issue of the Adventist Review. Along with Trevor Robinson, former Adventist Aviation Services director, Anderson piloted the first plane to land at the village of Sogo, near Karamui. "We could see more and more people appearing along the strip," he told Lee Dunstan of the South Pacific Division Record in 1998. "They mobbed the plane after we had landed and, whooping with joy, carried us shoulder-high around it. We told them how we hoped to teach them about God. We could sense their need."

Seventh-day Adventist pilots provide a "concrete, practical application of the gospel," wrote Dunstan in a feature published on October 17, 1998. "They take it to all points of the compass, an impossible task without the planes."

Anderson, the then engineer who replaced Trevor Robinson as director and chief pilot of Adventist Aviation Services in July 1999, spoke of the "overwhelming" need for aviation in Papua New Guinea. "The benefit to the church in this country is inestimable."

One Million Dollars Voted for New Churches
At its April meeting, the Global Mission Operations Committee (GMOC) approved more than one million dollars to help fund 732 new church projects. More specifically, these funds will ensure the establishment of new Seventh-day Adventist congregations around the world. Meeting at the Adventist Church's headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the GMOC considered projects from 16 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

"Each project plan comes directly from leaders in the local area," says Mike Ryan, director of Global Mission. "They're at the grass roots, and know best how to share the good news about Jesus in an appropriate, culturally-sensitive way in their part of the world. The vast majority of these projects are to fund Global Mission pioneers--lay church members who volunteer to move to a new area within their own culture and start a new congregation. They are having tremendous success around the world."

The total cost for the 732 projects is $2.5 million--with the difference in funds being met by local church organizations. "It's important for local organizations to contribute toward projects in their region," says Daisy Orion, planning director for Global Mission. "It encourages a feeling of ownership and participation, rather than being fully funded by Global Mission at the world headquarters. Obviously in some regions the local church organizations can contribute more than in other regions."

Eleven projects for Mongolia were funded. "This is exciting," said Ben Maxson, stewardship director for the world church and a member of GMOC. "Ten years ago we had no churches in Mongolia, and it's wonderful to see the growth in this country."--Adventist News Network

Book Opens Classic Jesus Biography to New Readers
A contemporary adaptation of the book The Desire of Ages that was released by Pacific Press in March aims to make Ellen White's biography of Jesus more accessible to a new generation of readers. Author Jerry D. Thomas says his adaptation, Messiah, was written for students, young adults, new Adventist believers, or anyone who finds the language of the original difficult to understand.

"As a teacher, for years I struggled to help students grasp the concepts and images of God's love as shown in The Desire of Ages," says Thomas. "I became convinced that a contemporary adaptation could preserve the meaning of her words while simplifying and updating the language."

Throughout the two-year project, Thomas worked closely with the White Estate at the Adventist world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Scholars from the White Estate, which has preserved and promoted Ellen White's writings since her death in 1915, went over the manuscript page by page to ensure that White's message was not blurred. "Messiah is certainly not intended to be a replacement for The Desire of Ages," adds Thomas. "I hope it leads more people to read more of Ellen White's beautiful book on the life of Jesus."

Thomas says reaction to Messiah has so far been positive. "Some people who were given The Desire of Ages as a young person or new believer have felt guilty for not being able to finish reading the original right through, or not understanding it properly," says Thomas. "Since the release of Messiah, I've had a number of people tell me, 'I feel great for finally being able to read it!'"

"I've always wanted to do something that matters for the church, something that makes a difference," explains Thomas. "And as a writer of children's books, I've enjoyed helping children learn about Jesus and gain a love of reading." But Messiah is different, he says. "Making The Desire of Ages more accessible to today's readers has the potential to affect an entire generation, influencing how they feel about Ellen White and her writings, and more importantly, how they feel about Jesus."

Many church leaders have welcomed this adaptation. Noelene Johnsson, children's ministries director for the church in North America, says there has long been a need for a popular "translation" of The Desire of Ages. Don Hevener, a vice president for the Adventist Church in North America, praises the "friendly style," accuracy in adaptation, and clear language of the book.

Thomas, a book editor at Pacific Press for the past 10 years, is author of more than 20 children's books, including the Shoebox Kids Bible Stories series and Detective Zack. Before joining Pacific Press, Thomas served as a pastor and high school religion teacher.

The Desire of Ages, first published in 1898, is one of White's best known books and has been translated into more than 60 languages.

For more information about Messiah, go to www.adventistbookcenter.com.--Adventist News Network

ADRA-Sponsored Community Service Impacts Tennessee
More than 550 students at Southern Adventist University participated in a day of community service on April 18 in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee. As principal sponsor for the eighth annual event, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), inspired the day's theme, "The Gospel in Work Boots."

During the breakfast kick-off event, Michelle Oetman, public relations manager for ADRA International, encouraged students to use their education to meet the needs of others, to follow Christ's model of service, and give the gift of service to the Chattanooga and Collegedale communities and the world. In her challenge, she said, "I want you to know how desperately the world needs you. You have within you the skills, passion, education, and talent to change the world for someone. And you have the pattern of Christ to show you how. Today, go be His hands and His feet here at school and in the community, and tomorrow go be His hands and feet to the world."

Working with 44 agencies such as the American Heart Association and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, the SAU students tutored students, did spring cleaning, landscaped, and took nursing home residents on an outing to the park.
Community response can be measured in part by the response of public media. All three major network channels in Chattanooga covered SAU's Community Service Day, with Channel 9 featuring it on the "Good News" section at noon and again on the evening news. In addition, the Chattanooga Times Free Press plans to publish a story.

More Girls to Study at Adventist Academy in Egypt
More young Seventh-day Adventist Egyptian girls are now given the opportunity to continue their secondary education at Nile Union Academy (NUA), Cairo, due to a significant financial contribution made by a donor from the United States who grew up in Egypt in a family of six children.

Widowed church member Mrs Laurice Kafrouni Durrant says that she established this endowment fund so that parents whose daughters are eager to study but who are financially challenged, may be able to send them to Nile Union Academy. "In my beloved country of Egypt, the parents are sending their boys to study and not the girls," she said. "I am grateful to my parents because they sacrificed a lot for the girls in our family which enabled us to study."

Pastor Peter Zarka, president of the Adventist Church in Egypt, says this generous fund will not only serve the girls and their immediate families, but also the Upper Egyptian churches as they benefit from the girls' education. "Most of the girls, after finishing secondary school, will go back to their villages and cities and help the local churches by giving Bible Studies, teaching in the children's departments and different women's activities," he adds. "The future of the church is partly in the hands of the mothers who teach the children of the families."

More Religious News
Adventist News Network
Religion News Service
Religion Today