WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

BY KURT JOHNSON, Voice of Prophecy Bible school director and world Bible school coordinator for the General Conference

welve months after the launch of Sow 1 Billion in North America, this unprecedented initiative to "blanket the world with Bible studies" is yielding exciting results. Church members in North America are helping to distribute 26 million Bible study enrollment cards as part of the global Sow 1 Billion project. For many participants, the experience is helping to foster a new sense of confidence in sharing their faith.

"Sow 1 Billion helped the Oklahoma Conference achieve the highest number of baptisms in twenty years," says Betty Eaton, secretary for the conference's communication department. "It has empowered members to participate as never before and created an environment of teamwork."

According to Eaton, the program is revitalizing some small churches, helping them to connect with local people who are searching for truth. She cites the experience of Chickasha Church in Oklahoma (featured in the Adventist Review, December 9, 2004), which has doubled its membership and tripled its attendance.

REAPING TIME: A combination of Sow 1 Billion mass mailings and personal invitations has resulted in 21 people being baptized during an evangelistic series in Montana.

In the small town of Guymon, western Oklahoma, the local Adventist church had an average of 15 people attending each Sabbath. Early in 2004, Sow 1 Billion cards were mailed to 5,000 households in the local area. Thirty-seven people requested Bible studies, and two of these people have already been baptized.

Rhoda Fowler, one of the newest members of the Guymon church, is a new Adventist, but not a new Christian. She already leads out regularly as Sabbath school superintendent and participates in other church activities.

Kim Peterson, the church member who delivered the Bible studies to Fowler, says Sow 1 Billion has "really added to our church and got us motivated. It proved to us that there are people just ready and waiting to be a part of the Lord's work."

The Sow 1 Billion concept began as a dream of Adventist-Laymen's Services and Industries members and world church leadership to spread Bible study invitations "like the leaves of autumn." The plan is simple: to print 1 billion Bible study enrollment cards worldwide, with church members helping to distribute these invitations and follow up on Bible lesson requests.

In late 2003, under the leadership of North American Division president Don Schneider and vice president Debra Brill, 26 million enrollment cards were printed. Every Adventist church was sent an invitation through its local conference to receive free enrollment cards. Fifteen million cards were printed with the Voice of Prophecy Bible School's return address, while 11 million cards list the return address of a conference or local church. Church members and conferences have already distributed millions of these cards and will continue their efforts throughout 2005.

So far the Voice of Prophecy Bible School has received nearly 30,000 Sow 1 Billion requests for Bible studies, and requests continue to flow in. This total does not reflect responses to the 11 million cards that had return addresses of conferences or local churches.

Willie Kately from Libby, Montana, has reason to be thankful for the Sow 1 Billion initiative. Kately desired a deeper understanding of the Bible. One day he went to his mailbox and found the enrollment card offering free Bible study guides. "I felt God's leading," says Kately. "I was finally going to get my questions answered and discover the truths of the Bible. The more I studied the guides along with my Bible, the more eager I became to finish the lesson and [begin] the next one."

CELEBRATING NEW MEMBERS: Because of Sow 1 Billion, Rhoda Fowler (right), was recently baptized as a member of the Guymon, Oklahoma, Adventist Church by church pastor Cesar Perozo (left).

When the church's pastor, Donovan Kack, and member Sharron Rudig visited Kately to present him a diploma, he hugged them, saying: "The books and guides you sent me are wonderful! I love them. I love reading and studying about Jesus."

Kately joined 125 others from the Libby, Thompson Falls, and Eureka communities in responding to the Bible study request cards. A combination of mass mailings and personal invitations has resulted in 21 people being baptized during an evangelistic series led by Jac and Dena Colon.

Bettina Krause, assistant to the General Conference president, describes the response from every part of the world field as "extraordinary." But in talking about numbers and statistics, she says it's important not to lose focus on what this initiative is all about-connecting people with God's word-people such as Rolando Gonzalo Ojeda Sales from Chile, who was one of millions in South America who received a Sow 1 Billion Bible study invitation last year. Rolando, a paraplegic, requested Bible studies and began attending the Central Paillaco Adventist Church. At a recent district youth congress he asked for some time to address those present. He expressed the new joy he had found in Jesus Christ, and announced that he would be baptized on January 10, 2005-his birthday.

These efforts in North America represent just one part of the worldwide Sow 1 Billion initiative. A special Sow 1 Billion report is currently being prepared for presentation at the General Conference session in St. Louis later this year.

For more information and stories about Sow 1 Billion, visit the Adventist Review online at www.adventistreview.org.

BY JONATHAN MENT, Freeman Staff

The following article was reprinted with permission from the February 5 issue of the Daily Freeman newspaper. Greater New York Conference leaders report that the conference constituency had voted sell the nursing home and retirement center more than a year ago. -- Editor

he Adventist Nursing Home, saddled with debts totaling $3.2 million, has filed for bankruptcy.

At the same time, the company that's in the process of buying the 120-bed Adventist facility has signed a six-year contract with employees of the home who are represented by Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.

"(Bankruptcy) is part of the reorganization," said Bill McGregor, the nursing home's administrator. "That's going to give them (the new owner) a fresh start and ... get us on a sound financial footing."

The nursing home filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors on Jan. 31 and immediately was placed in receivership under the supervision of RLY Management, LLC, of Livingston.

RLY Management's president is Raphael Yenowitz, administrator of the 120-bed Hyde Park Nursing Home in Staatsburg and a partner in Livingston Ventures, which is in the process of buying the Adventist home.

Yenowitz could not be reached for comment on Friday, but McGregor said the new owner plans to convert the not-for-profit facility into a for-profit nursing home.

McGregor said the home operated at a $750,000 deficit in 2004 and a loss of between $500,000 and $600,000 in 2003.

The Adventist home currently has 96 residents, but the 24 empty beds are only partly to blame for the facility's financial problems. Rising health-care costs and declining government reimbursements also are problems, McGregor said.

"Some of it is what we call 'case mix,'" said McGregor, who will stay on as administrator after the sale. "We get reimbursed on the amount of care our patients need," and many don't need a high level of care.

Adventist's resident population has fallen as low as 90 in recent weeks, in part because admissions were suspended amid fears of a flu outbreak.

But "now we're open for business and looking for people to come for the care we provide," McGregor said.

"We're looking to change that (case) mix," he said. "We'll continue to care for the ones who don't need as much care. We have a great rehab program. ... We want to evaluate if we can get the more intense-care (residents)."

That would translate into higher reimbursements from the government.

"We've notified our employees ... and Mr. Yenowitz was here letting them know we're looking to reorganize financially and get on that stable footing," McGregor said. "This is a turning point. ... The employees are looking forward to this.

"They realize we've been under financial strain and it's been difficult," he said.

Workers at the Adventist home voted in 2003 to join Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union and the union twice has voted to strike.

In November 2003, a strike was authorized after contract negotiations broke down. In November 2004, union members voted to strike when a plan to sell the facility to Livingston Ventures was scrapped in favor of a better offer from Connecticut-based Long Hills.

Long Hills withdrew its offer when the strike plan was announced, and Yenowitz's group returned.

Local 1199 represents about 115 employees at the nursing home. Details of the new contract were not available.             © Daily Freeman 2005

Seminar Encourages Leaders to
Challenge Young People in South Africa
On a continent where 75 to 80 percent of Adventist church membership is under 30 years of age, a youth conference was held for youth leaders January 31 to February 5 in Cape Town, South Africa. The gathering attracted some 200 youth pastors, directors, and other church leaders.

Topics discussed included the philosophy of Adventist youth ministry, empowering young adults, health and the spread of AIDS, and the structure of youth ministry. The conference also offered certification in youth ministries.

Baraka Muganda, youth ministries director for the World Church, underlined one point he made repeatedly to the youth leaders in South Africa-to know that it is OK to challenge young adults to become Bible-based Christians.

"A strong youth ministry is not about babysitting and entertaining youth," he said. "We've got to create opportunities for them to participate in the mission of the church.

"[Youth] come to church because they are tired of what is out there," Muganda added. "You have to challenge them to read the Bible. Challenge them to witness. Challenge them to pray. Challenge them to stand up in the last days for Jesus Christ. And challenge them to develop Christian principles."

The Adventist church in South Africa has more than 95,000 members.

New Georgia-Cumberland
Conference President Elected

Ed Wright

Ed Wright, senior pastor of the Collegedale, Tennessee, Adventist Church, is the new president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference. He fills the vacancy left when former president Dave Cress was killed in a plane crash near Collegedale on December 2, 2004. Cress, as well as the conference vice president for administration, the assistant to the president, the communication director, and the pilot, died when their Cessna 421 crashed shortly after takeoff.

Wright has served as a pastor of the 3,000-member Collegedale church since 1985. His role changed from young adult and family life pastor to senior pastor in July 1994. He has also served as a pastor for the Central California Conference.

MEXICO: First Stone Laid for New Union Office
Church leaders have laid the first stone for what will be the new office headquarters for the Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union Mission. General Conference president Jan Paulsen and Inter-American Division president Israel Leito were among the more than 200 church administrators and members who attended the January 31 ceremony held in Puebla City, Puebla, Mexico.

According to Inter-Oceanic Union Mission president Cesar Gomez, the new facility will be located on an 11,700 square-meter (2.89 square acres) property south of Mexico City, where church operations have been led since the union was organized in 2001. Church workers until now have been headquartered in a house converted into an office. Gomez adds that the construction of the new office is expected to be completed this summer, and will have room for more than 35 employees.

There are more than 157,600 Adventists worshipping in 829 churches in the Inter-Oceanic Mexican region.            --Inter-American Division/AR.

Online Broadcasting Makes News in Santa Barbara
A recent press release about the Santa Barbara Adventist Church's online church services, sent out by the church's Web hosting company, Trivision Solutions, caught the attention of local TV, radio, and newspaper reporters and resulted in repeated coverage and an increased awareness of the church in the local community.

"We saw this ministry as a wonderful opportunity to get the good news of salvation to people throughout the world, to give them a positive message of hope," says the church's senior pastor, Pete Geli. "I've received communications from people all over the world-from Germany, Australia, Argentina, Russia, China, Iraq-sharing with me how viewing our services has helped them."

"We saw the opportunity [of developing this ministry], and we said, 'Let's seize the moment,' adds Geli. "God wants us to be the head and not the tail, to be on the cutting edge."

According to Geli, the ministry has provided unique witnessing opportunities. The TV news reporters asked him what Adventists believe, giving him a chance to talk with them about some of the church's beliefs. Geli added that as a result of the online ministry, people who had not attended church for many years are now back, many who had never before opened their hearts to God have now done so, and even troops serving in Iraq are able to watch the programs. One local chaplain, while serving in Iraq, was able to see his wife singing in a Santa Barbara service.

"It's been exciting to see how the Lord is blessing," says Geli.

The Santa Barbara church has a 400-plus ethnically diverse membership. Its online broadcast ministry began in June 2003, and cameras and other equipment have been recently updated to enhance the ministry.

For more information, go to sbsdachurch.com.

Paradise Valley Hospital Names New President
Alan Soderblom has been named president and chief executive officer of Paradise Valley Hospital, located in National City, California. He assumed his new role on January 8, replacing Terrence Hansen, who announced his retirement last November.

Soderblom has served as vice president for finance and chief financial officer for the 301-bed facility since 2001. Previously he was vice president of Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center.

Religious Teens Tend to Be
More Academic, Confident, Chaste
A new survey of approximately 3,000 teenagers and their parents finds that more than four in five young adults say religion is important in their lives. Among religiously active teens-those who attend services weekly and belong to a youth group-their faith appears to be making a significant difference in their behavior.

The National Study of Youth and Religion, described as the most comprehensive research ever done on faith and adolescence, revealed that such teens are more likely to (1) do better in school; (2) feel better about themselves; (3) shun alcohol, drugs, and sex; (4) care about the poor; and (5) make moral choices based on what is right rather than what would make them happy.

Researchers considered variables such as the possibility that more obedient youngsters are more likely to attend church, and still found that "religious faith and practice themselves exert significant positive . . . influences on the lives of teenagers, helping to foster healthier, more engaged adolescents who live more constructive and promising lives."

NEWS COMMENTARY

What Hath eBay Wrought?

BY GARY SWANSON, editor of CQ (Collegiate Quarterly)

wenty-year-old Andrew Fischer, a Web designer from Omaha, Nebraska, recently offered his forehead as space for an advertising message. "People will always comment on something out of the ordinary," Fischer proclaimed in his sales pitch on eBay. "People like weird."

No argument there.

But it isn't as if Fischer has an especially large forehead. Nor is he one of those who will do anything--no matter how offensive or outrageous--for the right price. Apparently he isn't quite the kind, for example, who would appear on a TV show like Fear Factor. (A viewer is currently suing NBC for $2.5 million. He claims that he threw up because of an episode in which contestants of this show ate, well, something downright revolting. [You don't want to know.])

No, Fischer is not of that ilk. He did stipulate some standards: no crude or tasteless messages that would be unacceptable in traditional advertising formats. Sounds reasonable enough, but who would pay good money for a single individual in Omaha, Nebraska, to wear a logo or message on his forehead?

Apparently at least one company saw some merit in this idea. The company that produces SnoreStop, a snoring remedy, has paid Andrew Fischer, entrepreneur, the sum of $37,375 to advertise its product on his forehead for 30 days.

"I look forward," commented SnoreStop CEO Christian de Rivel, "to an enjoyable association with Andrew-a man who clearly has a head for business in every sense of the word."

Thanks to the media and the Internet--and some creative thinking--a single individual can have an international impact that far transcends what you'd expect. The real question is, If you had the chance, what would your message be?

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