NEWSBREAK

ustin Spencer, 17, of Pleasant Hill, California, fell more than 200 feet to his death on March 23 in Peru. He had been hiking with a group after completing a mission project in the city of Cascas.

He was part of a group of 10 adult sponsors and 30 other students (including his 14-year-old sister, Jillian) from Hilltop Christian School in Antioch, California, and Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy, helping to build four Peruvian Adventist churches.

A senior at the academy where his parents, Michael and Lori, both teach, Justin was an active Pathfinder, Student Association religious vice president, athlete, and musician. The night before the accident he preached an evangelistic sermon. "You don't know what the future has in store for you," he said, "but I can tell you I have made my decision for Jesus."

The cement floor of the church, which was curing during the hike, has been inscribed with his name; the church was named "Justin's Church" in his memory.

Jamaican Youth Offered 52 U.S. Scholarships
Antonio Buddington, 18, of Hanover, Jamaica, has been offered 52 United States college scholarships, half of which are full scholarships. Recently he accepted a $100,000 full scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. The funds will cover tuition, books, meals, and accommodation for the next four years.

Nigel Darmanie, chief executive officer for 4E, the organization sponsoring the March 12 scholarship awards ceremony, said that so many scholarship offers for one student was probably a record in Jamaica's history.

An active member of the Hopewell Adventist Church in Hanover, Buddington acknowledged that "God has blessed me." He is presently enrolled at Montego Bay Community College (MBCC) and was also recognized as one of 45 first-place winners in a Caribbean Examinations Council exam last year, tying in first place with another student in the Mathematics Unit 1 section of the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations.

Buddington serves as associate youth leader for his church, Sabbath school teacher, and a volunteer mathematics tutor. At MBCC he is president of the Ecology Club, PR officer for the University and College Christian Fellowship, and a member of the cricket and football teams.

While not sure of his major (perhaps engineering or computer studies), Buddington is happy that his best friend and fellow Adventist, Davoy Murray, will also attend Morehouse with scholarship funds.

Antonio's parents, Antonio Sr. and Yvonne Buddington, are self-employed. An adult sister lives in the United States.

Kettering College of Medical Arts
Receives $4 Million Donation
Dayton, Ohio, philanthropist Oscar Boonshoft recently donated $4 million to the Kettering College of Medical Arts (KCMA) building fund campaign.

The five-story, 41,000-square foot building addition at Kettering, Ohio, will house a student center, learning resource center, and computer and science laboratories. It will allow the college to expand its offerings in the sciences and to offer a degree program in human biology. In appreciation for the donation, KCMA officials said the building will be named the Boonshoft Center for Medical Sciences.

Groundbreaking is expected this summer, with construction to be completed by January 2006. More than half of the $17.1 million needed for the project has been raised, including a $1 million gift from the late Virginia Kettering.

The college provides training in nursing, respiratory care, medical sonography, and nuclear medicine, in addition to training for physician's assistants and radiology technicians.--Dayton Daily News

Bible Society Celebrates Bicenenary
In March 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society was established, the first of its kind in the world. Two hundred years later, in March 2004, more than 2,000 persons, including many Adventists, celebrated God's blessings on the organization at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

During its first 50 years, the Society circulated 28 million portions of the Bible in 152 languages; by its hundredth anniversary, 181 million copies had been distributed. Now there are more than 130 national Bible societies around the world. During 2002 they distributed 578.1 million Bibles and portions of Scripture in 2,303 languages.

The American Bible Society (ABS), with headquarters in New York City, was organized in 1816. Among its services, ABS provides Scriptures to the military and has produced several videos and CDs, as well as contemporary versions of the Bible.

Desmond Doss Film Wins Awards
"The Conscientious Objector," a film about Desmond Doss, Adventist World War II veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, received two awards at the recent Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California.

Produced by Terry L. Benedict, an Adventist filmmaker from Santa Monica, California, the film won Best Feature in the digital category. It was also the Audience Choice Award Documentary in competition with nearly 80 other films, requiring two screenings for an overflow audience.

Doss was the only World War II noncombatant to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Following the screening of the feature-length documentary, Cinequest presented Doss with the "Maverick Spirit" award, given to the world's most accomplished directors, producers, actors, cinematographers, editors and composers whose life epitomizes the concept of a maverick over a spectrum of career and human endeavors.

Area film critics hailed the film as "a glowing example of Christian ethics put to the supreme test" (Richard von Busack, Silicon Valley Metro) and said it "profiles with singular grace and conviction the amazing life of Desmond T. Doss" (Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News).--Adventist News Network

Hope Channel on TV in PNG
Seventh-day Adventist television programming is now available through the only cable television provider in Papua New Guinea's second largest city, Lae.

The Hope Channel, an initiative of Adventist Television Network, is one of 16 channels included in the basic package from Tolec Electronics.

"The only cost to us has been the receiver we bought from the company," says Benson ToPatiliu Diave, satellite ministries coordinator for the Adventist church in Papua New Guinea. The church also bought a receiver for the University of Technology in Lae, which includes the Hope Channel on cable provided to staff members and in recreational facilities.

CCTV, the cable television provider in the northern provincial capital of Popondetta, has included the Hope Channel in its package of stations since the beginning of this year, at no cost to the church.

"Hope Channel is reaching people we have not reached through evangelistic programs," says ToPatiliu.

News Notes

Margaret and Dave Kelln of Monroe, Washington, recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary and Dave's 100th birthday. Members of the Monroe Adventist Church, the couple have three sons, 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

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