NEWSBREAK

Mississippi Governor Worships with Jackson-Berean Congregation
n Sabbath, September 6, Ronnie Musgrove, governor of Mississippi and vice-chair of the National Governor's Association, visited the Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, spending the entire worship service with them. His visit was in response to an invitation from the pastor, Washington Johnson, II.

The pastor and his wife extended warm greetings to the governor on behalf of the church and presented him with The Conflict of the Ages Series. Presentations were also made by the church school principal, and a brief history of Adventism among the black people of Mississippi was read.

The governor's response to the congregation indicated his desire to see the people of Mississippi succeed, and included a scriptural reference from Matthew 25:40. "To me, we can do no less than the biblical principle that Jesus said, 'As you do to the least of these, you do unto me.' And surely as a state, we can follow that same principle," said Musgrove.

In 2002, The Great Controversy was distributed to every member of the Mississippi State Senate and House and to black mayors from around the United States who attended the National Conference of Black Mayors held in Mississippi. Plans are currently underway to distribute The Desire of Ages to elected officials in Jackson over the next year. Johnson shared that this should be the norm for Seventh-day Adventist churches because of the denomination's unique message and corresponding religious liberty implications. "With the soon and imminent return of Jesus Christ, it is imperative that we present the gospel to government leaders," says Johnson. In keeping with this message, Johnson has invited as many government officials as possible to Berean's worship services. In the past three years the church's guests have included United States representative Bennie Thompson, former governor William Winter, former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Espy, and Jackson mayor Harvey Johnson, as well as many other members of the Mississippi Senate and House.

Adventists Lead U.S. Senate in September 11 Service
The U.S. Senate community met on September 11 to remember those who lost their lives two years ago in the terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Barry Black, an Adventist minister and chaplain of the U.S. Senate, presided over the memorial service, while musical selections were provided by Wintley Phipps and George and Anika Sampson, all of whom are Seventh-day Adventists. The Senate community rose to their feet at the conclusion of the Sampsons' moving musical tribute to God, "Great is Thy Faithfulness."

The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, and the minority leader, Tom Daschle, both spoke during the service. In addition, passages were read by Rabbi Shemtov and Imam Saleem. Daniel Coughlin, the U.S. House of Representatives Chaplain, concluded the service with prayer.

News Notes

The Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division recently held its first women's ministry congress in Gaborone, Botswana. Two thousand women from 13 African nations participated in the congress. Ardis Stenbakken, General Conference women's ministries director, Heather-Dawn Small, General Conference associate women's ministries director, and Hyveth Williams, senior pastor at Loma Linda University church, were the featured speakers.

The president of Botswana, Festus Mogae and members of parliament attended the opening day. They were so impressed that the members of parliament continued to attend each day to hear the devotional message by Williams.

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