NEWSBREAK
ADRA Aids Victm's of North
Korea's Train Explosion
BY ANSEL OLIVER, Adventist News Network editorial assistant
ollowing the April 22 train disaster in North Korea, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) has initiated a joint relief project with the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring aid and basic medical supplies to those affected by the train blast in the city of Ryongchon.
News reports indicate more than 160 are dead, more than 1,300 people are wounded, and many are still missing after two rail cars exploded. Photographs from the surrounding area show scenes of mass devastation, including a local school.
Using a truck provided by ADRA, WHO partnered with ADRA to deliver hospital kits valued at US$83,000. "Critical to ADRA's capacity for a prompt response is that it has an office and established partnerships in North Korea," said Frank Teeuwen, bureau chief for disaster preparedness and response at ADRA International. "ADRA is also conducting assessments to determine what additional assistance it may provide, as a third of the city has been destroyed."
He added, "The medicines delivered to local hospitals this past weekend contain basic supplies to provide immediate treatment. Because of the massive increase of needs arising from this accident, these kits are imperative to complement the country's current medical supplies."
The country, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is usually a closed society where foreign workers are rare. ADRA is one of few non-governmental organizations accepted into the country. In 1995 ADRA started project activities in North Korea that included the distribution of food, medicine, and seeds. The agency has also introduced solar-powered cooking to parts of North Korea where electricity and heat are not readily available.
Since 2002, ADRA has operated a bakery producing 50,000 bread rolls six days a week that are delivered to 25,000 children in Pyongyang. An additional 32,300 children in the north of the country receive a rice-milk blend produced by ADRA in cooperation with the World Food Programme. ADRA has also rehabilitated a hospital and initiated a project that will use biogas plants to produce a year-round energy supply. Future projects in the area as a result of the train blast are also under consideration.
--Adventist News Network
Adventists Amoung the Homeless
After Bangladesh Tornado
Many Adventist members were left homeless on April 14 when a sudden tornado touched down in the Garzivita and Ntetrokona districts of Northern Bangladesh. The storm left 51 people dead and 1,200 injured. Even though the three area Adventist chapels were all spared, the tornado destroyed the homes of hundreds of people. There was no loss of life among church members.
Dwight Taylor, acting director for Adventist Development and Relief Agency/Bangladesh (ADRA), along with other employees, went the next day to visit those areas to assess the needs for relief to the community and to church members. The government Minister of Health and Prime Minister flew by helicopter to assess the damages. The police established their operational center in the campus of our church/school in Gazirvita in order to control the looting that was already going on in the affected/surrounding areas.
Several officials from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bangladesh visited to the affected areas and the Mymensingh General Hospital, where 600 people received medical care. Normal life came to a standstill because the effect of such a tornado was massive, and the calamity is unprecedented. More than 500 houses are totally destroyed, thousand of trees were broken or uprooted, and crops were badly damaged. Many households lost their crockery, bedding, and clothing.
ADRA and the World Food Program gave relief assistance to nearly 7,000 persons, providing 300 boxes (2.25 metric tons) containing vitamin and mineral-enriched biscuits. Each person received 75 grams daily during four days.
There are nearly 20,000 Adventists in this country bordered by India and Myanmar (formerly Burma) with a population of 133 million people. The Adventist Church has been present since 1906. The majority of the population are Muslims (88 percent) followed by Hindus (11 percent) and Buddhists.
Please keep Bangladesh, a country located in the heart of the 10/40 Window, in your prayers.
Noted Korean Leader and Author Dies
Dr. Kei-hoon Shin, 63, well-known Korean pastor, author, and administrator, died February 13 at Loma Linda, California, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born November 18, 1940, in Yangyang, South Korea, Shin took ministerial training at what is now Korean Sahmyook University. During his third year of studies he was drafted into the army and spent two years in a military prison, with beatings, for refusal to bear arms or do routine work on the Sabbath.
From 1963-69 he served as a pastor in Korea. He received his M.A. degree from Philippine Union College in 1970 and for 11 years was a theology professor at Korean Sahmyook University. Moving to Michigan to attend the theological seminary, he pastored the Andrews University Korean Church from 1981-1988. Shin then taught at the seminary where he completed his D.Min. He also authored a doctrinal book in Korean that has sold 150,000 copies.
After serving only a few months as pastor of the Napa, California, Korean Church, Shin returned to his homeland in 1992 to chair the theology department at Korean Sahmyook University. From 1996-2000 he served as president of the university, then became president of the Korean Union Conference until illness forced his retirement in 2003.
Survivors include his wife, Oh Myung Joo; a daughter, Chung Eun (Christina) Im; a son, Seung Won; and two grandchildren.
Adventist Religious Liberty Experts Speak at the UN
In a March 25 meeting held at the United Nations (UN) Church Center, International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) secretary-general John Graz and Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) specialist Viola Hughes discussed current religious liberty concerns in Europe and Asia.
Jonathan Gallagher, deputy secretary-general of the IRAL, moderated the meeting, which was sponsored by the U.N. Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Graz addressed the recent banning by the French government of all religious symbols in public. "Religious freedom to [the French] means freedom from religion," he said. He fears the new law will alienate Muslims and other religious groups.
Hughes spoke about the current religious climate in countries such as China, Tibet, North Korea, Burma, Laos, and Indonesia. "If a child is not taught tolerance," she said, "they will grow up to be an adult who is intolerant. . . . Advancing free speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to receive information represent not only core American values, but international standards of human rights."
News Notes
The Euro-Africa Division's first conference on faith and science, IFSC-EUD2004, brought scientists, theologians and church leaders together at Friedensau Adventist University Germany, March 26-30. It was noted that reconsideration or revision of Adventist teaching regarding creation was not the focus or purpose of the meeting. The conference provided the foundation for a dialog on questions of both theology and science.
The Trans-European Division's recently launched LIFE.Info magazine now has a 90,000 print run, reports John Arthur, publishing ministries director.
Ghanian-born Pastor Israel Bamidele Olaore was praised by the Arizona state governor, Janet Napolitano, for his ministry to the racially diverse Tucson Sharon Adventist church. At the recent event recognizing "Unity in Tolerance," the pastor also received an award from the Tucson Commission for Race Relations.
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