Those baptized attended the uplink site of the "Hope for Our Troubled World" meetings conducted by Lonnie Melashenko, VOP speaker/director. Others attended meetings at 25 locations across the city conducted by students and faculty from Walla Walla College and La Sierra University, as well as pastors and lay members from North America, says Eldyn Karr, VOP public relations director.

Tens of thousands of baptisms are anticipated across Africa. where an estimated one million persons viewed the end-time messages at 2,000 downlink sites in two dozen countries. Translators provided 18 languages for the Adventist Television Network satellite event. Reception reports have also come from the United Kingdom, southern Europe, India, and other areas, Karr says.

Discover Bible Guides in several languages will play a large role in grounding new members in Bible doctrines. About 2,250 persons attending at the host site in Lusaka received diplomas during the series. Thousands more in several countries will study the course in coming weeks. Languages include Bemba and Tonga for Zambia, Luganda for Uganda, Tswana for Botswana, and Kiswahili for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Congo.

Update on California Wild Fires
Officials at Loma Linda University Adventist Health Science Center report that 333 employees were evacuated from their homes during the recent wildfires in southern California, and six persons were burned out. LLUAHSC also gave direct assistance to 20 families that were affected by the blaze.

Physicians and other allied health specialists assisted the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency at their evacuation center set up at the San Bernardino International airport.

Update on Iraqi
Seventh-day Adventist students in Iraq can now take their school exams on days other than the Sabbath, says Mitchell Tyner, an associate general counsel of the General Conference (GC).

Tyner, who recently visited the country as an envoy of the GC, also reports that an Adventist congregation has restarted worship services in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. And in the city of Duhook, local Adventists have purchased property for a future church.

AUC Accreditation Remains Intact
Accreditation for Atlantic Union College (AUC) in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, will remain intact according to a recommendation of the commission on Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., (NEASC). However, the college will need to respond to several areas of concern over the next year in order to receive continued accreditation.

Concerns cited by the commission include finance, board of trustees responsibilities, and strategic planning for AUC's future.

In March 2004 representatives from AUC will submit a report in response to these areas of concern. A NEASC team will make a site visit to the school in September 2004 to review the status of these items of concern. In November 2004 representatives from AUC will appear before the commission to respond to their concerns and learn the status of continued accreditation for the New England college.

The Adventist Review will print more on this breaking story in the December NAD issue.

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