IT IS WRITTEN PUBLIC RELATIONS TEAM

t Is Written (IIW) is making history as the first ministry to uplink a major satellite evangelistic series live from the former Soviet Union. Mark Finley, It Is Written's Speaker Emeritus and director of global evangelism for the General Conference, is presenting ACTS 2005: Revelation Offers Hope, from Kiev, Ukraine, March 4 to 26. The program is reaching millions of people throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, and other countries around the world.

This series is a continuation of IIW's ACTS (Adventist Commission Through Satellite) global evangelism initiative. The ministry's previous ACTS 2000 satellite meetings reached more than 3 million people.

"This is definitely a team effort," said Finley of the series. "It Is Written Television, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Hope Channel, and the Euro-Asia Division of the Adventist Church have come together to reach people in this former communist nation with the message of Christ. The opportunity is no less than a miracle!"

On opening night nearly 1,800 people crowded the International Center of Culture and Arts, where the meetings are being held, and the nightly attendance remains high.

ACTS 2005 is being uplinked in English, Romanian, Russian, and Ukrainian, and is being transmitted live via the Hope Channel across 11 time zones-from the countries of Europe in the west, to Kamchatcha in the far east, as well as the frozen tundra and little villages that dot the snowy landscape of northern Siberia. Nearly 1,400 downlink sites are registered in Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The Ukrainian churches alone have printed and distributed 2.5 million handbills.

"We believe the Lord [is doing] great things through the It Is Written ministry and the work of our lay members and pastors," said Euro-Asia Division (ESD) president Artur Stele. He added that many ESD organizations, including the main administration office, have held 24-hour prayer sessions in preparation for the ACTS 2005 meetings.

A Little Local History
Kiev, Ukraine, the historic first capital of Russia, was founded in A.D. 862 on a cliff overlooking the Dnepr River. Russia's first Christian church was built in Kiev before A.D. 944, and it was in this city that Vladimir the Great, former ruler of Kiev and all of Russia, accepted Christianity and was baptized in the Dnepr River in A.D. 988. This act advanced Christianity throughout Russia under the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Mark Finley (right) and his translator Peter Kulakov are preaching the nightly ACTS 2005 messages to a massive live and satellite audience in the eastern part of the hemisphere.

Kiev is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Eastern Europe, and it has a long history. Mongols, Lithuanians, and Poles held the city before it again became a part of the Russian Empire, and until Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR in 1991-92. It was in this city that former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev made a daring speech in 1960, declaring that all religion would be stamped out of the Soviet Union in 25 years. In fact, this God-defying speech was made from the platform of the International Center of Culture and Arts, where Finley is now preaching the Word of God.

"As we walk along the long hallway under the platform from which Nikita Khrushchev spoke 45 years ago and see the many dressing rooms lined with mirrors and bright lights, we can't help but be reminded of this area's dark past," said Royce Williams, It Is Written's global television and global evangelism director. "The International Center of Culture and Arts now stands on the site of the once-dreaded KGB headquarters for Kiev. The beautiful dressing rooms occupy spaces that were once prison cells where an untold number human beings paid the ultimate price for freedom of conscience." The Lord is now using this same site to reach millions of people with the gospel message.

On March 14, two special guests drove four hours to see ACTS 2005 in person. These men, one a colonel in the Ukrainian Air Force and the other an officer who is a ballistics specialist, are friends of the local conference president and have been attending one of the downlink sites in the city of Vinnitsa. While talking with Finley, the ballistics expert said, "During the cold war my job was to coordinate the aiming of our Russian missiles on your U.S. cities." Finley embraced him and responded, "Once the world regarded us as enemies, but now we are brothers in Christ Jesus." The man replied, "Yes, we are brothers now."

Reports From the Field
Hundreds of viewers, both Adventist and non-Adventist, have been writing to the It Is Written team to express their appreciation for the series and to report on how effective the meetings have been so far in their area. In Novosibirsk, Siberia, a cable station is receiving the programs and transmitting them to a potential viewing audience of 1.82 million people. About 6,500 people-1,500 of them visitors-are watching the programs at 54 sites in Belarus. And about 20,000 people are attending the meetings at more than 200 sites in Central Russia.

Independence Square in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, is near the site of It Is Written's ACTS 2005 meetings.

In Tbilisi, Georgia, an elderly woman started attending the meetings on the second day of the series after hearing about them on the radio. "I know you are good people," she said, "and I wanted to know what this was all about."

Ukraine has been a fertile field for the gospel since the Three Angels' Messages were preached by German missionaries in 1876. During communism's attempts to stamp out religion in the Soviet Union, the Adventist Church remained the strongest in Ukraine. Today more than 61,000 members worship in 1,100 Adventist churches and companies in the Ukrainian Union.

To learn more and to view photos from the Kiev series, visit www.itiswritten.com. To listen to the nightly messages in English and Russian, visit www.hopetv-e.org.


Adventists Impacted by Indonesia Quake
Three months after the Dec. 26 tsunami hit North Sumatra, Nias Island, with nearly 1 million residents, was devastated by an earthquake on Monday evening, March 28, with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake epicenter was 18.6 miles deep in the sea.

The governor of North Sumatra said more than 1,000 people perished as of March 29. It further reported that 90 percent of the residents suffered the devastation and 80 percent of homes and buildings were destroyed at Gunung Sitoli, the capital of Nias Island.

Jannus Hutapea and Stefanus Suwandi, family members of Adventist lay leaders, were buried in the rubble, and their homes were among those wrecked, according to Djoko Suwarso, communication director of the West Indonesia Union Mission.

Similar to the humanitarian response to assist tsunami victims in nearby Aceh, the Nias earthquake brought the human face of Christianity to all who find themselves affected by the tragedy. Immediately after the news reached Jakarta, lay leadership of the church in the country's capital reacted promptly by appealing to 10,000 church members to help.

"We must not only pray, but should assist practically by offering food and material help," said Tourisman Siahaan, lay leader in Jakarta.

The Adventist Church in Central Sumatra, in the district of Sibolga, has become the center of relief operations to help survivors of the disaster.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. Among Christian denominations, there are nearly 210,000 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 1,700 congregations. --Adventist News Network

According to a Kansas turnpike authority dispatcher, the westbound bus veered off the road, overcorrected, broke through the concrete highway divider, and landed on its side in the eastbound lanes. Traffic was slowed in the westbound lanes and completely blocked in the eastbound lanes, which were closed for 90 minutes.

�We were just bouncing up and down and then I flipped and smashed my head on the window,� said student Ben Atkinson to a local WIBW news reporter.

�We are giving thanks and praising God for His protection,� MAA secretary and registrar Darlene Fairchild told the Adventist Review. �We are grateful for the prompt assistance of the highway patrol and paramedics, a resident, and several workers near the accident. They were very helpful. Our conference office staff in Topeka [also] provided much loving care and assistance.�

�The day following the accident we began school with a period of praise and thanksgiving for God�s miraculous protection,� adds Gary Kruger, MAA principal. �We are exceedingly grateful to God for His protecting hand over the sponsors and students as they went through this traumatic experience. I have no other way of explaining that no one was seriously hurt than to say it was a miracle.�

MAA has about 165 students in grades kindergarten through 12, and is located in Shawnee, Kansas.


Adventist Principal Rescued After
Being Lost at Sea For Three Weeks
The Adventist Review has learned that an Adventist high school principal in the South Pacific island of Kiribati was rescued after being lost at sea for more than three weeks.

According to the South Pacific Division, Tekemau Ribabaiti, principal of Kauma Adventist High School, had been missing since February 16. Traveling in a small four-meter (13-foot) dinghy, he had visited adjacent islands to recruit students for the academy. Ribabaiti was picked up by the foreign fishing vessel Volt Venturel on March 12. He was later transferred to a government-owned vessel the next day and reunited with his family.

This is the second time the seasoned fisherman had been rescued after being lost at sea. Church officials say Ribabaiti's belief in Christian education continues to spur him to recruit students from the islands using the only boat he has.

Though weak, Ribabaiti was in remarkably good spirits and good health, says Kevin Brown, president of the Kiribati Mission. "This man is a real hero. How many people have shown such skill, tenacity, and trust in God in surviving such incredible odds like this man has?"


Editor's Note
Some readers have wondered about an earlier article that commented on the death of the pope. Watch this website for a personal reflection on the papal transition by Adventist Review editor William G. Johnsson.

NEWS COMMENTARIES

Who's to Say?

BY AMANDA SAUDER MAGGARD, corporate trainer for Adventist Health System

ecently, the debate over the life of 41-year-old Terri Schiavo raged fiercely. Schiavo, who suffered severe brain damage in 1990, had been in a persistent vegetative state for the last 15 years, kept alive by a feeding tube.

Terri's husband and legal guardian, Michael, fought to have her feeding tube removed, insisting his wife would not want to live artificially. Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, battled to keep Terri alive, holding on to the hope that she would recover.

The dispute had been fought for nearly a decade in Florida's courts and legislature. After Terri's feeding tube was removed for the third time, members of the United States Congress and President Bush tried to prolong Terri's life so her family could take their case to federal courts. But Terri passed away on March 31.

Emotions on both sides of the case were intense. Protesters who wanted Terri's tube reinserted said she was being starved to death. One sign read: "Save Terri Schiavo From State-Sponsored Murder!"

Terri's mother, Mary Schindler, pleaded with lawmakers to "Please, please, please save my little girl."

Others felt the government's interference wasn't warranted.

"This is a family matter," said Florida state representative Anne Gannon. "This is between a husband and a wife."

So, who should have determined Terri Schiavo's fate?

I, personally, am very uncomfortable with the level of involvement the United States government had in her case. I believe that families-not attorneys or lawmakers or judges-should have the final word in such heartbreaking decisions.

Arthur Caplan, chairman of the department of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, advised, "If there is one single lesson to take out of [Terri Schiavo's case], it is to fill out a living will, and discuss it with your family."

Think about it: Who's to say what would happen to you?

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