WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES
Adventist Missionary Beheaded
he Review has just learned that an Australian expatriate missionary was brutally murdered and decapitated in a surprise attack in the Solomon Islands on Sunday, May 18.
Thousands attended a memorial service for him on May 20, at the Kukum Seventh-day Adventist Church in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Lance Gersbach, 62, of Newcastle, New South Wales, had been serving as business manager for the 80-bed Atoifi Adventist Hospital in Malaita Island. He and two other men were clearing a drainage ditch at the site where the hospital plans to build a new store to serve the community. The two others went home at noon, but Gersbach worked on. He was attacked and apparently beheaded with a machete or large bush knife. According to news reports, local police authorities say there were no witnesses.
It is believed that the murder is connected with an ongoing land dispute between the hospital and a local landowner. Teddy Kingsley, Malaita Mission treasurer, told the Herald that a man who claimed to be a local landowner had been on the scene before the two workers left.
Gersbach had moved to the area in February with his wife Jean and two daughters. He was serving a one-year term at the hospital. Before coming to Malaita, Gersbach spent three years as a missionary at Sopas Adventist Hospital in Papua New Guinea.
In cooperation with the Australian High Commission in the Solomons, the church has chartered a plane to bring Lance's wife, Jean, and their two daughters to Honiara, the capital and is sending a counselor to Honiara.
"The church is in a state of shock. To family, colleagues and staff at Atoifi Hospital, we pledge ourselves at this time to give all that is needed. They are in our prayers," said Barry Oliver, secretary for the South Pacific Division.
"Lance loved his family," says Ray Southon, Gersbach's brother-in-law. "He just loved people. He was community-minded, and we will remember his commitment to serving those who were not as fortunate as he was."
Alfred Sasako, a member of parliament for East Kwaio on Malaita, described the death of Gersbach as an "evil killing" and an "attack on the very heart of the people of East Kwaio." "I wish to convey our sympathies and condolences to Lance's wife and children," said Sasako. "Their loss is our loss; their pain, our pain." --Adventist Review and Adventist News Network
Church Frauds Trouble Leaders
BY ANSEL OLIVER, Adventist News Network editorial assistant
ontinuing cases of church theft or embezzlement are prompting Adventist leaders in North America to give greater attention to the way they handle local church audits.
A church in the western United States recently involved in such a case is calculating its losses, estimated to range between $170,000 and $200,000. The church treasurer is facing prosecution, according to a local conference official familiar with the situation.
While it's a small percentage of the nearly $1 billion congregations collect in North America each year--at a rate of approximately $18 million each week--the losses are still troubling to church leaders.
Most church thefts are reported to civil authorities. However, some are not. Rick Russell, treasurer for Carolina Conference, says a local church sometimes may try to handle theft without reporting to civil authorities.
"Often times the person is very well respected," says Russell. "Sometimes the members go into denial that it's happened to them and may not want to report it. They might try to handle it another way."
Karnik Doukmetzian, a vice president of Adventist Risk Management Inc., the church's insurance unit, says a church handling theft without reporting to law enforcement authorities doesn't send the message that church theft will not be tolerated. He says there is no consistent policy of mandatory reporting to the authorities. He believes it's a significant enough issue that cases should be automatically reported. "It's not enough to make arrangements to pay it back and say 'I'm sorry,'" he says.
"Doukmetzian may have a point," says Philip Palmer, South Central Conference treasurer. Palmer also points out that just because a police report is filed doesn't mean the person is being charged.
However, Palmer says it's a delicate matter, and whether or not to go to authorities is a tough decision for churches. Palmer says another issue is whether or not a prosecuted church member will stay in the church.
Lawrance Martin, Allegheny East Conference treasurer, agrees, saying that kind of policy might send the wrong message. "It might mean that we are more interested in getting the money back than saving the person," he says. "But the person needs to realize that it's a criminal act."
He says it is the church board and pastor's job to notify the conference, which should then notify authorities.
Two full-time auditors serve the central California Conference, and each church and school there is audited annually. "We are not taking this responsibility lightly," says Nelson Tabingo, Central California Conference treasurer.
According to Tabingo, constant delays in church remittances to the local conference could be a signal that something might be wrong. Tabingo is also leery of the excuse of a treasurer's computer crashing constantly. "When they say, 'All the information is lost,' I am suspicious."
Arthur Blinci, a vice president of ARM, says some local conferences are more compliant with division working policy than others. He cites one conference that regularly presents and distributes a list with the date when each church was last audited. "To me that sends a big statement," says Blinci. "It also reaffirms the work of the church treasurer."
Blinci also tells of a head elder of a church in a different conference who said his church had not been audited in the last five years. "Conference presidents and committees are going to have to get to the point where they insist on compliance with working policy," says Blinci. Most of the lost money is recovered through insurance after a $2,500 deductible. Premiums for local church coverage are paid with church expense.
"The strange ones we latch onto pretty quickly," says Victor Elliott, claims counsel for ARM. Large amounts of money draw attention. What hurts, he says, is long-term lifting of small amounts. This usually occurs because of a breakdown in auditing policy. "These are harder to detect," he says.
The Adventist Church in North America is addressing the issue by encouraging local audits, creating an awareness of the problem, and educating the local church and school treasurers and accountants, according to Juan Prestol, North American Division treasurer. He refers treasurers to a video with a guidebook titled, "Trustees of the Lord's Finances," (available through AdventSource, www.adventsource.org) produced by the Adventist Church in North America. It covers two hours and 45 minutes of instruction about internal control.
Church officials advise that the local conference treasurer or auditor should be contacted if a concern arises about the use of church money. In the United States, the importance of internal audits--helping organizations meet their goals by recognizing and implementing proper procedures--is being recognized more and more in the wake of scandals such as those of Enron, a private company. --Adventist News Network
General Conference President Visits
Prime Minister of Norway
On May 13, Jan Paulsen, General Conference president, met with Kjell Magne Bondevik, Norwegian prime minister in Paulsen's home country of Norway. The visit was coordinated by the Norwegian ambassador to the United States. Paulsen spoke to the prime minister of the international work of the church with special emphasis given to the areas of health and education. Terje Bjerka, president of East Norway Conference, accompanied Paulsen during the visit.--Adventist News Review
Maranatha Volunteers International to Build 1000 Churches in 1000 Days
On May 5, the board of directors for Maranatha Volunteers International voted to construct 1,000 churches in 1,000 business days. The initiative will begin in January 2004 and continue through the end of 2007.
The program is an organized plan to construct 1,000 urgently needed houses of worship in places where the Seventh-day Adventist church is growing rapidly. Currently, the Adventist Church is expanding by one million new members each year, many with no place to worship.
Church needs in South America, Inter-America, Africa, and India are tentatively the initial focus. Approximately 75 percent of the projects are slated for areas within the "10/40 window," a geographical designation of people groups that have little Christian influence.
Constructing 1,000 new churches will provide seating capacity for over 300,000 people. The new buildings will help to permanently establish a Christian influence in a community, reduce member loss, and attract diverse demographic groups. In many areas where the Adventist Church is growing rapidly, people now congregate in sheds, under makeshift patios, and under trees.
Estimated total cost for the project is $18 million. At an average of $60 per seat, the project will provide churches that are plain, neat, and substantial at a very reasonable cost.
Maranatha estimates that more than 10,000 volunteers will participate in this project, providing valuable cost savings while allowing people to grow through the volunteer experience.
"At the rate the Adventist Church is growing, five new churches are needed every day," said Maranatha president Don Noble. "Through the construction of 1,000 new churches in 1,000 business days, Maranatha attempts to address the urgent need for churches in several areas of major growth."
News Notes
Albert Gulfan, president of the Central Philippine Union Conference, was elected president of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division at the Spring Meeting held in April 2003 at the General Conference headquarters. He replaces Violeto Bocala, who is retiring.
Jairyong Lee, ministerial association secretary, stewardship director, and global mission coordinator for the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, was elected president of the same division at the Spring meeting in April 2003. He replaces Pyung-Duk Chun, who is retiring.
Timothy L. Poirier, associate director for the Ellen G. White Estate, was recently elected to the position of vice-director of the Ellen G. White Estate. He fills a position vacated by James Nix, who is now director.
R. Timothy McDonald, executive director for information technology for Oakwood College, Huntsville, Alabama, was appointed vice chancellor of the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, Nairobi, Kenya. He replaces Mutuku J. Mutinga, who is now serving as field secretary for the Eastern Africa Division.
Don Upson, controller of the Adventist World Radio (AWR), has been recently voted vice president for finance for AWR. He replaces Dale Beaulieu, who is retiring.
On May 6, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) began distribution of emergency hygiene kits to the people in the city of Tel Afar in northern Iraq. While ADRA is providing immediate aid through relief assistance, ADRA is assessing long-term development projects in other areas such as primary health, basic education, and food security.
Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who received the United States Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest American award for military honor, was one of four conscientious objectors featured in a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation on May 15, International Conscientious Objectors' Day. Doss, the only non-combatant ever to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was presented the award by American President Harry S. Truman on Oct. 12, 1945, for saving the lives of 75 of his fellow men--carrying them one by one to safety while suffering wounds himself. Private Doss served as an army medic and, as a devout Adventist, refused to carry weapons or work on Saturday, the day of worship for Adventists, in accordance with his beliefs. --Adventist News Network
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