s 11 young people were being baptized in the St. Vincent Gulf, they noticed an additional guest observing the December 26 ceremony.

"At first we thought it was a shark, but soon it became obvious that a dolphin joined us. [And] no, we didn't arrange for that," one of the participants commented. "It was a pretty nice bonus."

A baptism at the Polish Seventh-day Adventist Congress was a first for such a gathering in Adelaide, December 25-28. Holding these periodic events dates back to 1972, explained Dariusz Kuberek, the congress chairman and chief organizer.

"This was our fifteenth such event, which we have been holding every two or three years or so. It's a joyful and spiritual occasion to meet as an ethnic European community living in diaspora. This year we added a baptism service to our gathering," he said.

In a special video message to the congress, Pastor Jan Paulsen, General Conference president, commended the group for the "significant contribution the Polish community has made in the life of our church in Australia."

"Though away from the day-to-day life of Poland, many of you continued to preserve the culture, values and customs of your homeland. Your strong commitment to the message and mission has not wavered but made a valuable contribution to church and the community you adopted," Paulsen said.

Today the Polish Adventist community is one of many ethnic groups that settled in Australia in recent times. The community has more than 1,000 members, many of whom chose to live abroad during the difficult years in Poland's recent history. The community meets in 10 Polish or Slavic congregations throughout Australia.

Another Record Enrollment for Adventist Colleges
and Universities in North America
Adventist Colleges and universities in North America set another record enrollment for full-time equivalency (FTE) enrollment.

The 2003 tally of 18,719, up 4.4 percent from the previous year (see table), represents the seventh consecutive record high. The enrollment count also marks 18 consecutive years of FTE increases, according to statistics supplied by the North American Division Education Department.

Along with FTE enrollment, head count for 2003 also experienced a substantial increase, totaling 22,436, up 3.7 from the previous year.

Florida Hospital College in Orlando led all schools with the largest numeric and percentage FTE increase, up 212 to 892, or 30.7 percent. The second highest numeric increase was Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, with an increase of 143, or 10 percent.

COMPARATIVE FALL ENROLLMENT REPORT
COLLEGE UNIVERSITY	FTE
	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Andrews University	2,453	2,239	2,111	2,224	2,256
Atlantic Union College	476	552	552	571	494
Canadian University College	364	367	367	393	394
Columbia Union College	696	749	750	852	867
Florida Hospital College	363	374	492	680	892
Kettering College of Medical Arts	361	381	422	455	513
La Sierra University	1,098	1,235	1,341	1,511	1,633
Loma Linda University	3,045	2,989	2,951	2,947	3,089
Oakwood College	1,599	1,642	1,637	1,615	1,629
Pacific Union College	1,712	1,517	1,545	1,378	1,521
Southern Adventist University	1,593	1,817	1,908	1,991	2,007
Southwestern Adventist University	902	925	950	727	799
Union College	768	754	824	852	829
Walla Walla College	1,617	1,616	1,635	1,721	1,796
TOTALS	17,047	17,146	17,485	17,917	18,719

College Students Help Fight California Wildfires
When wildfires raged in southern California recently, three Pacific Union College students from Angwin, California, joined Napa County volunteer fire department strike teams that traveled south to assist.

Jon Huff, a junior, Leo Lutz, a senior, and Brandon Craig, a sophomore, went to the Old Fire above San Bernardino.

"We worked from Sunday morning to Wednesday night with just a few hours of sleep here and there," Craig said. Before this event, he had been on only two fire calls.

"They were laying their lives on the line," said Angwin volunteer fire department assistant chief Ken Trumble. "I can't stress that enough."

LLUMC Named Among Top 100 Hospitals
Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) is the only California hospital named as one of the 100 top cardiovascular care providers in the United States, in a study released October 27 by the Solucient Leadership Institute. This is the fourth time that LLUMC has been recognized as one of Solucient's 100 top cardiovascular hospitals, being listed in the "teaching hospital with cardiovascular residency program" category.

"We are grateful to our cardiovascular team for their commitment to excellence . . . for patients of all ages and our mission 'to make man whole,'" said Gerald A. Ellis, senior vice president of LLUMC. "This recognition as one of the 100 top hospitals for cardiovascular care for four of the past five years demonstrates our continued commitment."

Indonesian Missionary Honored
A memorial service was held recently in the Netherlands for "one of the most exceptional missionaries who ever left the Dutch shores," according to Reinder Bruinsma, president of the Netherlands Union Conference.

Dr. Nantje Twijnstra, 86, was buried in Thailand December 10. Although based in the Netherlands, she never actually worked for the church there. Moving with missionary parents to Indonesia as a child, she received most of her education, including training for dentistry, in Indonesia. She studied in the Netherlands to qualify as a dentist under Dutch regulations, then served as an Adventist missionary dentist for her entire working life, first in Indonesia and later in Thailand-actually working until the day she died.

Dr. Twijnstra "will be even more remembered for the fact that she always cared for ten or more children at a time," said Bruinsma. "It is characteristic of her unselfish dedication that she never actually counted how many children she cared for over the years, providing them not only with food and a place to live, but also with a good education."

Several Dutch donors (among them ADRA-Netherlands) plan continuing support for her ministry to children.            --Adventist News Review

News Notes

Ruthita J. Fike was recently appointed chief executive officer and administrator of Loma Linda University Medical Center, in Loma Linda, California, and executive vice president for hospital affairs. Currently executive vice president of operations and support services for Centura Health in Englewood, Colorado, Fike assumes her new responsibilities in February.

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