ADAMS' WAKE UP CALL
Roy Adams' editorial, "Wake Up Call" (May 27, 2004), hit the nail squarely on the head. And it makes one wonder whether Caucasians won't be but a tiny minority in the kingdom.

Adams' quotes from journalist Hugh McCullum clearly parallel the pattern in Adventism: massive growth in the 10-40 window, slow or even negative growth elsewhere. The "Dark Continent" is no longer Africa; today it is Western Europe where but 2 percent of the population ever attend church, and where indigenous Adventists are disappearing at some 4 percent per year. The only real church growth here is among immigrants, frequently people of color, with a fervor for Bible truth and aglow with the love of Jesus.

The Adventist Church in England is 95 percent Black, mainly immigrants from the Caribbean. In France the church is nearly half Black, gathering immigrants from the four corners of the earth. Their conservative values and faithfulness to the counsels of Ellen G. White are a stabilizing factor in an otherwise exceedingly liberal and dying church.

The character of Jesus can be fully reflected in faces of every color. Wake up Europe . . . America! God is calling us also to totally trust, obey, and follow Him.

Ron Myers

Roy Adams and other Christian leaders seemed to receive this information about Southern Christianity with shock and uncertainty. What is happening in the world regarding the Northern and Southern hemispheres, in relation to Christianity, has been in the newspapers for some time. All one needs to do is keep up with current news and look up "Southern Christianity" on the Internet to keep abreast of what is happening in the religious world. The religious world is indeed shifting.

Marie Sandborn
Hendersonville, North Carolina

THE RETURN OF HARRY POTTER
Have we become so accustomed to the good qualities that we see in movies and read in popular books, (Harry Potter's Back) that we tend to sweep the bad qualities under the rug? I have talked to people who have read the books and seen the movies. They say it is all innocent; there's nothing wrong with these movies/books. Maybe we should consider the small, unnoticed items that slip past us. Are they really innocent?

Don Blackburn
Mansfield, Ohio

If what we watch and read has no impact on our choices, then why is so much money spent on advertising? I have heard the argument that Harry Potter's world is simply a product of fantasy and therefore harmless. The Bible, however, shows that an evil imagination leads to sinful acts (Jeremiah 13:10). Fantasy becomes reality.

Harry Potter is leading our culture to become more comfortable with the occult. The message is that witchcraft is an exciting way to have power. It's not surprising that Wicca is the fastest growing religion in Canada. Young people are especially vulnerable.

Samuel Millen
Campus Chaplain
Kingsway College
Oshawa, Ontario

WHEN ADVENTISTS WERE YOUNG
In "Young Adventist Pioneers" (May 27, 2004), Lynette Frantzen outlined the church's strengths that flowed from its young pioneers.

Most of our churches are losing members because they believe in hanging on to power "until death do us part." How sad to see young people leave because a few have decided to die on the job rather than pass on the baton to able and competent young men and women. A paradigm shift is needed in the Adventist church. We need to go back to our roots.

We need older people, with their years of wisdom and experience, but an elder's term should be no longer than four years. Some elders stay for 20 or 30 years, not recognizing the need for a change. They think others are not as competent as they are.

We need to pray for repentance, and let the Holy Spirit reinvigorate the church by allowing young members to hold top positions. Everyone should read My Brother's Keeper, by Charles Sheldon, to see what young people can do.

Michel Kordas
West Bend, Wisconsin

WHAT PEOPLE SEE
I enjoyed the article, "Churches Observed" (May 27, 2004). Recently I was told about an interesting site in England that encourages people to visit churches and write reviews of their worship experience.

At the bottom of the page it actively recruits people to become Mystery Visitors. It's only a matter of time before an Adventist church is visited. What will the report say about us?

It would be great fun to encourage Mystery Visitors in our churches. Is this something for the Review? I would love to be a visitor and/or read reviews in the Review.

Vaughn Jennings, III
Associate School Superintendent
Chesapeake Conference
Columbia, Maryland

Several years ago the Adventist Review did feature a column written by a mystery visitor (actually, several of them) to review local congregations and their services. The experiment failed, however, when churches that received a lukewarm review complained that "spies" had infiltrated their congregations to criticize them. --Editors

SUFFERING'S GLORIOUS UNANSWER
Regarding "Suffering's Glorious Unanswer" (May 20, 2004): Job is a classic narrative and answers many questions about pain and suffering. It also presents some unanswered ones that never seem to be addressed.

For example: Are Job's children less important to God than Job? He evidently allowed Satan to murder them, but forbade the killing of Job. Admittedly, Job would have gladly traded his life for death, but was not allowed to.

What about the lives of Job's servants? Were they less important to God? While the mind of God is beyond ours, for Job and Mrs. Job, their lives must have had heavy sorrows and grief in remembering their original family.

Elwood Boyd
Walla Walla, Washington

MEDDLE ON
I understand what Roy Adams intended to say in his apologetic defense of hygiene ("Sorry to Meddle," May 13, 2004). However, I feel that the article showed some culturally biased and insensitive comments in the World Edition of the Adventist Review.

The very last words of the article refer to "what General Conference leaders call quality of life." It may be easy for world leaders living in Washington, D.C., to forget that 75 percent of the world's population does not have running water in their homes, nor access to electricity. When seven baptized members and many non-baptized children live, eat, and sleep in a one-room hut without screens on their windows (do they have windows?), it may be difficult to avoid flies. They may not have bathroom tissue nor a flushing system in their toilet (do they have one?). They may be fortunate to have a sink for multiple purposes in their home, with water brought from far way. But if they don't spit there after brushing their teeth, they may need to do it in the front yard (if it is not the rainy season). Besides some clay pots, their only "dishes and cutlery" may be banana leaves and their own fingers.

Anyway, they have more urgent things to take into consideration than paying attention to the flies that affect their "quality of life."

If these Seventh-day Adventists receive a General Conference leader in their humble home, they may have made a big effort to show hospitality (there's Bible behind them). When they invited their honored guest to take the first serving of an in-home Sabbath dinner, they may have decided to skip one meal in order to feed him. When they offered their best, along with "swarms of houseflies that freely sample the vegetarian cuisine" (or maybe not so vegetarian), should we criticize them in an editorial?

I agree with Adams about the need of stressing "health, hygiene, and aesthetics." However, it should be remembered that there are cultural issues related to these matters. Consider what half of the world thinks when westerners step on trash, spit, and dog manure, and then enter their carpeted homes without removing their shoes. Isn't this a terrible lack of hygiene? In many parts of the world water is considered better than sanitary paper. What about placing our lips on the same phone handset that crowds used before us? Wouldn't it be much more polite and healthier to walk three miles and have a face-to-face talk? What about blowing our nose in public and keeping the wet and used handkerchief in the pocket for the next blow? What about letting pet dogs lick our face? Many non-westerners view some of these features with horror.

Sorry to meddle.

Carlos G. Martin
Southern Adventist University
Collegedale, Tennessee

If this is "meddling," please become more "meddlesome."

Ellen White wrote: "A great amount of suffering might be saved if all would labor to prevent disease, by strictly obeying the laws of health. Strict habits of cleanliness should be observed" (Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 460).

And, "God requires purity of heart and personal cleanliness now, as when He gave special directions to the children of Israel" (Counsels of Health, p. 82).

She also wrote: "Before gathering at Mount Sinai to listen to the proclamation of the law by the voice of God, the people were required to wash both their persons and their clothing. This direction was enforced on pain of death. No impurity was to be tolerated in the presence of God" (The Ministry of Healing, p. 279).

Another counsel stated: "It is important also that the clothing be kept clean. The garments worn absorb the waste matter that passes off through the pores; if they are not frequently changed and washed, the impurities will be reabsorbed" (Child Guidance, p. 109).

Describing the scene before Moses received the Ten Commandments, Mrs. White wrote: "The people were required to refrain from worldly labor and care, and to possess devotional thoughts. God required them also to wash their clothes. He is no less particular now than He was then. He is a God of order, and requires His people now upon the earth to observe habits of strict cleanliness. And those who worship God with uncleanly garments and persons do not come before Him in an acceptable manner. He is not pleased with their lack of reverence for Him, and He will not accept the service of filthy worshipers, for they insult their Maker. The Creator of the heavens and of the earth considered cleanliness of so much importance that He said, 'And let them wash their clothes'" (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 263).

Art Miles
Apison, Tennessee

Interesting thoughts on hygiene. I remember helping in a newly-opened restaurant run by Adventist young people. We were waiting for a casserole to heat. "Isn't it hot yet?" someone asked.

Three helpers poked their index fingers into the center of said casserole, and amid a lot of laughter at the spontaneous gestures it was promptly taken to the dining room and served.

It was delicious; and no one died!

Val Read
Kingston, Tasmania, Australia

Like personal hygiene, another underappreciated topic in health maintenance is the promotion of personal safety devices. Safety training and awareness reduces the likelihood of injury and death.

Health and safety have a logical linkage as we care for our bodies. The pursuit of health for Adventists should include the quadrumvirate of diet, exercise, hygiene, and safety practices. An editorial that educates about personal safety would be a worthwhile service.

Steve Riehle
Santa Maria, California

THE CRINGE FACTOR
I was interested in David Marshall's article about making our worship services "visitor friendly" ("Cutting the Cringe Factor," Apr. 2004). I nodded in agreement with much of what he wrote until I got to the sentence, "Their idea as to what constitutes 'quality' rarely has anything to do with sensitivity to the presence of unbelievers" (emphasis mine).

I came into the Adventist church in 1996, after having participated in several other religious denominations. It was a little difficult at first to get over the cliquish nature of people at my church, but I was fortunate to find a ministry where I could help out despite not having a Pine Forge or Oakwood pedigree. For a while I felt almost apologetic for having graduated from Howard University.

Having been in other denominations, I am very sensitive to the language printed in Adventist materials. I was given a book to read shortly after I joined the church, but I stopped reading it because of the name-calling throughout the first couple chapters.

What was the offending language? One word in particular Adventists seem to use without thinking: "unbeliever" (just as David Marshall did). As a convert, I can't begin to tell you how much that word hurts our cause. To call someone an "unbeliever" can be seen as a slur and as very judgmental. Why don't Adventist writers and publishers use words like "non-Christian" or "non-Adventist" to describe people who don't believe as we do? These words are descriptively accurate without being offensive. The word "unbeliever" sounds like "pagan" or "heathen." It's insulting.

I know (I hope!) that the intent of our writers is not to put people off, but unlike the children's rhyme, words can and do hurt. They defeat the purpose of our mission. If someone wanted me to believe as they did but referred to me in terms that I found offensive, I wouldn't listen to what they had to say.

Jesus said, "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out" (Mark 9:47). I strongly recommend that Adventist writers and publishers pluck the word "unbeliever" from their lexicon and replace it with "non-Adventist" or "non-Christian." Like David Marshall said, we should be cutting the cringe factor, not perpetuating it.

Johari M. Rashad
Washington, D.C.