BREAKTHROUGH IN CAMBODIA
The "Breakthrough In Cambodia" in the April 10 REVIEW was heart-warming to my wife and me. In the late 20th Century I never dreamed we would have the opportunity to be pioneer workers, but the opportunity came just 11 years ago when in April, 1991 I was invited to pioneer the work by being the first denominational worker to be assigned to Cambodia after the Pol Pot regime was no longer a problem to be grappled with.

When I went to Phnom Penh the city was just being reborn into the modern world. There were no banks, no post offices, very damaged streets, almost no public transportation. Rusted-out locomotives and buses were common sights. There were few cars on the streets, and a few motorcycles. A large war-destroyed bridge over the river Tonle Sap could be seen from a long way off. Public transport in the city meant riding out front in a cyclo, with the cyclist sitting behind and looking over your head. Without much of any street lighting, a trip out at night was an adventure in trust and daring. The first several weeks were spent living in a far-from-modern hotel on the main street not far from the decrepit railway station. Food was mostly what could be purchased in the local market and heated or cooked on a "primus" stove in the hotel. Abundant French bread was a very welcome commodity available from street vendors.

Since the first order of business was to establish official presence in the country, both for ADRA and for the Adventist church, much time was spent in visiting and working with various government officials. My private transportation for several months was a used 90 cc Honda motorbike; a few weeks before we left in early 1992 we luxuried in a used sedan (with the steering wheel on the wrong side for Cambodia).

My wife came to join me about midway through the year-long term. An official presence having been established for ADRA, we moved to a suitable bungalow where we had living quarters, offices, AND a large room for public meetings. The new Adventist church presence began at once with weekly Sabbath School & church services, and an English Language School which my wife ran. Most of our student were from the nearby university, and practically 100% of them had horror tales to tell of parents, siblings, etc,. lost in the killing fields of Pol Pot.

Our very first Adventist was a young man, Sokhai, recently back from Thailand where he had learned the Truth in the language schools run by Adventist volunteers in the refugee camps. Our second Adventist was a young lady who operated her own small school in a village just south of the city. Souvanna Puth had become an Adventist through the influence of a sister who herself had been converted in France. Later we heard that Souvanna had been one of the Mission's first hired teachers when organized work was established a few months later. When our volunteer tour of duty came to an end in 1992, the Southeast Asia Union sent two families to replace us, one to take over full time oversight of ADRA, and another experienced missionary family to head the Adventist church organization.

You can imagine the rejoicing we have when we read of the wonderful work being done in Cambodia now!

Charles H. Tidwell
Collegedale, Tennesse

CHRISTIANS AND WAR
I would like to thank Dr. Rodriguez for addressing the issue of Christians and war.

The position he presented was clear. Unfortunately, it did not include a biblical explication of the subject. I expected to find an article that addresses the biblical accounts of wars and their relationship to the related Christian principles enunciated by Jesus.

Pastor Bob Mason
Ceres, California

I always read and admire Dr. Rodriguez's column in the Review, but I was wondering why he said that there is no such thing as a just war. It is true that war is evil, but there are times when to not go to war is not only foolish, but would be evil in and of itself. World War 2 is the textbook example of such wars. Whenever evil threatens to overtake humanity in such a fashion, it is just as evil to not fight it. As long as there are evil people who wage war against the innocent, the need for good people to resist such men will always be around. The only issue is who can call such people evil or good.

Geoff Marshall
Socorro, New Mexico

RE-IMAGINING THE PASTOR
As I read the article in the April issue of the NAD Review entitled "In Times Like These. . . A Conversation with the President. . . Re-imagining the Pastor," I found myself saying Amen and amen! to Elder Paulsen's remarks concerning the role and responsibilities of the pastor in the Adventist Church today. If every Adventist pastor in the world would take these things to heart, then maybe there wouldn't be so many of these pastors who act like jerks and impudent brats whenever members of their congregations disagree with them on whatever issues come their way. Instead of preaching pious, sanctimonious sermons in order to justify their position, which amount to only a penny short of a hill of squat, maybe these pastors should take the unique step of actually sitting down with those who differ with them and engaging in healthy, spiritually inspired dialogue in order to come up with a resolution which will bring a level of satisfaction, if not altogether perfect, which still reflects the will of God to be carried out among the people involved. May God bless every pastor who recognizes his deep need of Christ at all times in order to be a humble servant of God and a leader of souls to their God-given duties to fulfill God's will for their lives.

Bill Whicker

Thanks for allowing me to respond to President Paulsen's discussion with associate editor Bill Knott 04/03/03. For others I know, this is a refreshing article for which we are very grateful. I'm convinced that the greatest challenge facing most pastors and leaders in these parts of the vinyard where the work is growing lies in striking a balance for sheparding to fold and in fold, i.e. winning souls and nurturung the saints. Some 20 so years ago we were taught to be good at the first and excell iin the second. Ministry then was a joy because you won souls and had the joy of training them and watch them grow. With this clear concept we were continually learning to traiin, equip, and lead the laity in soulwinning.

Today the emphasis seems to be on winning the souls and leaving the rest to the local church. However, with little more than leadership ability, local leaders cannot do the nurturing, and pastors are too busy hunting souls, to train them. If ministers do not have the first gift in abundance there seems to be little interest int he many other gifts they may possess. It is URGENT for the wellbeing of all and the good health of the church that the balance be re-established. For me it is clear that a person's saving relationship with Christ is affirmed by Pastoral care.

AM I MISSING SOMETHING?
Your April 2003 editorial asks the assumedly rhetorical question, "Am I Missing Something?" I would respond with an unequivocal "YES!"

The distinct disadvantage of Adventists "general silence" and "wait and see" approach to the president's faith-based initiative, or any other public policy, is that our views are not represented when programs are being formulated, statutes drafted, and decisions made.

Your reluctance in allowing SDA churches to participate in the president's faith-based initiatives program, whatever the reasons may be, ignores the fact that our schools have, for years, received federal dollars. Our health institutions similarly accept federal payment for services rendered to Medicare and Medicaid patients; also federal dollars. The faith-based initiatives, a program based on local churches developing programs to help the poor and disenfranchised populations, will likewise be sponsored by use of our federal tax dollars. Who better is able to know of families in need and to create Christian concern and responses to those needs than our parishes? Who better to put federal dollars to work in a conscientious and constructive way than a church that has been given such valued instruction as contained in Welfare Ministry, Counsels on Health, Counsels to Parents and Teachers, and other such publications?

But, the larger issue I see, only tangentially touched upon in your editorial, is the lack of Christian involvement in national, state and local governmental affairs. Where, in this and similar political arenas, are the Daniels who are capable of holding employment as chief policy advisor under three adversarial administrations; the Josephs who are empowered to serve as second-in-command to the nation's supreme ruler, the Esthers who dream to occupy the post of first-lady and intervener on behalf of under-represented peoples, or the Nehemiahs who are content with seemingly menial tasks in government (cup-bearer) yet, because of their contacts with heads of government, are able to accomplish mighty things on behalf of God's work?

That is what our church, at this most urgent time in earth's history, is missing!

Jane Sabes PhD
Political Science Professor
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, Michigan

Roy Adams writes in his article about faith based initiatives: "Money has an uncanny power to blind the conscience, especially when we sense the possibility of getting our own hands on it. And it often takes a heavy dose of principle to see beyond its mesmerizing appeal. Any church has the right to propagate its teachings; but it shouldn't be with my tax dollars. What do you think? Am I missing something?"

Yes, Roy perhaps you are. We should consider ADRA and our church that receives government money. When we get the log out of our eye maybe we can see more clearly!

Chaplain Pat Travis
Oviedo, Florida

Roy Adams (Am I missing something?) is missing something and it is something much more sinister than the prospect of his tax dollars indirectly boosting the evangelistic outreach of the fictitious First Church of Satan.

Let's face it, indirect funding of undesirable entities is something few of us have any control over.

Several years ago, while I was a Theology major at Caribbean Union College one of our Theology professors shocked our class when he claimed that Seventh-day Adventists were among the biggest contributors to the development of nightclubs in the Caribbean.

The statement was meant for shock value, but his argument went along rather elementary, but effective, lines. Given the vast amount of money the control had placed under the control of local banks, the banks were better able to make loans to institutions that Seventh-day Adventists would find objectionable. I would never recommend withdrawing the church's bank deposits to avoid such indirect financing. Further, even though it sometimes appears that the "church-state separation principle" is the eleventh commandment, the on going debate solely revolves around the question whether this principle is fundamental to the US constitution. Last I heard the US Constitution is not a divine document.

On the related question of the Establishment clause, if a grant of $100,000 to run a homeless shelter holds within the possibility of violating that sacrosanct clause, we should consider the effect of tax exemptions on millions of dollars donated to churches every year.

So, what is Roy Adams missing? He is missing the same thing that most Christians are missing.

The Preamble to the US Constitution, which the President is sworn to uphold and defend, says that the Constitution was established to, among other things, "promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." The church, which is the focus of the faith-based initiatives, has a commission to further the causes of the government of Heaven, not the government of the United States.

The government is concerned with our "threescore and ten." The church is concerned with eternity, and our efforts to assist our fellowman are the natural outpouring of the compassion Jesus Christ places in our hearts. These acts of mercy are not our raison d'etre.

If we understand that the government only funds that which it supports, it becomes easy to note that the President's faith-based initiative does two things that should trouble us. One, it allows the government to state what the effective mission of the church is. Two, it further states that from the perspective of the government, the effective mission of the church is only an extension of the mandate of the government.

This is what Roy Adams is missing and what he is missing is very scary. Based on the government's assessment, the church is no longer an arm of the kingdom of heaven but a "sanctified" arm of the national government.

When the church accomplishes the work it has been commissioned to do, national governments, as we know them, will cease to exist. It is not enough to decline funding from the Office of Faith Based Initiatives. That is a good start. But the church needs to reassess the out workings of its mission, for if your enemy begins to believe your activities pose no threat to his existence he is probably right.

Darius A. Lecointe, J.D., Ph.D.
Centerville, Ohio

RWANDA PASTOR
The March 20 news item of the Rwanda Pastor Found Guilty by U. N. Tribunal I feel should not be passed over lightly.

A large group of Missionaries and Pastors who have known and worked with Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana over the years believe in his innocence. We have followed the trial of Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son Dr. Gérard Ntakirutimana. One of us, Pastor Merle Mills, testified in the trial. We are all dismayed by the decision of the ICTR. The Tribunal completely disregarded the testimonies of 24 defense witnesses, nearly all devout Adventists who were present in Rwanda with Pastor Elisaphane and his son Dr. Gérard during the tragic months of April, May, and June 1994.

We do not believe Pastor Ntakirutimana, or Dr. Gérard Ntakirutimana are guilty. Almost all Missionaries we have talked to who knew Pastor Ntakirutimana, or Dr. Gérard Ntakirutimana, do not believes they are guilty. We pray the appellate Court will see the truth. If not, we have faith that the truth will be known and set us free.

Personally I believe if I handed to any Review reader sample copies of five of approximately sixty-five letters personally received from Pastor Elisaphane and which I have in my files, that reader would come to the same conclusion so many of us have and that there is no possibility he could have been guilty as the Review has reported.

Barry Burton
Littleton, Colorado

APRECIATION
Thanks for the appreciation. At times I print the stories you send to me and hang them on the notice board of my local Adventist church in Mbarara Uganda, East Africa Division. Am a journalist by profession. I work with The Monitor newspaper.

Felix Basiime