WORLD NEWS & PERSPECTIVES

omania's national leaders recently awarded John Graz, director of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department for the Adventist Church, secretary-general for the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), and secretary for the Christian World Communion, the National Medal "For Merit" in rank of Commander.

The award is in recognition of "his contribution to the consolidation of peace and social harmony and to the promotion of human rights and the fundamental freedoms," said President Ion Iliescu of Romania. It also "represents the recognition of the International Religious Liberty Association and of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the contributions to the development of peace and social harmony, especially religious rights and freedoms," said Viorel Dima, general secretary of the Conscience and Liberty Association, a European religious liberty organization similar to the IRLA.

Graz's long-standing relationship with government and religious leaders in Romania began in the late '80s with his involvement in training young people for leadership. In more recent years Graz has trained public authorities and religious leaders about religious freedom during the time of Romania's transition from Communism.

"I am honored to be given such an award," says Graz. "It shows that the highest authorities in Romania appreciate our contribution in such a sensitive area as religious freedom."

The IRLA (a non-sectarian organization) was established in 1893 to promote and defend religious freedom for all people. To learn more about the IRLA, visit www.irla.org.       --Public Affairs and Religious Liberty/AR

Wintley Phipps Sings for US Presidential Inauguration
On the steps of the capitol on January 20 in honor the of inauguration of the country's 43rd president, George W. Bush, Adventist pastor and musician Wintley Phipps sang a song written in 1997 by U.S. senator Orrin Hatch and Janice Kapp Perry titled "Heal Our Land."* Phipps is founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, an online Christian academic resource, and has also served as senior pastor of churches in the Washington, D.C. area. He is currently pastor of the Palm Bay Adventist Church in Florida.

Also performing during the inauguration ceremonies were Ring of Fire, an internationally renowned bell choir whose musicians are alumni of Tualatin Valley Junior Academy in Hillsboro, Oregon, and a bell choir comprising students in grades 7 to 10 from C. F. Richards Junior Academy in Stanton, Virginia.

Fire Damage at Detroit Church Tallies Near $2 Million
An early morning blaze totally destroyed the Conant Gardens Adventist Church in Detroit, Michigan, on January 25.

Pastor Ralph Shelton said the fire apparently started around 3 a.m. in the ceiling, where the heating unit was located. When firefighters arrived at the scene they saw flames shooting out of the roof. Though firefighters doused the blaze, it quickly spread throughout the ceiling area and onto the rest of the structure.

Damages to the structure are estimated between $1.5 and $2 million dollars, according to Deanna Gaskill, a claims specialist for Adventist Risk Management, based at the General Conference.

Shelton says no one was injured in the blaze; the church was empty when the fire started. He praised the surrounding community, which quickly offered assistance to the congregation. On Sabbath January 29 the congregation will meet at a neighboring United Methodist Church, about one block away from the burned-out structure.

A constituent of the Lake Region Conference, Conant Gardens Church has a regular attendance of between 250 and 300 members, Shelton says.

ADRA Appeals for Release of
Abducted Workers in Sudan
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) is appealing for the release of three employees that were abducted at gunpoint along with ADRA project vehicles on December 16, 2004, while traveling through the then rebel-controlled area of Labado on their way from Khartoum to West Darfur, Sudan.

The three workers were part of an ADRA well drilling team carrying equipment and supplies to rehabilitate 65 damaged and abandoned wells and construct 45 new wells. The Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO) funds this project. ADRA�s convoy had official permission to deliver the aid to Darfur.

�We are alarmed and deeply concerned for the safety of our workers. We don�t know exactly who abducted them, and we�ve received no information on their whereabouts or condition. ADRA is not political; it provides aid where it�s needed the most,� Byron L. Scheuneman, ADRA International senior vice president and chief financial officer, states.

�Our thoughts and prayers are with the men who were taken and their families. We�re appealing directly to whoever is holding them to release them, unharmed, on humanitarian grounds. Water is the least covered sector in all of Darfur, and it�s senseless to continue to hold these men and equipment. Water is urgently needed in the region,� he continued.

The planned water wells will benefit 80,000 internally displaced people and host community members in West Darfur, an area hit hard by the civil unrest that has left at least 1.6 million people struggling to survive through the three Darfur states.

ADRA�s office in Khartoum is working closely with the United Nations to secure the release of its workers and is grateful for the assistance they�re providing. Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

KENYA: New Medical Center Dedicated
Adventist church and hospital officials recently dedicated the newly constructed Baraton Jeremic Community Medical Center (BJCMC), located on the campus of the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB) in Eldoret. The medical facility, which was constructed in two phases, provides both in-patient and out-patient clinical health care as well as counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS. The center also boasts a dental clinic.                   --East-Central Africa Division Newsline/AR

Judson Klooster Dies at 79
Judson Klooster, DDS, who served as dean of the Loma Linda University School of Dentistry for 23 years (1971 to 1994), and was instrumental in establishing a successful program for foreign-trained dentists, the International Dentist Program, died on October 31, 2004. He was 79.

Before being named dean, Klooster served as LLU's director of continuing education and associate dean of academic affairs. His association with the school began in 1956, when he taught fixed prosthodontics one day a week. He continued to teach part-time for 11 years until 1967 when Charles Smith, second dean of the school, persuaded him to sell his thriving practice in Escondido and become a full-time faculty member. After retiring in 1994, Klooster continued to teach in the restorative dentistry department and assisted with the LLU capital campaign.

Klooster is survived by his wife, Arlene Jean Madsen, three daughters, and five grandchildren.        --Loma Linda University public relations/AR

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