WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

ore than 11,000 Ontario youth were given the opportunity during Adventist-sponsored drug-prevention rallies to sign pledge cards against drug use, crime, and gang involvement-promising instead to stay in school, complete their education, and do it drug free.

Canada Youth Challenge (CYC) and the De Coster's Kids Suzuki Motivational Team conducted nine of these rallies across Southern Ontario in June 2004. The rallies were held during public school assemblies and as separate events open to the community.

The CYC program is organized by the Ontario Conference Publishing Ministries department, and the Suzuki team is managed by Pastor Robert and Sharlene Sparenberg. Originally from Chatham, Ontario, the Sparenbergs have been doing public evangelism in Florida for the last few years.

The names of those who signed CYC pledges are being sent to local churches to be put on prayer lists, and these students will be given a complimentary subscription to Listen magazine (for teens) and Winner magazine (for pre-teens).

More than 70 college students participated as team members.

"These students worked as literature evangelists this past summer," says Adam Bujak, ADRA director for the Ontario Conference. "They sold $400,000 worth of books and earned scholarships for the 2004/2005 academic year at various colleges and universities." The rallies were funded by ADRA Canada and other contributors.
                                --Ontario Conference Publishing Ministries/AR

AFGHANISTAN: ADRA Office Damaged, Staff Injured in Kabul Explosion
An explosion that destroyed a building in downtown Kabul August 29 damaged the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Afghanistan and injured an ADRA staff member.

"The windows and doors of two ADRA buildings have been damaged by the blast," says Peter Jaggi, country director for ADRA Afghanistan. "Debris from the car bomb is in our yard, and our office and apartment are full of glass splinters." Fortunately, only one staff member sustained minor injuries.

ADRA's recent projects in Afghanistan include water, hygiene, and basic health initiatives. The humanitarian agency also completed an education project that rehabilitated a school and provided desks, chairs, sports and playground equipment, water wells, and glass for classroom windows.

"Clean water and sanitation is a serious problem in Afghanistan," says Fabiano Franz, projects director for ADRA Afghanistan. "In urban areas, 65 percent of the population is without clean water, and 77 percent have no sanitation facilities. It's even worse in rural areas where about 81 percent of the rural population doesn't have access to safe water, and 92 percent are without access to sanitation facilities. As a result, Afghanistan is rife with cases of diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and malaria."

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.
                                                              -ADRA News Release/AR.

POLAND: European Youth Congress Springboards Christian Action
A representative of Poland's president Aleksander Kwaśniewski welcomed 3,000 Adventist youth and young adults from 30 nations to the European Youth Congress held August 4-8 in Wroclaw. "I see the rich heritage of Adventists in Poland and throughout the world," said Kwaśniewski in the letter read by his representative, "and the great contribution of their charity and educational institutions." Youth directors Paul Tompkins and Corrado Cozzi from the Trans-European and Euro-Africa divisions, together with a large team of helpers, organized the event.

"The congress has been a catalyst for real spiritual transformation in the lives of hundreds of youth and a springboard for concrete Christian action," says Gilbert Cangy, youth director for the Adventist Church in the South Pacific.

During the congress the young adults attended meetings and workshops, participated in a Fun Run, and were involved in witnessing activities.

"To see these youth from all over Europe worship together, fellowship together, pray together, and play together is the beginning of a new day in the youth ministry of these two regions," says world church youth director Baraka Muganda.

Muganda added, however, that new approaches need to be developed to strengthen the ties with young adults who do not closely identify themselves with the Adventist Church.     --Adventist News Review/AR

WISCONSIN: More Than 30,000 Attend Pathfinder Camporee
The largest-ever Pathfinder Camporee, held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, August 10-14, was attended by more than 30,000 Pathfinders and sponsors. Activities included a baptism, aerial shows, precision drill demonstrations, honor classes, and hundreds of daily activities. NAD president Don Schneider offered a free lapel pin to any Pathfinder who prayed with a stranger. Before the end of the camporee, Schneider had given away approximately 1,000 pins. The young people and their leaders also performed more than 100 community service projects in the Oshkosh area, from clearing brush in nature preserves to helping senior citizens in care homes.

Read the full story in the October NAD issue of the Adventist Review.
                                                                        --Friday FAX/AR

News Note