t's time for something that's becoming rare among Adventists--a personal testimony to the goodness of the Lord. My testimony: during the past 12 months I have been more conscious of God's leading than in all my 40 years of ministry.

With my colleagues in the Adventist Review office, I have been involved with a big and complex project--the new international paper for the church, which will be called the Adventist World. General Conference president Jan Paulsen gave us the challenge in February 2004: develop a plan, with costs, for an edition that would circulate throughout the world among Adventists who can read English.

Ever since, we have been pushing the project forward on four fronts: legal and financial, product development, production, and distribution. The further along we went, the more challenges we faced. We were attempting to put together the biggest and most complex publishing venture ever attempted by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

All this in addition to the regular work of the Adventist Review office--we go to press every week of the year, year in and year out. And we have the General Conference session (July 2005) looming before us, when the Adventist Review becomes a daily magazine, producing the Bulletins that contain the official record of the session.

But our God is Yahweh-jireh, "the Lord who provides" (see Gen. 22:14). A year ago we could see only a trackless forest; today we have not only found a path into the forest but are at the point of emerging from the forest. Again and again, in altogether unexpected ways, we have been led to individuals and information that enabled us to discern options and make the appropriate decisions.

If I ever entertained a doubt that the Lord was in this project, it long since was swept away. I personally have experienced in a new and wonderful manner the reality of the divine promise "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9). At a point in my life's work when I expected to be slowing down, I have had to deal with a host of issues outside my previous frame of reference. Instead of working less, I probably am working harder than ever. I bow in humble acknowledgment and gratitude for God's gracious provision.

Here is a summary report of progress along the four fronts I mentioned above:

1. Legal and financial. The General Conference does not have unlimited funds: it operates on a tight budget. Treasurers worked hard to come up with a funding plan. What seemed a difficult, even remote, possibility has been realized.

An important piece of the legal and financial aspects has been the appointment of an international publishing manager. Pastor P. D. Chun, previously president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, agreed to leave his retirement to take up these responsibilities.

2. Product development: Rather than simply adapt the present Adventist Review, the staff prayerfully decided to go back to square one. The Adventist World is a new product, built on the objectives that motivated James White in 1849.

It has a new look, developed by Adventist designer Jeff Dever. I think you will be excited!

3. Production: The initial print run for the Adventist World (September 2005) will be 1,100,000 in English, with more than 300,000 additional copies in Spanish and French. We expect that more than 5 million members, in 10 of the 13 divisions of the world church, will touch this issue.

The Adventist World will be printed on four different presses. We investigated printing possibilities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South Pacific. The final selection of printers was made by the Administrative Committee of the General Conference.

4. Distribution: We have met with leaders of all the divisions involved with the Adventist World. Some face massive problems of distribution; but one by one, step by step, these huge challenges have been overcome.

The entire Adventist Review staff has risen to the task magnificently. Example: Merle Poirier worked all one Sunday into the night sorting through the mass of data from the bidding process, then through the next day--supposedly a holiday--past 10:00 p.m., and then was at the office early the next morning for a conference.

With the Lord leading us on, and with staff like these, the project can only succeed to His glory.

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William G. Johnsson is the editor if the Adventist Review.