WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

BY WENDI ROGERS, Adventist News Network correspondent

ising to the challenge of involving more young people in the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the church's world headquarters and Adventist-laymen's Services and Industries (ASI) are partnering in a global youth witnessing initiative that, so far, has the attention of more than 600,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 30.

In the next 18 months, nearly 19,900 "Voice of Youth" campaigns, or evangelism series, held by young people, are planned in the church's 13 world regions as part of the Elijah Project.

The project idea came after results of a survey in North America over a 10-year period revealed that one of the reasons young people leave the church is their lack of involvement in church functions, says Alfredo Garcia-Marenko, an associate youth director for the General Conference. Though this doesn't apply everywhere across the globe, there are many church regions facing this problem.

"The survey revealed that youth want to be involved. Our challenge is to involve them," says Garcia-Marenko. "I have discovered the young people enjoy being part of a dynamic plan. They also enjoy being part of a winning team with great results for God. I think we are right on target, and I'm sure we will get fantastic results."

"When young people preach the Adventist message, they remain in the Seventh-day Adventist Church -- when we entrust them with the message," Mark Finley, director of the church's Center for Global Evangelism, told church leaders April 13 at Spring Meeting, one of the church's two annual business meetings.

Garcia-Marenko adds, "The Elijah Project is specifically the action plan to call the youth of the church to participate in the mission of the church. [And,] they are responding. The best picture that I see is that all [world church regions] have responded with the organization of youth campaigns in their territories."

There are several reasons to get young people involved, says Denzil McNeilus, former ASI president and supporter of the project. "The primary reason, of course, is to get the message out. The secondary reason is when young people present the message, they're never the same. The message becomes real to them."

McNeilus has witnessed young people working for the church: "We have been involved with the 'Youth for Jesus' program with ASI for the last six summers," he explains, speaking of the effort held in conjunction with the annual ASI convention in the United States. Every summer, young people concentrate their evangelistic work in the metropolitan area where the convention will be held, going door-to-door and holding evening meetings for several weeks. "It's been a remarkable experience -- not only for the young people but also for the people they have touched."

Garcia-Marenko says originally the dream was to have 7,000 campaigns worldwide, however, that number has now more than doubled. Resources, which include a DVD and book that young people will use to help them in their public speaking, have been translated into 33 languages.

Though a major goal of the project is to spread God's word, the Elijah Project committee states they are "convinced that if young people are actively involved in service, their own minds will be saturated with the truth of God's word."

The Elijah Project is a collaborative effort of ASI with three world church offices and departments: the Center for Global Evangelism, Personal Ministries/Sabbath School, and the Youth department.

Local churches interested in participating in the Elijah Project may contact their youth directors at their local or union conference, Garcia-Marenko says.                                           --Adventist News Network

One Student Dies, Two Others Injured in Fire at Southern Adventist University
A fire that broke out at about 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, April 26, on the third floor of Southern Adventist University's women's residence hall claimed the life of one student and sent two others to a local hospital. All 574 residents were evacuated.

Kelly Weimer (right), a junior English major from Woodridge, Illinois, died in the fire. Jen Bigham, a freshman broadcast journalism and psychology major from Biglerville, Pennsylvania, and Cassandra Snyder, a freshman general studies student from Landsdowne, Pennsylvania, were treated and released later that day from Erlanger Medical Center.

"This has been the most difficult day of my presidency here at Southern Adventist University," said school president Gordon Bietz. "I received the call about the residence hall fire shortly after 4 a.m., and later learned that one of our Thatcher Hall residents, Kelly Weimer, perished on the third floor of the building while trying to evacuate.

"My heart goes out to Kelly's family and friends," he added.

According to school officials, the fire was contained to a kitchenette/laundry, a public restroom, and a lobby of the west wing of Thatcher Hall's third floor. University safety officials said the fire wall in that wing helped to limit the spread of the blaze. The fire alarm did sound, and women evacuated the building in a timely fashion. Twenty-two fire trucks from area fire companies responded, and a fire department chief said the blaze was contained within 30 minutes.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Bob Pollard, assistant director from the State Fire Marshall's Office, announced that the fire scene investigation was complete and that the fire had been ruled an accident. Pollard spoke to a small group of administrators, police officers, and campus safety officials who gathered to take a walk-through of the fire-damaged areas.

"We've ruled out electrical, and we've ruled out arson," said Pollard. "Every system the university had worked perfectly and functioned 100 percent. The smoke alarms did what they were supposed to do. The alarms went off when there was only a small amount of smoke in the building, which gave the residents time to evacuate.

"A sprinkler system would not have avoided the loss of life in this situation," Pollard added. "Sprinklers activate after smoke alarms and only when the temperature has reached well over 200 degrees."

"We can't explain why one resident went toward the fire instead of away from it while everyone was exiting the building. This is a great tragedy that there is no explanation for," he continued.

Pollard said that the prior planning and training the university had done was evident. He praised the university's campus safety officials for their actions responding to the fire, and also credited the fire department's quick response for saving many lives. School officials said that Thatcher Hall was built in 1968 and is compliant with state fire codes for a building of that age.

Remembering the victim, former Adventist Review summer intern and Southern Adventist University student Mindy Jamieson said, "Kelly loved life and enjoyed it to the fullest. She had a positive impact on other students and people she didn't even know well. And she was always sweet and smiling, an inspiration to many, including me.

"Kelly was so proud of being Irish," Jamieson added. "On St. Patrick's Day she dyed her hair green and wore a four-leaf clover headband."

In a written statement released Tuesday afternoon, Bietz thanked the students for their prayers and support; the university's Social Work Department, who coordinated donations of supplies to the students; all the counseling volunteers who came in from other universities, colleges, and various agencies across town; and the members of the fire departments and the police department who responded to the fire.

Steve Pawluk, senior vice president for academic administration, reported on Wednesday that the university's Plant Services Department has begun repair work on the residence hall. He also said that a professional hotline service operated by trained counselors at Kettering Medical Center in Ohio-Ministry Care Line-is available to the university's students and their families.

A Service of Remembrance for Weimar was held Tuesday evening at the school.

To contribute to an emergency assistance fund to help students with financial needs related to the fire, call 1-800-SOUTHERN or go to advancement.southern.edu. Additional information and photos of the fire are available at www.southern.edu.  --Southern Adventist University/AR

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