WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

eventh-day Adventists in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu applauded the withdrawal of an "anti-conversion" ordinance that slowed, but did not stop, Adventist Church membership growth.

Passed in 2002, the law made it a crime to either force someone to change their religion or to offer "incentives" to do so. While Christians, Muslims and other minority religions agreed that forcible conversion is ethically wrong, they said the ordinance could result in accusations of "inducements" that were never offered.

The legislation's fall was due to the defeat, in national elections, of the same party to which Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram belongs. Sensing a change in the national mood toward secularism, Mrs. Jayaram said she would have the bill overturned, declaring that her government "has always been the strongest champion of the rights and welfare of every minority community, be it Christians, Muslims or others," according to a report in "The Hindu" national newspaper.

In 2001 the population of Tamil Nadu was 62 million people, with only 11 percent claiming Christian or Muslim affiliation. There are approximately 75,000 Adventist Christians in the state.

During the 20 months that the ordinance was in force, courts in the region were not presented with a single case of forcible conversion. To avoid any false allegations during this period, the Adventist church required candidates for baptism to sign a legal document stating they voluntarily desired church membership and that there were no incentives or force in their decision.

Because of the huge expense involved in preparing the documents, baptismal ceremonies were frequently delayed. But the measure didn't curtail church growth: approximately 10,000 people joined the Adventist Church during the period, and evangelistic activities continued, according to Pastor Rathna Raj John, who is president of the Adventist Church in Southeast India, a region that includes the states of Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu.

"We are thankful that the evangelistic work of the church can be carried forward without false allegations of conversion by unlawful means," added Pastor Daniel Devadhas, ministerial director of the Adventist Church in Southeast India.

Jeeva Ponnappa, church president in the South Tamil district, says activities and outreach programs of the church can now be carried out more fervently, and he thanks the government for this step.
                                                          --Adventist News Network

New York: U.N. Looks to Religious Groups'
Involvement in Global Governance
The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) was represented by its Secretary-General John Graz at a United Nations discussion about the Berlin Declaration, an agreement among 55 nations to fight anti-Semitism, sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The discussion was held to inform organizations interested in religious liberty about the Berlin Declaration, which was crafted during the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism on April 28, 29. The Declaration calls for all OSCE countries to, among other things, collect and maintain reliable information and statistics about anti-Semitic crimes, ensure that their legal systems foster an environment free from anti-Semitic harassment, violence, or discrimination in all fields of life, and promote educational programs for combating anti-Semitism.

"Anti-Semitism is one of the most consistent violations of human rights through all of history," said Graz. "When Jews and minorities are persecuted, religious freedom is denied." The IRLA, organized by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and chartered in 1893, is a nondenominational organization, established to promote and defend religious freedom for all groups and people around the world.
       --Adapted From Adventist News Review, Trans-European Division

AFGHANISTAN: LLU Team Trains Physicians
Seeking to bring healing and continuing medical education to a war-torn land, a team of five physicians from Loma Linda University Medical Center and the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, to conduct medical education workshops for local physicians.

Working in conjunction with Kabul Medical Institute, the physicians held five continuing education classes over three days in early May. Medical topics presented included treating adult and pediatric patients in the emergency room.

This is the second team that has traveled to Afghanistan this year to present continuing education workshops. It is planned that similar workshops will be presented approximately every two months.                                                --Adventist News Network

PERU: Congress Honors Adventist Education, Founders
Peru's national congress recently paid tribute to Adventist education and its founders who first arrived in the Peruvian highlands in 1909.

Adventist missionaries Fernando and Ana Stahl from the American Midwest arrived in the Andes of Peru in 1909 to find an oppressed indigenous population. Siding with the 95 percent native population, they founded chapels, clinics, markets, and the first co-educational school. The education system grew to comprise 200 schools surrounding Lake Titicaca and, within one generation, the highlands people were able to elect a graduate of the schools to represent them in Peru's National Congress.

Charles Teel, professor of religion and society at La Sierra, continues the missionaries' outreach with the Stahl Center at La Sierra University. He established the center in 1988.

Every spring a group of students from La Sierra University in southern California and other Adventist colleges travel to Peru to march in the footsteps of Fernando and Ana Stahl. The Peruvian congressional event was planned to coincide with La Sierra University's 20th annual educational tour. "I was amazed at what a positive reputation the Adventist Church has in Peru," said Raewyn Hankins, a fourth-year student from La Sierra who attended the educational tour. "[The church] is most often linked with education."           --Adventist News Network

MARYLAND, U.S.: Richard Stenbakken Retires
Richard Stenbakken is retiring after serving 12 years as director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries (ACM). The announcement was made during the 50th annual meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Military-Related Chaplains Association. Military chaplains from the United States and Canada attended the conference, which met in Silver Spring, Maryland, May 12-16.

Stenbakken served as a district pastor in Wyoming for four years before entering the Army as a chaplain. He remained in the Army chaplaincy from 1969 to 1992 when the General Conference asked him to retire early from the military and take up the directorship of ACM. He retired as a full Colonel and has served as director of ACM since then.

Stenbakken retires July 1. Martin Feldbush, associate director of ACM since 1989, has been elected as the new director.

COSTA RICA: New Mission Office Inaugurated
The new offices of the Adventist Mission in the province of Limon, Costa Rica, were inaugurated on May 22. The inaugural ceremony took place at the two-story office next to the Central Adventist English Church. Special guests included Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America; church leaders from the South Central American Union and local fields; and government dignitaries of Limon. Heraldo Douff is president of the new mission.

The Mision del Caribe in Limon was organized in 2003. More than 10,000 Seventh-day Adventists worship in 44 organized churches in Limon.                                                     --Inter-American Division

DENMARK: Danish Union Elects New Officers
Delegates elected Ole Kendel as president and Sven Jensen as secretary of the Danish Union of Churches during a session held May 19-23 in Denmark. Philip Philipsen, who has been serving as secretary-treasurer, was re-elected as treasurer.

Kendel replaces Carl-David Andreasen, who has served as president in Denmark for seven years and requested to return to pastoral work. Kendel has served as a missionary in Sierra Leone; a pastor in Denmark; a youth director in Western Norway and the Trans-Europe region; and as president of the Adventist church in Pakistan. Jensen was director of Health Ministries, the Ministerial Association, and Stewardship for the Danish Union of Churches.

News Notes

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee proclaimed May 8, 2004, as "Safe Television for All Ages Day" in the state of Arkansas. The governor praised KSBN, the eight-year-old full-power TV station from Springdale, Arkansas, for pioneering the Safe TV concept in the television industry. The proclamation document bearing the great Seal of the State of Arkansas was presented to Carlos Pardeiro, president of KSBN, who coined the phrase "Safe Television." For more information about Safe TV programming, go to www.safetv.org               --KSBN Safe TV

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