GONE TO MEDDLING
It's about time someone had the nerve and intestinal fortitude to address the things Roy Adams mentioned in his editorial, "Sorry to Meddle" (May 13, 2004). It's gotten so bad that when there is a potluck, I eat only from the dish I made. We've lost the vision of the entire health message when we fail to maintain proper hygiene in everything we do.

There may be those who will not like what he said, but the truth has a way of bringing out the worst in us, especially when it strikes home.

Excellent editorial; thanks for bringing this important part of the health message to light.

Betty Leacock
Plano, Texas

I agree with the points Roy Adams made in his editorial. But concerning his statement: "I've even seen people brush their teeth there [the kitchen sink], a place for dishes and cutlery," my wife would take issue with the appropriateness of brushing one's teeth in the bathroom, since she read an article about aerosol particles produced by a flushing toilet. According to her, the article said that these particles land on the toothbrushes, as well as all other surfaces in the bathroom.

Maybe the best answer would be to store one's toothbrush in some place other than the bathroom, but use it in the bathroom, and not at the kitchen sink.

W. Mook

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Regarding "Prostitution, Trafficking, and Women" (May 12, 2004): maybe Seventh-day Adventists should not hold any meeting, General Conference sessions, or other church activities in states or countries that allow such degrading abuse of women. Maybe, if we and other Christian bodies who abhor such degrading practices would boycott these countries, such practices would stop. After all, the dollar or the euro talks where preachers can't.

R. Wiley Poulson

A VERY SPECIAL ISSUE
I just finished reading the Adventist Review special issue "Why Adventist Education?" As a retired grade school teacher (Adventist and public schools), I was reminded of the following line from Ellen White's book, Education: "Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. There is need of a broader scope, a higher aim. True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come" (p. 13).

I was happy to see that the authors supported that idea. Christian education pays. My three children and eight grandchildren all went to Seventh-day Adventist schools or were home schooled. They all attend the Seventh-day Adventist Church today.

Art Miles
Apison, Tennessee

Thank you, Ed Boyatt and the Adventist Review, for the excellent update on Valugenesis2 ("Report Card on Adventist K-12 Education"). I cut my teeth on the original Valuegenesis report back in 1990 when I was in the process of starting a secular campus ministries organization at the University of Alberta.

I remember pouring through that first report almost as if it was inspired. I kept referring back to the book Education and found certain undeniable similarities. Ellen White wrote again and again about redemption as the central purpose of Adventist Education. Valuegenesis talked about "grace orientation."

Mrs. White's famous statement regarding the importance of teaching young people to be "thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men's thought" (p. 17), linked perfectly with the valuegenesis concept "a thinking environment."

Another concept which jumped off the pages of Valuegenesis was the concept called "congregational warmth." White commented about the importance of "companionship" to true education. That one concept, above all others, became the central focus of my ministry.

The original Valuegenesis report talked about "the value of service," clearly indicated as the number one indicator and predictor of mature faith. White told us that service is the highest form of true education. She wrote: "All who engage in ministry are . . . co-workers with angels . . . . Angels speak through their voices, and work by their hands. And the human workers, co-operating with heavenly agencies, have the benefit of their education and experience" (p. 271).

These four concepts became the motif of my service as a college chaplain at Canadian University College.

Tragically, we at times let our inexperience and passion get away from us. We often sensed that others misunderstood our efforts. For a time I despaired that some were determined to relegate Valuegenesis to some dusty self, hidden and happily forgotten. Discouraged, I walked away from those values. But recently I have come to remember. Your update on Valuegenesis2 helped in this regard.

My prayer is that all those who can will continue to bring this important research to the forefront. Place it as often as you can along side Ellen White's statements and hold it high. And let us all, as we can, move forward to strengthen the faith of those to whom we pass the torch.

Steve Little
Medicine Hat, Alberta

"The Right Education," by Jerry Lutz, is a nice article, but I can't help but wonder where it leaves the youth whose parents cannot afford to send them to church school?

As a young girl my parents were pressured to send me to Milo Academy. They were told that Christians should not be sent to public school. They were not offered any assistance, even though they were below the poverty level. I know Ellen White said that Christian education should be made affordable for all. A lot of young people fall between the cracks because of the lack of funds to be able to go to Adventist schools.

My year at Milo was not a happy time for me. I had to work so much to help out with the tuition that I hardly had time to study. I was made to feel second rate because my parents could not afford to buy nice clothes like other families could. When the year ended my parents were deep in debt for tuition and I was just anxious to finally be leaving for good.

I believe in Christian education but I have to wonder how many young people over time have had this same kind of experience, because a Christian education is not affordable for everyone.

Linda Phillips

Regarding the interview with Gerald Kovalski ("Educator With a Pastor's Heart"): I was contentedly sailing along through the piece until I reached his response to the question about the North American trend toward more Adventist day academies, and away from supporting traditional boarding schools.

As he began his analysis of this trend, a couple buzz words hit me. The first was the nondescript word "interesting," which he used when referring to our boarding academies' "interesting [recent] history." It's true that we've all used the "I" word when confronted with an emotional or "hot-button" issue. In the context of dealing with the underlying causes of low boarding enrollment, the reader is immediately left with a very subjective and fuzzy picture when one uses the word "interesting" as a descriptive adjective. Apparently this is what Kovalski wanted.

Next Kovalski--to his credit--dealt with the reality of many Adventist parents' uneasy feelings about exposing their children to what he called a "multicultural" boarding environment; one that reflects today's social reality, both in the church and American society.

Now "multicultural" is a properly descriptive term. It is also a very complex one. It involves group identity characteristics such as mother-tongue, religion, diet, clothing, hygiene, family values, music, literature, etc. Unfortunately, parents also mistakenly use the word "culture" for "race". They are not the same.

Nonetheless, a significant number of parents of one racial group (whether Caucasian, African, or Asian, it matters not) don't want their kids to marry into another racial group. So they decide, "Let's keep them away from a social milieu that might encourage it." That's reality. We know it, but we find it hard to talk about so bluntly.

What really bothered me was Kovalski's next sentence: "We honor and respect that" [which is, parents' concern about their kids mixing multi-culturally]. It's one thing to point out a social reality in the church that has its basis in fact. Should we, however, honor and respect a negative attitude toward multiculturalism in our institutions when our understanding of God's word insists that we embrace it? Should we not expect, rather, the church's educational superintendent for North America to be pro-active in espousing this Bible truth?

Warren R. Zork
Berrien Springs, Michigan

Just a quick "Thank You" to the Adventist Review and Gina Jacob for the positive slant to her article, "Is Spirituality Dead at Adventist Colleges?"

There are so many people outside the Adventist education system who criticize. It's nice to have someone literally go down the list of our colleges, looking for the good things they do.

I'd like to see the same kind of article done for our academies. We have some terrific kids in our church, and some wonderfully devoted teachers and school programs.

It's too bad that people have such a tendency to judge a school by the negative things they hear. We should be much more vocal about all the positives in our education system.

Joni Darmody

The entire special education issue is an outstanding masterpiece of presenting the need for, and the importance of, Adventist education, and for the environment of learning. I was especially impressed with the responses by Gerald Kovalski and the student comments.

Our family fully supports and has greatly benefited from the Adventist educational system. Our parents were the key individuals in beginning the elementary school in New Bedford and the Brookside Academy in Taunton, Massachusetts. This school year their 10 children, 26 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren, and two great, great-grandchildren are celebrating a collective 1,000 years of Adventist education.

We are most grateful to all who have sacrificially and generously provided work/study opportunities from which we have benefited.

Frank Damazo, M.D.
Frederick, Maryland

A REACTION TO READERS' REACTIONS
What a lot of twaddle from the three letters in the last Review responding to Jack Blanco's article, "The Great Controversy (Abbreviated)" (Apr. 22, 2004)! Have none of the readers ever bothered to read chapter one of Patriarchs and Prophets?

Yes, the authority of Christ was questioned, as was the character of God the Father. Darius Lecointe wrote, "The Bible never suggests that Lucifer desired to replace the Most High."

No? "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'" (Isa. 14:13, 14, NIV).

When the devil came to tempt Eve, he promised her, "You will not surely die. . . . For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4, 5).

Yes, Jesus came to this world to reveal to us the character of His Father, but He also came to beat back Satan's rule on this earth, to reclaim this earth for God's people. That was foretold by Daniel. "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. . . . As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom" (Dan. 7:13, 14, 21, NIV)).

There really is a war going on, not just over the character of God, nor for the rulership of this earth (that question was settled at the Cross), but a war for every human being on this earth. Denying it does not make it go away!

Beryl Carpenter
Perth, Australia

THANKS FOR THE STORY
The article, "Salty," by Rick Fleck (Apr. 15, 2004) blessed my soul. I am the chaplain in the story. In prison ministry there are few thrills. This was one of the rarest sort.

It was providential that Rick Fleck, a man with the ability to write, was in the same cell as the one about whom the story is centered. This story has sparked a revival of spiritual interest like nothing I've ever seen. Further, it is a sign that God has a real future for Rick Fleck. I predict that God will use him in a great way in the days ahead.

Harold F. Green, Protestant Chaplain
High Desert State Prison
Susanville, California