WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

arly in the morning on July 22, 2004, fire broke out and caused approximately $250,000 in damage to the fellowship hall of the Gresham, Oregon, Adventist Church.

According to the church’s head deacon, Charles Downing, the wallboard and insulation from the ceiling collasped a few minutes after personnel arrived at the scene, barely missing firefighters and destroying the church’s new lights, tables, and chairs. “If the fire had gone about another five minutes, we would have lost the entire building,” says Downing.

The fire was one of three that occurred that morning within a one-mile radius. Police suspect arson, but at the press time, no one had been arrested. According to Adventist Risk Management (ARM) claims specialist Bernice Goldsmith, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the local fire marshal are involved in the initial investigation.

ARM vice president Karnik Doukmetzian says the building is not a total loss, and that ARM is supporting the church members during this crisis and assisting them with reconstruction.
                      --AR/Oregon Conference communication department.

Wal-Mart Buys Almost 60,000 of The Passion of Love From Adventist Printer
By the end of August 2004, shoppers will be able to stop by their local Wal-Mart to pick up The Passion of Love, which is compiled from 13 of the last chapters of The Desire of Ages. The book was produced and printed by the privately owned printing company Remnant Publications, and it will soon be available in both English and Spanish at Wal-Mart stores around the country, according to David Berthiaume, Remnant's literature evangelism coordinator. The Anderson Group, which is responsible for placing books in the Wal-Mart stores, has ordered more than 50,000 English and approximately 9,000 Spanish copies of The Passion of Love. Berthiaume added that Wal-Mart has also shown interest in placing more Ellen G. White books in their stores, if The Passion of Love sells well.

"Since the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, doors have been opened around the world for sharing the gospel," said Dwight Hall, president of Remnant Publications, located in Coldwater, Michigan. "Here in America our church has capitalized on this opportunity by using the last chapters of The Desire of Ages in the form of mini-books and pamphlets to spread the truth about Christ's love for the world."

According to Remnant Publications spokesperson Judy Jennings, since March 2004 a total of more than 1.3 million copies of the book have been sold to churches, conferences, and individuals throughout the U. S. and 18 other countries. There are now plans to translate The Passion of Love into French and Arabic.--AR.

Adventist Review Welcomes New Project Coordinator
Rachel Child joined the Adventist Review staff on August 9 as project coordinator and assistant to editor William Johnsson. Former project coordinator Chitra Barnabas recently left the Review to help her husband run their local day-care facilities.

Child has been assistant to GC Chaplaincy Ministries director Richard Stenbakken for the past 12 years, and has worked in that department for 16. She has also held positions in Human Resources, Family Ministries, Treasury, and the Youth department, making a total of 23 years of service to the General Conference.

"I'm excited about joining the Adventist Review staff and assisting Bill Johnsson," says Child. "Being able to work with the Review editors to communicate with the world field is a very attractive part of the job."

Child's husband, George, is vice president for senior living at Adventist Health Care in Rockville, Maryland. They have two grown sons.--AR.

SUDAN: Global Mission Center
Leveled in Janjweed Militia Attack
Safarig, a Global Mission Center in the Darfur region of Sudan, was attacked and leveled to the ground by Janjweed militias. Homes were burned, and an Adventist church was destroyed.

"Everybody fled for his life," says local church leader Daniel Marach. Forty-six church members, along with many others, managed to travel safely to a camp in Abujabra. According to Marach, the journey was difficult, but no one was injured.

The camp at Abujabra is supported by the United Nations World Food Program and OXFAM, an international non-government organization.

"When I arrived [at Abujabra] I was delighted to meet church members from Safarig," said district leader William Oliver, who visited the area. "It was an emotional time of reunion. In spite of the many difficulties, the believers continue to worship God each Sabbath.--Middle East Union/AR.

HAITI: ADRA and LLU Partner to
Create National Crisis Intervention Team
After floods killed 1,700 and left more than 6,000 families homeless in southeast Haiti last May, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the International Behavioral Health Trauma Team from Loma Linda University (LLU) met in Port-au-Prince from June 28 to July 3 to train local medical professionals and volunteers in aiding disaster victims.

More than 60 local medical professionals, including the Minister of Health, United Nations workers, and other non-government agency employees and volunteers showed up for the training. "Never before had we impacted a nation as part of a mental health intervention in a crisis disaster program," says Dr. William Murdoch, medical director for LLU's Behavioral Medicine Center and team leader for the training in Haiti.

The partnership between ADRA and the LLU's International Behavioral Health Trauma Team is part of a pre-funded agreement with the Inter-American Division to provide psychological debriefing for the victims of natural or man-made disasters that may occur in the division's territory.--Inter-American Division/AR.

WORLD CHURCH: Trust Services
Surpasses $1 Billion Milestone
As of the end of 2003, the Adventist World Church has received a total of $1,000,044,707 through Trust Services, which started with a yearly sum of $527,115 in 1968. Trust services is a specialized ministry, organized at every level of the church, whereby individuals can support God's work through wills, trusts, annuities, and other gifts.

"When church members prepare a Christian will, they recognize that God is the owner of all," says Jeff Wilson, director of the General Conference Trust Services department. "They wish to return to Him at death what He has loaned to them during life. Thus, they have an opportunity to impact the future of God's work."

For more information about Trust Services, contact your local conference Trust Services department. You can also call toll-free 1-877-WILL-PLAN (U.S. and Canada only) or go to www.willplan.org.--AR.

FLORIDA: GODencounters Conference 2004-Young Adults Connect With God
"You came here today because God wanted to have an encounter with you," said speaker Jose Rojas to the standing-room-only young adult audience at the GODencounters Conference (GE:c) held at Forest Lake Church, May 28-June 5, 2004. Rojas is director of the North American Division Adventist Volunteer Ministries Network.

The goal of the GE:c team was to create an environment where young adults could connect with God and share their spiritual challenges with one another.

"I have felt far from God for a while now and in need of spiritual renewal and counsel," said 22-year old Stephanie Cato. "I embraced the practical advice at GODencounters and, through the Holy Spirit, have put my feet and eyes back on the path."

GE:c also emphasized its theme, "Love is an action"-that encountering God means being challenged to serve Him outside the walls of the church.

More than 2000 attended the nine-day conference. For more information about GODencounters, go to GODencounters.org--Florida Hospital Celebration Health/AR.

More Religious News
Adventist News Network
Religion News Service
Religion Today