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Turkmenistan President Ordered
Destruction of Adventist Church

he order to destroy a Seventh-day Adventist church in Turkmenistan November 1999 came from the president of the country, according to a defecting foreign minister.

In an exclusive interview with Keston News Service on November 6, Boris Shikhmuradov, former foreign minister and recent ambassador to China, said authoritarian President Saparmurat Niyazov was responsible for the bulldozing of an Adventist church in Ashkhabad.

Shikhmuradov said President Niyazov makes all decisions about religious affairs personally, and that every believer is controlled by the KNB--successor to the KGB. Christianity has been crushed, and other religious minorities are also persecuted, Shikhmuradov told Keston just days after being dismissed from his post.

Thousands of Christians from all over the world participated in a letter-writing campaign protesting the Turkmenistan regime's actions against different religious groups including Muslims, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Bahai's. Many church buildings have been destroyed and religious leaders imprisoned. The destruction of the Adventist church in Ashkhabad, which was recorded on videotape and taken out of the country, aroused protests internationally.

Shikhmuradov, now in Russia, says Turkmenistan's National Security Committee, the KNB, is an internal police service to control the country. Every believer is monitored. "Turkmenistan needs religious liberty immediately," Shikhmuradov told Keston. "The state must not interfere in the life of religious groups."

Reacting to the Keston News Service report, John Graz, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, said, "I am not really surprised about the role of the high authorities of the state in religious affairs of Turkmenistan. One hopes that the Turkmenistan people and their authorities will understand that intolerance and persecution is not the best way to assume a transition toward a democratic society." --Adventist News Network

Evangelistic Thrust Brings 2,230
Baptisms in Northwest Brazil
This year, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Teresina, Piaui, Brazil, increased its membership by nearly 50 percent with the baptism of 2,230 members in the area, reports the South American Division.

Until 2001, membership stood at 4,700. But with the assistance of many church entities, including the Brazilian Voice of Prophecy, a theological seminary, and local congregations, membership growth soared.

"Joining forces with a strategy of integrated evangelism is the secret to our success," said Helder Roger, president of the Adventist Church in Northeast Brazil, who thanked those participating in the meetings. "It was touching to see the cooperation of everyone including volunteers, theology students, and pastors."

Roger spoke at the Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders' meeting of 80 church officials in Brasilia, reports Siloe de Almeida, South American Division communication director.

Adventists Produce NBC Christmas Show
For the second time in seven years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been asked to produce a Christmas worship program for a major television network in North America. In 2001 the Adventist church will produced "The Greatest Gift" for NBC. In 1994, the church produced "A New Noel" for ABC.

This year's 60-minute program featured music by the Harlem Boys Choir, Sandi Patty, Wintley Phipps, and the Brockton Advent Children's Choir from Brockton, Massachussetts. The featured speaker was be Rear Admiral Barry Black, an Adventist who is chief of chaplains for the U.S. Navy. The program was be taped at the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Manhattan in New York City on November 25.

Another highlight of the program was a reading of the Christmas story by people intimately involved in the September 11 attacks on America. Three fire fighters, a police officer, an emergency room physician, and family members of those who died shared the story of Jesus' birth--and of His triumphant return. The final passage of the Christmas reading, Revelation 21, the story of the Holy City's return to the New Earth, was a very moving part of the Christmas program.

"The Greatest Gift" will air both on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. NBC affiliates are likely to broadcast only one of the two airings, so viewers need to check local listings for the exact time and station.

ADRA Continues Response to Flooding in Mali
Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) is helping survivors of the unprecedented flooding of the Niger River and its tributaries in the Western Africa country of Mali, reports Norma Sahlin, ADRA media relations manager.

While flooding occurs periodically along the Niger River, water rose to unprecedented heights in late September. It raged across dry lands where more than 2,300 people were severely affected by the loss of homes and farmland.

ADRA/Mali is providing blankets, clothing, and sleeping mats for nearly 1,000 people who have received no other help. ADRA volunteers have interviewed flood survivors and identified those most in need.

Since 1985, ADRA Mali has implemented a variety of development and relief projects. In long-term development, ADRA Mali is carrying out an integrated development program that includes environmental protection, agriculture, water and sanitation, micro-enterprises, literacy training, and promotion of primary education.

Mali is the largest country in West Africa and the seventh largest on the continent. Nearly 90 percent of Malians reside in the fertile southern third of the country, while 10 percent (mostly nomadic people) live in the arid north. Most of the nearly 11 million people live in rural areas.

News Notes

Dennis Carlson, assistant to the North American Division president for administration, was recently elected Mid-America Union Conference president. Carlson replaces Charles Sandefur, who became president of Adventist Development and Relief Agency International.

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