WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

urricanes Charley and Frances have blasted through the Caribbean and Florida, leaving behind trails of destruction and residents who are trying to rebuild their lives and their property. Now a third hurricane, Ivan, with wind gusts of up to 200 mph, has caused devastation in Grenada, Jamaica, and the Caymen Islands, leaving at least 65 people dead. At press time, the Category 5 hurricane is headed for the Gulf Coast of the U.S.

Two Adventist church members in Grenada, a mother and daughter, were killed during the storm when a wall collapsed on them. According to Caribbean Union Conference president Jansen Trotman, who visited the island, no more deaths among church members have so far been reported.

Government officials in Grenada have stated that 90 percent of the homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed. The roof of the Grenada Conference office was damaged when hurricane winds dropped a roof from another building on top of it.

According to Grenada Conference treasurer Donald Modeste, looting and vandalism are rampant. Following the storm, Modeste found four men in the Grenada Conference health food store who were not only stealing food items but destroying other things they had no use for. "They smashed in doors, damaged computers, and dumped books into the water," says Modeste.

"The biggest problem is getting food to the poor people-the ones who need it the most," adds Modeste as he describes conditions on the island. "We are our own worst enemies. Trucks carrying food and other supplies are being robbed. The situation is dangerous."

Modeste also reports that no gasoline is available yet for private vehicles, and he doesn't anticipate having electricity again until late December or early January. The two Adventist schools in Grenada received extensive damage and will be closed until next year. Running water in homes is slowly being restored; drinking water, however, still must be boiled.

"I've been through these tropical storms, and they're not pretty," says Adventist Review associate editor Roy Adams, who was born and raised in Grenada and has family members living there. "I've seen the dead lying under heavy objects that had fallen on them, with the living scrambling to survive. In the present calamity, my own family experienced severe property loss, but are all safe, thank God. I grieve for others who were not so fortunate."

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is assisting with relief efforts in Grenada as well as in Cuba and Jamaica. Adventist disaster response teams and hundreds of volunteers are working with local government organizations in Florida and the Caribbean by providing residents with hot meals as well as supplies to help rebuild homes and other facilities.

Local Florida radio stations and newspapers have noticed and reported on the Adventist kitchen on wheels and the thousands of meals that have been served to residents every day following Charley and Frances. They also anticipate a strong Adventist presence in the wake of Hurricane Ivan.

After hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed or flooded and thousands left without electricity and water in the Bahamas as a result of Frances, Bahamas Conference president Leonard Johnson met with other Adventist leaders and pastors in Nassau to coordinate local response efforts in the community. Pathfinders, community services personnel, and other Adventist volunteers participated in the church's initial response approach in Nassau to help clean up homes, offer counseling, and restore a sense of hope in the community. Johnson says the church will partner with the National Emergency Management Agency of the Bahamas to distribute water and food to the affected church members and communities, and that the islands' ADRA office is organizing to coordinate funds to aid victims in the coming days. "We are committed to bringing restoration, relief, and hope to the people of the Bahamas," says Johnson.

To help ADRA with hurricane relief, go to www.adra.org.

RUSSIA: Adventists Offer Support
to School Siege Victims and Families
Although the very small eight-member community of Adventists in Beslan, Northern Ossetia, were spared direct harm from the recent terrorist siege at a local school, church members there and throughout the Euro-Asia region are responding with prayer and support for victims.

"In the territory of Northern Ossetia there are only two Adventists churches-in Vladikavkaz and Mozdok; also we have two groups in Beslan and Alagir," explains Valery Ivanov, communication director for the Euro-Asia church region. "All together, there are 146 Adventist members in the immediate area, but none was injured in the tragedy."

Ivanov adds, "We suffer [along] with our brothers and sisters from the Baptist church. There are 200 Baptists in Beslan, and the Baptist church elder and his five children were all hostages. His brother has six children, of which three were hostages. There were [also] children from other Christian families." Both Baptist families lost children in the siege, Ivanov said.

The local Adventist church expressed its condolences to the leaders of Baptist churches in Russia and in the Northern Caucasus region. Members also donated 30,000 rubles (approximately U.S.$1,027) to help the victims, and are raising more funds.

Ivanov says local church leaders participated in funeral services held in the Beslan Baptist church, and Adventists have been visiting hospitalized children and their relatives.

In a message to Russian president Vladimir V. Putin, Euro-Asia Division president Artur A. Stele offered sympathy during this time.

"We express deep condolences to the relatives and friends of hostages who have been killed in Beslan, [as well as] to those who died in the plane crashes on August 24 and those killed at the Rizhskaya metro [subway] station in Moscow as a result of terrorist attacks," wrote Stele. "Thousands of Adventist churches in deep sorrow pray that God will give all Russians strength and endurance to stand the loss of children, relatives, and friends."           --Adventist News Network/AR.

IRAQ: Terrorists Target Adventist Church
A car bomb with an estimated 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of dynamite was detonated outside the Adventist church in Baghdad late Friday evening, September 10, but no one was injured, reported Homer Trecartin, secretary-treasurer of the Middle East Union. Church members had already gone home after holding services that evening. A guard remained, but he was not harmed.

The car was parked on the side of the building, adjacent to the church vestry and electrical control room, which also served as a storage area. The ensuing fire gutted both these rooms, and most of the windows in the main worship area were blown in. Oweda Wahba, pastor of the Baghdad Adventist Church, feels that the flying glass would have caused serious injuries to worshipers had the car bomb gone off during regular Sabbath morning services.

"It appears to have been a deliberate attack on the church since there are no other significant targets on the side [of the street] that was bombed," says Trecartin.

"It is hard to imagine the daily stresses the people are under," says Michael Porter, president of the Adventist Church in the Middle East. "We earnestly pray for restraint and that the various factions in Iraq will end their quarrels."                         --Adventist News Network/AR.

WORLD CHURCH: Hope for Big Cities
Offering Will Fund New Churches
The 2005 General Conference offering-Hope for Big Cities-will provide funds for world divisions to plan long-term projects to establish and nurture new churches in major cities of the world. "Worldwide, most of the Adventist Church's growth has been in rural areas," says Mike Ryan, vice president of the world church and head of the Global Mission initiative. "And yet, the cities are the fastest growing areas of the world."

Three offerings for this project will be collected (in North America on October 9, 2004 and April 9 and July 9, 2005). So far more than 60 cities have been chosen, including Sydney, Paris, Bangkok, Montreal, Bangalore, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Istanbul. "We will not have finished the mission of Christ-the mission we have been sent to do-until we reach into these huge urban centers with the gospel of Jesus Christ," says Jan Paulsen, president of the world church.

For more information and to donate online, visit www.hope4cities.org.
                                                                 --Global Mission/AR.

WORLD CHURCH: Notice to ADRA Constituency
To the members of the constituency of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International: As per the by-laws of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International, this notice is to call the constituency to a meeting at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, October 12, 2004, at 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, to discuss items related to the normal business of the agency, plus other items that may be added at the time of the meeting.
     --Lowell Cooper, board chair; Charles Sandefur, board secretary.

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