Norwegian church distributes Bibles to Syrian refugees

Transcription

1 Adventist Heritage Center From: Adventist News Network on behalf of Adventist News Network Sent: Tuesday, January 5, :02 PM To: Adventist Heritage Center Subject: News from Jan 05, 2016 Norwegian church distributes Bibles to Syrian refugees; Nearly 4,000 Adventist youth focus on the global mission of the Church during GYC; Five Adventist students killed in Papua New Guinea crash; and more View this in your browser The official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church. Facebook Twitter Forward January 05, 2016 Headlines Norwegian church distributes Bibles to Syrian refugees Nearly 4,000 Adventist youth focus on the global mission of the Church during GYC Five Adventist students killed in Papua New Guinea crash In Kazakhstan, Adventist sentenced to serve two years in a labor camp for profession of faith Winter Storm Inflicts $2 Million in Damage on Adventist School Norwegian church distributes Bibles to Syrian refugees Thanks to a generous donation, an Adventist Church in Northern Norway makes Bibles available for refugees in Arabic and Farsi. 1

2 Christmas came early for a group of Syrian refugees who received Bibles in the Arabic language on Saturday, December 19, during a divine worship service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Vadso, in Norway. Last year, a large number of refugees arrived in Norway through the Norwegian, Russian border, which is near the town of Vadso in Northern Norway. Elias Samer Nema, one of the refugees who arrived at a refugee center in Vadso, asked a volunteer if she knew of a church without an opulent setting and an elaborate worship service. I sure do, said the woman, who happened to be a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and fluent in Arabic, the native language of the Syrian refugee. Read more at news.adventist.org. Nearly 4,000 Adventist youth focus on the global mission of the Church during GYC Sharing Jesus love and the news of His return takes center stage at the five-day gathering. 2

3 Thousands of young people from across the United States and more than 50 other countries have descended on Louisville, Kentucky, to focus on Jesus Second Coming and to give something back to the community during an annual GYC convention. The five-day convention of GYC, or Generation. Youth. Christ, is themed Called. Chosen. Faithful ran through Jan. 3 at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Read more at news.adventist.org. Five Adventist students killed in Papua New Guinea crash Engine failure is blamed for the road tragedy. Five Seventh-day Adventist students died and another 11 were injured when the 36-seat vehicle that they were riding ran off the road in the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. The accident, blamed on engine failure, occurred around midday Dec. 28 as the students were returning from an Adventist student convention organized by the regional organization Sepik Adventist Students Associated, or SEASA. Four young women were among the dead. Read more at news.adventist.org. 3

4 In Kazakhstan, Adventist sentenced to serve two years in a labor camp for profession of faith Church leaders encourage the nation to adhere to their commitment of securing the freedom of religion for all citizens. Yklas Kabduakasov, a Seventh-day Adventist, was recently sentenced to serve two years in a labor camp for inciting religious hatred. Kabduakasov was accused of making incendiary comments during lectures with students of the capital university. A charge which Kabduakasov has consistently denied. On December 22, the City Court judge decided to reopen the case and hear audio and video evidence against Kabduakasov with the prosecutor asking for a harsher sentence. Earlier this year Kabduakasov was sentenced by the Esilskij District Court to seven years of restricted freedom at home however the Appeals Court was asked to review his sentence and instead of restricting his freedom, sentenced him a jail term. Read more at news.adventist.org. Winter Storm Inflicts $2 Million in Damage on Adventist School Milo Academy scrambles to make repairs after closing early for Christmas vacation. 4

5 A fierce winter storm followed by heavy rain has caused more than $2 million in damage to Milo Adventist Academy, a rural boarding school in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Seventh-day Adventist Church-owned school, which was forced to close early for Christmas vacation, is scrambling to clear toppled trees, fix leaky roofs and sop up water-damaged dormitory rooms with the $1.5 million that it is collecting from insurance. Read more at news.adventist.org. Facebook Twitter Website Instagram Copyright 2016 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you signed up for Adventist News Network updates at news.adventist.org. Our mailing address is: General Conference of Seventhday Adventists Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these s? 5

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7 English Search Sitemap Find a Church Contact Press Inquiries Search... Spirituality Vitality Service Beliefs World Church Information News News News ANN Videos Photos Church Business meetings ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK The official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church Search for news... WINTER STORM INFLICTS $2 MILLION IN DAMAGE ON ADVENTIST SCHOOL Share MILO ACADEMY SCRAMBLES TO MAKE REPAIRS AFTER CLOSING EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS VACATION. December 29, 2015 Days Creek, Oregon, United States Kathy Hernandez A fierce winter storm followed by heavy rain has caused more than $2 million in damage to Milo Adventist Academy, a rural boarding school in the U.S. state of Oregon. [Photo by Peter Hernandez] The Seventh-day Adventist Church-owned school, which was forced to close early for Christmas vacation, is scrambling to clear toppled trees, fix leaky roofs and sop up water-damaged dormitory rooms with the $1.5 million that it is collecting from insurance. Submit a News Story Reproduction Requirements Styleguide Feeds Training News Contact Information Overview, Mission and Method Twitter Facebook Flickr YouTube Vimeo But it needs another $500,000 to deal with the damage, the vast majority of which was caused by rain-soaked snow, principal Randy Thornton said Monday. We ve seen an incredible amount of rain in the last few days, Thornton said. The only rain I want to see in the next few weeks is the latter rain. No one was injured. The winter storm blew into southern Oregon just before final exams week at Milo Adventist Academy in mid-december, cutting power to about 25,000 local homes and businesses and leaving the academy without electricity for five days. A backup generator kept the cafeteria operational and the dormitories warm, but the rest of campus was left without light and heat. The local water treatment plant, however, only had a two-day reserve of water and could not process more until the power was restored. So Thornton announced an early start to Christmas vacation on Dec. 14, thrilling the academy s 92 students. Staff members rushed to call parents and made arrangements for international students to be housed off-campus until their flights home. While some students hurriedly packed, others braved the cold to enjoy a snowball fight or build a snowman.

8 The blackout aside, the storm wreaked havoc across the campus. Trees collapsed under the heavy blanket of wet snow. Falling branches hit the roof of the uninsurable lodge at Camp Umpqua, the former Oregon Conference youth camp located at Milo. Fortunately, no damage was sustained by cabins built at Camp Umpqua by Maranatha Volunteers International last summer, or to any of the other projects that the organization worked on at Milo, Thornton said. Winter storms have inflicted serious damage on Adventist Church-owned property before. Last winter, a two-day ice storm caused more than $300,000 in damage on Camp Hope in British Columbia, Canada. At Milo Adventist Academy, the weight of the snow on roofs and ice in the gutters caused flooding in seven buildings. There are at least eight rooms on the third floor that have leaking, girls dean Kim Person said. The girls could hear the water running between the walls. With the campus vacated, staff members hastily packed students belongings from affected rooms, labeling and moving boxes to a dry location for safekeeping during repairs. A disaster response team surveyed the damage, wasting no time in covering the dorm roofs with tarps and setting up machines to dry out flooded buildings. Its inspection determined that 41 of the academy s 150 dorm rooms needed repair. The refurbishment in both the boys and girls dormitories began with the removal of wet dry wall and carpeting. Thornton said insurance would cover $1.5 million, including cleanup costs and the reconstruction of water-damaged areas such as resealing roofs on both dorms and the technology building. But sealing the roofs is a five- to 10-year solution, Thornton said. We really need to add to the insurance money to obtain a 40-year solution. The music building, church, administration building, gym, and cafeteria need gutters replaced to prevent further leaking, he said. Indoor repairs cannot be completed until the urgently needed gutters are installed. Preliminary estimates for needed cleanup and repairs not covered by insurance exceed $500,000, said Thornton, adding that donors in the Adventist Church s Oregon Conference have already committed nearly $100,000 toward those uncovered cleanup costs. Volunteers who can help with drywall, roofing, or flooring would be welcomed, Thornton said. The academy plans to reopen on Jan. 4 as scheduled. The dorm roofs cannot be sealed until rainy season is over, so the tarps will have to suffice and some students will have to be moved to undamaged rooms. Back to list Adventist.org is the Official website of the Seventh-day Adventist world church View Regions Facebook Twitter YouTube Vimeo Feedback Copyright 2016, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA Trademark and Logo Usage Legal Notice

9 English Search Sitemap Find a Church Contact Press Inquiries Search... Spirituality Vitality Service Beliefs World Church Information News News News ANN Videos Photos Church Business meetings ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK The official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church Search for news... NORWEGIAN CHURCH DISTRIBUTES BIBLES TO SYRIAN REFUGEES Share Submit a News Story Reproduction Requirements Styleguide Feeds THANKS TO A GENEROUS DONATION, AN ADVENTIST CHURCH IN NORTHERN NORWAY MAKES BIBLES AVAILABLE FOR REFUGEES IN ARABIC AND FARSI. January 04, 2016 Vadso, Norway Tor Tjeransen, Media Director, Norwegian Union, and ANN Staff Christmas came early for a group of Syrian refugees who received Bibles in the Arabic language on Saturday, December 19, during a divine worship service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Vadso, in Norway. [Elias Samer Nema (right), a Syrian refugee, poses with two other refugees who received Bibles in Arabic at the divine worship service December 19 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Vadso, Norway. Photo: Hilde Huru/ADAMS.] Training News Contact Information Overview, Mission and Method Twitter Facebook Flickr YouTube Vimeo Last year, a large number of refugees arrived in Norway through the Norwegian, Russian border, which is near the town of Vadso in Northern Norway. Elias Samer Nema, one of the refugees who arrived at a refugee center in Vadso, asked a volunteer if she knew of a church without an opulent setting and an elaborate worship service. I sure do, said the woman, who happened to be a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and fluent in Arabic, the native language of the Syrian refugee. The following Saturday, Elias was present in the local Adventist Church and has been attending ever since. One of the few items Elias was able to bring from Syria was his Bible. Elias wanted to tell other refugees about Jesus, and help them get Bibles. Hilde Huru, an elder for the Vadso Seventh-day Adventist Church, told the Norwegian Bible Society The society then donated a number of Bibles in Arabic and Farsi for distribution. We see a deep gratitude in the eyes of those who received Bibles. This is really important to them, said Huru. In the face of communication difficulties, due to the refugees limited knowledge of English, the local Adventist members use Google Translate on their smartphones to interact with the refugees and understand each another to some degree.

10 During the Vadso Adventist Church s Sabbath School, the small congregation truly has a multilingual class. Huru makes copies of the Sabbath School lesson in Arabic and Farsi for the refugees so they can study the lesson together. Even if locals and refugees have a hard time understanding one another, they understand the Word of God as they read it in Arabic, Farsi and Norwegian. I have never met anyone in the Middle-East with such a love for God as you have, said one of the refugees. Huru hopes that impression will not fade. Back to list Adventist.org is the Official website of the Seventh-day Adventist world church View Regions Facebook Twitter YouTube Vimeo Feedback Copyright 2016, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA Trademark and Logo Usage Legal Notice

11 English Search Sitemap Find a Church Contact Press Inquiries Search... Spirituality Vitality Service Beliefs World Church Information News News News ANN Videos Photos Church Business meetings ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK The official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church Search for news... NEARLY 4,000 ADVENTIST YOUTH FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH DURING GYC Share SHARING JESUS LOVE AND THE NEWS OF HIS RETURN TAKES CENTER STAGE AT THE FIVE-DAY GATHERING. January 04, 2016 Seth Shaffer, with Adventist Review staff Submit a News Story Reproduction Requirements Styleguide Feeds Training News Contact Information Overview, Mission and Method Thousands of young people from across the United States and more than 50 other countries have descended on Louisville, Kentucky, to focus on Jesus Second Coming and to give something back to the community during an annual GYC convention. Attendees praying on New Year's Eve at the GYC convention in Louisville, Kentucky. [Photo by Seth Shaffer] Twitter Facebook Flickr YouTube Vimeo The five-day convention of GYC, or Generation. Youth. Christ, is themed Called. Chosen. Faithful ran through Jan. 3 at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Organizers said it was the second-largest GYC convention since the organization was founded in A total of 3,956 people from 56 countries and 49 of the 50 U.S. states were registered as of Friday, and attendance was expected to peak at 5,000 over the weekend. The largest convention met in Houston in 2011, with 4,500 registered participants and 7,000 people attending on the weekend. The teens and young adults from so many cultures and nationalities have come together because they are united by a strong desire to share the three angels messages of Revelation 14 that Jesus is coming soon, said Moises Ratsara, vice president of programming for GYC. The message is a universal one, and so is the Adventist Church, Ratsara said. It is not just an Anglo message, and GYC is not just a North American organization. It is a global one. The message was front and center in the opening remarks of GYC president Natasha Nebblett. Who are we anyway? A movement of young people on a mission to take the three angels messages to the entire world in this generation, she said. Nebblett said, however, that she was convinced that young people lacked one ingredient in sufficient measure to get the job done: love.

12 There is one thing and one thing only that will keep us faithful to Jesus Christ through thick and thin, and it is the defining point of the remnant, she said. And that is love, all-consuming love for the Almighty. Young people planned to put love into action on Friday by boarding 43 buses to visit Louisville residents in their homes and elsewhere. Participants planned to offer Bible and health studies, collect canned food for a local food bank, sing at a nursing home, hand out flyers for an evangelistic series, and replace batteries in people s fire alarms. GYC presenters said they were pleased to be among such a large group of young people eager to serve Jesus and expressed hope that their presentations would encourage them. I am here because I have a burden for young people, said Danielle Harrison, founder of Into His Light, a ministry that encourages sexual purity. It was in my youth that I turned and walked away from the Lord. I know how pivotal a time that is and how much we need answers and information, and I wish that back then I could have been equipped with some of this information that I have today. Charissa Fong, an Australian evangelist who preaches around the world, said her love for the three angels messages led her to the GYC convention. I am passionate about this message and this is a gathering of young people, she said. I think this is a message that is to be nourished and understood so we can passionately spread it. Homer Trecartin, president of the Adventist Church s Middle East and North Africa Union, told attendees on Friday that the way to succeed was through prayer. Prayer is the constant vibration that will bring down the pillars of Satan s kingdom, he said. Back to list Adventist.org is the Official website of the Seventh-day Adventist world church View Regions Facebook Twitter YouTube Vimeo Feedback Copyright 2016, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA Trademark and Logo Usage Legal Notice

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14 English Search Sitemap Find a Church Contact Press Inquiries Search... Spirituality Vitality Service Beliefs World Church Information News News News ANN Videos Photos Church Business meetings ADVENTIST NEWS NETWORK The official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church Search for news... IN KAZAKHSTAN, ADVENTIST SENTENCED TO SERVE TWO YEARS IN A LABOR CAMP FOR PROFESSION OF FAITH Share CHURCH LEADERS ENCOURAGE THE NATION TO ADHERE TO THEIR COMMITMENT OF SECURING THE FREEDOM OF RELIGION FOR ALL CITIZENS. December 29, 2015 Astana, Kazakhstan ANN Staff Yklas Kabduakasov, a Seventh-day Adventist, was recently sentenced to serve two years in a labor camp for inciting religious hatred. Kabduakasov was accused of making [photo: istock] incendiary comments during lectures with students of the capital university. A charge which Kabduakasov has consistently denied. Submit a News Story Reproduction Requirements Styleguide Feeds Training News Contact Information Overview, Mission and Method Twitter Facebook Flickr YouTube Vimeo On December 22, the City Court judge decided to reopen the case and hear audio and video evidence against Kabduakasov with the prosecutor asking for a harsher sentence. Earlier this year Kabduakasov was sentenced by the Esilskij District Court to seven years of restricted freedom at home however the Appeals Court was asked to review his sentence and instead of restricting his freedom, sentenced him a jail term. Ganoune Diop, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist Church expressed concerns about the accusation and conviction noting, Adventists experience restrictions to religious freedom understood as the right to profess, practice and propagate one s faith without being hindered to do so. Diop went on to say he, encourages Kazakhstan authorities to live in accordance with their commitments to international treaties, covenants, and conventions and accordingly secure for all their citizens the freedom of religion or belief. Dwayne Leslie, associate director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, added, We are seeing increasing levels of restrictions against religious minorities in many countries around the world and are troubled when people of faith are unable to follow their conscience as they see fit. Kabduakasov s lawyer, Shaldykova Gulmira, said she does not agree with the court s decision and considers the verdict "too harsh." Gulmira said she intends to discuss the issue with Kabduakasov and recommend filing an appeal.

15 Michael Kaminsky, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Euro-Asia Region said in an that we are united in praying for our brother and his family. Please, help our church family to join us in prayer for his freedom. Back to list Adventist.org is the Official website of the Seventh-day Adventist world church View Regions Facebook Twitter YouTube Vimeo Feedback Copyright 2016, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA Trademark and Logo Usage Legal Notice