ore than 500 people attended the dedication of the new Atlantic Union Adventist Media (AUAM) production truck, held June 11 at the Linden Adventist Church in Laurelton, Queens, New York. The dedication signals the beginning of a ministry geared to reach residents in New York City and other metropolitan areas in the Atlantic Union territory with the gospel message.

The day's activities, which included Sabbath school, worship service, and the official unveiling and dedication of the truck, were transmitted live on Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN). Representatives from the Greater New York and Northeastern conferences, the Atlantic Union, the North American Division, and 3ABN general manager Mollie Steensen, joined musical artists Yolanda Innocent-Palmer, Arnold Edwards, Yvonne Lewis, the Holmes Sisters, and the Men of Israel as participants in the service.

DEDICATORY PRAYER: Church administrators, pastors, and other workers from the Atlantic Union, Greater New York and Northeastern conferences, and 3ABN participated in a prayer of dedication for the new production truck. [Photo credit: George Johnson]

More than two years ago Atlantic Union president Donald King invited 3ABN to partner with the union in outreach ministry in New York through cable television stations. As a result of this partnership the two conferences in the metropolitan New York area, Greater New York and Northeastern, together with a local New York-based coordinating committee headed by Ruben Carr Jr., conducted aggressive letter-writing and telephone campaigns requesting that 3ABN be available on cable in New York. The campaign officially began with a rally held at the Ephesus Adventist Church in Harlem on July 20, 2002. Since that time rallies to create awareness have been held at churches in the New York City area and transmitted live on 3ABN, resulting in some 2.5 million contacts being made with Time Warner and Cablevision.

The project then received a boost when a generous contribution was made to the Atlantic Union to assist with developing a way of reaching the large populations in New York City and other Northeast urban centers. The AUAM Governing Board was subsequently formed to manage the use and disbursement of the donation as well as to determine sources of additional funds for the project. The decision was made to purchase a production truck, rather than utilizing a fixed facility, and have it customized with the necessary equipment to videotape, edit, and produce local programs. Since that time a church organization contributed the additional funds needed to complete the customization of the production truck. In addition, individuals in the Greater New York and Northeastern conferences have also given generously toward this project.

CHECKING IT OUT: (From left) Ted Prouty, a member of the 3ABN road crew and the camera operator, talks with James Gilley, NAD vice president for evangelism, and Bill Bremner, Greater New York Conference community services director, about the new production truck's interior design. [Photo credit: George Johnson]

"What a great story we have to tell the world," said James Gilley, vice president for evangelism of the North American Division, during the service. "There is only one way to get into all these homes and that is through television." Gilley offered the prayer of dedication during the service while administrators, pastors, and other workers from the Atlantic Union, Greater New York and Northeastern conferences, and 3ABN surrounded the truck.

The production truck will travel throughout the Atlantic Union to record major evangelistic and other significant events. Members of the AUAM Governing Board will meet to make plans and set schedules to record programs that will be broadcast on 3ABN.

"We've got to get the light out [there] so people can see it and get to know Jesus," says King. "We've got to populate heaven with people." Describing the production truck as another avenue of fulfilling the mission of the Atlantic Union Conference, King added that the project will "lead all people, through the power of the everlasting gospel, into a growing, balanced, mature Christian experience to develop the church family, to serve the local community, and to prepare every person for the soon coming of Jesus Christ."

--Ednor A. P. Davison, editor of the Atlantic Union Gleaner and assistant communication director for the Atlantic Union Conference/AR.


Daughter of ADRA Worker Involved
in Cambodian School Siege
Kanika Cowled, the daughter of an Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) worker in Cambodia, is safely back home with her family after four masked gunmen attacked her school on June 16.

About 9:00 a.m. on that Thursday four armed men stormed the Siem Reap International School (a non-Adventist institution) in Siem Reap, Cambodia, taking hostage more than 30 students and teachers. The class that was taken hostage included mostly kindergarten students, ranging in age from two to six years and representing 12 different countries.

Six-year-old Kanika managed to hide in the library, and was released after an hour. The standoff lasted for six hours, leaving one child dead, two-year-old Maxim Michalik from Australia, who was shot during the siege. All four assailants are being detained by police until the trial begins.

Kanika's father, David Cowled, a program advisor for ADRA Cambodia, stated that he was grateful and relieved that his daughter was returned safe and unharmed, but also expressed sadness for the family of the child who was killed. "Our hearts ache for them," said Cowled. "This will be a lifetime of pain for them to bear."

Cowled went on to mention that this experience would not affect his desire to work to improve the lives of Cambodians nor prompt him to remove his daughter from the school, stating that the standoff was an "isolated incident" and not likely to happen again. ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing individual and community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity. Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.--Adventist Development and Relief Agency/AR.

BY BETTINA KRAUSE, special assistant to the General Conference president

he 58th General Conference Session, to be held June 30 to July 9, will focus not just on business items, but will also creatively look at how to answer several pressing issues for the nearly 14 million-strong movement. [More GC Session News]

These issues include high rates of members leaving church fellowship; the challenge of reaching out to secular societies; the urgent need for dedicated leaders to serve a growing church; and the absence of a strong church presence in large -- and growing -- cities of the world.

The business meeting brings together church members from around the world every five years, 2,000 of which vote on important issues facing the church in the coming five years.

This is a rare opportunity, says Pastor Jan Paulsen, world church president. "The business agendas of sessions have come to be viewed as somewhat routine and predictable. But this time we are deliberately saying: 'Let's come together as representatives of our international family and creatively reflect on some significant issues--matters of critical importance for the health of our church, and our ability to engage more effectively in mission.'"

Two agenda items -- Profiling Adventist Leadership and Challenges to Mission 2005 to 2010 -- will highlight these concerns.

A series of five presentations and discussion periods will explore the essential qualities of Adventist leadership. Issues such as integrity, response to diversity, acting with responsibility, and ecclesiastical authority will be discussed against the background of extraordinary church growth, and the increasing need for high-quality, committed leaders.

Five one-hour discussion periods will focus on the church and spiritual life, the church and society, the church and apostasy, the church and the cities, and the church and secularism.

"Recent studies have identified these as areas of serious concern," says Pastor Michael Ryan, a General Conference vice president and director of the Office of Strategic Planning. "We have an extraordinary chance at this session to prayerfully consider these challenges, and to gather input from world church leadership about how we can move forward in the next five years to address these concerns."

For each topic there will be a brief presentation, but the largest portion of time will be reserved for comments and discussion by delegates. The discussion will be recorded, distributed, and will become part of the planning of church leaders as they come together for Annual Council, one of the church's two annual business meetings, later this year, says Ryan.

"The time devoted to these presentations and discussions has just one purpose: to prepare and strengthen our church for the mission with which we have been entrusted," says Paulsen. "Until our Lord returns, this will always be our most pressing responsibility."

More information can be found at www.gcsession.org.

More Religious News
Adventist News Network
Religion News Service
Religion Today