WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

More Than 5,000 Baptized in Quiet Hour Evangelistic Campaign
Phillippines initiative brings clergy and laity together

BY CHRISTY K. ROBINSON, The Quiet Hour Worldwide Ministries, Director of Public Relations and Marketing

Evangelist Bill Tucker speaks to thousands of people on the final Sabbath.

ed by evangelists Bill Tucker and James Zachary of The Quiet Hour television and radio ministry, teams of pastors, lay evangelists, and support staff brought more than 5,000 new Christians up from the waters of baptism, in a two-week series of Bible studies and meetings during the southern Philippines in March. About 1,800 people attended the nightly meetings in Cagayan de Oro.

"The Holy Spirit continues to do a mighty work that has multiplied exponentially in souls saved for His kingdom," says Tucker, president and speaker for The Quiet Hour. "God demonstrated His power through the dedicated lay workers. I am so impressed with their commitment for a finished work."

Pastor Zachary, evangelism director for The Quiet Hour, trained nine teams of volunteers in evangelistic methods, and oriented them to the use of PowerPoint presentations that reflected , the country's culture.

On the day the evangelistic teams arrived in the Philippines, a bomb exploded in an airport about a hundred miles away, killing a Baptist missionary and wounding several people. The Quiet Hour's staff back home prayed for the safety and success of its teams every day of the Philippine mission. Tucker reported that there were armed guards at the meetings, and that there was a bomb threat was made on the day of the final appeal and mass baptism, but no violence was directed at Quiet Hour meetings or personnel.

Many of the pastors who teamed with The Quiet Hour were Zachary's students while he was a Bible teacher and pastor for nine years at Mountain View College in the Philippines. He says, "The thing that really touched my heart was that there were scores of lay members going door to door with Bible studies and forming small groups. Before the first sermon was preached, there were 2,400 people were ready for baptism! They came by busloads and truckloads, packed in shoulder to shoulder, to attend the evangelistic meetings."

Many of the newly-baptized members express their thanks by holding up their Bibles.

Every newly baptized Christian received a Bible supplied by The Quiet Hour's supporters, the Carolina Conference, and donors who wanted to help lay a strong foundation for the new converts. With a show of thanks, the new Christians, with hair still wet, raised their precious new Bibles high in the air while photos were taken.

After hearing the gospel preached in their remote village, a tribal chief and 35 villagers, including members of the chief's family, gave up their old lifestyle and dedicated themselves to Jesus Christ.

A refugee family now living in a tent, who narrowly escaped massacre by religious extremists were among the thousands who responded to Tucker's appeals to give their lives to Jesus. "Every day it was a blessing to meet with people in the homes and pray with them and answer their questions," says Tucker.

An American attorney, in Cagayan de Oro on business during the meetings, also requested baptism as a result of studies with The Quiet Hour team. He vowed to evangelize his family upon return to the United States. "My faith is unshakable," he affirmed.

During the same March 2003 time frame, The Quiet Hour's youth ministries director, Pastor Joedy Melashenko, took a team of youth, faculty, and students from Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, and other volunteers, on a mission to the Central American country of Belize. They participated in evangelistic meetings netting at least 30 baptisms, did community service, assisted in a building project, presented a Vacation Bible School and health education, and performed dental hygiene and other procedures.

For more information on these and other evangelistic initiatives, visit http://www.thequiethour.org/.

Adventists in North America Oppose
Medical Marijuana Use
True to their convictions about a healthy lifestyle absent of alcohol, tobacco and drug use, Seventh-day Adventists were among many who opposed the state Senate bill signed by Maryland governor Robert Ehrlich that reduces the penalty of using marijuana for medical purposes.

Though the bill does not legalize marijuana use, it does allow for medical use to be an "affirmative defense" to criminal marijuana charges. The penalty is reduced if defendants can prove they are using it for medicinal purposes.

No scientific proof exists that using marijuana for medical purposes is safe, however, say opponents. Marijuana smoke has been proven to contain harmful chemicals that adversely affect all body systems, from the brain and the immune system, to the lungs and the reproductive system.

"Smoking is not an effective means for administering medicinal doses," says Dr. DeWitt Williams, director of health ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. "If medicinal marijuana usage is going to be approved, it will definitely open the door for people who want to use it recreationally. And you don't want to do that because then it will be abused."                             --Adventist News Network

International Religious Liberty Association
Gains Recognition with United Nations
In a historic development, the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) recently gained special consultative status with the United Nations.

"The granting of this status by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) opens the way for the IRLA to even further advance in the cause of religious freedom," says Dr. Denton Lotz, IRLA president and general secretary for the Baptist World Alliance.

UN recognition now means that the IRLA is able to make written and oral statements at UN events, participate fully in UN sponsored conferences, and interface with national representatives from the permanent missions in both New York and Geneva.

"This is a highly significant step in the progress of the Association," said Dr. John Graz, IRLA secretary-general. "From our early beginnings in 1893, the IRLA has consistently worked to advance religious freedom as a fundamental human right and now we are able to make greater contributions on the international scene. This status does not commit us to any ideological position of the UN, but simply permits access to a wider audience as we seek to raise the profile of religious liberty in an increasingly hostile world."

The voted action of the UN in granting this consultative status was made by the full ECOSOC committee meeting in session in New York on the recommendation of its non-governmental organization. The IRLA now joins its sister organization, the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty based in Berne, Switzerland, in receiving this international recognition.

News Notes

Visitors to Yosemite National Park any Sabbath this summer can join fellow members of the church from around the world for Sabbath School and worship services sponsored by the Central California Conference. Meetings will be held in one of the grandest cathedrals in the world-Yosemite Valley. The location is Lower River Amphitheater, by footbridge across from Housekeeping Camp, or by requesting to use the special stop by shuttle bus. Private cars may drive into the area across the river from Camp Curry.

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