NEWSBREAK
Coptic Pope Publicly Insults Seventh-day Adventist Church
n a Egyptian television interview on January 7, Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt said that Christians and Muslims are united in Egypt, but that Seventh-day Adventists, along with others, are disturbing the unity in the country.
Emphasizing his love for Muslims, Shenouda also listed Jehovah's Witnesses and American Jews as unity disturbers.
Shenouda's comments followed a message from the president of Egypt, Hosny Mubarak, declaring Coptic Christmas, January 7, as a national holiday for Christians as well as Muslims.
"Pope Shenouda is known for making controversial statements," said Bert B. Beach, general secretary of the Council on Inter-church/faith Relations at the Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. "In view of the rather tense situation in the Middle East, one would expect Christian church leaders not to make irresponsible statements that can exacerbate Christian-Muslim relations. It is important to work for peaceful relations, both among Christians and across religious borders."
"Seventh-day Adventists in Egypt are regarded as peaceful and law-abiding citizens of that country," Beach continued. "The Adventist Church is always ready to dialogue with other Christian churches and work in harmony for the good of Egyptian society."
Adventist Church leaders in Egypt made an appeal to the president of the television station. Peter Zarka, president of the church in the region, says that they were "assured by the TV president that the [Adventist] Church will have some minutes on TV when it can introduce itself to the public of Egypt and, by this way, the TV [station] can compensate the Adventist Church for the insult."
In an interview with Adventist News Network, Beach explained that "Pope Shenouda has said that Adventists do not believe in the divinity of Christ and that they are Zionists. Both these statements are not only astonishing, but untrue. The divinity of Christ and the trinity are for Adventists long-standing fundamental beliefs. For Adventists, the state of Israel has no special prophetic significance, but is simply one of the scores of states recognized by the United Nations," he said.
According to Zarka, this would be the first time the church has been given the opportunity to present a message on Egyptian television. Christian churches are given airtime just two times a year--at Christmas and Easter, for the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Evangelical Church.
The Adventist Church in Egypt is not an immigrant church, Beach explained, but it is "an Egyptian church that has been organized in that country for more than a century."–Adventist News Network
Adventist in the Solomon Islands Dies In Arson Attack
On the morning of December 22, some 200 people doused buildings in the village of Baine, Solomon Islands, with fuel, setting them on fire. A Seventh-day Adventist died in the attack.
"It seems the purpose of the attack was to destroy the permanent buildings and not to hurt the villagers," says John Turner, treasurer for the church in the Western Solomon Islands.
Among the 20 buildings destroyed were seven Adventist homes: the district director, two church members, two teachers, and a shop and a service station owned by two Adventists. The same group also destroyed eight houses in the village of Mase the next day.
Bruce Roberts, president of the church's Trans-Pacific region, believes the attacks could be revenge for crimes committed eight months earlier by former members from the villages. "The arsonists call themselves the Christian Missionary Church," he says. "They seem to have created a religious mix of Christianity and tribal values."
Roberts is asking church members to pray for victims of the attacks. "They are isolated, they are devastated and they need our support," he says –Adventist News Network
News Notes
A 16-year-old student at Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado was detained by the local sheriff for questioning January 17 after a faculty member discovered explosive chemicals in the student's dorm room and called police. Students and faculty of the boarding academy were immediately evacuated for several hours while police confirmed whether the mixture of chemicals were explosive.
Odette Ferreira, North American Division director for Adventist Colleges Abroad (ACA), received the "Study Abroad Director of the Year" award from the Council on International Education (a non-SDA study abroad organization), on December 10, 2002. ACA is one of the smallest members of the council, but of the 600 member directors, Ferreira's presentation on "Cross Cultural Issues," "The Methodology of Teaching a Second Language," and "Reverse Culture Shock" resulted in her being recognized for outstanding leadership
Two Seventh-day Adventist families are among villagers who survived a cyclone in Anuta and Tikopia, Solomon Islands, Dec. 28. No fatalities were reported. "The families are okay, except for their houses and crops, which are totally destroyed," reports Hennie Murray, secretary for the church in the Eastern Solomon Islands. "The villagers are prepared for cyclones because the islands are in a cyclone belt," Murray says. "They usually bury their food, and they hide in the caves or under the overhanging rock on Tikopia."
A new heart surgery, known as the Dor Procedure, was performed successfully at Washington Adventist Hospital in a case believed to be the first of its kind in Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan region. This procedure provides an important treatment option for patients who suffer from heart failure, a progressive condition in which the heart's muscle becomes weakened after a heart attack.
Jim Scott (below), La Sierra University (LSU) alumnus and faculty emeritus from the 
School of Education, died on January 4, 2003. Dr. Scott has a distinguished career in Adventist education throughout California for more than 50 years. "Dr. Scott is one of those professors whom students always remember with warmth and appreciation. LSU and the denomination's system of education is the richer for his distinguished service," said Larry Geraty, LSU president. Scott is survived by his wife Dolores, son, James R. Scott and his wife, Lori, daughter Julie Leeper and her husband Jeff, sister Virginia Starr, and three grandchildren.
Raymond Cottrell (right), former associate editor of the Adventist Review, died January 12, 
2003. Cottrell served the church as a missionary, teacher, writer, and editor. In 1952, he became associate editor of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Bible Commentary. In addition to working with scores of contributors, Cottrell wrote 2,000 pages in the series as well as numerous biblical and theological articles in the SDA Bible Dictionary and SDA Encyclopedia. He also served for ten years as book editor of the Review and Herald Publishing Association. A founder and contributor of Adventist Today, Cottrell served as editor and held the title of editor emeritus until his death.
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