HUMANITARIAN MINISTRY
Regarding the article, "Humanitarian Ministry: A Biblical Perspective" (Aug. 2004), I have read a lot about the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Adventist Community Services (ACS) and I applaud everything that the church does for others in the name of Christ.

I've read about people raising money for a child's operation. The community got together and raised money through bake sales, donations, and everything they could think of.

In one community I know about, the husband and father of a family of four died unexpectedly at the age of 35. His wife and children are now behind in the mortgage and still have a large bill due at the funeral home.

I called the Adventist church in the neighborhood. When the pastor called me back his reaction was, "What do you want me to do? We don't have the money to pay their mortgage."

How can the community have such active sympathy for a sick child and our churches can't get involved in helping a destitute family? I wasn't asking the pastor to reach into his own pocket, but I thought the church would care enough to act together, to give the wife some time to think, get her out of the pressure cooker, and let her know that someone cared.

Do you know anyone who cares? The church has so many doctors, accountants, lawyers, big houses, and big cars. This family is going to lose their house in a few weeks. Let me know if you hear from someone who cares.

Name Withheld

WHAT THE REVIEW DOESN'T PRINT
I just finished reading William Johnsson's editorial, "Tell it Not in Gath" (Aug. 2004). I so appreciate the gentleness, sensitivity, and redemptive spirit he emphasized. This is a great example for us to follow. Thank you so much.

Inge Houck
Dover, New Hampshire

REAL STORIES
Regarding the special issue, "Stories From Real Life" (July 29, 2004): What an inspiring and refreshing issue! Thank you for these experiences that remind us how God intervenes in each of our lives. What an awesome God we serve!

Mirtha Alvarez
Altamonte Springs, Florida

TESTIMONIES FOR OUR TIMES
I read "The Light Still Shines" by James Nix (July 22, 2004) with great sadness. Because of and through Ellen White's counsels, I became a Seventh-day Adventist. Next to the Scriptures I cherish all of her writings with great reverence and pleasure. It pains me that so many of my brothers and sisters in the Seventh-day Adventist faith are turning away from the lesser light, and thereby from the greater light of God's Word.

Mrs. White predicted this very plague that is infecting the denomination, mostly in first and second world countries. She wrote: "Do not by your criticisms . . . feel that you can dissect [the Testimonies] to suit your own ideas, claiming that God has given you ability to discern what is light from heaven and what is the expression of mere human wisdom" (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 691).

She also wrote: "If you lose confidence in the Testimonies you will drift away from Bible truth" (Ibid. p. 674).

And most of us are familiar with her statement: "The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God" (Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 48).

May God open our eyes to behold the light while it still shines upon us.

Paul R. Lindstrom
Pasco, Washington

ADVENTISTS IN TURKEY
The cover story, "In Search of People" (July 22, 2004), thrilled me. This story doubtless means more to those of us of Armenian descent than it does to others. My father, born Garabed Boghosian (later changed to George Paulson), often spoke of Zadour Bahraian and his daring exploits for the gospel in his oppressive homeland.

My father came to the United States in 1913, at the age of 25, after escaping from military service in the Turkish Army. For Armenian Christians, military service almost always resulted in death at the hands of the Turks. Bardizag (biblical Bithynia) is the home of my immediate ancestors and older cousins, all of whom came to this country to escape the genocide. Other relatives were murdered by the Turks.

The book, Diamondola, gives vivid accounts of early Seventh-day Adventist work in Turkey. The author, a wonderful Greek woman, fluent in several languages, was a personal friend of my father's. Adventists unfamiliar with the Armenian exile and genocide of 1895 and 1915 should know about this tragedy, which was a real time of trouble for Armenian Christians. When Adolph Hitler was cautioned about his methods for handling the "Jewish question," he responded, "After all, who remembers the Armenians?"

Richard Paulson
Irvine, California

ONE OF 2,200
We received the book Harry Potter and the Bible. Thank you very much. To be among 10 out of 2,200 entries made us feel quite privileged.

We plan to give it to our brother as a birthday gift. He, his wife, and their three children are caught up in Pottermania. We hope this book will be instrumental in breaking the spell that binds them to darkness. We are very concerned about this issue. Words cannot express how much we appreciate receiving the book. We believe it was providential.

Stan and Andrea Kotlow