B R E A K I N G N E W S
Adventists Respond to
Terrorist Attacks
COMPILED BY CELESTE RYAN, Media Relations Director, North American Division
New Song Reflects on Tragedy
Connie Vandeman Jeffery, co-host of Voice of Prophecy radio broadcasts, has written a song in response to the September 11 tragedy entitled "Jar of Tears" that was included in a special broadcast of the radio show aired in early October.
"I was feeling so utterly helpless out here in California, and I just ached to do something to help," Ms. Jeffrey said. Recalling a story her father, the late television evangelist George Vandeman, often shared about a jar of our tears kept by God, she was inspired to pen and record the song.
Voice of Prophecy has sent the single to 160 radio stations. It can also be accessed online at www.vop.com with a short commentary by program host Lonnie Melashenko. --Eldyn Karr, Voice of Prophecy
Church Places Newspaper Ads
In a full-page advertisement in the September 24 edition of the New York Times, and the September 28 edition of the Washington Post, the Seventh-day Adventist Church pledged its solidarity in prayer for those suffering in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States.
"We wanted to reach out with a simple message of heartfelt sympathy and support," says Larry Colburn, assistant to the president of the Adventist Church worldwide. "And we felt the best way to do this would be to affirm that our members around the world are united in prayer for all those touched by the tragic events of September 11."
Praying--for the families, for our leaders, for our cities, for our world," read the message, sponsored by the Adventist Church's General Conference, which ran on page A13 of the New York Times.
In a similar show of solidarity with New Yorkers, the Greater New York Conference, the Northeastern Conference, and the Atlantic Union Conference have placed ads that appeared October 1 in the New York Times, Daily News, and New York Newsday. The ads read: "In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, we too feel the horror, we too feel the pain, we too have lost loved ones, we too have cried . . . And we are praying . . . for the families of those lost to terrorism, for our heroic police, firefighters, and rescue workers. We are the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Our doors are open. We're here for you."
"Now is not the time for us to be silent," says Don King, president of Northeastern Conference. "This is an ideal time for Adventists to share our hope and show our support for our friends and neighbors." --Bettina Krause, General Conference Communications, and C. A. Murray, Northeastern Conference Communications
Adventist Health System Gives $50,000 Gift to ADRA
Adventist Health System is contributing $50,000 to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) "9-11 fund," supporting recovery efforts from the September 11 tragedies.
Corporate office employees overwhelmingly voiced their support and desire to cancel their traditional Christmas party and donate portions of that budget to relief efforts.
In addition, an employee fundraiser is being planned for the near future to collect supplemental dollars to assist with specific community needs.
"While I support wholeheartedly the efforts of our government and armed forces to end terrorism," says Tom Werner, President/CEO of the Orlando-based corporation, "I am thankful that I work for an organization that exists to sustain and improve life and points people to the ultimate answer for the evils that plague this world." -�Christine To, Adventist Health System
Metro Ministries Provides Counseling Services
Metro Ministries has been helping Church of the Advent Hope in Manhattan and Faith Community Fellowship, a church-plant project in Hoboken, New Jersey, to operate community counseling services, drop-in prayer meetings each evening, and seminars for the public on grief and stress. More than 50 volunteers came from Andrews University, Columbia Union College, and Loma Linda University, more than half of them faculty members and social work and mental health professionals.
The first team arrived on September 13, within 48 hours of the tragic events. Both congregations have had informal prayer meetings/group sessions each night, and teams of volunteers have spent significant time on the streets, handing out announcements of the counseling services, seminars, and prayer meetings. This has also given them opportunities to talk with hundreds of people, sharing hope and praying with a number of them.
Pastor Samir Selmanovic led the program at the Church of the Advent Hope, 111 East 87th Street, with the help of Fred Washington and Karen Stockton, professors of social work at Andrews University, and John Gavin, social work instructor at Columbia Union College (CUC).
Cornel Rusu, director of community ministries for Metro Ministries, led the program in Hoboken from the community center and bookstore operated by the church-planting project at 511 Willow Street, with the help of Gavin and Zack Plantak, chair of the religion department at CUC.
Janice Wright, program coordinator for Metro Ministries, also worked with the pastor and a few members at Manhattan Adventist Church on Eleventh Street in Lower Manhattan for the first several days with a similar drop-in center operation. She also represented the Seventh-day Adventist Church as one of the speakers at an interfaith service on September 12 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, organized by the New York Council of Churches.
Total attendance at the daily meetings, individuals coming for counseling, and people contacted on the streets numbered in the thousands. The program was launched with an ad in the New York Times on September 13, inviting the public to participate in special services of prayer and remembrance at the three Adventist churches on Sabbath, September 15. The services were well attended. -�Monte Sahlin, Columbia Union Conference
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